BOUGHT BY THE BILLIONAIRE

THE MANSION RULES

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*Chapter 12: THE MANSION RULES*

The mansion was too big. Too quiet. Too expensive.

Chioma stood in the marble foyer holding one small bag, while 3 maids took Ada’s bed upstairs on a stretcher. The ceiling was so high it made her neck hurt. Chandeliers worth more than her school fees hung everywhere.

“This way, Mrs. Okoye,” a maid said softly. “Master Daniel’s orders.”

Master. Chioma’s stomach twisted. She wasn’t his anything. Just a contract.

Daniel walked ahead of her, phone to his ear, giving orders about Ada’s medication in 3 languages. CEO even in his own house. He didn’t look at Chioma once.

They stopped at a long hallway. White walls. Cold floor. At the end, a massive wooden door with a brass plate.

Daniel finally turned to her. “East wing. Medical room is there. Your room is beside it.”

Chioma nodded. “Thank you.”

Daniel didn’t answer. He walked to the wall beside the door and pressed something. A hidden panel slid open. Inside: a glass frame with paper.

100 rules. Typed. Numbered.

Chioma stepped closer. Read the first one:

*RULE #1: Do not enter my bedroom without permission. Ever.*

*RULE #3: Breakfast is at 7am sharp. Miss it, go hungry.*

*RULE #7: No visitors. No friends. No family except Ada.*

*RULE #15: Do not touch anything in my office.*

*RULE #29: I do not do small talk. Do not speak to me unless necessary.*

*RULE #50: Do not fall for me.*

Chioma stopped breathing at #50.

Do not fall for me. Typed. Framed. On his wall.

Her hands shook. “You... you have a rule about falling for you?”

Daniel followed her gaze. His face didn’t change. “Clause 7 of our contract, Chioma. No feelings. I just wrote it down so we don’t forget.”

“So you expect me to fall for you?” Chioma laughed, but it sounded bitter. “Ego too much, Mr. Okoye.”

Daniel’s eyes darkened. “No. I expect you to obey rules. Billionaires don’t get attached. It’s messy. Dangerous. I learned that when my mother died.”

The word “mother” hung in the air. The same mother whose room was now Ada’s.

Chioma looked at Rule #50 again. Then at Daniel’s blank face.

“Fine,” she said quietly. “100 rules. I’ll obey them.”

“Good,” Daniel said. He turned to leave, then paused. “Except Rule #50.”

Chioma frowned. “What?”

Daniel looked at her for 2 seconds too long. “Rule #50 is... flexible. If you fall, that’s your problem. Not mine.”

Then he walked away, leaving Chioma staring at the wall.

Do not fall for me.

Too late. She was already thinking about how his hands shook in the hospital. How he stayed awake all night. How he gave Ada his mother’s room.

That night, Chioma couldn’t sleep. The mansion was too silent. She tiptoed out of her room at 2am for water.

The hallway was dark. Except one light.

Daniel’s bedroom door. Slightly open.

From inside, she heard his voice. Low. Tired. Talking to someone.

“I’m fine, James,” he said on phone. “Yes, the girl and her sister moved in. No, I’m not getting attached. Rule #50 exists for a reason.”

A pause.

“Because I watched my mother fall for my father,” Daniel whispered. “And it killed her when he left. I won’t... I can’t do that again.”

Chioma froze. Heart pounding.

Rule #50 wasn’t about her. It was about him.

The billionaire CEO with 100 rules... was the most broken one of all.

And Chioma was living in his house now.

God help her.

*End of Chapter 12*

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