The Billionaire's Marriage Investement
Victoria agreed to marry a man she barely knows.
She needs money fast. Her grandmother’s surgery can’t wait, and neither can the startup she’s poured everything into. Victoria knows her app can succeed. The problem is getting someone powerful enough to believe in it too.
After months of rejection, one risky decision puts her in front of Ryder Lake.
Ryder Lake is the rich and untouchable heir to Tecna Group.
Ryder has done everything alone, and he plans to keep it that way. He doesn’t do relationships, doesn’t trust easily, and definitely doesn’t need a wife. But when his position in the company is threatened by his own sister, the board and his father gives him an ultimatum: get married or lose his title as heir.
So he offers Victoria a deal.
He’ll fund her startup and pay for her grandmother’s surgery.
All she has to do is become Mrs. Lake.
What starts as a cold contract quickly turns into a night of passion, jealousy neither of them wants to admit to, and feelings that become impossible to ignore.
Victoria tries to keep emotional distance and Ryder is starting to want something that was never part of the agreement.
Her.
Baca
Chapter: Chapter 14 : Trying Something NewShow me your friend, and I’ll tell you who you are, they said.Victoria could finally testify that the maximum was true. With the way she cooked up a romantic story on the spot, you could tell her best friend was a writer a.k.a a really good impromptu liar.When Miranda demanded an explanation to who her fiancé was, and how she had met him, Victoria began the most ridiculous narration.“His name is Ryder, and I met him when I visited the zoo.”Miranda gave her a weird look. “The zoo? But you never go there because you don’t like animals.”Oh.“I was trying something new,” Victoria said, without missing a beat. “Personal growth. Stepping outside my comfort zone. You always say I should do that.”“I say you should eat breakfast every morning too. You don’t do that either.”“Grandma, do you want to hear the story or not?”Miranda folded her hands in her lap. “Continue.”“So. I was at the zoo.” Victoria cleared her throat. “And there was this moment at the penguin exhibit wher
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-07-08
Chapter: Chapter 13 : Paid Your BillsWhen Victoria left Tecna tower, there was a car arranged by Ryder, waiting with a driver inside. “Mr. Lake has designated a driver to take you wherever you need.” Sam said. The car was sleek and it felt a bit overwhelming, but she tried to act passive about it. She was going to get married to Ryder. As Mrs. Lake, even if only temporary, she’d be in the face of much more luxury. So she got in without a word, and settled in the back seat. As the car began to move, she popped open the little black box Ryder had give her.When she saw what was inside, a little gasp escaped her.“Oh.”It was a beautiful blue diamond ring. Victoria slowly picked it up. And even though she wasn’t acquainted with luxury items, she could tell this ring was top tier. Inside the box, the words ‘engagement ring’ were inscribed. Tentatively, she slipped the ring unto her finger. It was a perfect fit, and twinkled up at her. “Damn.” She muttered. She stared at it for a solid five minutes, before sh
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-07-07
Chapter: Chapter 12 : No SurprisesVictoria’s hand stilled on the strap of her bag.“Forty-eight hours.” She repeated. “Yes.”“That’s two days.”“That’s correct.” He affirmed.“I’m sorry, but I haven’t told anyone. Not even my grandmother. Not my best friend. You want me to let the entire internet find out before the people who actually know me?”“You have forty-eight hours.” He said. “Tell whoever you need to tell. But after that, it goes public. I need to establish our relationship before the next important company event.”Victoria had to stop herself from cringing at the word ‘relationship’. “You could have maybe mentioned this before I signed.”“It was in clause seven.” “Clause seven said the engagement would be made public within a reasonable timeframe.” She countered.Ryder’s eyebrows jumped a fraction. He was surprised she had that memorised. He wondered how many times she had read the contract over. It was good to have a fake wife that’s meticulous. “Forty-eight hours is reasonable.” He replied
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-07-06
Chapter: Chapter 11 : Let's Get MarriedRyder had expected Victoria to arrive sometime around nine. But when she was running three hours late, he became nervous for some reason. She had been on time, for their two last meetings. And her file had shown she was a punctual person. So he wondered why she hadn’t arrived. Focusing on the work in front of him, became futile.“Is anything the matter, sir?” Sam asked, noticing how his boss kept on tapping his foot on the floor.“Has Victoria contacted you today?” He didn’t bother pretending he was thinking about anything else.Sam shook his head. “No sir. She hasn’t.”Just as Ryder was about to instruct Sam to call her, a knock sounded on his office door. “Come in.” Ryder called.The door opened, and in walked Victoria with a brown bag slung over her shoulders.“Good afternoon.” She greeted Ryder and his assistant, walking towards his desk. Her shoulders were squared and her face pinched with some sort of tension. Ryder could already tell what she was about to say. S
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-07-06
Chapter: Chapter 10 : Worsening ConditionAfter a night of deliberation, Victoria made a decision. But first, she needed a second opinion.“Do you think I should marry him?” Was the first thing out of her lips, when she burst out of her room.Julie yawned, stretching her arms above her head. “Good morning to you too.”“Do you think I should sign the contract?” Victoria asked again, because she had lived long enough with Julie to know she was quite slow in the morning. Her roommate slowly scratched her head, and shuffled into the bathroom. Victoria followed, hot on her tail.“I think,” Julie picked up her toothbrush to put paste on it. “It’s a bad idea.”“Why?” Victoria had to wait for Julie to brush a row of teeth and spit, before she got a reply.“First of all, never heard that nothing good ever comes for free.”“Yeah. But it isn’t free. I’ll be acting as his wife.” Julie raised an eyebrow. “Several allowances, an investment into your start-up along TEN MILLION DOLLARS, all to act as his wife for a year?”Victo
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-07-05
Chapter: Chapter 9 : Give Me Am AnswerVictoria was in the middle of arguing with her laptop when her phone rang.The spreadsheet had crashed for the second time and she had lost forty minutes of work! She looked at her phone screen, and wanted to ignore it, not in the mood to talk to anyone. Plus, it was an unknown number.But something made her pick up.“Hello?”“It’s Ryder Lake.” The cold voice on the other end, responded.She sat up so fast she nearly knocked her laptop off the bed.“Oh.” She cleared her throat. “Hi.”Why in the world was he calling her? Didn’t he say he’d give her two days to decide on signing the contract?“Did I call at a bad time?” He asked. “No. No, I was just... working.” She pushed her laptop aside, while wondering how to steer the conversation. “Is anything wrong?”“Nothing is wrong.”“Okay.” She waited. “So why are you calling?”There another stretch of silence. Just as she was about to check if he had ended the call, he replied. “I’m not entirely sure.” His voice was barely o
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-07-04
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