The Billionaire's Stand-in Bride

Chapter One

Isabel sat in the dressing room, staring at herself in the mirror. This was it; she was getting married. She sighed out and placed the flowers she held in her hand next to her and rubbed her palms together. Just then, the door opened, and the man of her dreams walked in.

No, the man that had been her sister's dreams. Her heart ached as he approached her. His steps, measured. He had a stern look on his face. He wasn't near excited on his wedding day, and he looked like it.

Standing in front of her, Damian flung the documents to her face. White paper flew around. She blinked, startled.

"Here, sign this," he said, his voice icy cold.

Isabel looked around the hall, unsure of what to do.

"Are you a fool, or by any chance did you think you would enter this marriage without a contract?" he asked.

She didn't say a word. She only listened as his words bore holes deep into her soul. Damian had been indifferent to her when he courted her sister.

Never cold, never hot, but she'd already harbored the forbidden love for her sister's fiancé. And after her sister had passed away suddenly, well, her father still needed a link to the Wayne family, so he had offered her instead. And the man had no choice but to accept. That had been the beginning of his cruelty towards her.

"What do you want me to do?" she said in a stiffened voice.

"You fool, it's written in the document, but since you want to hear it from me, I'll gladly tell you. Firstly, there's a guaranteed divorce after five years of the marriage," he said, and Isabel's eyes shot up in disbelief.

She wanted to speak, but he held out his hand to silence her. "Secondly, you're not allowed to speak to me. If you want to say anything, you'll go through the butler. I can speak to you if I have anything to say. No physical interaction whatsoever. I can hardly bear the sight of you. Thirdly, you do only whatever I say."

Isabel's eyes stung as she heard him speak. He had specifically memorized every detail just to show how much he detested her.

There wasn't going to be any children, and there wouldn't be any form of intimacy among them. She swallowed hard repeatedly, forcing the lump that had formed in her throat to go down.

"If anyone should break this contract, the person will be fined a hundred billion dollars," he said, and she blinked. A hundred billion? That wasn't anywhere near her family's entire net worth. Was he that desperate to avoid her?

Damian saw the look on her face and scoffed, his eyes glistening.

“You must think I was joking, don't mess with me; I can break this through, but you can't. Your family is dirt broke," he said, and looked away from her.

"Sign it," he said coldly.

Breathing heavily, she bent and took the paper from the floor. Her reddened dress no longer suffocated her as she did. Damian scoffed, his disgust clear in his voice when he spoke, "Why bother to look good when you're just a stand in?”

Isabella ignored his remark. The best she could do was ignore. She was on the verge of tears now. It wouldn't do her any good to cry and ruin her makeup. It'd only upset him more. She took the documents, glaring hard at the white paper.

He reached out to give, but she ignored him. Taking her thumb in her mouth she bit down hard on it, the pain coursing through her body as blood ran out, she placed her thumb on the signature area, and her fingerprint was marked on it.

It was an oath she had taken with her life.

Damian, who watched with an expressionless face, made a mocking sound and took the document away from her. As he turned to leave, Isabella called out to him.

"Why are you doing this to me?"

He stopped in his tracks and turned to her. At that moment, she regretted doing that as his eyes flashed with anger.

"You've just broken one of the rules, but I'll let it slide since we haven't taken our wedding vows yet."

He said and walked out of the door. They did take their wedding vows, but it was nothing like she had dreamed of. The drive back to the Wayne mansion was suffocating, and just as she was thankful it was over, Joelle, Damian's mother, came out to greet them. She hadn't bothered gracing them with her presence at the wedding.

"The wedding is over. Oh, good, come with me," she said to Isabelle, who looked confused.

Damian glanced at her and walked into the mansion.

“Mother, I don't understand," Isabel said, and Joelle shot her a deadly stare.

"Don't you dare call me mother, and don't question me. Come now," she said, pulling her roughly into the mansion. Isabel had no idea what she was supposed to do. She followed her willingly.

Joelle led her to the kitchen. The maids were busy preparing dinner when they got there.

"This is where you stay day and night. You must take care of the household."

Isabel stared at her mother-in-law in shock.

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't you hear me? You stay here, cook, and clean, and when it's time, you provide my son with an heir," she said.

Isabel shook her head, becoming downcasted. Why is this suddenly happening to me? She thought.

"Ma'am, you know I work," she said, and Joelle scoffed.

"What do you mean you work? You're married into the Wayne family. You don't need to work for your dad's poor company anymore. We've settled them for life."

Isabel shook her head. Her work was the only thing that could take her mind off everything that was happening. And besides, she didn't know how to cook meals properly.

"I can't cook," she said, and Joelle scoffed at her.

"The maid will teach you, so you can start now."

Now! Isabel was dumbfounded. She was still in her wedding dress. She closed her eyes briefly, trying to contain the anger that had started rising in the pit of her stomach.

"Okay, let me go change first," she said, trying to walk away, but she was held back.

"Are you that useless? When your sister lived here with us, she was such a darling, unlike you. Why did you even bother with the wedding dress?"

Just as she was about to speak, Damian appeared in front of the door.

"What's the noise about?"

Isabel looked at him hopefully. Surely he wouldn't let his mother stop her from working. He wasn't as old-fashioned and biased as she was.

Joelle hastily explained everything that had transpired as Isabel looked down at the marbled floor. After she was done explaining, Isabel looked up to him. Her tongue tied. She wasn't supposed to talk directly to him, but she hoped she could portray her message with her eyes.

"You…”

The sound of shattering glass interrupted Damian's words. They all turned in surprise and saw a maid, who was already apologizing.

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll get a broom and clean it up," she said, about to hurry out, but was stopped by Damian.

"No, let Isabel clean it up with her hands."