Free $10,000,000 Marriage Proposal by James Patterson Page A

of the man she’d met the other night. So he was the millionaire! And he had liked her! She couldn’t quite tell from the letter, but it seemed like she had, against all odds, won. She’d landed the lead part. And now they were cancelling the show. He was giving up. Without even trying. Caroline bit her bottom lip, willing herself not to cry. Of course she hadn’t won anything. She’d never really dared to dream that she would. But now, to hear how close she’d come…and what had she lost? At the very least, a man who could rescue her from this house, her mother, her debt. And if she dared to dream—Prince Charming, a man whom she might love, a man who chose her from the crowd, a man who could help her make real changes in the world. A soul mate.
    This whole time she’d told herself she didn’t believe in the contest, or care about it. But the mere possibility it presented had forced her to confront the reality of her life. She was twenty-six years old, living with her mother. Her job, which she loved, would never support her. She hadn’t been on a date—hadn’t even met someone who interested her—in the ten months since Steven dumped her.
    Somehow she had managed to spend three years thinking she had a healthy and loving relationship with a man who felt perfectly comfortable breaking up with her simply by never returning her calls. No arguments, no ultimatums, no We have to talk, just utter silence. It had been insulting and devastating. How could she trust someone after that? How could she trust herself? For the brief period of this contest Caroline had allowed herself to hope, to believe that someone might pick her out of a crowd and love her exactly as she was. But even the man who’d invented the contest was wise enough not to be so hopelessly romantic in the end. She was the fool who’d been willing to believe in someone else’s misguided fantasy.
    Nicholas was right, of course. This was a stupid way to find love. Or to make money, for that matter. But it sure would have been nice. And after daring to hope that her life could actually fall into place, fairy-tale style, she now had to face how far from the truth that was.
    Brooke knocked on the door. “Everything okay in there? I have to get ready for school.”
    “Oh, sure, sorry. Be right out.” Caroline threw water on her face and brushed past Brooke before her sister could notice anything. In the kitchen she shoved a doughnut into her mouth and muttered something about her allergies acting up, just in case her mother noticed any redness around her eyes.
    “Enjoy!” her mother crowed. “We’re celebrating today, aren’t we? You’re putting yourself out there, Caroline. The only way to make things change is to change them yourself, and you’re doing it. I’m so proud of you.”
    “Thanks, Mom,” Caroline said. She didn’t want to deceive her mother, but it seemed a shame to let her down so soon.

Chapter 26
    When Elody put the yellow envelope on Janey’s desk, Janey assumed it had been misdelivered. Other than Elody, who hadn’t hesitated to follow Janey to her new company, she hadn’t told anyone about the job. Even her parents didn’t know yet. Nobody knew where she was. But the messenger had found her here. Her eyes jumped down to the signature so that she could identify the sender. Tony. Did she know a Tony? She began to read.
    Dear Janey,
    It’s me. Your filter.
    Oh. That Tony. Janey looked up and saw that Elody was still in the doorway, waiting expectantly.
    “Is it from him? The mystery man?” Elody asked. Her radar was a little too good sometimes. Janey’s eyes jumped down to the bottom of the letter. Her eyes caught the phrase he does not think you two are a match. She was being rejected.
    “It’s him, and he’s rejecting me,” she told Elody. Janey skimmed the letter, in which Tony thanked her for the time and energy she’d given to “this unorthodox search” and complimented her.
    The end said,
    I also want to