Chapter Eleven

BETSY DIDN'T EVEN THINK.

She simply planted her hands against his chest and tried with all her might to shove him away.

But her boss didn't move even a single inch, and her eyes burned hotter with unshed tears. "Please let me go."

"Not until you say you'll marry me."

Betsy's gaze flew up to his, her heart in agony that he could be so cruel. "What do you get from this?" How could this be the same man she had once thought was kind?

Something inside Lukas tightened at Betsy's pain-filled tone. "I'm serious, Betsy. I wantto marry you," he said fiercely. "But there's also something you mustknow before giving me your answer."

Betsy could only shake her head. No more,she wished she had the strength to say.

"I was about to marry another woman when I found out I was infertile."

Lukas braced himself for Betsy's reaction, but all he saw in her gaze was shock, and so he forced himself to continue.

"She was still keen to marry me, but her family had one condition for the wedding to push through."

"And what was that?" Betsy couldn't stop herself from asking in a shaken tone.

"They found the idea of adoption distasteful," the billionaire divulged harshly, "and they wanted me to put it in writing that I'd never consider it. I disagreed, and suffice it to say, we are no longer on speaking terms."

A whirlwind of emotions had Betsy struggling to process Lukas' bombshell of a confession. Who was the other woman? Did he still love her? Did the other woman still love him? And why was the idea of adoption distasteful?

Lukas could no longer bear the silence between them. "I want you to understand that I am notmarrying you because you already have a son. It's youthat I want to marry, youthat I want to spend the rest of my life with. And I know I'm far from the ideal man—-"

Lukas' words died abruptly in his throat as Betsy suddenly threw herself into his arms.

"You're wrong," he heard her choke out, and defeat weighed down on his shoulders as he felt her tears wet the side of his neck.

He was wrong, she had said.

And that could only mean one thing.

"Because the f-first time I saw you, I thought you were perfect."

A choked sob escaped Betsy as she slowly leaned back to have him see the truth in her eyes. "And even after what you told me, I still think you're perfect—-"

Lukas drew his breath sharply when he realizedwhereher words were leading.

"Are you saying you'll marry me, Betsy?" he demanded rawly.

She wanted to give him the words he deserved so badly, but emotions had clogged her throat. All she could do was nod—-

Aaaah!

Tearful laughter slipped past Betsy's lips as Lukas suddenly swept her in his arms and whirled her around.

"You have made me the happiest man alive, Betsy."

He was still holding her up as he spoke the words, and she nearly drowned in the intensity of his gaze.

"M-Me, too."

It was all she could manage to get out, with her head still reeling at how her once-aloof boss was openly talking about things she had never imagined she would hear him utter.

Lukas' chest squeezed anew upon seeing the stars in her eyes. Countless women had attempted to entice him to their beds. But not one of them had looked at him the way Betsy was looking at him now.

The knowledge humbled him, but it also made Lukas want to chain her to his side for eternity.

He slowly lowered Betsy to her feet, but only so he could cup her face and take her gaze captive.

"From now on, you are mine." He had never imagined he could be this possessive about a woman, but claiming Betsy was suddenly the only thing that mattered. "Do you understand?"

"Y-Yes."

"Then say it," Lukas urged her. "Say you're mine."

"I'm yours," Betsy whispered. "I've always wanted to be yours—-"

Lukas groaned as the sweetness of her words overpowered his self-control.

His mouth covered hers in an instant, and he felt more than heard her whimper against his lips as his tongue stroked in to mate with hers. Her body buckled violently against his when he started sucking on her tongue, but just as her nails dug hard into the broad slopes of his shoulders—-

A cry pierced their ears.

And Betsy wanted to cry again when Lukas immediately ended their kiss and carefully pulled away.

A wry smile curved over Lukas' lips when he saw the look on Betsy's face. "It is also because of how you are as a mother to your son that I want to marry you. "

Her lips parted, but she was crying so hard that speaking simply became impossible.

Thank You, thank You, thank You.

Someone once told Betsy how God didn't just listen to prayers that fell past people's lips. There were also prayers that people's hearts moaned and cried about—-prayers that one didn't either know how to express or did not believe they deserved to ask for.

She had never understood what that meant—-until now.

All Betsy had heard since giving birth to D were sighs of pity and dismay.

It was as if everyone saw her son as someone Betsy shouldregret.

It was as if everyone believed that her son had ruined her life.

And it hurt.

It had hurt to see people think of him as a mistake when all she saw was her greatest treasure.

It was only now that Betsy realized her every moment of despair was not in vain.

All that time, her soul was also silently crying out to God for someone to see what she saw in D.

Feel what she felt for her son.

And that was Lukas.

Her answered prayer.