I will marry you for a billion dollars

Chapter 3

Traffic crawled along the main street, and I was halfway through my morning coffee when I noticed them. My heart did this little stutter that I wasn’t used to feeling anymore,David and Abbey, cruising up in their shiny sports car, laughing like the world owed them everything.

Of course, they saw me. Abbey’s eyes lit up like she’d spotted prey, and David gave that smug, “look at what I got” grin. My stomach tightened, half with rage, half with the residual humiliation that hadn’t fully faded yet.

They started with the usual,mocking gestures, whispers, the little smirks I had come to hate. I let them go for a beat, letting their enjoyment of my supposed downfall simmer in the space between us. And then I lifted my hand.

The ring.

A flash of gold against my finger, shining in the morning light, and I watched their faces freeze. Abbey’s mouth opened, like she was going to say something, and David’s smirk faltered. They had no idea who I was married to. Neither did I but who cares? Screw them.

I drove off, slowly enough for them to see the smug, calm control on my face. I didn’t need to know who Ethan really was,yet,but I knew he was mine in name at least, and that gave me enough satisfaction to smirk at them in my rearview mirror.

Once home, I wandered through my new apartment, still pinching myself at the luxury around me. Expensive furniture, sprawling windows overlooking the city lights, soft leather couches that practically whispered wealth, and my own kitchen stocked with things I didn’t even recognize. My hands trailed across the surfaces, hesitant to believe it was real. This is insane. This is all happening, I thought, barely daring to breathe.

This was my life now.

Ethan showed up at my house every day, like clockwork, often slipping through the door before the sun had fully risen. Each time, he had instructions,things to do, places to be, people to meet,all under the guise of “preparing for the contract’s public obligations.” I didn’t question it. The man clearly moved in shadows I wasn’t meant to understand, and honestly, I didn’t care. I just followed along, trying not to stumble, trying to learn what my new life required.

We signed the papers, took wedding pictures,

The photographer guided us through the poses: hand holding, side glances, smiles, and yes,the fake kiss. My stomach twisted at the thought. I leaned in, barely pressing my lips to his. Heart pounding. Hands trembling. I wanted to retreat, remind myself this wasn’t real, but his hands at my waist, steady, controlled, anchored me.

Don’t get attached, I whispered. He’s not yours.

And besides I just got out of a betrayal of a relationship, I wasn't hoping back into a new one much less with someone I didn't even know like that.

Ethan. Ethan who?

His personal assistant managed my social media now, and I started posting faceless pictures of him, the glimpses of our life together that wouldn’t reveal his identity but hinted at wealth, mystery, and exclusivity. The effect was instantaneous. David and Abbey seethed online. Comments, likes, screenshots,they were obsessed, and it made me laugh in ways I hadn’t laughed in days.

At least this was one good part of this.

One evening, Ethan whisked me away to an elite masquerade ball. The kind of event that dripped money, power, and arrogance from the chandeliers down to the polished marble floors. I couldn’t help but feel slightly out of place in my gown, a long emerald gown he had chosen for me that I could swear he was staring at me at throughout the night, the way he held my arm, the way his hand rested lightly at the small of my back, made me feel…untouchable.

The other women were sharp, elegant, and insufferably nosy. They whispered, asked pointed questions about who I was and how I even got an invite. I smiled politely, kept my responses vague, and let Ethan do the talking when necessary. The rumors, the jealousy,it was delicious, watching them simmer in their own superiority while I floated above it all, arm in arm with a man who didn’t seem to care what they thought.

And then he took me to the dance floor. One song, slow and smooth, and he pressed me into his chest. His hand on my back, guiding me effortlessly through the steps, sent shivers down my spine. I caught a whiff of his cologne,woodsy, subtle, intoxicating,and my knees nearly buckled.

“Relax,” he murmured into my ear, voice low and teasing. “You’re doing fine.”

I laughed softly, heart hammering. “I think you’re making me dizzy.”

“Only slightly,” he said, smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Good dizzy or bad dizzy?”

“Good dizzy,” I admitted, though my stomach did flips like I was trying to fool myself.

He said nothing and pulled me to a corner close to one of the open bars, then he got me a glass of champagne and one for himself.

He swirled the champagne in his glass as if he was bored, though his eyes never left mine. We had been dancing for a while, just blending into the blur of expensive fabrics and hidden faces, when his voice dipped low enough for only me to hear.

“I don't I really asked me, Evelyn,” he said, his tone too calm, too steady. “What did you want that billion dollars for?”

I blinked at him, my steps faltering just slightly before he steadied me with a hand on my back. “The billion?” I repeated, almost like I didn’t know what he was talking about, but the truth was that question cut deeper than I wanted it to.

“Yes.” His gaze was sharp, unrelenting. “You asked for it like someone desperate. People don’t go around marrying strangers like that unless their life depends on it. So,what were you really running from that night? Why were you at the airport crying?”

