When Four Billionaires Pretended to Be Poor Together Chapter 02

When Four Billionaires Pretended to Be Poor Together Chapter 2 Meeting Me Was An Accident Betraying Me Wasn’t
No more words. I just drove my foot into Julian so hard his breath left him in a wheeze. He stayed down. “No… no way…” he choked out. “Who the hell taught you that?” I lifted my leg, ready to drive my heel straight into his temple— Then I heard the footsteps. Familiar. Too familiar. Kieran. He burst forward and slammed a fist hard into my chest. Pain exploded through me. Blood rushed out of my mouth and nose as I staggered back. I stared at the man who had slept beside me for two years. “I taught you how to protect yourself,” Kieran snapped, “not so you could use it on my brother.” Cold flooded my entire body. I didn’t even remember to wipe the blood from my mouth. For two years, I played the role of an ordinary girl. To the outside world, I was sharp-tongued and difficult—but that was just a disguise. Kieran was the only one who ever truly saw through it. He held me like something precious. He always had my back. The faint scar on his chest? That was from the night a drunk man came at me, and Kieran stepped in front of the blade. He never tried to cage me. Instead, he taught me how to fight back. “I just need to know you can handle yourself when I’m not around.” There were moments when I almost fell for him. Moments when I thought maybe this—us—could actually last. I thought if I asked nothing of him and owed him nothing, that would at least buy me some basic decency. I never saw it coming—that he’d actually raise his hand to me. Now he stood over me and looked down with cold, detached eyes. “A mouth like yours is practically begging for a beatdown. Even I know how to behave in front of the Astor heiress. So what makes you think you’re special?” I stared at him, something dark and bitter twisting in my chest. A few days ago, I had already gotten word. Kieran had been pulling strings everywhere, trying to propose an alliance with the Astor family. I had already told my assistant to reject it. Except he had no idea the heiress he was so desperate to marry— was me. The irony made me sick. A bitter laugh scraped out of my throat. “So, only the Astor heiress is worthy of your name. Is that it?” Kieran dropped his usual mask of warmth. He stood before me, hands behind his back, cold and distant as a stranger. “That’s right. Women like you don’t belong in my world.” My fists clenched so tightly my nails bit into my palms. My whole body was shaking. He crouched in front of me and reached for my injured face, his voice turning soft with that fake tenderness. “Sierra, I still care about you… But if you want to stay with me, then you need to learn your place. Do you understand?” I slapped his hand away. “If you wanted a golden ticket so bad, you should’ve chased her from day one instead of messing with my head.” Kieran lowered his eyes. His voice was calm. And merciless. “Back then, I was just keeping an eye on Julian, making sure he didn’t go too far. Meeting you wasn’t part of the plan… Our marriage benefits both families. This was decided long before you came along. Walking away was never really an option.” He looked at me like I was being unreasonable. “Sierra, stop making this harder than it has to be. If you want to stay by my side, you need to accept certain realities. This is how our world works.” With one explosive move, I flipped him onto the ground, looking down at him with ice in my eyes. “You still don’t know me at all. I would rather burn everything down than live as someone’s second choice. And I will never share a man with another woman.” “Kieran, I’m done with you.”