After dumped, I married a billionaire

Vance Martinez glanced over at his grandmother, and caught that playful, knowing glint in her eye. He smiled warm and said, "Grandma, I’ll never forget how good you’ve been to me today."

"Oh, cut the sweet talk!" She shot him a playful glare, her eyebrows lifting with quiet pride. "I didn’t do this for you. I just wanna meet my great-grandkids already, sooner rather than later."

Vance dropped his gaze, hiding the hard edge of seriousness in his eyes. "So it’s settled then. Leona’s gonna be your granddaughter-in-law, and no matter what happens, there’s no taking it back."

"The one thing I’ve never doubted my whole life is my own gut," the old lady stated firmly, full of confidence. "Now you gotta figure out how to win her over for good. That girl doesn’t look like she’s got even a little crush on you, far as I can tell."

That hit the nail right on the head—this was exactly Vance’s problem. Women swarmed him like bees to honey, drawn to every bit of his charm, but Leona Carpenter? She couldn’t have cared less. It left him fumbling in uncharted territory, eaten up with self-doubt he’d never felt before.

"Grandma, you got any advice for me?" Vance asked, looking at her with hopeful eyes.

"If you wanna chase her, you gotta show her you’re dead sincere," his grandmother said seriously. "Be humble, be upfront, be thoughtful. And most important of all? Stay real. If you ever hurt her even a little, I’ll give you hell before anyone else gets the chance."

Vance couldn’t help but laugh. "I haven’t even brought her home yet, and you’re already taking her side?"

"The more I see of that girl, the more I like her." Her fondness for Leona shone clear as day when she thought of Leona’s soft, kind manner. Glancing over at Vance, who already looked antsy to leave, she asked quickly, "Where you running off to?"

Vance’s lips tugged up into a sly smile. "To be a little more proactive, duh."

When Leona headed for her hospital room, she ran straight into Michael Hansen’s sister, Remy, totally out of the blue.

It looked like Remy had been waiting for her—she planted herself right in Leona’s path, blocking her from getting back to the room.

Remy dragged her gaze up and down Leona, disdain practically rolling off her, a sneer tugging at her mouth. "Leona, I overestimated you. I thought you’d finally face reality and scram. But here you are, hanging around like a bad shadow. You really think a few pity parties are gonna make my brother take you back? Lose that stupid fantasy! My brother doesn’t want some doormat like you!"

"Say that again." Leona’s face went ice-cold, a sharp, dangerous glint flashing in her eyes.

Remy, who’d only ever seen Leona roll over and take it, flinched back without meaning to. But she recovered quick, snapping, "What? Did I lie? You break up with my brother one minute, then go run off to hook up with the first guy who looks your way. It’s pathetic!"

Leona said nothing. That just made Remy bolder, and she kept going, "Don’t act like I don’t know why you disappeared all that time ago. My brother told me everything!"

Leona’s face drained of all color at those words, leaving nothing but a tight mask of agony. Her eyes shook, raw and unsteady.

Her hands clenched tight at her sides, nails digging hard into her palms—she didn’t even feel the sting. Her whole frail frame shook uncontrollably, like she was caught in a silent storm no one else could see.

That night was the most humiliating of her entire life. A scar that would never fade, not completely. Only she and Michael knew what happened. He’d sworn no one else would ever find out…

But now he’d given her secret to Remy. When did promises turn into nothing but garbage?

It felt like a dull knife had just carved straight through her chest, wave after wave of blinding pain making her head spin. Even breathing hurt, like pulling glass into her lungs.

Seeing how pale Leona had gone, Remy knew she’d won, and her confidence came roaring back. "Let me tell you one more thing, Leona. If you hadn’t latched onto my brother right after he broke up with Aila? He never would’ve looked twice at you. You really need to go look in a mirror and see what you actually are…"