This is his life and his world.
And I'm supposed to believe he wants me? Plain, broke, exhausted me?
"What do you see?" Chloe asks.
"Pictures." My voice sounds hollow. "Lots of pictures. He dates actresses and models."
"Of course he does. He's a billionaire."
I keep scrolling. There's a pattern to the photos. Different women, but they all look similar. Tall, thin, perfectly styled. The kind of women who've never worked three crappy jobs or eaten ramen for dinner five nights in a row because it's all they can afford.
"So why me?" I say it out loud even though Chloe can't answer that question any better than I can.
"Maybe he's telling the truth. Maybe he actually wants to help you."
"Rich men don't help people without wanting something in return. My mother taught me that."
"Your mother also walked away from wealth and made you both miserable. Maybe she's not the best source on this."
The words sting because they're true. My mother chose pride over comfort and spent the rest of her life resenting that choice.She raised me to be independent, to never depend on anyone, to view help as a form of control.
She would never admit but I think she has a lot of regrets.
"What are you going to do?" Chloe asks.
I look at my suitcase again. Its broken wheel seems to represent everything about my lief right now. Going back to Boston means going back to a life where I'm always one emergency away from drowning.
Staying means accepting help from a man who's been watching me, who knows things about me he shouldn’t and who probably has motives I don't understand.
"I don't know yet," I say finally. "He said I have a week. That I can leave anytime."
"Do you believe him?"
"I don’t know what I believe."
Through the window, I can see the main house. The glass walls are reflecting the morning sun, making it impossible to see inside. But I know he's there somewhere. Probably awake. Probably watching.
"The money is real," I tell Chloe. "I checked this morning. Everything is paid off. All of it."
"So regardless of what you decide, you're free of the debt."
"Yeah."
"Then the question is: do you want to know why he did it? Do you want to know what he wants?"
I think about last night. The way Phoenix looked at me across the dinner table. The intensity in his eyes when he said I deserved better. I think about how he had admitted to watching me.
That should have terrified me. Part of it did. But it also made me want to know more.
Why would a man who could have anyone want me?
"I think I need to stay," I say slowly. "At least for a few days. To figure out what this is."
Chloe is quiet for a moment. Then she says, "Okay. But rules still apply. You text me every day. Multiple times. Location sharing stays on. And the second anything feels wrong, you leave. No questions asked."
"I know."
"And Jade? Be careful. Men like Phoenix Crawford didn't get where they are by being nice. They got there by being smart and ruthless and very, very good at getting what they want."
