Married to the cold billionaire

Storms on the Horizon

Eliana had thought that once they crossed that invisible line — once Damon proposed for real — everything would be perfect.

Smooth. Easy.

She was wrong.

In the weeks that followed, reality crept back in, sharp and insistent.

The media exploded with the news of their “second” marriage.

Headlines buzzed about Damon Blackwood finally falling in love.

Paparazzi camped outside their building.

Every outing became a battlefield of flashing cameras and invasive questions.

Damon, ever the strategist, tightened security and brushed off the chaos with icy efficiency.

But Eliana wasn’t built the same way.

The constant scrutiny gnawed at her, at her sense of peace, at her still-fragile trust in their relationship.

One evening, after an especially brutal encounter with a pushy journalist who shouted cruel questions about her “gold-digging roots,” Eliana locked herself in the bathroom, sinking to the cold marble floor.

The tears came without warning.

She hated how fragile she felt.

She hated how the past — her father’s debts, her mother’s desperate choices — clung to her like a stain she could never wash away.

A soft knock sounded on the door.

“Eliana?” Damon’s voice was low, cautious. “Open the door, baby.”

She pressed her forehead against her knees, trying to steady her breathing.

“I’m fine,” she lied, voice shaking.

“You’re not,” he said gently. “Please. Let me in.”

Something in his tone — not command, not anger, but pure concern — broke her last defense.

She rose on trembling legs and unlocked the door.

Damon stood there, worry etched into every line of his face.

Without a word, he gathered her into his arms.

For a long moment, he just held her — no questions, no demands — letting her soak in the safety of him.

“They’re wrong,” he murmured into her hair. “None of what they say matters. Not to me.”

“But it hurts,” she whispered, voice cracking.

“I know,” he said, voice rough with emotion. “And I hate that I can’t shield you from all of it.”

Eliana pulled back slightly, searching his face.

“Then why didn’t you tell them?” she asked, the pain surfacing. “Why not just announce the truth? That our first marriage was a contract?”

Damon stiffened.

“You want the world to know that our beginning was a lie?” he said carefully.

“I want the truth between us,” she said fiercely. “No more masks. No more pretending.”

For a long, tense moment, Damon said nothing.

Then he reached for her hand, threading his fingers through hers.

“Tomorrow,” he promised. “We hold a press conference. Together. We tell them everything.”

Eliana blinked, stunned.

“You’d risk the company’s reputation… for me?”

“For us,” Damon corrected. “You’re not my weakness, Eliana. You’re my strength.”

The words hit harder than any love confession.

And for the first time since stepping into this whirlwind life, Eliana believed they could survive whatever storms came their way — together.

Still, a tiny seed of fear rooted itself deep in her heart.

Because not everyone wanted them to survive.

And some enemies wore familiar faces.