On The Day I Was Abandoned, I Married A Mysterious Billionaire

Kathrine POV:

"Sorry I'm late. Damian Sharpe. I'm with her."

It was the man I had just approached. He stood tall, impossibly tall, his presence even more commanding. But his eyes were gentle.

A man in an impeccable suit who looked like he owned half of Manhattan, a man who had just seemed bewildered by my mad proposal, how could he have changed his mind and come back to help me?

Just then, my phone vibrated again, a jarring interruption. Molly's name flashed on the screen. She wasn't done humiliating me.

I fumbled to decline the call, but my thumb slipped and I accidentally hit the speakerphone button as I answered.

Molly's sharp, triumphant voice rang out through the quiet hallway. "What's wrong, sis? Cat got your tongue? Are you hiding in some corner, crying like the pathetic little stray you are?"

The words hung in the air, sharp and cruel.

"I told you, you were never good enough for Earl. You're too demanding, too boring. Who would ever truly want a woman like you?"

The stares from the clerk in front of me and the passersby felt like physical blows. My cheeks burned with intense shame, and I thought I might collapse.

Just as I was about to turn and run, the tall stranger, Damian, reached out. His long, elegant fingers tapped my screen and ended the call.

Then he looked at me, those ice-blue eyes meeting mine. His voice was low and steady, a lifeline in my sea of humiliation.

"She's wrong."

I stared at him, my mind blank.

Damian gave a slight nod to a younger man in a suit standing behind him. The younger man immediately stepped forward, offering a polite bow to the clerk and the other onlookers who had stopped to stare. "I apologize for the disturbance. My superior has some private matters to attend to."

Then the blue-eyed man guided me, his hand hovering just above my lower back without actually touching, leading me to a less crowded corner. He created a protective shield, isolating me from prying eyes.

Leaning against the wall, I finally caught my breath. "Thank you," I whispered, "but... why did you say that?"

He looked at me directly, his gaze sharp enough to see through the mess inside me. "Because I thought about it, and I do need a wife to solve some issues."

His bluntness left me speechless. I was the solution to a problem?

"You," he said, gesturing toward me, "need a groom to salvage your dignity and save you from becoming a laughingstock."

Then he pointed his thumb at his own chest. "And I need a marriage to stop my family from arranging those pointless blind dates."

The logic was both terrifying and absurd. It was one of the craziest things I had ever heard, right up there with me proposing to him moments ago.

"So," Damian concluded, "we really could help each other."

I opened my mouth to say, you're insane, but the words stuck in my throat. His gaze was so calm, so utterly serious.

My life had hit rock bottom today. What could be worse than this? Marrying a stranger, or becoming a public joke?

I thought of Molly's smug smirk and Earl's cowardly betrayal. A bitter, defiant fire burned in my chest.

Why should I be the one to suffer?

I lifted my chin and met his gaze, for the first time with a hint of my own strength. "What's in it for me?"

"You approached me first, miss, and now you ask for benefits?" A faint, almost imperceptible smile crossed Damian's lips, a fleeting sign of approval. "Aside from the title of husband, what else do you want?"

The question stopped me cold. What did I want? I wanted my dignity back. I didn't want to be a pawn for my family, for my ex anymore.

"Please give me a little more time to think," I finally said.

"Fine," he nodded, his tone crisp. "You have five minutes. My time is valuable."

And he actually stood there, glancing at the expensive watch on his wrist, starting to count down for me. His composure, his sheer audacity, confirmed one thing. This was no ordinary man.