My throat tightened, and my cheeks warmed, not from the wine, but from the fact that he’d noticed me like that. “You heard me crying?”

He tilted his head, almost amused. “Heard you? Evelyn, I was literally right behind you. I could practically feel the way you were shaking in that chair before you yelled that you’d marry me.”

I wanted to laugh it off, make it sound smaller than it was, but the words fought their way out of me. “It was my birthday,” I started, my voice breaking on the word. “I thought I’d come home to a surprise. Balloons, maybe a cake, something stupid like that. But when I opened the door… half my things were gone.”

The memory came like a knife, and I struggled to keep my voice even. “My boyfriend,David,he emptied everything. My furniture, my money. Every single dime I’d been saving for the business I wanted to start. He even took loans out in my name. And he didn’t stop there. He ended the lease, so the landlord was already waiting to tell me I had days before I’d be kicked out.”

I swallowed hard, forcing myself not to cry here of all places, in front of him, in front of everyone. “And then the Internet. He and Abbey…” I almost choked on her name. “My best friend. They announced their engagement online. There was this video,her showing off the ring. The same girl I trusted, the one I thought would stand by me. They made sure everyone knew. They made sure I was humiliated.”

The music pulsed around us, but it felt like silence had fallen between us. Ethan’s hand flexed against the small of my back. “Abbey,” he repeated slowly, like he was rolling the name around in his head. “Abbey Shen?”

I looked up, startled. “You know her?”

A small, humorless smile curved his lips. “Not personally. But in my circles, you hear names. Shen’s daughter has always been ambitious. Self-serving. It isn’t hard to destroy someone like her, if that’s what you want.”

My chest tightened. “Destroy her?”

“Yes.” His voice was cool, almost careless. “If that’s what you asked of me, it wouldn’t take much. I could ruin them both before they even realize what hit them.”

For a moment, the idea tempted me so much it scared me. To imagine their world crumbling the way they had crumbled mine. But then I shook my head, almost violently. “No,” I whispered. “Not like that. I don’t want you to do it for me. If I’m going to bring them down, I want it to be with my own hands. Slowly. Piece by piece. The way they did it to me.”

He studied me for a long time, his eyes unreadable behind the mask, though I could feel the weight of his gaze on me like heat. Then he said softly, almost like he was speaking to himself, “You’re different.”

I didn’t know if it was a compliment or a warning. I barely had time to think before he stopped moving, pulling me closer until I could feel the steady beat of his heart against mine. “The dress is fine,” he murmured, and I realized he’d been staring at me this whole time. “But it’s you who makes it something else.”

My breath caught, and then, before I could react, his lips brushed mine. I froze, eyes wide, every nerve in me screaming. He didn’t push, didn’t force, just lingered, testing.

I pulled back an inch, heat flooding my cheeks. “What,what are you doing?”

His mouth curved against mine. “What does it look like? Everyone thinks you’re my wife, Evelyn. I’m just kissing my wife.”

And then his lips pressed fully against mine, and this time, he didn’t hold back. My heart raced as the world blurred, as camera flashes sparked in the distance. But he leaned into me so fully, so deliberately, that all anyone would see was him shielding me with his body, keeping my face hidden like some precious secret.

By the time he broke the kiss, I was trembling. His hand found mine, tugging, leading me out of the ballroom and down a hall before I even realized where we were going. The hotel attached to the gala. His stride was purposeful, and mine quickened to keep up, adrenaline burning through me until he opened the door to the suite and pulled me inside.

The door shut with a click that echoed through the silence. I stood there, unsure, skittish, my fingers twisting in the fabric of the gown. He leaned against the wall, unhurried, and began unbuttoning his shirt with that maddening ease men like him carried. One button. Then another.

“Why do you look like you’re about to bolt?” His voice was steady, low. “Don’t tell me you’ve never done this before. You had a boyfriend.”

I glared, heat crawling up my neck. “Of course I’ve had s*x before. I just,” I hesitated, unable to explain the nerves buzzing under my skin.

“Just what?”

“Just… never wanted it this badly before.” My voice came out barely a whisper.

Something flickered in his eyes. He closed the space between us in one step, his hand sliding around my waist, the other tracing up my arm. “Then stop thinking.” His lips brushed my ear, making me shiver. “Let go. This is part of our arrangement, remember? And besides… I’m not stopping you. If you want me to, you’ll have to say it.”

But I didn’t say it. I couldn’t. Instead, I tilted my head back, meeting his mouth with mine in a kiss that was anything but careful. His hand fisted in the back of my dress, tugging sharply, and heat shot through me as he pulled me closer.

We stumbled backward, his mouth never leaving mine, until the edge of the bed caught my knees. He pushed me down with him, his weight pinning me there, his lips still stealing the breath from my chest.

And in that dizzy, reckless moment, I let everything else go.