🔥 The Rich Cowboy Who Rejected All the Brides—Then Came Along a Woman Who Wanted Nothing and Was Broken – thuytien

“I run a ranch, not a hotel,” Colton said.
The carriage arrived. The driver opened the door. A woman stepped out, enveloped in blue silk and lavender perfume. “Ah!” She smiled with all the confidence of someone who has never heard the word no.
“Mr. Sterling,” she said in a seductive tone.
“You’ve seen nature,” Colton said. “Now turn around.”
Her smile faltered. Her cheeks flushed. “Excuse me?”
“You’re here for a merger, not a husband,” she said. “Driver, take her back to the station.”
She was surprised. “Do you know who I am?”

“You’re the 23rd woman this year who’s wasted my time.” He didn’t stay to watch her stutter or cry. He was used to it. They came, begged, cried, and left. He thought the day was over. Little did he know a storm was brewing. One that had nothing to do with rain.
Three days after the mysterious woman arrived, Colton expected her to be resting, perhaps demanding tea and comfort like the others. Instead, Dutch found her scrubbing pots in the kitchen at 4:00 in the morning.
By noon, she was reorganizing the pantry. By evening, she was in the yard chopping wood with perfect technique. Colton watched her through his study window. She worked harder than half his men.
She startled every time a rider passed by. She hid when a stranger approached. “She’s not a criminal,” she thought. “It’s not arrogance, it’s fear. Someone is hunting her.”
He walked toward her. She didn’t hear him about the axe swing. When he turned, he raised the axe defensively before lowering it again. “I’m paying for my room,” he said breathlessly. “I told you I don’t need payment, and I told you I don’t accept charity.”
They stood face to face, breathing heavily. Her eyes burned. She didn’t care about his money. She didn’t care about his land. She didn’t even seem impressed by his name. It was the first time in years that a woman hadn’t tried to seduce him. It shook him to his core.
“Okay,” he said. “If you want to work, the cook quit last week. $5 a week, room and board, but you eat with me.”
She hesitated. “Like in the kitchen.”
“No,” he said. “To my table. That’s the deal.”
She reluctantly agreed. That night, as she sat across from him at the long mahogany table, her hands trembled slightly as she cut her food. Colton saw the truth in her eyes. She wasn’t running from poverty. She was running from a man. And whoever he was, he had nearly destroyed her.
The fire crackled in the long dining room as Abigail, still pretending to be Maria, kept her gaze lowered. Colton watched her carefully, noticing the way she kept one hand near the canvas bag she’d brought with her.
He noticed how she jumped when a floorboard creaked, how she never turned her back to a window. She wasn’t a servant. She wasn’t a traveler. She was a woman who had lived through something that would break most people.
“Where are you from?” Colton asked, cutting into his steak. She paused. “Somewhere else.”
“So, you’re running away?”
“I said I’m not a criminal. I didn’t say you were.” Her fork fell from her hands, her shoulders tensed. “I don’t want any trouble,” she whispered. “I just want to earn a living.”
Colton leaned forward. “You can’t fool me. I know men, and I know fear. Whoever hurt you is still around, isn’t he?”
She got up from the table. “Thank you for the food. I’ll clean the dishes.”
“Sit down,” Colton said, his voice deep. “I’m your employer, not your prisoner.”