Consummating my billionaire CEO contracted marriage

Her eyes, wide and wild locked onto the screen.“What….. what did they just say?” Her mouth moved, but no sound came. Only the booming voice of the news reporter filled the silence “In related new, insider report that the takeover was finalized hours ago under emergency acquisition laws, making Nanode private co the new controlling power but the CEO is still anonymous to everyone.”**********”*Iris didn't remember leaping off the bed. She only remembered the TV screen burning into her memory and the sense of cold panic clawing at her chest. “He's not here,” she shouted, already running out of her room.Dina chased after her. “Wait — what are you talking about?” “My father he's not in his room.” Iris burst into her father's room, flicked the light switch. Empty, the bed was untouched. His phone was on the dresser, screen still lit with missed call from a contact simply labeled “Law.”“No,” she gasped, voice breaking, “no,no, no.” She turned on her heel and grabbed her coat.“We'

They stopped at the small clinic on the outskirts of the city. Her mother had been moved there for closer monitoring after the stress induced collapse.Iris walked the white halls with her father at her side, a bouquet of fresh flowers in her hand.Her mother was asleep when they arrived, thin and pale, hooked to an IV, but her breathing was steady, peaceful.Mr Hargrove reached for her hand and kissed it gently.“You'll be okay, darling,” he whispered. “We're getting our life back. One step at a time.” Iris stood at the foot of the bed, silently watching her mother.Her chest tightened.“One step at a time,” She echoed.But she wasn't sure which direction those step were leading. As they walked back to the car, Iris glanced down at her phone again–no new messages.Still, her finger hovered above Marx's contact.She didn't know why.She didn't plan to call but something inside her wanted to call him to hear his voice again.“No. Stop it,” she told herself. He's not your savior, he's

Iris stood in front of the giant mansion, her fists clenched on the shopping bag handle. The dress Marx had "suggested" she get at the mall, the lilac flowing dress that caressed her curves in all the right places that just felt so much like a costume instead of actual garments. She hated how gorgeous it fit. She hated that she cared about it. And above all else, she hated Marx.She opened the door before she could knock. Marx stood in the doorway, wearing a navy-blue suit that shouted money and charisma. His smile was too bland, too rehearsed."You're late," he told her, regarding her slowly, deliberately. "But you look…. perfect.""I wasn't waiting for your opinion," she growled, pushing past him into the spacious foyer.The table was laid, candles alight, crystal glasses, and a chef who had nodded respectfully and disappeared through the kitchen doors. There were two fashionably attired people seated at the long table: a woman who had pointed cheekbones and a diamond choker and a s

The light of dawn crept over the ceiling like a warning.Iris sat at the edge of her bed, the platinum card still clutched in her hand. She had not changed for almost an hour. The penthouse was charged with the silence greater than sound. Her phone lay face-down beside her, unread messages piling up, all from the people she used to know, to love before this life took over.A light tap broke the silence.Her father walked in, already dressed for the day. His face was lined, older somehow, as if time had sneaked up on him in the night."You should do it," he said quietly. "Do what he asked. At least this way… you can choose your own dress."His voice held no real hope, but rather melancholy resignation. Iris nodded in brief accord, stood, and tied a scarf over her braids. She wore jeans and a simple blouse, a stranger in her own flesh. Entering the private elevator, the air felt thinner as if liberty was a floor she could not reach.---The boutique was a former palace.White marble flo

Iris didn't sleep at all that night.She lay out on her back, still, looking up at the ceiling as if it would reveal things to her if she simply stared long enough. Her eyes burned with exertion, but she could not manage to close them. Could not stop thinking. Darkness stretched out and out, broken only by the spasmodic glare of the city lights stabbing through the cracks of her curtains. They danced across the penthouse walls like ghosts—seeing, waiting.Every creak of the building made her flinch. Every passing car on the street below sent a fresh surge of anxiety through her chest. The silence wasn’t peaceful. It was tense, loaded. Like the whole world was holding its breath.But none of it compared to the storm inside her.Rosa’s voice echoed in her head, relentless: “Please don’t trust the man you’re marrying.”Not a warning. A plea.Iris pressed her face into the pillow, chewing on a noise that was on the cusp of being a sob. Her fingers clutched around the burner phone hidden u