Married to my enemy billionaire

For Brenda Blake, this was the one glorious day that was going to turn around all the aspects of her life. For this day was going to dawn upon her like any other morning, but this particular one was going to transform everything. If she were successful in landing this opportunity, nothing else mattered for her anymore—all her hardships, debts, bills, sleepless nights, and struggling days would vanish instantly. For months together, Brenda was living on a hand-to-mouth basis. Her bills came due way too soon; food and groceries were calculated and planned. Going out to the café for some coffee seemed like a luxury then. Her fingertips hovered over the keyboard while her eyes followed every line of her creation on the screen. Everything from the lines, details to structures was created from scratch in her imagination only. She recalled herself sitting in her apartment at two in the morning, tinkering with minute details when Ethan was sleeping on the sofa after working a long day. “You work too hard,” he used to say. “And you do not work hard enough,” she would joke. Recalling that memory made her heart race. Her phone was ringing incessantly. Lena was calling. Brenda refused to answer the phone for a single reason—results. Knight Project decision. Everything was going on around her. Typing, ringing, printing. However, nothing mattered because her eyes were glued to the computer screen. As soon as her boss approached her desk, her heart rate went up. “Brenda, come to my office please,” he addressed her. That statement made her feel uncomfortable. There was something different about his face. Way too serious and cautious. Slowly, she got up from her chair and followed him. The short walk to his office seemed unusually long today. Colleagues would give her fleeting glances but quickly looked away. She noticed everything. The silence, the awkwardness, and the fact that no one smiled. A bad feeling crept into her belly. When she entered his office, he did not ask her to sit, which automatically alarmed her. He put a folder on the table. Brenda saw it. “What is this?” she asked. He took a deep sigh. “The Knight Project has been given to another team.” Brenda froze. The words didn’t register immediately. For a second, she thought she heard him wrong. “What??? That’s not possible. I designed everything. I worked day and night on it.” “I know,” he whispered. “But why are you taking it from me??” He looked away. “It was the client’s decision.” “Which client?” she questioned rapidly. There was a moment’s pause before he spoke. “Adrian Knight.” His name hit her like a punch. Brenda fell silent. She knew who Adrian Knight was. The man behind the project. Cold, ruthless, and invincible. One of Chicago’s youngest billionaires. A man people feared more than admired. She remembered the first time she met him. He had walked into the presentation room wearing a dark suit, his expression unreadable. Everyone else smiled nervously. He didn’t. He had looked directly at her design. Only once. Then at her. Those cold eyes had lingered for only seconds before he turned away. She remembered her nerves; her longing for approval. But he took away everything. "So I got fired because of one man?" she thought incredulously. "It is just business," replied the manager. Brenda snorted ironically. "No, it is about who holds the power." She walked away. Though she tried to calm herself, her hands trembled. Everything seemed so small. And somehow more oppressive than ever before. She saw the blurry lines of the hall through the angry tears welling up in her eyes. Months' work. Wasted. Like that. No warning. No chance for second thoughts. She entered the elevator and leaned against the wall. Only when the doors slid shut behind her could she allow herself to draw a deep breath. Her chest burned. Not for the loss of the deal. Because of this belief in a new chance. And her dream was broken. As she reached the lower floor corridor, her phone rang again. Lena called. She answered. "Lena?" She sounded scared. "Brenda… It… It… It is Ethan." Brenda came to an abrupt halt. The whole world within her changed. "What about him?" "He hasn't come home yet." Brenda could feel her heart falling into her stomach. "No way, he would've called." "I know, but there's more," Lena replied. Brenda squeezed her mobile even harder. "More what?!!" Lena took a sharp intake of breath. "He left a message." She took a pause. Then she uttered, "He owes money... to some bad people." Brenda lost all moisture in her mouth. "No..." She pushed herself against the wall. This couldn't be happening. Ethan wasn't rash. Ethan was not stupid. He'd never— But then Lena continued. "If anything happens to him, they'll do the same to you." Brenda couldn't utter anything. She could almost feel all energy drained from her body. And then came Lena's last statement. "And Brenda, someone was looking for you today." Brenda swallowed hard. "Who?" she whispered. Lena replied, "They wanted to meet you." Dead silence. Brenda's breath became erratic. She started feeling fear slowly seeping into her lungs. And Lena carried on. "And they said they will find you." Brenda froze in the middle of the hallway, people passing by her without taking any notice of her panic attacks or trembling hands. Slowly, her phone slipped out of her grip. The project was finished. Her brother was missing. And someone was looking for her. However, there was one more thing that Brenda did not know. It was the beginning. As Adrian Knight was somewhere in the city, he had identified Brenda from his end, and he was waiting for her.