Natalie Caldwell has been in love with Chase Norris since she was fourteen.
He was the quarterback. She was the quiet girl who knew they'd marry someday — not because of a crush, but because their families had decided it before either of them could spell the word "merger." Caldwell Motors and Norris Industries. A dynasty sealed with a ring.
She told herself he'd grow up. Told herself the rumors didn't matter. Told herself that when they were finally engaged, when it was real, he'd see her.
Then she walked into the dressing room at their engagement party and found him inside her cousin.
Chase wasn't sorry. He was annoyed.
"This changes nothing, Natalie. You're marrying a Norris. There's no one else."
He was wrong.
Because standing outside that party — dodging the same family that discarded him as a child — is Elijah Mercer. Officially, Gregory Norris's adopted ward. Unofficially, the billionaire bastard son they've been hiding for thirty-three years.
He's Chase's uncle. He has a PhD, a battery empire, and no interest in the family that threw him away.
And he's the boy who used to sit with Natalie at family gatherings when nobody else noticed she existed.
Natalie has spent twenty-five years being invisible.
Tonight, she stands in front of a room full of powerful men and says six words that detonate everything.
"Then I'll marry Elijah instead."
He was the quarterback. She was the quiet girl who knew they'd marry someday — not because of a crush, but because their families had decided it before either of them could spell the word "merger." Caldwell Motors and Norris Industries. A dynasty sealed with a ring.
She told herself he'd grow up. Told herself the rumors didn't matter. Told herself that when they were finally engaged, when it was real, he'd see her.
Then she walked into the dressing room at their engagement party and found him inside her cousin.
Chase wasn't sorry. He was annoyed.
"This changes nothing, Natalie. You're marrying a Norris. There's no one else."
He was wrong.
Because standing outside that party — dodging the same family that discarded him as a child — is Elijah Mercer. Officially, Gregory Norris's adopted ward. Unofficially, the billionaire bastard son they've been hiding for thirty-three years.
He's Chase's uncle. He has a PhD, a battery empire, and no interest in the family that threw him away.
And he's the boy who used to sit with Natalie at family gatherings when nobody else noticed she existed.
Natalie has spent twenty-five years being invisible.
Tonight, she stands in front of a room full of powerful men and says six words that detonate everything.
"Then I'll marry Elijah instead."
Used availability for Quinn Shepard's Groom Swap