Owned by the Billionaire

Amelia's POV The rain threw pellets at the windowpane. It was a dark, foreboding day, and the rain echoed my mood. I looked out at the darkness. And somehow I thought that if I stared hard enough through the storm, the answers to my questions would appear in furious italics among the black slashes of water. Life was never that easy. There was no amount of imagination or self-delusion that could alter the fact that I was trapped, trapped by facts which were my doing. The circumstances, choices and decisions were all on my Dad! I sat at the edge of the bed, my eyes fixated on the beige walls of my bedroom. This was supposed to be my safe place, it was supposed to be where I could get away from all the pain and just be me, Amelia. Unfortunately, I felt more like a caged animal here instead of being comfortable on its walls. My eyes wandered around my room, just to see the stack of unopened bills lying on my nightstand. How on earth did it come to this? How did I end up with a deadbeat dad for an addict so far in debt that even if we’d had a shovel big enough to dig us out, there still wouldn’t have been any daylight at the top? It hadn’t always been this way. One minute, we’d had enough money to live comfortably off Dad’s semester checks and his work-study job he held during Christmas vacation, and then literally overnight everything crumbled beneath us. I reached over to the bedside table for my water, my hand trembling slightly as I put it up to my mouth. Rather than calming me down, the cool liquid only seemed to anger the storm inside of me. I was scared. Really, really scared. Scared of what tomorrow brings. Scared of him. Even his name made me shiver. Alexander Knight. A man of power and control. The name was the only thing that needed to be said to invoke a sense of authority, and to bring down any opposition along with it. He had built an empire with his bare hands, and a heart as cold as the marble under our feet in his office. He was not someone to be trifled with, and yet I was bound to him, in a contract that seemed more like a death warrant than anything else. I couldn’t forget our first encounter if I tried. From the instant I stepped into his office, I realized nothing would be the same. His sapphire eyes didn’t so much as glance at me when they locked on mine, and his presence smothered me as he extended a contract my way. 'It’s simple, We marry, and I pay off your father’s debt.' His voice was calm, measured, like he was discussing current news affairs and not altering my life forever. But his eyes were telling a different story, one that was cold and menacing and told me it wasn’t an option I had. My hands were trembling as I signed over the dotted line and, just like that, it was done. Everything had changed. I would now be known as Amelia Clarke, wife to Alexander Knight; billionaire and cold-hearted CEO.” The reality of it hit me hard in the gut. I was going to marry a man I hardly knew, a man who didn’t see me as anything more than a business transaction. I never wanted this for myself. I had dreams of opening up my own art gallery one day, to travel the world and also to fall in love. But it all felt so distant now, like a mere fantasy or life destined for someone else. A knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts and as I glanced up to see my father in the doorway, I felt angry by calmness. My dad hadn't always been weak and broke. The gambling and the loss of his fortune had all taken a toll on him. His hair was thinning quickly, his face full of wrinkles and worry lines, his eyes empty with the sadness and regret of a man who had lost too much. “Amelia,” he said gruffly, his voice hoarse. “I’m sorry... I’m sorry this happened.” I felt sorry for him, but that quickly changed with the anger and resentment that had been festering inside me. I wanted to scream. How could you let things get this bad? How could you risk our entire lives like that? But instead, I just stared at him. He took a step into the room, his shoulders slouched forward as if the sky was pressing down on him. “I never wanted this for you, Amelia. I never wanted you to be part of my mistakes." “I know,” I said softly, “But it doesn’t change anything.” He looked down at the floor and his expression turned defeated. “If there was another way, if I had the means to pay off that money myself, I would have tried. But I can’t...Alexander...he’s our only hope.” Our only hope. Please, that word tasted sour in my mouth. How had it come to this? How did my life turn into a warped Cinderella story and the prince into a monster? “I just want you to be safe, Amelia,” my father continued, his voice cracking. “I want you to have a future, even if it means...” “Even if it means marrying a man like him?” I finished for him, my tone harsher than I intended. He winced, but didn’t deny it. “Yes.” I sighed, the fight draining out of me. I can’t blame him for this, not entirely. Because I knew that he’d been a victim of his own demons just like I had. And somewhere in his heart I knew he loved me, that he would do anything to keep me safe, even if it meant destroying his own happiness. " Dad, I'll be fine, we’ll figure it out somehow ,” I said, trying to exude confidence. “ I’m sorry Amelia, I really am. I’d fix this if I knew how.” He said, and his eyes showed the doubt he felt. I smiled back, but it didn’t reach my eyes. “We’ll make it work. We always do.” It was a lie, we were making things up as we went along. But what else could I say? He nodded, then spun on his heel and walked away, leaving me alone with the full implications of my decision crashing down on me like an avalanche. I would be walking down that aisle, in less than a week, but I wouldn’t be walking towards love, I would be walking towards duty. Towards a man that saw me as solution to his problem, not a partner, not a person.