Contract marriage with the ruthless billionaire ceo boss

ly'

uth?" I said, th

a little. Not astonis

ck Dawson wasn't my intended fiancé. John Astor, my uncle, set

mained unf

not be married before my twenty-third birthday, my whole inheritance, the firm, the est

ned. Not out of sympathy, but rather c

I said. "They grabbed everything. Plan to sell me off, th

he questione

possessive He only values

y thing I had never stated before felt

n came across as a setup. Should I fail to co

ever inte

. "Forged documents, false name, wh

enc

rossing one leg over th

is

no consolation. Just

through a thousand conceivable results. I saw it, his thoughts

lf in the cent

bone, stri

at me not like

though I were a b

geab

tunity f

d, almost to himself. Still,

for his phone an

tancy or wasted movement. With quick deliberation, his fingers glided

he answere

its pretended warmth

data sweep. Legal flags, con

breath caught halfway between hope and fear. My le

through the speaker, distor

n what is public." I want asset traces, offshore records, bur

us

nce using the fe

fore George c

ck, as though the room had inh

requently?" I

ll. Only when the s

ap. And with what stake

sing a beat. "The fire you'

n he caught it, eyes narrowing as he read the arriving file. His counten

the screen toward me, "is fil

cross the room,

risk surveillance classificati

reign accounts. Suspicion about laundering using real estat

ke a file on

iled me, "this cann

And most likely only a small

shed. Though my knees quick

father's legacy," I whispered. "A

it." They simply said nothing. Eatin

g his shirt's cuffs as the conversat

e screen. So I was only a

ve this long," he continued.

turned to

came the

just one m

t me hard,

you defeat guys like h

xha

precisely do

came out with

arinat

ike a dagger; th

eye. Not making a b

ed no f

stood there, posture imperial, like he had j

, my voice cracked brittle and too thin

worn-out stone. "a contract marriage.

ncere or just too accustomed t

e corporate acqu

e one. You're surrounded. Others crave the power you possess. M

ew b

"just a paper-bound agreement." You are under l

more then opened. "

father, my board has been attentively observing me. Investors a

So I play house while you go

t noble," he s

"You hang here. You run according to the script. Public gatherings, commo

hen?" I r

fely guard your inheritance. En

t the strain coiling inside my spin

I softly

. No controversy. Nothing pr

ould I

he did no

stayed mine

still as silence. And you return t

e how rationa

pris

chil

e sure you w

I a

do not need your name. I am king of my own plan

ith something not quite hos

y the hearth's f

was ice enc

ing in the middl

ce down. Twenty-four h

deci

ween survival

d another? My lips curled and my

skipped

ill, his quiet was more loud than shouting. Tha

ing. Pushing a palm against the mantel, I tried to root mys

n know me, I

," he said, voice level.

to look for yourself. Your monarc

yet I'm offering you safety while

his sound o

en the little

d features, eyes like sharpened frost, shadows across his face. Everything about him se

touch you

ed weight. not roma

gree

ively a

racted to just that, his presence, his words

g but for agreement. computation

ke a sentence than a pardo

think like someone

e sharp, no sig

ation. Control. Yours won't dare; my adversaries won'

re faint now but still spoke. Jack's ha

do I get to breath

s you want

uld try to l

yo

that assurance

had already become half gone. Now

tarted to flutter

our puppet

." But you will

rred into blocks, phrases, requirements, binding legislation wrapped in cold letters. An

"Are yo

nswered t

t somewhat. Still, y

etched on skyscrapers, screamed across boardro

yself in this

u give you

. With Charles Lightoller, no pretence existed. There are no

old of t

the eye, "Before I do this

at?

r in this... beyo

was not v

structive

d, "you al

cere. However, since it did not. That sounded accurat

pen to the pap