THE BILLIONAIRE'S RELUCTANT BRIDE

THE BILLIONAIRE'S RELUCTANT BRIDE

Amelia E.

5.0
Comment(s)
408
View
26
Chapters

To save her crumbling family legacy, Selena Hart signs a deal with the devil-cold, ruthless billionaire Damien Blackthorn. One year of marriage. No love. No intimacy. Just a contract. But behind Damien's icy façade lies a man driven by secrets and vengeance, and behind Selena's fire hides a heart that refuses to break. As the lines between hatred and attraction blur, Selena is pulled into a world of luxury, lies, and slow-burning obsession. She thought she could play his game without losing herself. She never expected to crave the very man she vowed to hate. A contract brought them together. But what happens when real feelings break the rules?

THE BILLIONAIRE'S RELUCTANT BRIDE Chapter 1 The Price of Her Name

Selena Hart's heels echoed like gunshots on the gleaming marble of Blackthorn Tower's top floor, each step fueled by the fire burning in her chest. The receptionist had tried to stop her. Two suited guards had stepped in her path. But no one truly knew how far a desperate woman could go until they had everything to lose.

Her grip tightened on the folder in her hand-legal documents, contracts, and a crumbling legacy. The Hart family name used to command respect. Now, it was currency slowly losing value.

And Damien Blackthorn-her father's rival, the man who bled their empire dry-was about to become her husband.

She didn't wait to be announced. The polished double doors to the CEO's office swung open beneath her push, revealing a world of luxury wrapped in ice.

The man behind the glass desk didn't so much as blink.

Damien Blackthorn stood as if carved from the very steel that shaped this skyscraper. Impeccably dressed in a tailored black suit, his jacket was buttoned, his cuffs crisp, his power undeniable. The skyline stretched out behind him, but his storm-grey eyes were fixed on her like a sniper's scope.

"You're late," he said smoothly, his voice low and deadly calm.

"I wasn't aware I needed your permission to barge into hell," Selena said coldly.

His lips twitched, but it wasn't a smile. "Still dramatic, I see."

"And you're still a vulture in a suit." She dropped the folder on his desk with a snap. "That's everything you wanted. Shares. Assets. Silence. My family's name on the dotted line."

Damien didn't touch it. "You came all this way to surrender?"

"I came to propose a deal."

He leaned back in his chair, temple resting against his fingers, interest flickering in his eyes. "I'm listening."

Selena took a breath, feeling her pulse hammering against her skin. Her voice was steady, though her world was collapsing.

"I know what you want. Public trust. The illusion of partnership. You've already taken the company. But if you want the Hart name without a PR nightmare-without a lawsuit or a scandal-you need me."

"You think I care about public perception?"

"I think you care about control. And right now, a hostile takeover would spark too many questions. But a merger? A marriage? That's cleaner. Safer. Smarter."

Damien's gaze was unreadable, but the temperature in the room seemed to drop.

"You're offering yourself?" he asked, voice quieter now. "Like a pawn?"

"No," Selena said, lifting her chin. "I'm offering you a contract. One year. Marriage. No emotions. No expectations. You get the Hart name-and I get what's left of my family's reputation."

His silence was sharp enough to cut.

Selena forced herself to hold his stare. Her father's debts had buried them. Her mother had retreated into grief. Her sister was barely holding on. This was the only way out.

"I'll sign the agreement tonight," she said. "On one condition."

"And what's that?"

"No touching."

The air shifted.

Damien stood slowly, rounding the desk. His presence was suffocating-too tall, too close, too composed. When he stopped in front of her, Selena's breath caught. Not out of fear-but something darker, more dangerous.

"Marriage without touching?" he repeated. "You insult me."

"I'm protecting myself."

His eyes flicked over her like a brand. "You want my name. My money. My power. And yet, you put up a wall the second I get close?"

She held her ground. "This isn't about desire."

"You sure about that?"

The question hung in the air like a storm cloud.

Selena's mouth parted-to argue, to curse him-but her words faltered. Because no matter how much she hated him, her body remembered the last time they were this close. His hand on her waist at that gala three years ago. His whisper in her ear. The kiss that never happened, but still haunted her.

Damien stepped back before she could gather herself.

"I accept," he said.

She blinked. "You do?"

His lips curved. "We'll sign the contract tonight. You move into my penthouse tomorrow."

Her stomach tightened. "What about... people?"

"They'll believe the fairytale," he said, voice cool. "A powerful merger born of passion. That's what they want to see."

She hated how easy it was for him to lie.

"And when the year is over?"

"You'll walk away with your name intact," he said. "And I'll own every piece of what you tried to protect."

A chill licked her spine.

Selena turned toward the door. "Then we have a deal."

But just as her fingers brushed the handle, Damien's voice stopped her.

"Wear something white," he said.

She looked over her shoulder.

"For the photos," he added, smirking. "Let the world believe you came willingly."

She left without a word, but the weight of what she'd done settled like ice in her veins.

Tomorrow, she'd become his bride.

And there'd be no turning back.

Continue Reading

Other books by Amelia E.

