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The Ruby Shackle: Bound To The Billionaire

Author: ANASTASIA GRAVES

Chapter 1 No.1

Word Count: 1117 | Released on: 04/02/2026

ridor with a clatter that was too loud for 2:00 AM, but her feet were scream

a breath.

d just come back from a bad date with a mechanic, not an operative who ha

the tremble of her lower lip. The "frightened doe." It was her best look. It was a look that

ight at the end of

e usual lemon polish the maids used.

as smoking i

out from t

Audie's training screamed at her to pivot, to drive her elb

ut a pathetic, high-pitched gasp and slumped again

a voic

unnerving than a storm, his grip on her wrist tight enough to bruise. He pulled her toward

anner hidden behind a bust of Cae

ll sli

g her toe on the carpet, and fell to her knee

sealing them in the soundproof panic r

ttoned at the collar, revealing the pale skin of his throat. His eyes were bloodsh

up a pho

The glossy paper fluttere

r. Smiling at Arthur, the mechanic w

Basil said. His voice

ce, her own expression a mask of confusion and fear. She opened her mouth as if to speak

rled, misinterpreting her silence as an un

padded wall beside her head. Dus

ld her breath, forcing her heart to hammer

mooth against her skin. He forced her to look at him. His thumb pres

hecking

t about the mission failing. She thought about t

tension in his shoulders dropped an inch. He liked the fear. It grou

"You don't smile at anyone like that. Only

s. She gave a series of sharp, desperate nods, her body shaking

he fabric of his trousers at the knee. It was a

her hand clutching his expensive

ble. His hand shook-a tremor he couldn't control. He

his left leg. The old skiing injury was flaring up

ce against his knee, rubbing her cheek aga

his fingers in her hair. He pulled, for

he said softly. "A car acciden

r escaping her lips. "No," she whispered,

take i

r eyes asked the

like cheap diner food

und of the cheap polyester parting was loud in t

s covered in fake bruises-makeup she applied every mo

He wasn't looking at her with desire, but with possession

white dress shirt

rsized shirt with fumbling fingers. It s

l door s

his back to her. "Tomorr

s soon as the door sealed shut, her posture straightened. Th

Chapter End

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The Ruby Shackle: Bound To The Billionaire

ANASTASIA GRAVES Modern

“I'm a CIA operative known as "The Auditor," and for months, I've played the role of a pathetic, abused ward in Basil Dean's mansion. My mission was simple: gather intel on a paranoid billionaire while pretending to be a girl who flinches at her own shadow and knows nothing of the world. The balance shattered when Basil found a photo of me smiling at a local mechanic. He didn't just get angry; he dragged me into his soundproof vault, his leather-gloved thumb pressing into my carotid artery to feel the frantic, terrified thrum of my heart. He tagged me with a ruby bracelet-a high-tech tracking device that reported my GPS and biometrics to his phone every second. His stepsister, Corine, smelled blood in the water, accusing me of theft while Basil watched my heart rate spike on his screen like a lab rat in a cage. I was trapped in a gilded nightmare, forced to scrub floors and endure his predatory stares while a fifty-thousand-dollar shackle recorded my every breath. I couldn't tell if he was a grieving recluse or a shark playing with his food, but every time my signal dropped, he was there, looming in the shadows, waiting for me to slip up. I was drowning in a game where the rules changed every time I tried to fight back, and the agency was starting to think I'd turned. To end the charade, I handed the bracelet back to him in front of the entire kitchen staff, a public rejection of his twisted ownership. Basil didn't blink; he took a heavy meat mallet and smashed the ruby to dust right in front of me before making a phone call that turned my mission into a death trap. "Get the prenup ready," he hissed, his eyes burning with a terrifying, sane obsession. "I'm marrying her."”