Forced Marriage to the Secret Billionaire CEO
Penulis
P. J. Williams
Jumlah dibaca
564K
Bab
42
Adrianna’s future is not hers to choose when her father forces an impossible ultimatum—marry a stranger or lose everything she has worked toward. Determined to hold onto her dreams, she agrees, expecting the worst. Instead, she finds herself tied to Kayson, a sharp, powerful man who is nothing like she imagined. Their arrangement is meant to be simple, but nothing about it feels easy. As tensions rise and quiet alliances form, Adrianna refuses to shrink, chasing her ambitions while learning how to stand her ground. Kayson, guarded yet fiercely protective, proves to be both an unexpected challenge and a surprising ally. In a world of pressure and hidden motives, something real begins to grow where neither of them planned it.
A Marriage for a Price
Tom folded his hands together and looked at Adrianna with an expression she did not recognize. It was distant, measured, and entirely devoid of warmth. “If you want your tuition paid,” he said calmly, “then you are going to marry Kayson Wellington. That is the only way I am willing to help you.”
The words did not register at first. Adrianna stood there in stunned silence, her mind struggling to process what he had just said. She waited for him to clarify, to laugh, to tell her she had misunderstood. But he did none of those things. He simply sat there, watching her as though he had just laid out the terms of a contract instead of dictating the course of her life.
“I cannot believe this,” Adrianna said finally, her voice shaking despite her effort to remain composed. “I am your own daughter, and yet you would rather favor your wife’s child over me. All I am asking for is for you to cover my tuition, and you cannot even manage that without trying to sell me off, like some…some cattle. Meanwhile, Madison gets a new car and throws lavish parties every weekend.”
Her father scoffed, his lips curling with thinly veiled disdain. “Don’t be dramatic. This is necessary.”
“Necessary?” Adrianna let out a hollow laugh, the sound sharp and bitter. “If it is so necessary, then let Madison do it. Oh wait, you love your stepdaughter more than you love me, your own flesh and blood.”
Before Tom could respond, the sound of heels echoed through the room. As if summoned by Adrianna’s words, Madison sauntered in, her presence immediately commanding attention. She casually tossed her new Birkin bag onto the glass table and sat down to scroll through her phone. “Dad, I need ten grand,” she said without even glancing up.
Adrianna watched in disbelief as her father reached for his checkbook without hesitation. The bitterness rose sharply in her chest, burning her throat.
“Just proving my point,” Adrianna muttered.
Madison looked up and smirked, propping her feet on the glass table as though it belonged to her. “What are you whining about now?”
Nancy entered the room moments later, her irritation evident the moment she noticed Adrianna standing there. “There are dirty dishes in the sink,” she said sharply. “Why do you not clean them and give your father and me some privacy?”
“Why can’t Madison do it?” Adrianna asked, her patience already stretched thin.
“Excuse me?” Madison and Nancy said at the same time.
“You sit around all day or go out partying and wasting money while I am stuck doing all the chores and laundry, as if you don’t have two hands,” Adrianna said, the words tumbling out as years of resentment surfaced. “And now, when I ask to go to college, suddenly it comes with terms and conditions. How is that fair? Madison can have it all, so why can’t I?”
Nancy scoffed loudly. “You are ungrateful. You should be grateful I even allow you to stay in this house.”
The words hit harder than any insult before them. Adrianna felt her chest tighten as anger and hurt collided. “You are not allowing me to live anywhere,” she shot back. “This is my mother’s house. If anything, you should be grateful that you and your trash daughter are here.”
Nancy’s face turned red with fury, and before Adrianna could react, Nancy’s hand struck her across the face.
Adrianna retreated to her room soon after, the attic space Tom had reluctantly agreed to convert into something barely livable. The new floorboards and fresh paint did nothing to hide the truth. It was still cramped, still isolated, still a reminder of where she stood in this family. Madison, meanwhile, had been given a spacious and luxurious bedroom that reflected exactly how valued she was.
“Adrianna, get down here,” Tom’s voice bellowed from downstairs.
“What did I do now?” Adrianna muttered as she forced herself back into the living room, where her father, his wife, and Madison waited.
Tom folded his arms. “As I was saying earlier, before you rudely stormed out, in order for me to pay for your tuition, you have to marry Kayson Wellington.”
“Why are those the terms and conditions?” Adrianna asked flatly.
“Well,” Madison said lazily, “Dad wants me to marry him, but I do not want to. So you will marry him instead.”
