The Heiress He Underestimated novel Chapter 89

Despite everything, Elera smiled. “You didn’t

have a terrible attitude. You were actually pretty gracious about the whole ‘marry me so I have access to your medical genius‘ thing.”

“I was desperate,” Drakonius said. “Desperate and dying and willing to do whatever it took to buy myself more time. And then this incredible woman walked into my life and agreed to my insane proposal, and I thought it was too good to be true. And now I find out it was. Because you didn’t need anything from me. You agreed to this out of kindness and not necessity. Which makes me feel like the biggest opportunist alive.”

“Stop,” Elera said firmly. “You’re not an opportunist. You offered me exactly what I needed at exactly the right time. A partnership and a safe place. Someone who saw me as an equal. That wasn’t taking advantage. That was…” She searched for the right words. “That was two people finding exactly what they needed in each other, even if neither of us fully understood it at the time.”

Drakonius looked at her for a long moment. “You terrify me,” he said quietly. “Do you know that? You’re so brilliant and powerful and capable that you could have anyone, do anything, go anywhere. And you chose to stay here, in this fortress, with a dying man who has nothing to offer you but borrowed time and medical complications. Why would you do that? Why would you stay?”

Because I’m falling in love with you, Elera thought. Because somewhere between the ice bath and the garden conversations and you defending me against the rich matrons, I started to care about you in a way that has nothing to do with medicine or partnerships or strategic alliances.

But she couldn’t say that. Not when he was looking at her like she was some kind of unattainable ideal. Not when he so clearly saw their relationship as temporary, transactional. Not when he’d just found out she was worth billions and could have saved herself without him.

‘Because the work matters,” she said instead, keeping her voice steady. “The Chimera Protocol is the most challenging, exciting thing I’ve ever done. Your case is unique. If I can cure you, if I can prove this treatment works, it could save thousands of people with similar genetic disorders. That’s worth staying

“No,” she said, frustrated now. “Not like any patient. Like someone I’ve come to know and respect and genuinely enjoy being around. Someone who makes me laugh. Someone who understands the loneliness of having to hide parts of yourself. Someone who gave me a bracelet that monitors my heartbeat because he was worried about me.”

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