Found A Homeless Billionaire Husband for Christmas – Episode 09
“No, thank you.” Victoria could not accept the ring. Simon had meant to return something she had lost, but what she saw was the promise Carl had used to humiliate her.
It only made her think of him, she explained. The ring no longer belonged to a future she wanted. It carried her straight back to the moment he had dismissed their three years together.
There was more to the hurt than Simon had seen at the restaurant. Carl had taken every chance to get money from her. What she earned had been available to him while he worked toward the position he wanted.
Now that he had his promotion, he had dumped her. Victoria could hear how plainly the pattern emerged when she described it. Seeing it did not make her feel less foolish for having trusted him.
Her work had been useful when he needed her wages. Once he had advanced, waiting tables had become something to mock. The contradiction made his insults feel even more calculated.
If not for him, she would have money to help her mother pay for the wedding. That was the consequence she kept returning to. Her heartbreak had become an expense someone else was carrying.
“I feel awful.” She had wanted to bring happiness home. Instead, she was arriving with a wedding she could not help fund and a groom nobody had expected.
“What kind of daughter makes her mom cover all the wedding expenses on her own?” The question was crueler to herself than she intended. She knew Carl had taken advantage, yet she could not stop feeling responsible.
“Victoria, I can…” Simon started to speak. She interrupted before he could finish, suddenly aware of how much she was placing in front of him.
“I’m sorry. I really don’t mean to dump this on you.” He was already helping her in a way few friends would consider. She did not want to turn his kindness into an obligation to hear every detail of her misery.
They should stop talking about sad things, she said. She wanted the conversation to lead somewhere gentler, even if the problems themselves could not be set aside so easily.
He should get some rest. It was a practical suggestion, and making it gave her a way to end the evening without having to explain anything more. She had said enough about Carl.
“Good night.” Victoria left him with that quiet farewell. The ring remained a reminder she did not want to take back, and the room settled around the unfinished conversation.
Alone, Simon considered the ring. Size seven. It was a small, useful detail, and he remembered it with more attention than Victoria could have guessed.
He called Luis. On the other end was someone who knew him without the disguise, someone accustomed to carrying out instructions from the man Victoria still thought was down on his luck.
Simon needed him to go to Texas and start planning a wedding. Luis responded with astonishment. When, exactly, had his boss gotten married? The request had arrived well ahead of the explanation.
There was something else to arrange. Luis should get a diamond ring. Simon specified the size with certainty: seven.
He thanked Luis and said he would see him soon. Victoria had gone to rest believing she lacked the money to help her mother. Simon had begun making plans for a wedding she still thought was only temporary.