Chapter 64

Her bold proclamations, her dreams, her hopes for the future—they all seemed like a joke now.

Nikita knocked on the door. "Dad."

Hadrian looked up at her, his exhaustion and disappointment unconcealed. "You should be in your room. What do you want?"

"I can agree to a strategic marriage," Nikita said.

Hadrian stared, looking at her in disbelief as if he'd misheard. “What did you say?"

Nikita paused, her voice slightly hoarse. "It's the only way to resolve the Stafford family's current crisis and save our stock prices."

Hadrian's mouth opened and closed, his expression shifting rapidly. Before, when he had pushed her to marry, it was because he wanted a stable and secure future for her. She had fought him, talking about her ambitions, the meaning of life, her dreams of adventure.