More

You'll also like

The Scars She Hid From The World

The Scars She Hid From The World

REGINA MCBRIDE
4.6

The heavy iron gates of the Wilderness Correction Camp groaned as they released me after three years of state-sponsored hell. I stood on the dirt road, clutching a plastic bag that held my entire life, waiting for the family that claimed they sent me there for "rehab." My brother, Brady, picked me up in a luxury SUV only to throw me out onto a deserted highway in the middle of a brewing storm. He told me I was a "public relations nightmare" and that the rain might finally wash the "stink" of the camp off me. He drove away, leaving me to limp miles through the mud on a snapped ankle. When I finally dragged myself to our family estate, my mother didn't offer a hug; she gasped in horror because my muddy clothes were ruining her Italian marble. They didn't give me my old room back. Instead, they banished me to a moldy gardener’s shack and hired a "babysitter" to make sure I didn't embarrass them further. My sister, Kaleigh, stood there in white cashmere, pretending to cry while clinging to her fiancé, Ambrose—the man who had once been mine. They all treated me like a volatile junkie, refusing to acknowledge that Kaleigh was the one who planted the drugs in my bag three years ago. They wanted to believe I was broken so they wouldn't have to feel guilty about the "wellness retreat" that was actually a torture chamber. I sat in the dark of that shed, feeling the cooling gel on the cigarette burns that covered my arms, and realized they had made a fatal mistake. They thought they had erased me, but I had returned with a roadmap of scars and a hidden satellite phone. At dinner, I didn't beg for their love. I simply rolled up my sleeves and showed them the price of their silence. As the wine spilled and the lies crumbled, I sent a single text to the only person I trusted: "I'm in. Let them simmer." The hunt was finally on.

The Billionaire's Blind Bride: No Mercy

The Billionaire's Blind Bride: No Mercy

Emma
4.0

I married Clive Harrington, the coldest billionaire in Manhattan, under a strict contract that forbade any emotional burdens. When I needed a high-risk surgery to save my sight, I checked into the clinic alone, hiding the procedure from a husband who saw me as nothing more than a legal asset. I thought I could handle the darkness in silence. But while I was blind and bandaged in my hospital bed, my biological mother called, screaming that if I didn't produce a Harrington heir by the end of the fiscal year, she would cut off the life-saving treatments for my disabled sister. I was crawling on the cold hospital floor, desperately feeling for a cane I had dropped, when I touched a pair of expensive leather shoes. It was Clive. He was supposed to be in London closing a multi-million dollar deal, but there he was, watching his "contract wife" groveling in the dark like a beggar. He didn't walk away in disgust. He carried me to a five-thousand-dollar-a-night VIP suite and sat by my bed, listening in chilling silence as another voicemail from my mother filled the room, calling me a "useless broodmare" who was only worth the trust fund disbursements my marriage secured. I expected him to remind me of Clause 34B or hand me divorce papers now that I was "damaged goods." Instead, I felt his thumb brush a stray tear from my cheek, his presence shifting from a statue of ice into a predatory shield. "I thought I was just currency to you," I whispered, my voice trembling behind the gauze. "Just an investment." Clive didn't answer with words. He picked up his phone and called his head of legal with a single, terrifying command: "Kill the Douglas family’s credit lines. Every debt, every lien—trigger them all. If they want a war, I’ll give them a massacre." As he leaned down to kiss my bandaged forehead, I realized the contract was dead. My husband wasn't protecting an asset anymore; he was hunting the people who had dared to touch what belonged to him.

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book
THE BILLIONAIRE'S RELUCTANT BRIDE THE BILLIONAIRE'S RELUCTANT BRIDE Amelia E. Others
“To save her crumbling family legacy, Selena Hart signs a deal with the devil-cold, ruthless billionaire Damien Blackthorn. One year of marriage. No love. No intimacy. Just a contract. But behind Damien's icy façade lies a man driven by secrets and vengeance, and behind Selena's fire hides a heart that refuses to break. As the lines between hatred and attraction blur, Selena is pulled into a world of luxury, lies, and slow-burning obsession. She thought she could play his game without losing herself. She never expected to crave the very man she vowed to hate. A contract brought them together. But what happens when real feelings break the rules?”
1

Chapter 1 The Price of Her Name

11/04/2025

2

Chapter 2 The Contract of No Return

11/04/2025

3

Chapter 3 Headlines and Lies

11/04/2025

4

Chapter 4 The Fine Print of Power

11/04/2025

5

Chapter 5 Lines in the Sand

11/04/2025

6

Chapter 6 Dangerous Curiosity

11/04/2025

7

Chapter 7 The Price of Desire

11/04/2025

8

Chapter 8 The kiss that could break us

11/04/2025

9

Chapter 9 The Consequences of Desire

11/04/2025

10

Chapter 10 Breaking the illusion

11/04/2025

11

Chapter 11 The Descent into Chaos

11/04/2025

12

Chapter 12 The Unraveling

11/04/2025

13

Chapter 13 The Breaking Point

12/04/2025

14

Chapter 14 The Dark Turn

12/04/2025

15

Chapter 15 Secrets and Betrayals

17/04/2025

16

Chapter 16 The confrontation

17/04/2025

17

Chapter 17 The breaking point

17/04/2025

18

Chapter 18 The Secrets Unveiled

18/04/2025

19

Chapter 19 The Enemy Within

18/04/2025

20

Chapter 20 Into the fire

18/04/2025

21

Chapter 21 Blood and Betrayal

18/04/2025

22

Chapter 22 Bound by blood and fire

18/04/2025

23

Chapter 23 Beneath the crossfire

23/04/2025

24

Chapter 24 Shattered shadows

25/04/2025

25

Chapter 25 Danger escalates

25/04/2025

26

Chapter 26 Safe house

25/04/2025