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Contract Marriage: The CEO's Silent Shield

Author: Ken Dahl

Chapter 1 1

Word Count: 894 | Released on: 10/02/2026

y. It required a push, a commitment she

fell below her knees. A shirt buttoned so high it choked her. No

with Mr. Jareth tonigh

er temple. It wasn't a memory; it w

taurant hit her, smelling of brown butter and

lingering on the scuffed toes of her shoes. She looke

er. Her fingers were shaking

s tone suggested she should

weight. Laughter. The clink of silver on china. It was a sea

he corner. T

k was to her. Broad shoulders. A

osed to be a loan shark. A thug. Th

ees hit the table le

an tu

He was... sharp. His jawline could cut glass. His eye

his gaze dissecting her. It felt like a medical scan. He sa

stand up. Wro

" he

voice was low, vibrating through the oak

Her throat closed up. The fa

. A large man in a flashy, ill-fitting suit was scanni

didn't turn around. He s

it whispered something. The waiter went pale.

poke urgently. Jareth looked confused, then furious, then d

opened, but only silence came out. The question scream

she hadn't asked. He slid a me

ugar is crashing. Yo

ncern. It wa

inst her ribs like a trapped bird. This man was dangerous. More dangerous than Jareth. Jareth

on the table. H

sitio

in his eyes. There was only the satisfaction of a hunter who had just heard

ng she could afford if he decided to leave her with the bill. A

m her hands. He hand

. And a glass of wa

l," she said. Her voi

. "You don't look

ements were precise. Surgical. He cut his stea

a pathetic sum that couldn't even cover the appetizer. The rest of her earnings, the real money, was locked away w

card on the tray. It was

e word scraped her t

et. He towered over her, blocking

d I need a wife. Since the loan shark is o

Chapter End

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Contract Marriage: The CEO's Silent Shield

Ken Dahl Modern

“Aunt Lydia told me that if I didn't secure the loan shark Mr. Jareth tonight, I'd be sleeping on the street. I stood outside the brass doors of the restaurant, my lungs refusing to expand, my hands shaking so violently that my gray wool skirt blurred in my vision. I was supposed to sell my soul to a monster to pay off my family's debts. But when I sat down at Table 12, I didn't find a man in a leather jacket smelling of stale beer. Instead, I found a man in a bespoke suit who smelled of cedarwood and cold winter air, a man who looked at me like a specimen under a microscope. "Sit down," he commanded, his voice a deep rumble that vibrated in my chest. Before I could realize I was at the wrong table, he had already signaled the staff to throw the real loan shark out into the street. Then, he slid a blank black card across the table and offered me a deal: a marriage of convenience to satisfy his board of directors in exchange for my total protection. I signed the contract and moved into a penthouse he claimed belonged to his "boss," trying to play the part of the quiet, broken wife. But the lies were too loud to ignore. He called a half-million-dollar bottle of wine a "Costco blend" and claimed his $4 million Patek Philippe watch was a cheap replica. He thought he was protecting a helpless, mute girl, but he had no idea who I really was. I didn't understand why this "manager" had the police commissioner on speed dial or why he was tracking my every move with hidden cameras. While he was busy playing the savior, I was secretly logging onto the dark web as "The Surgeon," the only medical genius capable of treating the chronic, agonizing migraines he kept hidden from the world. The truth finally exploded when the loan shark cornered us at my aunt's estate. As I held a corkscrew to a killer's throat with surgical precision, I saw the mask slip from my husband's face. I realized then that I hadn't just married a businessman-I had married the most dangerous man in New York, and he was currently wiring thousands of dollars to me to save his life.”