BOUND BY HIS BILLION DOLLAR VOW

Georgia wore a purple peplum dress, coral-toed heels, and carried a quilted bag. Her hair was styled in a high ponytail. She sat gracefully behind the presenter's table, a small, confident smile curving on her lips.

"Can you tell us about your success?" Emma, the presenter, asked.

"Success is nothing but the courage you show in every situation," Georgia whispered.

"And what's your message to the younger generation?" Emma asked, staring at her curiously.

Georgia smirked. "I never took advice from anyone, so I don't think I can give any either. But let me share the line that drives me: Take the risk. Never step back. Make mistakes. Learn from them. Nothing teaches better than your own experience. If you have a goal, achieve it at any cost no matter the challenge or how tough life may get. Be confident and go ahead."

She smiled again.

Just then, her P.A. rushed in, breathless. "Ma, you have a call."

"I can pick that up later," Georgia replied coldly.

"It's your dad... he said it's urgent."

"You can attend to it," Emma suggested gently.

Georgia stood up without another word and rushed out, her heels clicking sharply against the floor. Her phone buzzed with thousands of notifications, calls, and messages.

"What's going on? What's the news about?" she asked in a harsh tone.

"Ignore it for now. Let's leave," her P.A. murmured, trying not to add to the tension.

---

Georgia's POV:

I was at the media house for an interview when my P.A. rushed in, handing me my phone. I collected it and stared at the flood of missed calls and messages. My heart dropped. I couldn't control my emotions. People stared at me, confused. I tried to keep it together, but something felt terribly wrong.

I entered the car, and just as the news started playing, I heard something shocking. My P.A. quickly turned it off, and we drove straight to my office.

Getting there, I saw my father, our family lawyer, and a few staff members waiting. My heart raced.

Am I safe? I wondered.

I took a deep breath and calmed myself. Sitting on my chair, I looked around the room. The tension was thick.

Georgia Lane gripped the edge of the table, willing her hands to stop shaking. The air in her office felt suffocating. Her father's failure... and now hers.

Caleb Lane sat hunched in the chair across from her, his once proud shoulders stooped under the weight of too many losses. He couldn't even meet her eyes.

"Say it again," Georgia demanded, her voice flat.

The lawyer shifted uncomfortably, flipping through a thick stack of papers and documents that represented the end of everything the Lane family had built.

"Lane Holdings has defaulted on five major loans," he said carefully. "The creditors are calling in their debts effective immediately. Unless a buyer intervenes, all assets will be seized within the month."

"And?" she asked, her eyes blazing.

Her father let out a strangled sound, something between a cough and a sob. "I tried to protect you, Georgia. I did everything I could."

But she didn't want his apologies. Not now. Not when the floor was vanishing beneath her.

"You tried," she chuckled bitterly. "Wow. So why are we here then? I've worked so hard for years. I tried my best to make everything right. So why... why am I just hearing this now?"

No one answered her.

Her gaze locked onto the lawyer. "And who is this 'buyer' you mentioned?"

The man hesitated, clearly wishing he were anywhere else. Finally, he pushed a sealed envelope across the polished table. Her name was written on it in a clear, familiar hand.

She didn't need to open it to know who it was from.

Her chest tightened painfully. Still, she tore the envelope open, as if seeing the words in black and white would somehow make them less real.

---

Georgia,

I believe we have unfinished business.

Meet me at my office tomorrow at 6 a.m.

Come alone.

Liam Patel

---

Liam Patel.

The name alone made her stomach clench.

The man she had once sworn never to see again. The man whose cold, merciless ambition had already cost her more than she cared to admit.

Her father's voice broke through her spiraling thoughts, weak and pleading.

"He... he made an offer. One that could save us."

"6 a.m.? An offer?" she scoffed. "I guess this really is hell already. Why 6 a.m.? What kind of offer even comes at that time? What if it's something we can't accept?"

She stared at the letter, her pulse roaring in her ears. She could almost see Liam's eyes, sharp as a cutlass, unreadable as the dark suits he always wore.

Tomorrow, she would walk into his territory.

Tomorrow, she would find out exactly what price he expected her to pay.

Georgia pressed her lips together to keep them from trembling. She would not let them see her break. Not yet.

Without another word, she packed her things and left her office. The door clicked shut behind her. For a moment, she paused and allowed herself a single breath.

It would be the last breath she took as a free woman.

---

What kind of offer will Liam give her?

Will Georgia accept it or let her family's legacy fall apart?