When Four Billionaires Pretended to Be Poor Together Chapter 08

When Four Billionaires Pretended to Be Poor Together Chapter 08 The Wedding Ring Was Back in My Hand Before the Vows Ended

A month later, the wedding went ahead as scheduled.

The union between the Hawthorne family and the Astor family sent shockwaves through New Yxrk.

I stood at the end of the aisle in a white wedding gown, watching Kieran walk toward me in a perfectly tailored suit, a polished smile resting on his face.

We exchanged rings, and the priest was just about to pronounce us married-when Kieran’s phone rang.

He glanced at the screen, and his face went pale.

Then, ignoring the stunned guests around us, he pulled off the ring he’d just put on and shoved it back into my hand.

“I’m sorry, Sierra. Valerie’s in trouble. I have to go.”

And with that, he turned and walked out, leaving me standing alone in that massive chapel.

I took off my veil, slow as a breath, and let my eyes follow the path where Kieran had vanished.

A cold smile curved at the corner of my lips.

After the wedding farce, I moved into the Hawthorne estate.

Kieran? Never showed up again.

Windsor family? Fighting over the heir.

Valerie? Gone.

The whole Hawthorne estate was empty.

Perfect. That silence gave me room to breathe.

Me, quietly gathering every dirty deal between the Hawthornes and the Windsors, while keeping watch over Izzy, who was still unconscious.

On the seventh day, the hospital finally called.

Izzy was awake.

When I rushed into her room, she was propped up against the bed, pale as paper.

The moment she saw me, she tugged weakly at the corner of her mouth.

Her voice was hoarse.

“So I heard. He wants me to marry Julian.”

I just nodded. Didn’t say a word.

She threw off the blanket and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

$。 93

+5 Free Coins

“I’m going to him right now. I want to hear him say it—am I his daughter, or just a pawn?”

Half an hour later, I found Izzy in Alistair’s office.

She stood there with her hand pressed to her face.

I could see the red, swollen mess of her cheek.

Alistair sat behind his desk, his face dark as thunder.

“I didn’t raise you to talk back to me. When I tell you to marry someone, you do it. End of discussion.”

“So my life doesn’t matter to you at all?” Izzy’s voice cracked, her eyes burning red. “That man killed my baby. And you still want me to marry him?”

Alistair drew his hand back, ready to strike her again.

I threw myself in front of Izzy.

“Mr. Windsor, she just had surgery. She can’t take any more of this.”

He lowered his hand, his eyes ice-cold.

“Let me make this clear. This isn’t a negotiation. You either marry him, or you get out of my house. I’ll act like you’re dead to me.”

Izzy was shaking so badly she couldn’t get a single word out.

I put my arm around her and led her out of the office.

The moment the door closed behind us, Izzy couldn’t hold it anymore. She buried her face in my shoulder and broke.

“How could he do this to me?” She could barely get the words out. “I’m his only daughter…”

I rubbed her back gently and let her cry it out.

Then I lowered my voice.

“Izzy, I know it hurts. But tears won’t fix this.”

“Then what are we supposed to do?”

She looked up at me, despair filling her eyes.

“All he cares about now is that bastard son of his. We’re nothing to him. Nothing.”

I looked her straight in the eyes.

“The Windsors belong to you. They always have. And the Hawthornes? They owe us. We’re going to take back what’s ours.”

Izzy wiped away her tears.

Then her eyes turned sharp.

“You’re right. No one’s taking it from me. From today on, you and me. We take them down.”

Over the next month, the Windsors tore themselves apart in a vicious power struggle over the

succession.

The Hawthorne brothers became his go-to fixers-handling all the dirty work he didn’t want

his name on.

Kieran came back once in a while to grab something.

But he never said a single word to me.

Then one night, I was taking a walk in the yard when a black sedan came tearing toward the house and stopped at the gate.

Kieran pushed open the car door and stepped out.

Then-

a gunshot split the silence.

“Watch out!”

I moved almost on instinct and threw myself in front of him.

“Sierra!”

Kieran caught me in his arms, his voice raw with panic.

He pulled out a gun, fired into the dark-and the shooter disappeared into the night.

He carried me inside, his hands shaking as he fumbled to bandage my wound.

Sweat beaded on his forehead.

“Why the hell did you take that bullet for me? You could’ve been killed.”

I looked up at him and managed a small smile.

“You are my husband. That’s what matters.”

That hit him.

I could see it.

He was quiet for a long time. When he finally spoke, his voice was different—almost sincere. A sincerity I’d never heard before.

“Sierra… I’m sorry. I never should’ve left you alone at the wedding.”

“It’s okay.”

I turned my head away, pretending it didn’t matter.

He took my hand. His eyes flickered-with ambition, with doubt, with something that might have been hope.

“You think I actually enjoy being Alistair’s b*tch? I’ve had this planned for a long time. I help him lock everything down, and then I turn around and swallow the whole Windsor empire from the inside. When I’m done? Him. His bastard son. Both gone. And when I win? You’re sitting on top. Queen of both empires. All of North Amxrica will be ours.”

He looked at me with all that ambition and what he probably thought was love.

I met his gaze. Inside, I was cold as ice. Outside, I let my face soften-wide eyes, a grateful smile. Like he’d just handed me the world.

“I believe you.”

Kieran pulled me tightly into his arms.

He’d never know that the shooting was my design.

He thought we were partners. In fact, from that moment on, he was already my puppet, and I was just getting started with the strings.