Tangled With the Tycoon

Olivia's bedroom door was suddenly pushed open. A pair of hands slid around her waist, moving upward.

Olivia bolted awake, pushing the intruder away, and fumbling for the lamp on her nightstand, which she quickly turned on. A greasy, leering face came into sharp focus.

"Chad, what do you think you're doing?"

Olivia, adrenaline pumping, stared at him in horror. Chad, quick to react, clamped his hand over her mouth.

"Just give in, Olivia," Chad whispered, his breath hot and foul on her face. "It's not like you're going to stay a virgin forever."

Chad lunged for her again, tearing at the neckline of her nightgown. Olivia, slender and curvy, had grown into a woman who exuded confidence, and her porcelain-like skin was almost too much to resist. Chad had wanted her for a long time now.

His heavy, greasy body pressed her down.

Olivia felt disgusted. "Chad, you can't do this. You're my brother-in-law! You have a wife! Don't you care what Ava and Mark think?"

Chad, unconcerned, laughed even more maniacally. He was her sister's brother-in-law; a high school dropout who had lived in Ava and Mark's house under the pretense of searching for a job in the city. Each time he looked at her, his eyes were filled with lechery, and there were times when he made physical contact, which left Olivia disgusted.

"Who cares? Ava and Mark already hate you. And my mother keeps saying that you'll be my wife eventually, so this is just cutting out the middleman. It also means I don't have to pay any dowry!"

"Dream on!"

Olivia's body was shaking with fury. She grabbed the lamp from the nightstand and swung it, hitting Chad in the head. She then scrambled out of the room.

Even though Chad hadn't succeeded this time, she knew that he wouldn't give up. Living under the same roof as him was dangerous. She needed to escape.

Ava had enough problems at home. Her mother-in-law had never liked the fact that she had "brought along" Olivia when she married Mark.

If she were to tell Ava what happened, Ava would be stuck in the middle.

To put her sister's mind at ease, and to stop Chad's lecherous ways once and for all, she had to get married quickly, and then move out of that house.

But she wasn't even dating anyone. How would she find a husband in such a short amount of time?

After scrolling through her contacts, Olivia finally decided to reach out to Eleanor, who had a son in his thirties who had never even had a girlfriend.

Outside the City Clerk's Office in Manhattan, Olivia clutched her birth certificate and stared at the man waiting at the door, holding a bouquet of flowers. Could this really be happening?

Was this incredibly handsome and well-dressed man really the one she was going to marry?

She checked her WhatsApp.

6'2", black suit, red roses.

The key details matched. It had to be him. She walked over and said tentatively, "Mr. Hayes?"

Ethan, standing a few steps higher than her, looked down, and gave a brief nod.

"You're late."

His voice was cold, and he seemed unhappy about her tardiness.

"I am so sorry!"

Olivia was contrite; arriving late on their first meeting was far from ideal. "There was some traffic, so..."

She tried to explain, but the man cut her off.

"Let's go. My time is valuable."

His gaze was distant and his posture stiff. He spoke each word as if it was a sliver of ice.

Olivia felt a twinge of doubt. Eleanor, a sweet and kind woman, had always spoken highly of her son. She described him as respectful, successful, and filial, but also mentioned he was terrible at relationships, hence his lack of romantic experience.

It seemed that his inability to attract a girlfriend was due to his direct and cold manner.

Ethan took a few steps, then realized that Olivia hadn't followed. He paused, frowning, a flash of annoyance in his eyes.

He hadn't wanted to marry, but his mother had been pressuring him. Finally, to appease her, he'd agreed to marry the woman she'd recommended.

"You can still change your mind."

Olivia shook her head.

"This is a big step for me, so I think we need to be upfront. I don't know if Eleanor told you much about me."

"I work at Potter & Clay as a designer, and I'm just starting out, so I don't want kids right away. Even if we do have them eventually, I'm not planning on being a stay-at-home mom."

Potter & Clay?

Ethan was familiar with the name, it was a company he had invested in a while back.

He nodded, agreeing with her demands.

He had no intention of having kids with her. This marriage was just to appease his mother; it had no real substance.

"I hear you have some properties in the city, in good neighborhoods. And that you're in real estate, basically a small-time landlord."

Ethan raised his eyebrows at the mention of his properties.

His mother had described Olivia as being special, a woman who wouldn't care about money and status. Now, she was turning out to be like all the others.