The Marriage Gamble

flicking between the somber faces around her. The lawyer droned on, his monotone voice filling the high-ceilinged office with legal jargon. This was supposed to

ad never been one

ship had been nonexistent, save for the occasional letter sent at Christmas, always impersonal and signed with a generic

erched precariously on his nose, cleared his throat,

me to the matte

eagerly. What would it be-a final insult from beyond the grave? A posth

state, including Drake Enterprises and all associated holdi

own breath catching that echoed loudest in Lena's ears. All of it? She felt th

ixture of disbelief and confu

on," the lawyer added, hi

e was a catch.

, steeling herself for w

ued, "will only be released upon the fulfillment of one con

heard correctly. Marry? She glanced around the room, catching the shocked and

rson you must marry has already been selected by Mr. Drake himself.

im-everyone in the business world did. He was ruthless, cold, and dangerous in every sense of the word.

an't b

ing calm. "If the marriage does not take place within the given timeframe, or if the co

blow designed to corner her into an impossible decision. Her grandfather hadn't just wa

nd?" Lena whispered, he

of the words crushed down on her, suffocating her in their absurdity. The entire fortune-the family legacy-woul

ocus, to think logically, but her mind was a swirl of outrage and disbelief. Her grandf

rter, you have six months. If you decide to decline, the inheritance will be forf

nheriting what was supposed to be hers-was too much to bear

voice sharper now, laced with an

heavy wooden doors swung open, and there he stood-tall, dark, and immaculately

ce as smooth as silk, yet chilling.

who had haunted her family's worst memories was now standing before

mare had