Page 1 of Saved By the Billionaire
Chapter 1 - Belle
The intercom crackles to life before I even finish pressing the button, and I jerk my hand back like it burned me.
"State your business." The voice is male, professional, completely devoid of warmth.
I stand there, wedding dress train pooled around my feet in the gravel, and realize I have no idea what to say. *Hi, I'm the bride who just ran away from your boss's son's wedding, can I come in?* sounds insane even in my head.
"I..." My voice comes out scratchy, raw from crying on the three-hour bus ride. I clear my throat and try again. "I need to see Richard Kane. Please. It's important."
The security camera mounted above the intercom stares at me like a unblinking eye, and I resist the urge to wave at it. Or flip it off. I haven't decided which impulse is stronger.
"Mr. Kane isn't expecting visitors," the voice says finally. "You'll need to make an appointment through his office."
"I can't." The words tumble out desperate and too fast. "I don't have his office number. I don't have anything. Please, just... tell him it's Belle. Belle Hart. He'll know who I am."
Another pause, longer this time. I can practically hear the security guard's internal debate, weighing protocol against the clearly unhinged woman in a destroyed wedding dress standing at the gate.
I must look like something out of a horror movie: mascara streaked down my cheeks, hair falling out of its elaborate updo, the bottom six inches of my dress stained brown from dragging through bus station bathrooms and gas station parking lots.
"Wait there," the voice says, and the intercom goes silent.
I wait.
The sun is starting to dip lower in the sky, painting everything in shades of gold and amber. It's beautiful here. All rolling hills and dense forest, so different from the city I left behind this morning. Was it only this morning? It feels like years have passed since I stood in that bridal suite, looking at myself in the mirror while Victoria fussed with my veil and told me how lucky I was.
"You're marrying into one of the most respected families in the state," she'd said, her perfectly manicured hands adjusting the lace at my shoulders. "Girls would kill for this opportunity, Isabelle. I hope you understand how fortunate you are."
I'd understood, all right. I understood that if I went through with it, Nathan would own me completely. Legally, officially, permanently. The bruises on my ribs, hidden under the fitted bodice of my dress, throbbed with the reminder of what my future held.
So, I ran.
The intercom crackles again, making me jump.
"Mr. Kane will see you." The gates begin to swing open with a low mechanical hum. "Follow the drive to the main house. Someone will meet you there."
Relief hits me so hard my knees almost buckle. "Thank you," I whisper, but the intercom is already silent again.
The driveway is long, impossibly long, winding through dense forest that blocks out most of the fading sunlight. My heels crunch on the gravel with each step, and I give up after about fifty feet, stopping to rip them off. The designer shoes Victoria insisted on, crystal-studded and probably worth more than my first car, go sailing into the bushes. My feet are already covered in blisters anyway.
Walking barefoot feels better, more real. Like I'm actually here, actually doing this, actually free.
The first security checkpoint appears around a bend: a small guardhouse with a barrier arm across the road. A man in black tactical gear watches me approach. He raises the barrier without comment, though I see his eyes track down my dress and back up to my face.
I lift my chin and keep walking.
The second checkpoint is similar, though this guard at least offers me a bottle of water. I take it, mumbling thanks around the lump in my throat. The cold water helps, washing away some of the cotton-mouth terror that's been building since I made the decision to come here.
The third checkpoint is different: two guards, more equipment, and a metal detector I have to walk through. One of them sweeps me with a handheld device that beeps softly as it passes over my body.
"She's clean," he says to his partner, like I'm not standing right there. Like I'm some kind of security threat instead of just a desperate woman with nowhere else to go.
Finally, the driveway opens up to reveal the house.
I stop dead, my breath catching in my chest.
It's massive. Not in the ostentatious way of Nathan's mother's house, all columns and marble and desperate attempts at looking old-money. This is something else entirely. Modern architecture of glass and steel and clean lines, built into the hillside like it grew there. Floor-to-ceiling windows reflect the sunset, making the entire structure glow like it's lit from within.
It's a fortress. Beautiful, isolated, and absolutely impenetrable.
