BOUGHT BY THE RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE

Chapter 1: The Proposal Amara Cole's hands trembled as she stared at the hospital bill on the cold floor of her tiny apartment. $50,000. Due in seven days. If she didn't pay, her mother would be taken off the transplant list. The woman who had raised her alone, who had worked three jobs to put her through nursing school, would die. A sharp, expensive knock echoed on her door. It wasn't the landlord. The door opened before she could answer, and he walked in like he owned the building. And for all she knew, he did. Ethan Blackwood. Every girl in New York knew that name. 29, self-made billionaire, CEO of Blackwood Enterprises. Handsome in a way that was almost cruel. Cold eyes, perfect suit, and a reputation for destroying anyone who got in his way. "What are you doing in my apartment?" Amara whispered, pulling her old sweater tighter around herself. He didn't answer immediately. His grey eyes scanned her - the cracked walls, the second-hand furniture, the bill clutched in her white-knuckled hand. His gaze finally landed on her face. "I have a proposition for you, Miss Cole." "My name is not for sale." "It is now." He stepped closer, and she could smell his expensive cologne, dark and intoxicating. He placed a thick black folder on her table. "Your mother, Linda Cole. Fifty-four years old. Liver failure. Needs fifty thousand dollars you don't have. Your nursing scholarship was revoked last month because you missed exams to take care of her." Tears burned in Amara's eyes. "How do you know all that?" "I know everything about people I intend to own." He opened the folder. Inside was a contract. And a check that made her heart stop. "One year," he said, his voice low and devoid of emotion. "Marry me for one year. Be my wife in public. Give my board the stable family image they need so I can inherit my father's company. In return, I pay for your mother's surgery, clear all your debts, and give you one million dollars when the year is over." Amara laughed, a broken, disbelieving sound. "Are you insane? Marry you? I don't even know you!" "You don't need to know me. You need to obey me." He leaned down, his face inches from hers. She could see the small scar on his perfect jaw. "Sign it, Amara. It's not a request. Without my money, your mother has seven days. With it, she lives." She looked at the photo of her mother on the table, smiling, healthy, before the sickness took her. She had no choice. "What... what would I have to do?" she whispered. "Whatever I tell you to," he said simply. "Live in my penthouse. Attend galas with me. And on paper, you will give me an heir." Her blood ran cold. "An heir?" "My father wrote in his will that I must produce an heir to get full control of Blackwood. You will help me with that." "I won't sleep with you!" she gasped, stepping back until her back hit the wall. Ethan's lips curled into a dark, possessive smile that didn't reach his eyes. He trapped her against the wall with one arm. "You already agreed, little one. From the moment you let me into this apartment." He pulled out a pen and pressed it into her shaking hand, his large hand covering hers. "Now, sign. Become Mrs. Blackwood." Amara closed her eyes as a tear fell. She thought of her mother. And she signed. When she opened her eyes, Ethan was looking at her signature like a predator looking at his prey. "Good girl," he whispered, his thumb brushing away her tear, making her shiver. "You belong to me now. Contract or not."