Chapter 1

At twenty-eight, I went on a blind date my mother had set up.

The woman was a tour guide. After we ate, she smiled at me and said,

"I get a decent feeling about you. But do you think you could handle the kind of place I work?"

I messaged my assistant to push the meeting to tomorrow.

"I won't know until I've seen it."

She paid out of her own pocket for a thousand-dollar scenic tour package for me.

I decided I'd pay her back once it was over.

Then I got on the boat, and she stood on the shore and waved at me.

"Good luck."

When we reached the middle of the lake, the driver cut the engine.

"This is where the trip ends."

1

My father died when I was three. My mother raised me on her own, through every hardship, and put me through college.

No matter how unreasonable her requests were, I did my best to say yes to whatever she asked.

The year I graduated, all I wanted was to find a steady job and stay close to her, a quiet, safe life.

She pointed at a startup segment on TV, her whole face lit up.

"Son, I don't think you're any worse than these college kids."

That one sentence, and I set out alone on five years of building a company.

By twenty-eight, the company was valued at over fifty million.

My mother came to me one day, her face clouded with worry.

"That house is so empty and quiet. All I do every day is grow vegetables and chat with the neighbors."

"But everyone else has grandchildren by now, and you're twenty-eight already."

I've always been a little slow when it comes to feelings, but I nodded anyway.

"Mom, don't worry. I'll find the right woman soon, get married, have kids."

She perked up in an instant.

"Son, there's a matchmaking agency just outside our neighborhood. I even paid five thousand dollars for a membership."

"Just remember, when they call you, you make sure you go."

I agreed with a smile, had a meal with her, then had my driver take her home.

My assistant, Eve Chavez, knocked and came in, setting a contract on my desk.

"Mr. Whitney, there are some issues with this contract. I think a second round of negotiation is warranted."

I skimmed it, then looked up to test her.

"Tell me. What do we need to watch for in a second round?"

Eve blinked, then answered without hesitation, sure of herself.

"The background check on this scenic resort is too perfect. And that's exactly the problem."

I nodded my approval and gave her an encouraging look.

"In that case, you take the lead on it."

As I finished speaking, my phone rang. An unknown number.

I didn't bother hiding it from Eve. I put it on speaker, and the voice on the other end was all warmth.

"Is this Mr. Whitney? We've found a match for you. We've set the date for Saturday at three in the afternoon. Does that work?"

I almost turned it down flat, but then I remembered my mother's instructions.

"The time works. What about the rest of the details?"

The caller said they'd send the information to my phone, then hung up.

When I looked up, Eve was frowning.

"Mr. Whitney, are you going on a blind date?"

"With all due respect, these matchmaking agencies don't have the best reputations…"

I raised a hand to cut her off, my face blank.

"Sorry. This is a private matter."

Eve didn't say anything more. She took the contract and left.

I read the message from the agency and added the woman on the messaging app.

She accepted quickly and sent back a question mark.

I gave a brief introduction of myself, without saying my name.

【Mr. Whitney, just call me Carmen Finch. If you don't mind, Saturday at three thirty, we'll meet at the Summit Club. Does that work?】

The moment I saw it, I shook my head slightly. The other side seemed to be a gold-digger.

The Summit Club started at three thousand a head. Just to meet, was there really any need for that?

But before I could turn it down, her second message came through.

【I happen to like their taste. I'll pick up the tab.】