Chapter 5

Elara’s POV

The moment I heard my name, my last resolve melted away. I burst into a fresh round of tears as I lost my footing. Just as I was about to fall, strong hands pulled me up.

I stared up at him as tears rolled down my cheeks. I knew that face. I had seen it across crowded gala halls and on the covers of every financial magazine in the country.

Silas Vane.

"How... how do you know who I am?" I whispered with a hiccup. Important people like him barely knew people like me.

He didn't answer immediately. Instead, his gaze swept over my disheveled state, from my tangled hair down to my bleeding knees. "You’re quite hard not to know although this version of you is strange.”

At his words, I cried even harder and slumped tiredly against him but surprisingly, he didn’t push me away. He simply carried me effortlessly and put me in the passenger seat of his Rolls Royce. When I was settled, he got in as well and began to drive.

"Talk," he commanded, his eyes fixed on the road. "Where is that man you were always with? The one who looked like he’d never done a day’s work in his life?"

I let out a bitter laugh. "Brian. And he's gone, taking everything with him.” I cried. “He proposed just so I’d sign the transfer papers and then he sold my father's company, emptied my personal bank accounts, and borrowed money from loan sharks in my name before fleeing with my best friend."

He didn’t interrupt or console me. He only listened while driving slowly. So I continued as I leaned against his tinted glass.

"I have twenty-four hours to pay two hundred thousand dollars or they'll kill me. I came to the bar because I thought if I drank enough, I wouldn't be so afraid to die."

“That’s tough,” I heard him say quietly.

He was Silas, one of the richest and most influential in the country. Perhaps he could help me. I turned to him, my eyes wide and desperate. I didn't care about my pride anymore. I was a beggar with no penny to her name.

"Please, Silas. You’re the only person I know with that kind of power. Lend me the money and I’ll work for you for the rest of my life. I’ll do anything. I just... I don't want to die like this, please. Help me," I begged.

Silas didn't respond for a long minute as he seemed to be weighing something in his mind, his blue eyes dark with a sudden, sharp calculation. He pulled the car to a stop by the side of the road before turning to look at me.

"I don't need an employee, Elara. I already have thousands at my service," he said, his voice dropping low as his eyes focused on me. "But I do have a problem that matches yours."

“What is that?” I dared to ask.

"My board of directors is trying to strip me of my inheritance because of a scandal I didn't cause," he began. "They want me to prove I’m stable enough to rule them. They want me to have a wife within the next forty-eight hours or I lose everything my father built."

My heart stopped. I knew where this was going, yet I couldn't believe it.

"I am as desperate as you are, so I have a proposal. I will pay off every cent of your debt tonight," Silas continued, his gaze telling me everything I needed to know. "I will hire the best lawyers to track down Brian and reclaim your company. I will make sure he regrets crossing paths with you and I will put you back on your throne, Elara. But in exchange, you will marry me for one year and six months. You will live in my home, attend every event on my arm, and convince the world and my family that we are the perfect couple."

"You want to... buy my marriage?" I whispered, the word heavy on my lips. We were basically strangers!

"I am offering you a lifeline," he corrected. "The loan sharks get their money, you get your legacy back, and I get my heirloom. It’s a transaction, Elara. Purely business. No feelings, no real intimacy. Just a signature on a different kind of paper."

I looked at Silas, who looked dangerous with those eyes pinned on me. I thought of Brian who ruined my life and the loan sharks waiting to devour me. I would give anything to have my father’s company back. But I was scared. If I said yes, I was a billionaire’s wife with all my problems solved but at the expense of my happiness. And if I refused, I was as good as dead.

I licked my dry lips and swallowed hard before speaking up. "Will you really get my company back?" I asked, my voice small.

"I never fail, Elara. You should know this. I didn’t get to be one of the richest by failing,” he said with confidence. “You’ll get all you’ve ever wanted by my side, provided you fulfill your end of the bargain.”

“What if I fail?” I asked, fear creeping in.

“You won’t. We will do this together. Every step will bring us closer to success so you have nothing to worry about.”

I took a shaky breath and weighed my options again. Honestly, this was like a dream come true as my prayer was being answered but Vane scared me with that dark look in his eyes. It screamed for me to run the opposite direction. But running away wasn’t going to pay the debts or get back my father’s company. Seeing I only had one option, I slowly nodded. "Okay, I'll do it. I'll marry you."

A look of triumph crossed his eyes as he let out a satisfied smile. “Good. We have so much to do but first, we need to sign a contract.”