All Chapters of The Billionaire's Marriage Investement : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Victoria turned to Ryder in surprise. “What? It’s just been going on for half an hour.” He had planned for the conference to last over an hour.“Well, change of plans.” He mumbled through gritted teeth. With every snide and underhanded question Victoria got asked, Ryder found himself teetering over to the edge. He had his self control built over years to thank for lasting this long without snapping at someone. The man was the final straw. Who gave him the audacity to say something so outrageous?! All the reporters gaped at him, unsure if they had heard correctly since the designated timeframe hadn’t elapsed. Ryder simply ignored the looks and repeated, louder this time. “The conference is closed.”He stood up from the chair and looked at Sam. “Clear the hall.”Then he looked at his security team and tipped his head in the direction of the reporter who had spoken. His guards understood and sprung into action. The reporter’s confidence evaporated in real time. “I was just

A gasp escaped Victoria.Fiancé? Ryder Lake had been engaged before?As if bearing her thoughts, Ryder explained. “Our engagement was years ago, before I’d come to the limelight. And it was very brief.”Dread filled her stomach instantly. Her fast mind was already adding up everything, and drawing a conclusion. With wide eyes, and her voice barely above a whisper she asked. “Is she dead?”Did he kill her? She wondered, instantly on guard. Wasn’t that why she was being warned away from him?“No, I didn’t kill her.” He said, once again reading her mind. “And she’s alive and well. Last I heard of her, a few years ago, she’s in France.”“Oh.” Victoria was still suspicious, but decided to keep it to herself for now. “Her dad is a big shareholder of Tecna, and one of the huge pains in my neck.” Ryder explained. For some reason, he wanted to be totally honest with her. He could sense her distrust all the way through the phone, and he didn’t it like it. Not one bit. “She kept

Later that evening... Victoria laid in bed, her phone open to a browser where she had searched “Serena Bannerman.” She justified the deep search as her duty as a future contractual wife. What if someone in his family brought her up, and she wasn’t able to follow along? Wouldn’t they find it strange that she knew nothing about the person Ryder almost married? So she searched for the woman without shame. On the screen appeared several pictures of Ryder’s ex-fiancé. “Woah.” Victoria was blown away by how beautiful the woman was. Like a maniac, she went through several pictures of her. At high end clubs, Michelin restaurants and on private jets. Ten minutes later, she discovered she had quite the social media following. She was actively updating her online community about her day to day life activities which was nothing short of a movie star’s day to day. She did a deeper search, by searching “Serena Bannerman and Ryder Lake.” It didn’t yield any substantial results. Just

Ryder had lost control of his mouth, and probably his mind, for the first time in his life.From the way Victoria's eyes widened, he could tell she must have thought so too."What? Tomorrow?"He nodded. He had been planning for it to be tomorrow and had wanted to tell her, but the stress at work had made it slip his mind.But what did it really matter when he told her? He had said soon.The reason he was beating himself up was because he had only blurted it out to distract himself from whatever he was feeling. The air conditioning was on, but it suddenly felt hot. It wasn't just today. Each time Victoria stepped within four feet of him, it felt like the air was charged with electricity and his mind was going to combust.Could it be a fever?"Um, Ryder?" Victoria asked again, since he had been nodding silently to himself and not giving an answer."Ahem. Yes. I've already made preparations for a gown, the venue, and everything."She stared at him still bewildered. "You planne

“What the hell is this?” Ryder was enraged the moment Sam showed him the video of Rita online.His wedding had happened a few hours ago, and the rumours had barely circulated, when that snake posted her video.On the tablet screen, his sister continued to speak, unaffected by his rage.“To all the posts I’ve been seeing about my little brother getting married today, it is true. But honestly, I learnt about it from the media first. Sounds quite awful right?” Ryder felt the visceral urge to yank her out of the screen and give her a good beating. Unfortunately, it wasn’t physically possible. So he had to watch her sprout lies.“The thing is, ever since Ryder has been seeing this Miss Monk, he’s been different. And not in a good way.” She pressed a hand to her chest, then said sombrely. “I’m afraid this woman is manipulating my brother. I mean, they haven’t been engaged so long, and now suddenly marriage?”She shook her head, feigning dismay. “I just hope my brother comes to his se