Bounded By the Billionaire's Contract

The Outrage And The Matriarch

The morning sun cut through the heavy motorized drapes of the penthouse, blinding me.

I woke up under silk sheets that didn't belong to me, smelling of cedarwood. For a second, I forgot where I was.

Then, the heavy gold band sitting loosely on my left ring finger brought the memories crashing back.

I was married. To Damien Vance.

My phone on the nightstand vibrated violently. It hadn't stopped since 6:00 AM.

I picked it up, my heart sinking as dozens of missed calls from my father and hundreds of text notifications flooded the screen. I opened the first news app on my feed.

Billionaire Surprise: Damien Vance Marries Rival's Fiancée in Secret Midnight Ceremony!

Right below the headline was a high-resolution photo of us from last night.

Damien’s iron grip was around my waist, his face buried near my neck as he shielded me from the rain outside the venue. We looked intensely, breathlessly in love.

The bedroom door clicked open without a knock.

Damien stepped in, fully dressed in a pristine navy-blue three-piece suit. Not a single dark hair was out of place.

He carried a silver tray with a cup of black coffee and a thick stack of legal documents.

"You're trending," Damien said smoothly, setting the tray on the nightstand. His voice was just as deep and unaffected as it had been during the storm.

"My father is going to kill me," I whispered, pulling the silk sheet tightly up to my chest. "He’s called forty times. Austin has texted me a hundred times."

"They can't touch you here," Damien replied, pulling a sleek fountain pen from his pocket and laying it over the legal documents.

"They no longer have the financial leverage. Austin’s primary investors pulled out two hours ago because of the scandal. His stock is tumbling."

A small, twisted sense of satisfaction flared in my chest. It was working. The contract was protecting me.

"So, what happens now?" I asked, looking up at him. "We just hide out here?"

"No," Damien said, his gray eyes locking onto mine with an unreadable, intense focus.

"Tonight is the annual Vance Foundation Gala. The entire high-society elite will be there, including your family and the press. We make our official debut as a couple."

My breath caught. "Tonight? Damien, I don’t know how to pretend to be the wife of a man like you in front of hundreds of cameras."

Damien leaned down over the bed, placing his hands on either side of my shoulders, effectively trapping me against the mattress.

His expensive cologne washed over me, making my pulse spike.

"It’s simple, Chloe," he murmured. His eyes dropped to my lips before rising back to meet my gaze.

"You look at me like I’m the center of your universe. When I touch you, you don't flinch. You let them see exactly how possessed you are."

Before I could answer, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, looking at the caller ID.

His jaw tightened instantly, a dark shadow crossing his features. He answered it, putting it on speakerphone.

"Damien," a cold, aristocratic female voice echoed through the bedroom.

It was his mother, Eleanor Vance—the terrifying matriarch of the city's oldest billionaire dynasty.

"I am standing in your penthouse elevator right now with our legal team. We need to see this... girl you dragged out of the gutter."

The elevator doors at the end of the hallway chimed loudly.