Chapter 38 · The Ring She Returns on Camera

"Say yes on the record," Grant said, "or say no on the record. Either way, the cameras are already rolling."

He had the ring box open before I could step back. Lobby lights hit the stone and threw a little white flare across the marble, right where Bianca's phone was already pointed at my face.

"Put that away," I said.

"Not until you answer." He didn't kneel. That told me everything — this wasn't romance, this was a press release with a box attached. "Marry me as a consultant, Lila. Same cameras. Same board. Except now you're Mrs. Whitfield when they try to strip your mother's shares, and nobody strips a wife."

"I'm not signing myself into your name to save my own."

"Then sign into it to save your sister's contract." He said it soft, like it cost him nothing, because it didn't. "Dubai doesn't care about ledgers. They care about optics. A scandal maid doesn't get her sister a visa renewal. A Whitfield does.