To seal a billion-dollar merger and protect her empire, icy billionaire joke jones must do the unthinkable-get married before the clock strikes midnight on her 30th birthday. Desperate and out of options, she strikes a deal with Noah Reyes, a charming but struggling bartender, offering him a fortune to become her husband-for one year What will happen during the process of their marriage? Will their fake love turn to real in the marriage? Find out more in the book.
Chapter 1 THE FINE PRINT
Despite the fact that the paper was crumpled in his hands, Kingsley Freeman gazed at the black-and-white contract, the ink still vivid in his memory.
Half a million.
It was more than just a number. It was a means of escape.
In order to make ends meet, he had put in countless overtime hours behind the bar and picked up side jobs when tips were low. It seemed too crazy to be true, yet here was a woman-Joke Jones, no less-offering him more money than he'd ever seen in his life. A marriage under contract.
He shook his head. It was ridiculous. It was insane. It was... enticing.
He gazed out at the bustling city through the bar's tiny, dirty window. Everyone else was hurrying toward something greater, something more. Kingsley stood motionless, trying to make sense of a world that had never really appeared to care about him.
His phone buzzed in his pocket.
Carmen. His sister.
When I phone you in the middle of the night, why do you always answer?
The message appeared.
Immediately after, she had the audacity to send a laughing emoji.
Kingsley ignored it. There was no point in explaining-not now. His own thoughts were so unbelievable even to him.
Really, it wasn't even the money.
It was the question.
The request.
The promise to drastically alter his life in an instant.
To make sure he hadn't dreamed it up, he picked up the contract again and read it five more times.
Joke Jones had been open. Blunt. Married by midnight.
What bothered him most was how cool she'd been-how calculated. There had to be more happening beneath that surface. Nobody offered something like this for nothing. There were always strings. And if it were so easy, wouldn't anyone just sign and run with the money?
And what kind of woman needed to get married by a stranger to save a deal?
He paused at that thought.
She wasn't just any woman.
She was Joke Jones. The Joke Jones. Billionaire. Heiress. The woman who owned more of the skyline than most corporations.
And now she was sitting across from him with a proposal that sounded like fiction.
As he flipped the contract over, his fingers grazing the fresh ink, something gnawed at him.
What happens in a year?
Do they just shake hands, call it a day, and walk away?
Or will he be caught in the crossfire when it all explodes?
He didn't know what was truly going on behind the scenes.
Why did she need this?
What was she hiding?
What would she lose if this didn't go through?
He had no answers. And in his world, no answers meant risk.
The doorbell chimed as a customer entered, carrying the chill of the night with them. Kingsley slipped the contract back inside the folder, as if trying to hide it from himself.
He didn't have to decide.
Not yet.
Not when the decision was looking back at him with black ink and a deadline.
Uptown. 9:47 p.m.
In front of her penthouse, Joke stepped out of the black car.
From this vantage point, the city looked like a movie set-dazzling lights, endless motion, everything perfectly choreographed.
Her mother would be inside, waiting.
Excuses wouldn't be tolerated.
Victoria would have demands. Questions. A strategy.
Joke didn't have time for that.
But she had no other option.
She couldn't lose this deal-not after everything she'd put on the line.
With a cadence that always gave her a sense of control, she entered the building, her heels tapping a rhythm against the marble floor.
As expected, Victoria was already there.
"You're late," her mother said, not even looking up from the papers she was reviewing.
Joke resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"You are aware that I have a lot on my plate."
"Joke, you have a lot of nothing on your plate," Victoria snapped. "If you don't shut down this merger-"
"I know," Joke cut in, her voice cold. "I already know the answer."
Victoria's eyes narrowed. "Do you?"
Joke didn't flinch.
She reached into her bag and pulled out the sleek black folder.
Victoria fell silent, her perfectly lined lips pressed into a narrow, suspicious line.
"So, you've made up your mind," she said flatly, as though prepared to accuse her daughter of recklessness.
Joke slid the folder across the table.
"What is this?" her mother asked, her voice tight.
"A remedy," Joke replied, her gaze steady.
"I'm marrying Kingsley Freeman."
9:57 p.m. - Back at the bar.
Kingsley finally picked up the phone.
He'd been avoiding it all evening, but Carmen wasn't one to stop calling until she got what she wanted.
"Kingsley?"
Her tone was casual, but her voice was high-strung-tight with worry.
"What on earth is happening? Are you refusing a deal like this?"
"I'm not turning it down," he murmured.
"Well, it doesn't sound like that," she snapped. "She's worth a billion dollars! If you let her walk without saying yes, you're crazy."
"You don't understand." Kingsley gripped the phone tighter. "It's not about the money. It's about what she wants. I don't know her. None of it makes sense."
His stomach twisted as he looked at the contract again.
"Don't overthink this, Kingsley. This is your opportunity."
And Kingsley thought about that for a long, silent second.
He had been given four hours.
Four hours to enter a world that wasn't his.
Pretend it could be-for four hours.
Chapter 1 THE FINE PRINT
25/04/2025