The Billionaire’s Forbidden Wife

The day my father died, my entire world collapsed. Three months later, I was sitting across from the most powerful man in New York. And he was offering me a deal that could save everything my father had left behind. A marriage. A fake one. With Adrian Blackwood. I stared at the contract lying between us. “You want me to marry you?” Adrian didn’t even blink. “Yes.” I almost laughed. Almost. Instead, I looked around his enormous office. Floor-to-ceiling windows stretched across the far wall, offering a breathtaking view of the Manhattan skyline. Marble floors gleamed beneath my feet. Expensive furniture filled the room, each piece looking as though it cost more than everything I owned. Everything about the place screamed wealth. Power. Control. And sitting behind the desk, perfectly calm in the middle of it all, was the man I had spent five years trying to forget. Adrian Blackwood. My first love. My greatest heartbreak. And now, apparently, the man who could decide whether my family survived. “You’ve got to be joking.” “I don’t joke about business.” His voice was as cold as I remembered. I hated that voice. I hated even more that my heart still reacted to it. I reached for the contract. The first page listed the terms of our marriage. Two years. Public appearances together. Separate bedrooms. No interference in each other’s private lives. No emotional expectations. And five million dollars upon signing. Another five million when the contract ended. My eyes widened. “Ten million dollars?” “Correct.” I looked up at him. “You’re offering me ten million to become your wife?” “I’m offering you ten million to play the role of my wife.” I dropped the papers onto the desk. “Why me?” For the first time, something shifted in Adrian’s expression. His eyes met mine. “Because I need a wife.” “I’m sure there are hundreds of women willing to marry you.” “Not you.” My brows pulled together. “What is that supposed to mean?” He leaned back in his chair, studying me with an unreadable expression. “You’re the only woman I trust.” My heart skipped. I immediately hated myself for it. “Trust?” I repeated bitterly. “You disappeared five years ago without even saying goodbye.” His jaw tightened. “I know.” “You ignored every call.” “I know.” “You left me wondering what I had done wrong.” His eyes darkened. “I know.” Anger burned through me. “Then don’t talk to me about trust.” Silence filled the room. For a moment, Adrian looked away. And in that brief instant, the cold billionaire disappeared. I saw something beneath the perfect mask. Regret. Then it was gone. He pushed another document toward me. “This isn’t only about me.” I glanced down. My blood ran cold. It was my father’s company. His debts. Every loan. Every unpaid account. Every legal notice. My fingers tightened around the papers. “You bought the debt?” “Yes.” “You own it?” “Yes.” I stared at him. “Why?” “The bank planned to seize the company tomorrow.” My breath caught. “No.” “Amelia—” “No.” I pushed back from the desk so quickly that my chair scraped across the marble floor. “My father spent thirty years building that company.” “And you have twenty-four hours to save it.” My eyes burned. “You’re threatening me.” “No.” He stood. “I’m giving you an option.” “What option?” Adrian looked directly at me. “Marry me.” The words hung between us. I stared at him in disbelief. “And if I refuse?” “The company goes to auction.” My heart shattered. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. All I could see was my father. His tired smile. His hands covered in ink after years of signing business documents. The way he used to talk about the company as if it were another child he had raised. Then I remembered his final words to me before he died. Take care of the company, Amelia. I couldn’t let it disappear. Not after everything he had sacrificed. Slowly, I sat back down. My voice came out barely above a whisper. “Why are you doing this?” Adrian said nothing. “Why me?” Silence. “Why now?” His gaze finally met mine. “Because circumstances have changed.” “That isn’t an answer.” “It is the only answer you’re getting.” I hated him. I hated the control he had over my future. I hated the fact that he knew exactly how desperate I was. But most of all, I hated the part of me that still remembered the boy he had once been. The boy who had held my hand beneath the stars. The boy who had promised he would never leave me. The boy who had kissed my forehead and whispered that I was his future. That boy had disappeared five years ago. In his place stood a billionaire who could buy almost anything. Including my freedom. I picked up the pen. Adrian’s eyes followed the movement. “You understand the terms?” “Yes.” “You understand that this is only a contract?” “Yes.” “No feelings.” I looked straight into his eyes. “Don’t worry. I stopped having feelings for you a long time ago.” Something flickered across his face. Pain. It was there for barely a second before he buried it beneath that familiar expression of indifference. “Then we have nothing to worry about.” I lowered my eyes to the contract. Then I signed my name. Amelia Carter. Adrian took the papers. He signed beneath my name. The sound of the pen scratching against paper seemed strangely loud. And just like that, my fate was sealed. I was going to marry Adrian Blackwood. The man I once loved. The man who broke my heart. The man who now owned my father’s debt. I stood and turned toward the door. I had almost reached it when Adrian’s voice stopped me. “Amelia.” I froze. Slowly, I turned around. He was staring at me with an expression I couldn’t understand. “There is something else you need to know.” My stomach tightened. “What?” Adrian stood. His expression had changed. The coldness was still there, but something darker had replaced it. “Your father’s death wasn’t an accident.” My heart stopped. “What did you say?” “Someone tampered with the brakes of his car.” I shook my head. “No.” “We found evidence this morning.” My hands began to tremble. “Who?” “We don’t know yet.” “Then why are you telling me?” Adrian walked toward me. Every step felt deliberate. His expression was darker than I had ever seen it. “Because whoever killed your father may know that we’ve signed this contract.” A chill ran down my spine. “What does that mean?” His eyes locked onto mine. “It means your life is in danger.” I couldn’t speak. My mind struggled to process the words. Someone had killed my father. Someone had planned it. And now they might know about me. About Adrian. About the contract. Adrian stopped in front of me. “From tonight onward, you stay with me.” My eyes widened. “What?” “You’re my wife now.” He stepped closer. Close enough that I could feel the warmth of his body. Close enough to remember all the reasons I had once loved him. His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. “And if someone is coming for you…” His eyes held mine. “They’ll have to get through me first.” I should have been terrified. Maybe I was. But as I stood there staring into the eyes of the man who had once broken my heart, one question echoed through my mind. Why did Adrian Blackwood still look at me like he had never stopped loving me?