The Billionaire's Bargain

PENNY The driveway is long and ridiculous. Trees darken the path to the house that rises like a green cloud in the evening sunlight. I prefer my little apartment with the view of the sprawling city but I make the trip to the countryside every other weekend. My car slows to a stop next to Maria’s and I step out into the warm air and make my way into the house. “Penelope!” I hear the excited squeal of a woman in bed, pale and thin but with a bright smile that can light an entire room. “Hey, Mom.” I return her smile, drop my bag, and give her a quick forehead kiss. “So how are you doing? Tell me everything.” She pats the space beside her happily.I laugh and sit down. “Where’s Maria?” My mother waves a dismissive hand. “She’s off somewhere trying to prepare another atrocious food for me to eat. Honestly, if the cancer doesn’t kill me her food will.” I laugh again. “I’m sure once you stop joking like that, not even cancer can kill you.” “Remains to be seen,” she says wistfully and

PENNYWickedly smart. Insanely intelligent. Sexy and terrifying. Son of a senator. CEO of Hilton Tech and the most eligible bachelor under thirty. Christian Hilton is apparently a huge deal and now a giant wall standing between me, my inheritance, and opening my bakery. “The city’s leading man,” Jess reads off her phone beside me, then snorts. “I’ve never heard of him.” Which is the truth. He’s a stranger. An unknown and I’m expected to just marry him. I'm tempted to wonder if my mom lost her mind.Tiny rain droplets run down the car windows as I pull into a large parking lot. His office is at the top of the largest skyscraper in the city and I hope to find answers in there as to why my mom thought it was a great idea to demand such a thing from me. “But damn, he’s built like a sexy god,” Jess murmurs more to herself than me. “It doesn’t make any sense,” I say, my voice full of wariness. “Mom has never mentioned him and they did no business together.” I’ve spent the better part

PENNYThe smell of fresh paint and sawdust filled the air as I stepped into what will soon be my bakery. Well, ours. Jess and I have spent the last few hours unpacking, cleaning, and arguing over where to place things. The space is not so small but full of promise—large windows that would let in sunlight.Jess sat cross-legged on the floor, a hammer in her hand, squinting at a piece of furniture she’s been trying (and failing) to assemble for the past thirty minutes.“Why do all these stupid manuals have to be in another language?” she huffs, tossing the instructions aside.I grin, setting down a box of mixing bowls. “Because they assume people have basic common sense.”“Are you implying I don’t?” She glares at me, then groans dramatically. “Ugh. Just admit you should’ve let me hire someone.”Sitting on the counter, I stretch my legs out. “We’re saving money. We can’t afford to hire anyone yet, not until I get my inheritance”Jess sighs. “Yeah, yeah. We’re broke bakers trying to build

PENNYLeaning against the counter, I watched Liam tighten the last screw on the bakery’s new doorbell chime.“Try it now,” he said, stepping back and wiping his hands on a napkin.Jess reached for the door handle, pushed it open slightly, and let it swing back.A pleasant jingle echoed through the bakery, she gasped dramatically. “We’re officially fancy!”I chuckled, shaking my head. “It’s a doorbell, Jess, not a Michelin star.”Liam smirked. “At least now you’ll know when someone sneaks in.”I nodded, appreciating his help more than I wanted to admit. He had done a lot—fixing up shelves, adjusting furniture, even helping unpack the last few boxes I had been dreading.At some point, we had ordered takeout, and now the scent of soy sauce and fried rice lingered in the air. Jess leaned back in her chair, rubbing her stomach. “I can’t move. Someone carry me.”“No one’s carrying you,” I said, amused. “But Liam can drop you home, seeing he's on his way out”Liam, who had been sipping his

PENELOPEMy chest felt heavy.Not in the physical sense—the weight of the dress, the veil on my hair, the way the pins pulled at my scalp.Today was my wedding day, and I had never felt less like a bride.Jess flitted around the bridal suite, doing what she did best—talking, fussing, trying to lift my mood and be dramatic."Okay, listen," she said, hands on her hips. "At the very least, you have to admit you look drop-dead gorgeous."Looking back at my reflection, the dress was elegant, exactly the kind of thing my mother would have approved of—but I couldn’t help but feel that it was wearing me, not the other way around.Jess sighed dramatically, flopping onto the couch. “You look like you're walking to your execution.” “Aren’t I?” smiling at her through the mirror."You're being dramatic.""I thought that was your thing?"She groaned, then sat up. "Alright, I’m going to get something to drink—and don’t say no, because you look like you’re about two seconds away from passing out.”