The billionaire became a cook to test the woman his mother chose, and what she did when nobody important was watching ended everything

While the storm raged in the grand dining room, Maya was standing near the kitchen entrance, having overheard Lord Vance’s loud proclamation.

She stood frozen in place, holding her basket of herbs, staring through the narrow glass window of the door.

Adrian Mercer.

The man she had spent the afternoon talking to under the willow tree—the man who she thought was a struggling cook trying to survive a harsh job—was one of the wealthiest men in the country.

She looked down at her dirty denim overalls, her calloused hands, and the simple wax paper wrapper of the apple she had shared with him.

A deep wave of humiliation and confusion swept through her. He was testing everyone, she thought. He was lying to all of us.

Teresa walked up beside Maya, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "He didn't lie to you, Maya. He was hiding from the monsters. But with you... he was just himself."

"He's a billionaire, Teresa," Maya said quietly, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm just a landscape worker who restores bushes. We live in completely different universes."

"The heart doesn't care about universes, child," Teresa said gently.

Inside the dining room, Adrian rose from his seat. He reached into his suit jacket pocket and pulled out a keycard, tossing it onto the table in front of Vanessa.

"You spent forty minutes in my library last night trying to break into my safe," Adrian said cold-bloodedly. "You wanted to find the Mercer heirloom ring so you could trap me into a marriage to pay off your father's ten-million-dollar debt."