THE BILLIONARE UNWANTED BRIDE

CHAPTER THREE

“THE BILLIONAIRE'S IMPOSSIBLE PROPOSAL”

The next morning, Elena woke up with one thought repeating in her mind.

Stop.

Stop searching.

Stop asking questions.

Stop digging into a past that had already taken too much from her family. It was the sensible thing to do.

She ignored it.

By eight in the morning, Elena was back at her laptop. She had barely slept.

Adrian's words had stayed with her throughout the night.

Your father wasn't responsible for the collapse.

If that was true, then everything Elena had believed about her family's past was a lie. She opened the documents again.

One transaction. One missing record.

One name that appeared again and again.

Richard Vale.

Elena leaned closer to the screen.

There had to be something she was missing. Her phone rang.

She looked at the caller ID. Adrian.

She let it ring once. Twice.

Then answered.

"Good morning."

"You're investigating again." Elena frowned.

"Do you have cameras in my house?" "No."

"Then how do you know?" "Because I know you." She almost laughed.

"You've known me for less than twenty-four hours." "Long enough."

There was something about the confidence in his voice that irritated her. "What do you want?"

"I want you to come to my office." "Why?"

"We need to talk."

"We already talked." "Not about this."

Elena hesitated. "About what?" "My proposal."

Her eyebrows rose. "What proposal?"

"The one you refused yesterday." "The marriage?"

"Yes."

Elena stared at the phone. "You cannot be serious."

"I am."

"Adrian, I'm not marrying you." "Not yet."

Her heart skipped. "Excuse me?"

"I'll explain when you get here." "No."

"Then I'll come to you."

Elena immediately stood. "Don't."

"Why?"

"Because I don't need a billionaire showing up at my house." A pause.

"Then come to the office."

She hated that she was considering it. "What changed?"

"Everything." The call ended.

An hour later, Elena stepped into Vale International again. This time, she wasn't nervous.

She was angry.

The elevator carried her to the forty-second floor. The same corridor.

The same dark wooden doors.

But this time, Adrian's assistant was waiting for her. "Mr. Vale is expecting you."

"I know."

The woman opened the door.

Adrian stood beside the window. He wasn't wearing a suit this time.

Just a white shirt with the sleeves rolled to his forearms.

For some reason, that made him look more dangerous rather than less. He turned when she entered.

"You came."

"You threatened to come to my house." "I said I would."

"Exactly."

His mouth almost curved. Almost.

"Sit."

"I'd rather stand." "As you wish."

He picked up a document from his desk. "This is a marriage contract."

Elena stared at him.

"You actually had one prepared?" "I had one prepared years ago." She blinked.

"What?"

Adrian's expression didn't change. "Not for you."

"That's not comforting."

"It wasn't supposed to be."

He placed the contract on the desk.

"Before my father died, he left behind several unresolved financial disputes. One of them involved your family."

Elena's attention sharpened. "And?"

"Someone is reopening those disputes." "Who?"

"I don't know."

"You seem to say that a lot." His eyes narrowed.

"Because I don't lie to you."

"That's a bold claim for a man who refuses to tell me the truth." Adrian ignored the comment.

"If those disputes become public, your family's remaining assets could be frozen." Elena's face changed.

"What?"

"I've already had my legal team investigate." "You investigated my family?"

"I investigated the threat against you." "Without telling me."

"Because you wouldn't have listened." He wasn't wrong.

That annoyed her even more.

"What does this have to do with marriage?" Adrian walked toward her.

"Everything."

He stopped a few feet away.

"There are people watching both of us." "Why?"

"Because they believe you know something." "I don't."

"They don't know that." Elena swallowed.

"And marriage changes that?"

"It gives them something else to focus on." She stared at him.

"You're suggesting we get married to protect me?" "And to protect myself."

There it was.

The honesty she had been waiting for. "You need something from me."

"Yes."

"What?" "Your name." She frowned. "My name?"

"Your family name still carries significance in certain circles. If you become my wife, any attempt to use your family against Vale International becomes considerably more

complicated."

Elena folded her arms.

"So you want to marry me for business." "Yes."

"No romance." "No."

"No feelings." "No."

She looked at him suspiciously.

"Then why do you keep looking at me like that?" Adrian went still.

For the first time, Elena saw uncertainty cross his face.

"What do you mean?"

"Like you're trying to figure me out." "I am."

"Why?"

"Because I can't."

The answer came so quickly that Elena didn't know what to say. Adrian looked away.

"You're unpredictable."

"You mean I don't obey you." "That too."

Despite herself, she smiled.

Then she remembered the contract. "What's in it?"

Adrian pushed the document toward her. "Protection for your family."

She scanned the first page. Financial protection.

Legal protection. Security.

A temporary marriage arrangement. Six months.

Elena looked up. "Six months?" "Then we separate."

"And you get what?"

"Control over the narrative." "And I get?"

"Protection."

She turned another page.

There was a clause about public appearances. Another about residence.

Another about financial independence. Then she reached the final section.

Her eyes narrowed.

