Chapter 7 : Sounds Suspicious

Victoria had never hated a piece of paper more.

She sat cross-legged on her bed with the contract spread open in front of her.

Three hours was how long she had spent reading it. Three whole hours.

And somehow every page made the situation feel even more ridiculous.

Stanley jumped onto the mattress and stepped directly on the contract.

Victoria moved him aside.

“You’re not helping.”

The cat blinked. Then sat directly on the section labeled TERMS OF AGREEMENT.

Traitor.

Victoria pushed him away again and continued reading.

The contract was detailed. Extremely detailed, like it had taken months to be drawn up.

She was expected to move into Ryder’s residence immediately after signing.

They would attend company events together. Public appearances. Press functions. Galas. Charity dinners. Business meetings where spouses were expected.

There were confidentiality clauses.

Several of them.

She wasn’t allowed to discuss private matters involving Ryder, Tecna, or the Lake family.

She couldn’t speak to reporters without approval. Couldn’t participate in interviews without approval. Couldn’t post anything online that might damage the Lake family image.

Victoria paused. “Who even has time to do all that?”

She flipped to the next page. It was the time frame for the contract. Just as Ryder had said, it was exactly for one year.

At the end of the agreement they would divorce quietly.

No drama. No public disputes. No interviews.

Victoria snorted. As if anyone would want to hear her talk for an hour.

The next section caught her attention. It was about funding.

The moment the contract was signed, Ryder would release funding for EVANGELINE. Not part of it. Not a percentage.

The entire amount.

Victoria reread the figure. Then reread it again. Then a third time. The number still looked unreal.

Just as he had said, she would be paid ten million dollars! That amount of money would completely change her life.

EVANGELINE wouldn’t just survive. It would finally have a chance to become real.

Her fingers tightened around the pages. Then she reached the section regarding allowances.

He was offering her allowance for housing, transportation, personal expenses and clothing. Even professional image maintenance.

Everything would be covered.

Victoria leaned back against the headboard.

It felt less like a marriage contract and more like someone had decided to sponsor her existence.

There had to be a catch. Nobody offered this much for nothing.

Her eyes continued scanning, looking for some sort of loophole. Then she found it.

Victoria sat upright immediately. She read every line carefully. Any public scandal involving her gave Ryder the right to terminate the agreement immediately.

No warning required. No discussion. No negotiation. He could terminate the contract and pull out his funding. End the arrangement. Everything.

Victoria stared at the page.

The words suddenly felt heavier than all the others.

She wasn’t being hired to be just any wife. She was being hired to play the role of the perfect wife. The flawless wife. The respectable wife. The wife that wouldn’t embarrass him.

The realization made her uneasy.

Obviously, he had the upper hand in this arrangement, and she was merely his pawn.

Stanley jumped back onto the bed. Victoria scratched absentmindedly behind his ears.

“What do you think?”

The cat yawned in reply.

The bedroom door opened. Julie walked inside carrying a bowl of popcorn.

Victoria didn’t even ask where it came from. Julie somehow always had snacks.

“Have you signed it?”

From the moment she returned in the afternoon, Julie had asked her this over and over again.

“No.” And her answer had remained the same.

Julie visibly relaxed. “Good.”

Victoria narrowed her eyes. “You haven’t even read it.”

“I don’t need to.” Julie sat beside her. “The entire concept sounds suspicious.”

Victoria handed over the contract and her friend immediately began reading.

Five minutes later her eyes were huge. Ten minutes later she was muttering to herself. Fifteen minutes later she looked offended.

“As a writer.” Julie announced. “I absolutely love this.”

Victoria groaned. “I knew you’d say that.”

“This is incredible.”

“It isn’t incredible.”

“It is.” Julie pointed dramatically at the pages. “Rich billionaire.”

“Julie.” She could tell where she was going with this.

“Fake marriage.”

“Julie.”

“Business contract.”

“Julie.”

“He falls in love with the woman he hired.”

Victoria buried her face in a pillow. “This isn’t one of your books.”

Julie ignored her. “If I wrote this plot nobody would believe it.”

