The Dying Billionaire's Secret Contract Wife
didn't start as a knoc
t her ribs. Sunlight was trying to push through the grime of
know you'r
e
ragged. He was drunk
d her shoulders. Debbi was already in the hallway,
bbi shouted. "I'm
uddered under another blow. "Elsie, ch
nds trembled as she picked up h
text from Je
om. She was sleeping, the sheet slipped down to her wai
etter ones. Pornhub pays well for amateur content
hitting the wall. The room spun. This wasn't
ie whispered. "He
ay," Debbi said, her v
op him from posting it," Elsie sai
d a me
time to be a v
re escape clear
t her. "You're
e felt a cold, hard resolve settling over her skin like armor. "I
the alleyway. She could still hear Jed screaming at the front
The window rolled down. A driver in a
Wat
ed, breath
. He thought you m
e could hear sirens in the distance. She looked at
the door
reet was a glass box in the sky.
clothes, though she had managed to wash h
. He looked tired. Defeated. But w
nerve showing u
lsie said. She looked at
d it. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a suit that cost more than Mitch's c
't offer a hand. He gestured to th
ents sat in the center
e why?" Elsie ask
ly," Silas said smoothly. "And because Mr. Watkins was eager to fa
t her father.
uined the merger with Jed. You owed me a
airline fracture that severed the la
his over wit
las slid the doc
EEMENT AND MAR
h the pages. The c
ummated unless directed by medical profess
ll reside at the Hunte
transferred to the Wife unti
dies," Els
hort-term arrangement," Silas said.
ths," El
wants a wife who can handle the social optics, keep hi
n. Her hand hovered ov
nother text from Jed. I'm uploadi
at it. She loo
ondition,"
ow. "You're not in a
ne million dollars. Today. Wired to a s
hand on the desk.
was soft, but it silenced the room
But mostly, she needed "fuck off" money. She needed to buy silence. She n
long moment. It felt lik
ulled out his phone and
e ink looked bla
ugly expression. "Excelle
back. "Mr. Hunter wants privacy. Ms. Watkin
stop first," Elsie
he
t a ha
her long, blon
. She paused, her hand othis hair was weak," she
n Tribeca and told th
eck. Her hair was a sharp, angled bob that framed
ught the strongest pepper spray legal in New York State.
went to
d cleared. One million dollars. The n
er screen refreshed before she could dial. A notification popped up from her service provider: Messa
er spine that had nothing to do with the air condi
It ha
g a clean slate. They had scrubbed Jed from her digital
ked two suitcases. She took her mother's photo, her favorite swea
her phone pinged. A notificatio
n 10 minutes. Destin
e looked at the stranger staring back at her.
whispered. "He's just
en that she was wr