"There's a confidentiality clause." "Yes."

"You don't want me talking about your family." "Correct."

"You really thought of everything." "I had to."

Elena closed the contract. "No."

Adrian didn't react. "No?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not a business asset." "I never said you were."

"You're asking me to marry a man I barely know." "You know enough."

"I know you're arrogant." "That's fair."

"Controlling." "Debatable." "Secretive."

"Accurate."

"And completely impossible." Adrian looked at her.

"That one is also accurate." Elena couldn't help it.

She laughed. Just once.

The sound surprised both of them. Adrian's expression softened.

For one brief second, he didn't look like the ruthless billionaire everyone feared. He looked like a man.

A lonely one.

Elena quickly looked away.

"This doesn't change my answer." "I know."

"Then why are we still talking?"

"Because you haven't heard the rest." He opened another file.

Inside was a photograph. Elena's smile disappeared. It was her father.

Standing beside Richard Vale.

But this photograph was different.

There was another man in the background. Elena recognized him.

She had seen him before. At her father's funeral.

At the old family house.

A man she had always believed was one of her father's business associates.

"Who is he?"

Adrian's voice was quiet.

"The man who disappeared the night your father lost everything." Elena looked at him.

"You know him?"

"I've been looking for him for eleven years." "Why?"

"Because he knows what happened." Elena's heart pounded.

"Then find him." "I can't."

"Why?"

"Because he's dead." Silence.

Elena stared at the photograph. "Then how can he tell us anything?" Adrian looked directly into her eyes. "Because he left something behind." "What?"

"A record." "Where?"

"I don't know."

She stared at him in disbelief. "Then why are you telling me this?"

"Because the person who has it believes you know where it is." Elena's blood ran cold.

"I don't."

"I believe you."

"Then what do you want from me?" Adrian stepped closer.

"I want you beside me while I find it." She stared at him.

"And the marriage?"

"It gives you protection." "And you?"

"It gives me access to the one person they haven't accounted for." Elena's eyes narrowed.

"Me."

"Yes."

She looked down at the contract. Six months.

Six months living in Adrian Vale's world. Six months pretending to be his wife.

Six months surrounded by secrets. It was insane.

Completely insane.

"Give me one reason I should trust you." Adrian was silent for a moment.

Then he said,

"Because if I wanted to hurt you, Elena, I wouldn't be asking you to marry me." Her heart betrayed her with one hard beat.

She hated that his words made sense.

She hated even more that she believed him. She picked up the contract.

"I have conditions." Adrian's eyebrow lifted.

"Of course you do."

"First, you don't control where I go." "Agreed."

"Second, I keep my own money." "Agreed."

"Third, you don't interfere with my family." "Agreed."

"Fourth, no pretending when we're alone." Adrian's gaze sharpened.

"Explain."

"No fake affection. No acting like we're in love when there are no cameras." Something unreadable passed through his eyes.

"Agreed." "And fifth..." Elena paused.

"I want the truth." "About what?" "Everything." Adrian studied her. "That's dangerous." "I know."

He walked toward the desk and picked up a pen. Then he signed his name.

Adrian Vale.

He pushed the contract toward her. "Six months."

Elena stared at the signature. Then at him.

"This doesn't mean I trust you." "I know."

"It doesn't mean I like you." "I know."

"And it definitely doesn't mean I'm falling for you."

For the first time, a faint smile appeared on Adrian's face. "I didn't ask you to."

Elena hated that smile.

Because somewhere beneath the anger, beneath the fear, beneath the questions she couldn't answer—

she wanted to see it again. She picked up the pen.

But before she could sign, her phone vibrated. A message.

Unknown number. She opened it.

Her face went pale.

Your father made the same mistake. Don't make his mistake yours.

Another message arrived.

Walk away from Adrian Vale while you still can.

Elena slowly raised her eyes. Adrian was watching her. "What happened?"

She turned the phone toward him. His expression changed instantly. The softness disappeared.

The billionaire returned. Cold.

Controlled. Dangerous.

"Give me the phone." Elena didn't move. "Who is this?"

"I don't know." "You're lying." "I'm not."

He took a step toward her.

"Elena, listen to me carefully." She stared at him.

"If you're going to stay in this fight," Adrian said quietly, "you can't stay unprotected." "And your solution is marriage?"

"Yes."

She looked down at the contract again. Then at the message.

Then back at him.

For the first time, Elena realized the truth. The marriage wasn't the dangerous part.

Whatever was waiting on the other side of it was.

And somehow, Adrian Vale was the only man standing between her and the people who wanted the past to remain buried.

She placed the phone on the desk. "I'll do it."

Adrian didn't move. "What?"

"I'll marry you."

His eyes locked onto hers.

"But on my terms."

Something shifted in his expression. Not triumph.

Not relief.

Something far more dangerous. Interest.

"Then we have a deal." Elena picked up the pen. And signed her name

.

Neither of them knew that the moment the ink touched the paper, their lives had crossed a line neither could return from.

Because the contract had been designed to protect Adrian's empire. But it was about to expose the secret that could destroy it.