90 DAYS OF BEING HIS WIFE

CHAPTER FOUR

I was having the best dream ever. A soft, melodic sound played in the background while my father and I sat on a bench where the air swirled freshly, giving me a relaxing sensation. The best part was that my father was with me. We were at our favorite place—The Hollers—a mountain where we used to go to express our joys and problems back when he was still healthy.

A sharp sound rang out—cling, cling! The dream started to vanish. No!

I snapped my eyes open and stood up immediately. I grabbed the lamp from my nightstand, recognizing that sound from my own days of stealing from apartment to apartment. My legs were trembling, and my grip on the lamp tightened as I prepared to finish this thief off with one hit.

My breathing became shallow as I stepped out of my bedroom and slowly tiptoed into the living room. I was expecting a burglar, but to my surprise, the front door burst open. The sound hit my ears so hard that I had to cover them.

THACK!

It wasn't burglars. It was a team of three women in sharp black suits and two mountain-sized security guards.

Holy crap. Was I going to jail? No, no, no. But why were there three women in suits? The security guards stared at me with serious expressions, their faces never moving a muscle. I finally put the heavy lamp down on the ground, and my hands felt light again.

“Are you guys arresting me or…” I asked, unsure. “Are you burglars? Thieves?”

“We are not thieves, Miss Ava Green,” one of the women said politely. Her tone made the uneasiness inside my body vanish—partially.

Okay, I didn't expect that.

“Miss Green? Mr. Daimon sent us. We have four hours to make you look like a billionaire’s wife.”

“What do you mean, ‘turn me into a billionaire woman and wife’?” I asked them curiously. The fact that Daimon had not texted me again after that midnight message was one thing, but now a team of his people was barging through my front door.

“Guys, you do not have the right to barge in here! You literally just broke my door! The security for this building is going to be up here any second,” I told them, my voice rising.

“Well, we have already informed them. In fact, Mr. Thorne has already sent a check to your Aunt Mabel for the damages,” the woman answered confidently.

I rolled my eyes as she gestured for the two security guards to begin packing my things into trash bags. Everything I owned. They started sprinting around, grabbing my bags and my clothes. They were violating the law—well, sort of.

“Hey, stop!” I shouted, pointing a finger at the guards. “You don't have the f*****g right to do that! Stop! Stop! Why are you doing this?” I yelled at them, unable to believe he was doing this to me. It was cruel. It was evil. Yeah, okay, I was a thief, but this was on another level.

“No, don’t stop.”

A voice so deep it distracted me from the chaos came from the doorway. I turned my head. A figure stood there, tall and clad in a sharp suit. It was the devil himself, Daimon. He had a serious expression with his hands tucked inside his pockets, and I was sure he was here for trouble again.

He pulled out a paper. He had a security guard beside him who was as big as a bodybuilder, but Daimon was certainly larger. The guard held a paper and a pen.

“Hey, can you tell your team to stop all of this?” I yelled disrespectfully.

“No,” he commanded.

“What?” I groaned.

“Now that we are here... didn’t you hear what my team said? They are going to turn you into my billionaire wife. Give me the contract,” he whispered to the guard beside him.

The guard handed him the paper and the pen. Daimon stepped toward me, his footsteps echoing on my cheap floor. In the background, the team continued moving with incredible speed, stripping my apartment bare.

“Sign this,” he said, turning the paper toward me.

I read the paper. It was a 90-day marriage contract.

Rule Number One: Obey Daimon. Rule Number Two: Act smart. Rule Number Three: Act like a rich billionaire woman.

My throat went dry. If this guy called me in the middle of the night and told me to come over, I had to obey? This was bullshit. I didn't obey anybody. But... my father needed his surgery in six days. I felt my heart hammering as he handed me the pen.

I signed the contract. I looked up and stared at his face, and my cheeks started to flush again. The air seemed to move in slow motion, flickering his hair up. I was practically drooling. My heart was intimidated by this man, yet it craved his presence. He fixed his hair, and I snapped out of it, dropping my gaze to the ground.

“Don’t worry, I get that a lot,” he retorted, his voice full of arrogance.

I glanced back up, and he winked at me. My heart exploded with desire. I wanted to kiss his peach-colored lips right then and there.

Ava, back to the real world! I shook my head, raised a brow, and said, “You're feeling pretty cool, aren't you?”

I turned around and stepped away from him to grab my lamp. To my surprise, the team had already packed almost everything.

“What in the world—” I had forgotten they were packing while we talked.

“You are moving in with me since we are getting married tonight,” the billionaire said behind my back, his voice sounding dreamy and deep in my ears.

I felt a pang of guilt. I didn’t want to move out of this apartment. I had so many memories there. But how could I protest when my father’s life was on the line?

“Sure,” I responded.

It was 8:00 PM by the time we arrived at his grand mansion. It was massive. His land looked like an entire town, filled with fences and smaller houses that the Lamborghini passed as we drove deeper into the estate. My eyes were sparkling. The mansion, the houses... what were all those houses even for?

I was already wearing an expensive gown that his team had bought for me. It hugged my curves in all the right places. Daimon was sitting right next to me in the back of the car, his presence making the air feel thick. I listened to the sound of boring ocean waves playing inside the expensive car I had always dreamed of being in.

“Be polite. There are people watching us,” he said, his voice dropping an octave as he looked out the tinted window.

I nodded, though I was still unsure if this was really a good idea for "easy" money. My eyes widened as I saw crowds of people sitting in expensive-looking metal chairs. Wait, was he going to kiss me during this wedding? My heart started beating fast and nervousness rose as the Lamborghini’s engine cut out.

“Ready?” he asked, his voice calm and gentle.

Shit. This was really happening.