Page 51 of Rejected By My Shifter Billionaire

“ I apologize, Mr. Celestini. Ms. Gray still isn’t accepting visitors.”

Janet, the receptionist at Maryah’s new apartment building, didn’t add “today” or “again.” She didn’t need to.

The past thirty-one days had followed the same pattern: Nicolo would arrive, ask to see Maryah, and leave with nothing but the knowledge that she was still breathing somewhere in the building above him.

“I understand. Thank you.”

Nicolo had just turned to leave when the receptionist called out to him.

“Mr. Celestini?”

He glanced back at her.

“I’m not sure if this will be of any help, but I might have overheard...”

Her next words had Nicolo’s face turning blank. “I see.”

He waited until he was back in his car before allowing the full import of Janet’s revelation to hit him.

Maryah.

L’Alliance.

Alexei.

That...could only mean one thing, and if he was too late...

No. No. No.

Nicolo felt as if someone else had taken over his body as he heard himself instruct his driver to take him to the headquarters of L’Alliance .

It was as if he could no longer bear to live inside his body, knowing that with every second that passed, his chances of getting her back were also getting slimmer.

God, please.

To preters like him, God had always been real but rarely acknowledged, Him being something they could not understand because of the way He seemed to favor humans over all other races, and for reasons that didn’t make sense.

It didn’t matter which period of history they were in.

Humans were His favored child while preters like him were. ..not.

But because he had seen how belief in God had changed the lives of even the most powerful preters like Domenico Moretti, in which the powerful Lyccan prince had to be brought low in order to realize the true source of his strength rested not in worldly power and wealth...

I know I can’t do this on my own.

Please.

Help me get her back.

THE L’Alliance Cathedral loomed against the skyline, its red and gold spires catching the afternoon sun.

Inside, the main reception area bustled with supernatural activity, winged Souris gliding between levels, shifters of every designation moving with purpose, and the occasional Caro in formal attire casting disdainful glances at human visitors like me.

It wasn’t my first time to be here, but the place’s grandeur was still overwhelming, and the way every inch pulsed with preternatural power still daunting in ways that I didn’t even know how to express.

Like, seriously.

What was I even doing here?

After moving out of the Celestini mansion—best decision ever, even if my new apartment was half the size and twice the price—I’d thrown myself into work.

Expanded the client base. Refined the algorithms. Pretended I wasn’t counting down the days until I had to fulfill Nicolo’s ultimatum or lose everything.

And now time was up.

“Please follow me, Ms. Gray.”

I followed the attendant through the grand atrium, past the security checkpoints where guards gave me the standard human-who-doesn’t-know-her-place once-over, down corridors that seemed to shift and change as we walked.

Finally, we reached a section marked with the Blood Oval emblem, a perfect circle rendered in what I hoped wasn’t actual blood.

Prince Alexei will see you shortly.” He disappeared inside, leaving the door slightly ajar.

And that’s when I heard it.

Nicolo?

My heart stuttered, then raced like I’d mainlined espresso directly into my veins.

That had to be... Nicolo.

I couldn’t be mistaken about it, even if my heart had yet to recover from the wound he had inflicted.

Why...why was he here?

My body moved before my brain could catch up, pushing the door open without announcement, and I froze in shock upon seeing Nicolo...standing next to Prince Alexei?

“Maryah.”

It hurt, oh how it hurt to have him say my name, and it hurt even more to see him looking so...different. He was still handsome, still immaculately dressed, but there was also an unmistakable gauntness to him that just didn’t feel right.

“W-What are you doing here?” I whispered.

“I came here to let you know I lied—” His jaw clenched. “—about everything.”

“I d-don’t understand.”

“The Blood Oval never demanded you get married.” His voice was steady, but I caught the faintest tremor in his hands before he clasped them behind his back. “That was me. I invented it.”

The floor seemed to tilt beneath my feet. “But w-why?”

“Because the day after the Lucent Summit, your office started sending me profiles of prospective brides.”

“I would never —”

Understanding dawned, and his lips twisted in a humorless smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“By the time Ada realized what she had done and called my office to let me know that the emails I were reading were meant for someone else...it was too late.”

Was that why he had been trying to talk to me all this time?

“I know I have no right to ask for your forgiveness, but I’m going to ask it anyway.”

I started shaking my head.

“I’m sorry for hurting you—”

No, no, no.

“I’m sorry for being a coward all these years—”

I took a clumsy step back.

“—and wasting so much time in the process.”

“I love you—”

The moment I realized what he was saying, I made a run for it.

But of course he was too fast; humans like me never stood a chance when running way from preters like him.

“I’m sorry, Maryah. I’m sorry.”

He hauled me into his arms and wouldn’t let go even when I started to cry as I started kicking and pounding his chest with my fists, doing anything I could to be free of him.

“Forgive me—”

“Please let me go,” I choked out.

“I can’t.”

And then he was cupping my cheeks and forcing my tear-stained gaze to meet his.

“All these years, I ignored you in hopes of making my own feelings go away.”

Was he...was he saying that just like me—

“I also forced myself to pretend that I didn’t notice yours.”

A broken cry escaped me. I couldn’t remember feeling so ashamed, so humiliated—

“But this time, I’m done pretending. I’m done running and hiding. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and that’s why—”

I nearly stopped breathing when Nicolo bent down on one knee.

“Be my mate, Maryah. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to wake up every day, knowing that you’re the first thing I’ll see. I want to go to bed knowing that you’re safe in my arms. You are my heart. My soul. My everything. And this, I want the whole world to know—”

Oh, Nicolo.

The walls of the conference room suddenly lit up, and that was when I realized that everything that had happened...everything he had said...

It was being broadcasted live.

It was Nicolas offering his heart on a platter, and he was leaving it all up to me whether to stab it—

I was crying too hard to manage speaking. All I could do was tug his hand, but it was enough. He rose to his full height in one fluid motion, and then he was pulling me into his arms, and as his lips covered mine—

“I love you.” I couldn’t stop crying even as I gave him the words that I had to hide in my heart for so, so many years.

Nicolo’s hands shook as he cupped my face. “I know I don’t deserve you,” he said hoarsely, “but let the whole world be my witness as I make my promise to you now. I will love you for the rest of my life.”

To hear such words from a man who didn’t have a single romantic bone in his body was just...

Oh, Nicolo!

As I surrendered myself into Nicolo’s kiss, I dimly heard Prince Alexei saying, “Ah, perfect timing, Ms. Bones. I’d like a word with you in my office. It seems you’ve landed yourself in hot water once again.”

“Am I going to get fired?” Ada asked in a small voice.

“If I can help it—absolutely yes.”