Adrianna stared at her in disbelief.
“Dad, I refuse,” Adrianna said firmly.
“There is a problem with the company,” Tom explained stiffly. “The agreement was for Madison to marry Kayson to help save it.”
“And since he does not know what I look like,” Madison added with a smug smile, “you can take my place.”
“No,” Adrianna snapped. “I cannot believe you are holding my future over my head.”
“You have no future,” Nancy sneered. “Frankly, I am close to kicking you out for how useless and disrespectful you are.”
Adrianna looked at her stepmother, then at her father, who remained silent. “Who is this man anyway?” she demanded.
Madison grinned and lifted her phone, holding it out. “That is Kayson.”
Adrianna’s face drained of color as she stared at the photo. An old, balding man with a walking stick, easily in his sixties.
“You cannot be serious,” she whispered.
Nancy crossed her arms. “It is not a choice. If you want to go to college, you marry Mr. Wellington in Madison’s place, or you leave this house.”
“This house belongs to my mother,” Adrianna snapped. “Let Madison marry him. She is used to older men anyway, with her OnlyFans account and sugar daddies.”
Madison clenched her fists, but it was Nancy who struck first, slapping Adrianna hard. Adrianna reacted without thinking, her defiance surging as she struck back twice as hard.
“Adrianna!” Tom roared.
“I am sick and tired of being mistreated,” Adrianna said, her voice shaking with fury. “And I am sick of watching you do nothing.”
***
Later, as Adrianna descended the stairs, Madison smirked at her. “Look at you, about to marry an old, unattractive man.”
“Funny, coming from you, Fiona,” Adrianna retorted, using the old nickname for her stepsister. She couldn’t help but recall how Madison’s surgeries had failed to truly improve her appearance.
The first time they met, Adrianna thought Madison was a boy. Puberty had completely bypassed her, and her transformation through surgery had only made her look even more artificial.
“Well, let’s see who has the last laugh. I am glad I managed to talk Tom into this, so I won’t be the one stuck with that old man, who I heard isn’t even that wealthy. He’s only willing to pay off Dad’s debt if you marry him.”
Adrianna rolled her eyes and continued walking. At least marrying Mr. Wellington would mean escaping this house, this constant cruelty. But the thought left a pit in her stomach.
What kind of man was Kayson?
She had no idea what kind of debt her father was truly in. He owned a travel agency and worked with airlines, hotels, and Airbnbs. How could he possibly be this desperate?
When she entered her father’s office, unfamiliar men in suits watched her closely. Tom smiled stiffly. “Madison, it is about time you joined us.”
The old man rose slowly, leaning on his walking stick.
“Nice to meet you, Madison,” Kayson Wellington said, his gaze cold and assessing. “You seem younger than twenty-one.”
Adrianna stood there while Tom and Kayson discussed arrangements, and Adrianna felt a surge of panic when Kayson announced that the wedding would take place in a week. Her father and Kayson’s agreement made her stomach churn.
As Adrianna retreated to her room, the weight of what had been decided settled heavily on her shoulders. An arranged marriage was not something she had ever imagined for herself, and yet it now stood between her and the only future she had left. She lay awake that night with a single thought echoing through her mind.
There was no way out.
“Unless…”
Adrianna packed a small bag, then she slipped out her window, her heart pounding as she walked down the long driveway and onto the empty road beyond the gates. She did not know where she was going. She only knew she could not stay.
Her feet ached, her throat burned from crying, and fear gnawed at her as the road stretched endlessly ahead. When headlights finally appeared behind her, she tensed, ready to run. But the car slowed, pulling alongside her.
A man leaned across the passenger seat. “You all right?” he asked, his voice calm, almost gentle.
She hesitated, then nodded, exhaustion won over caution.
Inside the car, the warmth and quiet lulled her senses. She noticed a name on the dashboard display as he adjusted something. Kayson.
Her stomach twisted and panic flared briefly before she reasoned that it must be someone who worked for the man she was supposed to marry. Someone sent to bring her back, but the man did not turn around; he simply drove.
They stopped at a small roadside bar. One drink became another, and as her nerves dulled, the world softened. Laughter slipped out where tears had lived moments before.
When Adrianna woke the next morning, her head throbbed and the room was unfamiliar. The other side of the bed was empty.
On the nightstand sat an envelope.
Inside was a stack of cash and a simple note.
Stay safe, until we meet again.