“Exactly. Cause it can’t actually happen.”

Julie finally became serious. At least, a little.

“Okay, jokes aside.” Victoria looked up as she folded the contract closed. “Don’t you think it’s suspicious?”

Victoria looked away. That was the problem. The strict requirements and roles she had to uphold, were too easy to gain ten million dollars.

It seemed too good to be true.

Everything about this arrangement was strange.

Why her? There had to be thousands of women willing to marry Ryder Lake. Thousands!

Women prettier than her. Richer than her. More connected than her. Women who actually moved in the same circles as billionaires.

Yet somehow he’d chosen her. A struggling entrepreneur with a nearly empty bank account.

Julie asked again. “Don’t you think it’s suspicious?”

Victoria remained silent, because she honestly didn’t know. And she hated that.

Normally she trusted her instincts. This time they were split in half. One part of her screamed to run. The other part kept thinking about the hospital, EVANGELINE and the fact she was running out of time.

Julie’s voice softened as she watched the various calculations swim through her mind. “Vicky.”

Victoria swallowed. No matter how ridiculous Ryder’s proposal sounded. No matter how suspicious it felt, it was an amazing opportunity.

Julie reached over and squeezed her hand.

Desperation made impossible choices look reasonable.

And Victoria hated how reasonable this one was beginning to look.

***

At the other side of the city, Tecna Group was having a meeting. And Ryder hated board meetings.

Not because they were boring, but because they were predictable. Every single person around the table wanted something.

And it was usually something along the lines of power, more money or control. And it was the idiots who were greedily after them.

The conference room on Tecna’s top floor overlooked most of Los Angeles.

Ryder sat at the head of the table, as the CEO. His father sat opposite him.

Rocco Lake, Chairman of Tecna, and the only person in the room who could still give Ryder a headache.

The meeting had started thirty minutes ago.

So far nobody had discussed anything useful. Instead they kept circling the same irritating topic.

One of the board members cleared his throat.

“Public confidence matters.”

Ryder already knew where this was heading.

Another member nodded. “Investors like stability.”

There it was. The code word stability. It was either that or they’d talk about continuing the company’s legacy and future.

Ryder wanted to throw something.

The chairman’s right-hand man adjusted his glasses. “People trust family men more.”

That did it. Ryder set his pen down, hard, making everyone go silent.

“I wasn’t aware Tecna’s stock value depended on wedding rings.”

Nobody answered his direct rebuff. They weren’t expecting him to be so...straightforward. His silence in the past meetings had almost made then forget who he was.

The older man smiled politely. “I simply mean perception matters.”

Ryder laughed. There was absolutely no humour in it. “Interesting isn’t it? I spent years making decisons that doubled revenue.”

Nobody spoke.

“I expanded operations across three continents.”

Still silence.

“I increased profits.”

His eyes swept around the room.

“Yet apparently none of that matters because I haven’t produced a child.”

Nobody seemed eager to answer.

Ryder leaned back. “I got this position through skill.”

His voice was calm and confident. “Not marriage.”

Chairman Rocco rubbed his temple from stress. For his image, he didn’t want to argue with his son here. Several members suddenly became fascinated by their documents.

Nobody wanted to argue directly with Ryder. Not when he looked like this.

Unfortunately one person never learned.

And that person was no other than Rita, who smiled, before speaking up, like she had been waiting for this moment all morning.

“Nobody is questioning your accomplishments.”

Ryder didn’t respond, even though that was exactly what they were doing.

She continued. “But the board and even the Chairman have the best interest of the Lake family at heart.”

Ryder raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? And what exactly would that be?”

“To see our family to continue to grow and expand Tecna. You’re already thirty-five years old, and asides from a cancelled engagement, you haven’t had any relationships.”

As if no longer addressing Ryder, she looked at their father. “How can we have a CEO who shows no promise of continuing our great legacy?”

Rita looked around the table. The board members slowly nodded along with her words.

This was it. She had the opening she had been waiting for. Casually she asked the room.

“Don’t we all think it’s best to elect a new CEO?”