The Billionaires Heart Bargain

Chapter 2

EMMA’S POV

The shock in the billionaire’s eyes was fleeting, replaced by a hint of amusement. A slow smile spread across his face. “ Excellent,” he murmured. “ Then consider yourself Mrs. Rehan.”

My heart pounded against my ribs. A marriage of convenience, a gamble with an unknown outcome. Was it worth it? The answer was yes. Yes, it was worth it even if I had to pretend to be married to a stranger. I was willing to do anything not to let my stepmother and her devil kids get away with my parent’s hard work.

“We must leave now, the judge is waiting for us at the courthouse,” Callahan said with a blank face.

Courthouse? At this hour? It was already past 9 o’clock , no normal courthouse was supposed to be operating but then a again, I wasn’t getting married to a normal man. Without uttering a word, I walked ahead of Callahan as he gestured.

We didn’t use the general entrance to leave rather we were led out through a secret exit. And before I knew it, we arrived at the courthouse and not just any courthouses but one of the biggest in the city and there was a judge waiting for us.

Callahan signed the marriage documents without hesitation while I bit my lower lip until it almost bled before I signed the documents. And right there, the judge gave Callahan our marriage certificate. I wanted to ask for mine but my mind was too unsettled to coordinate..

We rushed out of the court and entered Callahan’s Bentley continental gt, heading straight for my father’s mansion. We had already spent 1 hour 30 minutes bargaining and getting married all thanks to the unfortunate traffic we met on the way to the courthouse.

“Drive faster,” Callahan ordered his driver making me give him a look. It was as if the problem was his and not mine. It caused an unexplainable emotion to stir within me.

Arrival at the gates of my father’s mansion stirred some drama but I quickly cleared it up with the securities. Holding my hand like a child, Callahan dragged me into my father’s mansion while his guards pushed aside any obstruction of my stepmother’s guards ahead. Compared to Callahan’s well trained guards, they were mere thugs.

It was as If Callahan knew my father’s house better than I did because he was the one leading me. We barged into my father’s office and met my stepmother in the process of signing a document.

“ Stop whatever you are doing,” Callahan thundered, his voice so commanding that the pen fell out of Vera’s hand. “ This is illegal and if you don’t stop this instant, I and my wife will sue all of you. “

Wife… that word rung in my ears. It was so foreign yet so soothing. Callahan pulled me to view and crossed his fingers with mine causing a spark in the flesh of my palm. I looked up to the stranger that has become my hero and my heart pounded against my ribs. Was this truly the arrogant billionaire I encountered two hours ago?

“Callahan Rehan?” Vera’s eyes widened like an owl’s . The fear in her eyes was a stark contrast of her usual self. She immediately sprang to her feet along with her children and the lawyer, all had their mouths opened wide enough for a wasp to enter. “ Is it really you, Callahan?” Vera asked in disbelief.

I rolled my eyes and stepped forward to attack her but Callahan pulled me behind him. His face was hard as steel and he was extruding a chilling coldness that made me fear him a little. It was like the playfully, arrogant billionaire I met two hours ago was gone. “Mrs. O’Neil , we are not friends, I’d rather you address me as Mr. Rehan. Understood?” his voice dripping with icy courtesy.

Vera gulped and tried to smile in a bid to hid her fear but even a blind man could perceive it. “Okay… Mr. Rehan, what brings you here? Sure you know this is not a business hour right?” Vera asked with her annoying bell like voice.

“I am here to support my wife,” Callahan answered then he pulled me to his side, arms encircling my waist like a protective shield. He looked over Vera’s head to the lawyer who perched on my dad’s plush chair like a vulture. “We foresaw your disgusting plan coming from a mile a way so had to come and stop you .”

The shock In Vera and her children’s eyes were alarming. “Your wife?” they chorused.

“Yes.” Callahan strode forward with me by his side and flashed our marriage certificate in the faces of Vera and the lawyer. “ We are a legally married couple that is why what you are doing here is illegal. My wife was never informed of this proceeding and if it had been successful, we would have sued you both for every penny you are worth.”

For the first time since all this drama ensued, the godforsaken lawyer whose name was Andrew spoke. “ Mr. Callahan, there is no need to be rash. I can assure you that we tried to reach out to your wife but she declined our invitation to treat —”

“Liar,” I roared , cutting him off mid sentence. “You never contacted me.”

“ Please be honest, dear Emma, we did reach out to you but you simply rejected,” Vera supported him, her voice was honeyed poison , in stack contrast with the softness in her eyes.

These two were the people I hated most in my life. Andrew was the son of my father’s original lawyer and he was also the lover of my stepmother. They were the reason why I left my father’s house, they fooled him and made me look like a traitor.

I would never forget the day it all happened. I had just turned 18 at that time, I went to a beach to celebrate with my fair-weather friends and there, I saw my stepmother in a compromising position with Andrew.

The biggest mistake I made back then was confronting them and not recording them instead. They reached my father before I could and painted me as a wayward child. It caused I and my father to fight to the point he had a heart attack.

When he came out of the hospital, he disowned me, leaving me without a penny to survive on. I thought I hated my father but now , I realized that was only being manipulated by these two vipers. I won’t allow him to lose to them again.

Suddenly , anger simmered to my chest as I remembered my painful past. I ripped my hand from Callahan’s grasp and held up my ring, the large diamond reflected the light above.“ As you can see, I am married and with that, all my father’s properties belongs to me!”

Silence reigned for a brief moment , broken by a rasp from Vera. Then a grin creeped up Andrew’s face that he quickly wiped away. “ Yes Emma, you may have successfully gotten married within two weeks as your father’s will had demanded,” he drawled , his voice dripping with false sympathy. “ but you are yet to fulfill the other obligations.”

I narrowed. “ What I obligations?”

Andrew smirked, pushing in his ugly looking one sided, wrinkled dimple. “ You promised to make your first million before you will return your father and you promised to do so with your music. In the will, your father demands that you make your first million within 6 months, all by yourself and produce a child before the end of the year.”