Chapter 7 - The Woman He Chose Forever
Six months later, Lydia Bennett stood in the same restaurant where everything began.
Bellamy's.
Except this time, she wasn't hiding.
No fake glasses.
No terrible cardigan.
No disguise.
Roman Mercer sat across from her.
"You look different."
Lydia smiled.
"Better?"
"No."
She raised an eyebrow.
Roman smiled.
"More yourself."
She looked at him.
"You know, when we met, I thought you were the most dangerous man in Manhattan."
"And now?"
"Now I think you're still dangerous."
Roman laughed quietly.
"But?"
Lydia reached across the table.
"But you're the only dangerous man who ever made me feel safe."
For a moment, Roman Mercer—the man feared by thousands—looked completely undone.
"I never planned for you."
"I know."
"I didn't believe someone like you existed."
Lydia smiled.
"Someone wearing ugly sweaters?"
"No."
Roman held her hand.
"Someone who could see me."
Months later, Lydia opened her own financial consulting company.
She helped people trapped in situations like the one she had survived.
Gary stayed away from gambling.
Not because Roman forced him.
Because Lydia finally stopped rescuing him.
And Roman?
Roman Mercer remained powerful.
Dangerous.
Untouchable to everyone else.
But every morning, the most feared man in Manhattan still made coffee for Lydia Bennett.
The woman who tried to make herself impossible to want.
The woman who failed.
Because Roman Mercer had seen the truth from the beginning.
He didn't fall for her disguise.
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He fell for the woman underneath it.
THE END
