THE COLLATERAL: What He Buys, He Keeps

Ivy’s POV

The spreadsheet on my laptop screen was starting to blur together. It was almost eight at night, and the floor of Wolfe Enterprises was completely empty, except for the hum of the air conditioner and the tap of my fingers on the keyboard.

I wiped my eyes and leaned back in my chair. I just needed to finish this last

report so I could go home to Julian. We had been trying to save money for months, cutting back on dinner dates and skipping cheap vacations to pay off our college loans. It was hard, but it felt good knowing we were building something together.

"Working late again, Ivy?"

I jumped a little and turned around.

My boss—Damian Wolfe was standing near my cubicle. He had his dark suit jacket off, his white shirt sleeves rolled up to his forearms, and two hot coffee cups in his hands. He smiled—that quiet, perfect smile that made half the female staff in the building lose their focus whenever he walked by.

"Mr. Wolfe," I said, quickly standing up. "I'm sorry, I was just finishing the quarterly logs."

"Sit down, please," he said, stepping closer and placing one of the cups on my desk.

"It's steam-roasted. No sugar, extra milk. Just how you like it."

I stared at the cup for a second. I had never told him how I took my coffee.

"Thank you, sir," I said, keeping my tone strictly professional. "You really didn't have to."

Damian leaned against the edge of my desk. “I was checking the company housing list today. I noticed you didn’t apply for the apartment downtown. The company covers the rent, Ivy. It would cut your commute in half.”

"I know," I replied, giving him a small, polite smile. "It's a very generous offer, but Julian and I have a lease on our place. We prefer to handle our own living expenses."

Damian looked at me for a long moment. His dark eyes were soft and almost pitiful.

"Julian is a lucky man," he said slowly. "Not many women would turn down comfort just to stay in a cramped apartment out of loyalty to a boyfriend who struggles to pay his half of the rent."

A tiny wave of anger hit my chest. I didn't like people talking down on Julian.

"We are doing just fine, Mr. Wolfe," I said, closing my laptop. "It's about the effort we put in together. If you'll excuse me, I should get going."

Instead of getting angry, Damian gave a nod. He backed away, raising his hands in defeat. "Of course. Stay safe, Ivy. Don't work too hard."

I grabbed my bag and left the office, leaving the coffee untouched on the desk.

When I got home, the apartment door was unlocked. I pushed it open and stopped in my tracks. The living room was a mess.

Drawers were pulled out, papers were scattered over the couch, and Julian was frantically shoving documents into his bag.

"Julian?" I asked, dropping my keys on the l table near the door. "What are you doing? Did something happen?"

He whipped his head around. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked like he hadn't slept in three days. Sweat was dripping down his neck.

"Where were you?" he snapped, his voice sounding aggressive.

"I was at work," I said, confused by his tone.

"I told you I had to stay late for the quarterly report."

Julian let out a laugh and threw his bag on the floor. "Right. Work. Or were you hanging around your boss again? I saw the way he looks at you when I dropped off your lunch, Ivy. Do you think I'm blind?"

"What are you talking about?" I stepped toward him, my heart hammering against my chest. "Damian is just my boss! I turned down his housing offer today because of us. Why are you acting like this?"

"Because I'm tired of living like a beggar!" Julian shouted, stepping right up to my face. His breath smelled sour. "I'm tired of you looking at me like I'm a failure just because I can't buy you designer bags or take you to fancy dinners! You secretly want a man like Wolfe, don't you? You think you're too good for this life.”

"That is not true and you know it!" Tears burned at the back of my eyes. "I've been with you for three years, Julian! I worked two jobs in college so we could afford rent. How can you say that to me?"

"Because it's the truth!" he yelled.

"You know what? I’m not doing this right with you now." I grabbed my coat off the chair. "If that's what you really think of me after everything we've been through, then I'm leaving. I'll stay at Tessa's tonight."

I turned toward the door, my hand reaching for the knob.

"Ivy, wait!"

Julian’s voice broke. All the anger dropped out of him in a single second, replaced by panic. He grabbed my arm, his fingers shaking uncontrollably.

"Please, don't go. Don't leave me," he begged, falling to his knees right there on the rug. He was breathing heavily, tears slipping down his cheeks. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Ivy. I'm just stressed out. I'm losing my mind."

I froze, looking down at him. I was still mad, but Julian had never talked to me like that before. He was always gentle and quiet. Seeing him on the floor like this broke my heart.

My anger slowly melted into worry.

"Julian..." I whispered, leaning down. "What's wrong with you? Talk to me."

He reached into his jacket pocket with trembling hands and pulled out a small, black box.

"I did it for us," he gasped out, looking up at me with wide, bloodshot eyes. "I know things have been hard. I know you think I have no ambition. But I want to tie us together forever. Will you marry me?"

He snapped the box open.

Inside sat a ring. The metal was shiny, but the center stone was what made my breath catch. It was a massive, ocean-blue stone, cut into a teardrop shape and surrounded by tiny sparkling crystals. It caught the yellow overhead light and glowed like a streetlight.

It looked insanely expensive. Far too expensive.

"Julian..." I stuttered, backing up half an inch. "Is this... is this real?"

Julian froze. His hands started shaking even worse, and he stumbled over his words. "I... well, you see... it's... I wanted to give you something big, Ivy. I..."

He couldn't even finish the sentence. He looked away, his eyes darting to the corner of the room, avoiding my face.

Seeing him stutter like that made something click in my head. My heart felt warm. He had tried so hard just to make me smile.

"Oh, Julian," I said gently, kneeling down beside him. I took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto my finger. "You dummy. The ring doesn’t have to be real just to prove anything to me. You know I don't care about expensive jewelry. What matters to me is your heart."

Julian broke out of his frozen stance and blinked at me. He swallowed hard, forcing an awkward smile. "Y-yeah... yeah, you're right. What matters is the heart."

"Come here," I whispered, leaning in and pressing a deep kiss against his lips.

All the tension in his shoulders seemed to snap. He pulled me close, kissing me back with the same intensity. We celebrated that night on the living room floor, opening a bottle of wine. We toasted to our future, laughing and sharing intimate

moments until late into the night.

While we were sipping the last of the wine, I held up my hand, admiring how the blue stone sparkled even in the dim light.

"I just hope you didn't spend too much of your savings on this decoy, Julian," I murmured, resting my head against his chest. "We still need to save up so we can lay off the mortgage on the house."

Julian went stiff for a second before relaxing again. He cleared his throat. "To be honest... a friend sold it to me at a really cheap price. Almost nothing."

"I love it," I smiled, wrapping my arms around his waist. "And I love how intentional you are with us."

He didn't reply. He just stroked my hair in silence, staring at the ceiling until we both drifted off to sleep.