Debt Repaid Chapter 1

The day the Vereen empire crumbled, everyone expected me to break off my engagement to Seraphina.

But as the downpour hammered the city, I was the one holding an umbrella over her, shielding her rain-soaked, broken figure as I guided her into my car.

“Here’s a hundred million,” I told her, my voice low and steady. “If you succeed, you come back and marry me. If you fail, I’ll come and marry you.”

Five years later, Seraphina Vereen returned to Veridia City, a titan of industry with three publicly traded companies at her back.

In front of a wall of flashing cameras, she made her grand announcement: “Landon Shaw and I terminated our engagement five years ago.”

* * *

In those five years, another man had been by her side. A man who gave her a shoulder to lean on when she was exhausted, who comforted her when she was broken, who applauded her triumphs. They had weathered the storm together, a perfect match born from hardship and mutual devotion.

And the man who had staked a hundred million on her comeback? He was now the city’s biggest joke.

“This is three hundred million. Consider my debt of gratitude repaid.”

The Seraphina who stood before me now was a world away from the girl I once knew. The youthful innocence was gone, replaced by a cool, commanding confidence. She was a powerhouse, radiating an almost dangerous allure. It was that allure that had first captivated me, making me defy my own father to back her when she had nothing.

Even now, a single glance was enough to ignite a possessive fire within me.

I picked up the credit card she’d placed on the table and handed it to my assistant behind me.

My face was a blank mask, my voice devoid of warmth. “Check the balance. I want every last cent.”

Sera watched the assistant take the card, letting out a long sigh as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

I observed her subtle shift in expression and chuckled, a low, careless sound. “You think that makes us even?”

Her spine straightened, her expression turning serious. “Mr. Shaw, if you ever need anything in the future, you have only to ask. I, Seraphina Vereen, will not refuse.” She paused, then added with deliberate weight, “Anything but marriage.”

She said it with such earnest gravity, playing the part of the honorable debtor.

I wasn’t buying it.

“That watch you won at the auction yesterday,” I said, my tone casual. “I like it. Have it on my desk by morning.”

She’d paid a fortune for that timepiece. It was a one-of-a-kind, a global exclusive she had reportedly bought for her fiancé, Leo Price. I wondered what a certain someone might think if it suddenly appeared on my wrist.

Seeing her hesitate, I rose from my chair and headed for the stairs, not bothering to look back. “If a CEO’s word means nothing, then just consider my request a joke.”

The next day, the watch was on my desk.

I held it up, admiring the intricate craftsmanship. A masterpiece of engineering, worth a king’s ransom. It would pair perfectly with my custom suit for the evening’s gala.

Sera arrived with Leo on her arm. I, of course, was alone.

The whispers started almost immediately, growing louder as the night wore on. Everyone was buzzing, wondering why the engagement gift she’d bought for her fiancé was now gracing my wrist.

Eventually, the fiancé in question made his way toward me, a practiced smile on his face.

“Mr. Shaw,” Leo began, his tone smooth. “Sera explained everything. The watch was a gesture of her gratitude.”

I took a slow sip of my champagne and turned away, dismissing him. He wasn't worth my time.

But he persisted, a new, sharper edge to his voice. “I guess all that money can’t buy you the first thing about how to love someone, can it? Otherwise, Sera would never have chosen me.”

I looked at the half-empty glass in my hand and decided it wasn't nearly satisfying enough.

I reached for a slice of cake from a nearby table, and with a flick of my wrist, I smashed it directly into his smug, smiling face.

A collective gasp rippled through the room, all eyes turning to us.

Sera was at his side in an instant, pulling a handkerchief from her purse to wipe the cream from his stunned face. Her voice was sharp with accusation as she turned on me. “What do you think you’re doing, Mr. Shaw? Why are you tormenting my fiancé?”

I dropped the empty cake plate, wiped my fingers with a napkin, and shrugged. “He was ruining my appetite.”

Leo adopted a look of pained forbearance, a masterclass in male fragility. “I was just telling Mr. Shaw that I don’t mind him taking my watch,” he said to the onlookers, his voice trembling slightly. “As long as it helps him feel better, I’ll do anything.”

That was all it took. My arch-rival, Ryder Thorne, who was lounging nearby, chimed in with performative outrage. “There goes Landon Shaw again, throwing his weight around. Thinks his family’s money gives him the right to take whatever he wants.”

A chorus of condemnation followed as others joined in, painting me as the arrogant, spoiled heir everyone loved to hate.

Through it all, I maintained a polite, detached smile, my eyes locked on Sera’s. Her gaze was a dark, unreadable storm.

After a long, tense moment, she finally said, “Let’s go.”

She took Leo’s hand and led him away. The sight of their retreating backs was like a thorn in my eye.

We were engaged at eighteen. The Sera I knew then was sweet and innocent. A careless joke from me was enough to make a delicate blush bloom across her fair cheeks. I loved to tease her, the way a man loves to fluster a woman he desires.

The day her family’s company collapsed, it was as if she grew up overnight. Her gaze became steel, her entire being radiating an unbreakable defiance.

I knew she would succeed. I just forgot that once she did, she might not remember the promise she’d made to me.

Do I regret it?

I never do anything I regret.

I was the one who lifted her up. I can be the one to drag her back into the mud.