Chapter 4: Love as Leverage

He returned to the States, called a board meeting, and took over the company.

At the time, Lillian sometimes attended board meetings for her father.

Before she went, her father told her, “The Ellison family’s assets are ours for sure. I’ve had my eye on Ellison Group’s international division for a long time. If Carter’s dad hadn’t died in that accident, I’d never have had a shot. The new heir is just a twenty-three-year-old kid—what trouble could he cause?”

“Lillian, go check him out for me. See what kind of person he is.”

So Lillian went, and met Carter.

“Quinn, do you wonder why I fell in love with Carter?”

“The first time I met him was actually when I was sixteen. After you disappeared, I was tortured for a while before being sent home. I was timid and weak, bullied, and could only endure, calling your name in my heart every day, comforting myself that if I endured, it would pass.”

Until she was locked in a dark equipment room.

Because of her childhood kidnapping, she was terrified of the dark.

She cried, called for help, screamed, pounded on the door until her hands were swollen, but no one heard, no one saved her.

Even I was gone.

Until Carter followed the sound and smashed open the door.

He came in against the light, like a savior. In the darkness, he smiled at her and said, “Crying won’t solve the problem.”

For a moment, she was silent. That memory was one of her rare moments of warmth. A faint, dreamy smile appeared on her lips as she told me:

“Quinn, do you know? That cramped trunk has always been the abyss in my nightmares.”

“But when Carter opened the door and reached out to me, telling me not to be afraid, it felt like he crossed eight years of time and rescued the eight-year-old me from that trunk.”

After that, she searched for him, but by the time she learned his name, he had already gone abroad.

Until years later, at the board meeting.

She stood outside, staring in a daze at the tall man by the window. When he turned around, his familiar features overlapped with her memories. He smiled and reached out, “You must be Lillian Avery. I’m Carter Ellison. Welcome.”

He didn’t remember her at all, nor that rescue nine years ago.

Outside, new high-rises reflected dazzling sunlight. Lillian stared at him, then smiled, gentle and reminiscent, “Hello, Carter. I’m Lillian.”

I’ve looked for you for so long, and waited for you for so long.

She never said this out loud, and Carter would never know.

I asked, “But your relationship doesn’t seem very harmonious.”

Lillian sighed, “I used the wrong method, Quinn. My childhood taught me to hate, but no one taught me how to love—except you. No one has ever loved me, so I don’t understand.”

So, at the beginning, she proposed a deal to Carter—her specialty.

That board meeting made her realize Carter was surrounded by enemies: self-serving executives, board members eyeing the company, distant relatives wanting a share.

But Carter kept his composure. During the heated board meeting, he remained silent. When the directors started quarreling over profits, he ‘accidentally’ knocked his glass to the floor.

The sharp sound silenced the room. He looked up and, expressionless, asked, “Why did you stop arguing?”

He raised his head, smiled faintly, and swept his gaze over everyone. The noisy room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Only Lillian sat opposite, smiling at him when their eyes met.

He already had the makings of a future leader—calm, decisive, clear-headed. Given a few years, he’d surely secure the Ellison family’s future.

Afterward, in the empty meeting room, Lillian stayed behind.

She poured a new glass of water, set it beside him, and when he looked up in surprise, she smiled and proposed, “Carter, let’s talk business.”

A business marriage.

Lillian said, “Let’s get married. If you can’t keep the Ellison family, I’ll help you.”

It was tempting, but after his initial surprise, Carter refused.

“Miss Avery, I don’t intend to use marriage as a bargaining chip. If I marry, I want it to be for love, not for business.”

His refusal didn’t anger Lillian; it made her like him more.

After that, she appeared by Carter’s side several times, always when he was at his lowest. Each time, he politely and distantly rejected her.

Until one day, when all the banks were pressuring him and he couldn’t turn around his funds.

It was raining heavily. After dinner with a bank president, he had no umbrella.

In the rain, Lillian appeared, holding an umbrella over his head, sighing: “My proposal still stands, Carter. If you can’t hold your position, I’ll help you.”

Carter said nothing, just looked quietly at her from under the umbrella.

Lillian added, “If you refuse me today, tomorrow my father will launch an acquisition of Ellison Group.”

“Why?” Carter looked at her, puzzled. “Why me?”

She looked away and lied:

“Because you need me, need the Avery family. And you know my situation—a young stepmother after my inheritance, a stepbrother sent away, a father who can still have children. The Ellison family is in turmoil. If we marry, you don’t have to worry about me betraying you. We’re a perfect match, aren’t we?”

Carter believed it, and they got engaged.

If she had confessed her love, he would never have agreed.

Only a pure exchange of interests would make him accept.

She thought: get him first, then make him fall in love.

She told me, “Quinn, am I stupid? I forced him into a marriage alliance, wanted him to like me, but didn’t want him to be grateful, so I never let him know what I did for him.”

What did she do for Carter?

She persuaded her father to give up swallowing the Ellison family.