Rich Radiant and Over Him (Alicia and Vincent) novel Chapter 157

Does this count as self-sabotage?

“Vincent, do you love me?” Alicia pressed him, her voice quietly insistent.

Vincent said nothing. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, but he couldn’t make himself say that one word.

He hesitated, weighed down by his concerns. Alicia was an orphan—she had no connections, no family name that could help his status or his career.

He’d even thought, if Alicia were just the least privileged debutante among high society girls, he’d marry her without a second thought.

But Alicia… was just an orphan.

If he wanted to marry her, he’d need to be much stronger than he was—to have the kind of power where nothing else mattered.

To say “I love you” now? It was just too soon.

Alicia let out a cold, mocking laugh under her breath and turned to leave just as a young girl burst through the door, a backpack slung over her shoulder.

“Vincent!” The girl, Nola, was adorable and always smiling.

She rushed in and called out to Vincent first, not even glancing at Alicia or greeting her as “sister.”

Four years ago, Nola’s mother had run off, and her father had been left paralyzed after a car accident. Nola had been forced to drop out of school, even though she’d scored top in her class, and ended up crying alone on the pavement. That was when Alicia found her. Alicia, though barely scraping by herself—an orphan who rarely managed a hot meal—still wanted to help the girl. So she swallowed her pride and turned to Vincent for help.

Vincent was a businessman, and everything with him came with a price tag. He agreed to sponsor Nola’s education, to cover her fees all the way through graduation—but only on the condition that, since she was such a promising student, she’d intern at Lawson & Co. after college.

It was the same demand he’d once made of Alicia when she was finishing university—that she intern by his side.

“I heard you did well on your exams,” Vincent said, flashing a rare smile.