My world shattered when my fiancé abandoned me just weeks before our wedding, leading me to accept a live-in nursing role for a paralyzed billionaire, only to be stunned by a chilling discovery on my first night

We keep this between us, he added. No one, no one knows. I understand.

And you follow my lead. I say stop, we stop. I say go, you help.

That’s it. Agreed. He studied me.

Eyes still sharp, but something had shifted. Something unspoken. You’re not like the others.

I shrugged. I’m not trying to be. We started the sessions the next morning.

Early, quiet, before Margaret stirred, before the sunlight fully warmed the kitchen tiles. Each step he took was agony. Controlled, measured.

Like fighting gravity with nothing but spite and muscle memory. But he did it. And I was there.

Not to cheer. Not to weep. Just to support.

One hand studying the world. He didn’t want to fall in. It started with a voice.

I was organizing the meds cabinet in my room when I heard it. Deep, confident, too smooth. Male.

Not Ryan. Not a house staff member. Curious.

I moved quietly toward the main hallway and followed the sound into the west sitting room. There, lounging on the leather couch, was a man in his early 40s, expensive watch glinting in the morning sun. Holding a glass of something that wasn’t juice.

Ryan, you look like hell! The man laughed. Ryan, across from him, offered a tight smile. Good to see you too, Eric.

That was my introduction to Eric Thorne, Ryan’s longtime business partner. The man who, according to Margaret, had stepped up to manage Hale Nexus Technologies after Ryan’s accident. Something about him made my skin crawl.

Maybe it was the way he looked at Ryan like he was still measuring his worth. Or maybe it was how his eyes landed on me when I walked in with the tea tray. Slow, assessing, invasive.

This the new one, he asked. Emily Carter! I said, evenly setting down the tray. She any better than the last three? Eric quipped, sipping his drink.

She’s not here to entertain you, Ryan replied coldly. She’s my nurse. The conversation turned to business.

Mergers, investor tensions, government contracts. I tried to stay invisible, but one word froze me where I stood. Langley.

Eric leaned in, lowering his voice. Laura says her father’s ready to push the funds through. We just need the control package transferred to the shell.

Langley Capital will absorb it. He’s got contacts in the tech board. Easy in.

Ryan didn’t respond. He stared out the window, knuckles tight against the armrest. I’ve already prepped the docs, Eric continued.

We just need your signature. Later, Ryan said. I’ll look them over.

You’ve been saying that for weeks. If we wait much longer, the opportunity closes. Ryan didn’t answer.

My pulse thundered in my ears. I slipped out of the room before either of them noticed. I was still standing there.

Langley. Laura Langley. That name still haunted me.

And then it clicked. Langley Capital. Laura.

Eric’s push for Ryan’s signature. The company. They were trying to take it…