Claiming You: How to Marry a Billionaire Four by Helen Hardt

Author:Helen Hardt [Hardt, Helen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hardt & Sons
Published: 2025-02-25T00:00:00+00:00

EPISODE 161

ARIEL FALLS

Ariel

I’m in love.

You’ve captured my heart.

I love you. No mystery. No plot twists.

I just fucking love you, Ariel, and I know that surprises you, because it surprises the hell out of me.

Did Alex truly just say all of that?

I’m speechless. My mouth drops open. I’m sure I look like a fish flopping out of the water. And Alex should know. He adores fishing. We talked all about that.

“And it scares me,” he adds, his voice no louder than a whisper. He traces my jawline.

I’m not sure what to say to that.

“Do you feel the same?” he continues.

My breath hitches. The room feels heavy, silence pressing against us like a weight. The sincerity in his question makes my heart pound.

“I...” I start, but my voice trembles, words floundering somewhere between my mind and my tongue.

He slides his finger over my bottom lip. “You don’t have to answer right now.” He brushes a stray lock away from my forehead. “I know it’s sudden.”

I love you.

I want to say the words so badly.

But only days ago I was feeling the same for Brett and then Sebastian.

I was ready to fight Emily for River, who I still haven’t spent any time with.

And then the threesome with Marc and Zion.

Having the attention of two men was amazing, but then they both left me feeling... Feeling...

Well, it’s not their fault how I felt. It was my own for doing it in the first place. I felt dirtier than a pig in a mud puddle after a summer rain.

But I want to tell Alex that I love him too. I want to so badly I can taste it.

“I know you’re young, Ariel,” he says. “The youngest of all the women here. But you’re also the most real, I think. You haven’t had the chance to try to conceal who you truly are.”

“Oh, Alex...” I sigh. “I have. This isn’t me. This place isn’t me. I’m a roller waitress, for goodness’ sake. I left school at sixteen. I still live at home with my mama to help her with expenses.”

“Ariel—”

I hold up a hand to stop him. “Don’t say it doesn’t matter. I’ve come to terms with who I am, and I deserve to be here as much as any of the others. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself. But when you said I haven’t been concealing who I truly am...” I shake my head. “This isn’t me. I could never afford to stay at a place like this. Clothes like I have here. I could never⁠—”

He places his fingers over my lips. “I know that. I know who is paying for this place. I know who paid for your clothes.”

I can’t help laughing. He paid for all of it, of course. He, Brett, Sebastian, and River. Four handsome billionaires. Maybe they would have been five if their friend had lived.

“Something funny?” he asks.

“No. I just sound silly as a goose, though, don’t I? Of course you know I can’t afford all this stuff. None of us can.

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