LAKE

I grabbed my phone, facing down the desk, when it vibrated. I had only received a few calls from my personal phone, and I had a feeling it was my father.

Wallace Winston, a billionaire tycoon, was a good man for most people who didn’t know him personally. It was because of the generous donations he gave to the charity organizations he supported, but behind closed doors, he was a fucking son of a bitch.

The moment he and my mother divorced, he changed. So, I grew up with a backbone and eventually became callous. I built walls around my emotions, my feelings, and my heart.

My jaw clenched to see the caller ID. I answered it quickly. “Dad, what can I do for you on this fine night?”

“Save your sarcasm, Lake. I’m tired of waiting. It’s been five months since I gave you the offer. Are you interested in the position or not?”

I was only interested in the position because it was my birthright, and I worked hard to forge a new path and be better than him. Moreover, I wanted to show him that my mother raised me right.

“You wouldn’t have urged me if I wouldn’t fit for the position. Don’t you think you’re still young to give up the CEO chair?”

“You’re stalling. Let me guess. You can’t find a woman who can marry you as Lake without the Braddson and Winston attached? Isn’t that why you’re trying to delay the marriage?”

My mother and I were shocked during dinner when he asked me to find a bride so he could turn over the seat to me. Was I ready to throw away my freedom? Why not?

I’d been his protege for years, and I worked my ass off to satisfy his ego, and a little appreciation coming from him wouldn’t hurt, but it never happened, even a good job, a smile of pride, or a thumb up.

Wallace treated me like a dog, barked his order around, and I never received any compliments. He even treated his employees better than his own son, and everyone knew us could witness what he’d done to me.

“I’m not like you, Dad, and I will make sure I marry someone far better than your gold digger girlfriend. Do you think she will even look at you if you’re not Wallace Winston?”

“Watch your words, son.” I could feel the anger vibrating in his voice. He just called me son, and he never did that if he wasn’t serious or giving me a warning.

“You told me to focus on my studies. I stopped dating just the way you ordered. I worked hard as an intern. I climbed to the top without your influence, and now you want me to take the position only if I am married? It’s a distraction that I don’t need right now.”

“Take it or leave it. You have a month to show me the marriage certificate, or I will offer it to Ryden.”

“Fine.”

“Good.”

I slumped my ass to the chair as the call ended. The night went suddenly cold, fog flooding the cities, masking the views of the skyscrapers behind the glass windows.

To be honest, I didn’t need the position nor his money, but it was my birthright whether he liked it or not, or he could change his will before he died for all I care, if not because my mother also wanted it for me.

Yeah, you could call me lucky. I was born with a golden spoon in my mouth, and I never went to bed with an empty stomach. Braddsons and Winstons were prominent public figures in the business industry and some of the richest people in the world.

I would be a hypocrite if I denied not being a nepo kid, a scion because, honestly, I was. I still had to start up somewhere to build my own name and identity, not just a son of Wallace Winston and Beatreigh Braddson.

Still, I also started my own company, Infinite Media, Inc., a startup computer networking product while Archer Solar Solutions was making a huge gross profit annually, and I was proud to say that I now had hundreds of employees. I was also a member of the boards of Hover Company and its subsidiaries and an investor in the Osmium Resource Group.

The door to my office swung open. Owen Boone walked in with a single folder in his hand. “This is the last candidate, and I already talked to her, but she turned it down.”

“Then what’s the point of showing me her file?”

“I thought it might interest you.” He dropped it on my desk dramatically.

I picked it up and opened the folder. Owen was one of Osmium’s employees and was good at what he did. He was the head of my security, though I didn’t get threats often. My safety came with family names I carried, so he had been stuck with me for nearly three years now.

“Augustine Maverick Bates II? Who named their daughter Augustine II? Are you sure she’s a real woman?” I snorted as I shut the file close and looked at Owen. “OB, are you shitting me right now? Because I’m not in a good mood. My father just called before you walked in, and he’s giving me a month to find a bride.”

“She’s born a woman. Check the information I found. It’s complete, and I say she’s the best candidate so far, and she’s not jumping into my offer.”

“What made you say that?”

“She’s twenty-three, a senior college with a student loan. She’s currently crashing on her boss’s couch.”

“You’re very thorough. I don’t need to hear that kind of shit. All I need is a bride, and it can’t wait.”

“Let me finish,” he continued. “Her ex kicked her out of the apartment she had shared for six months. By the way, he came tonight asking the money she owed her, and I paid him $2200.”

“Well, she has a colorful background. And still a student.”

“Here me out before you judge her.” He came and sat on the chair across from me.

“Why do you like her?” I studied him for a while, but his job qualifications include a good judge of character and body language.

“Her mother left her and now lives in Chicago. She’s raised by a grandmother, Augustine Bates.”

“Like I said, she has a colorful background.”

“Father unknown. She takes care of her grandmother and helps pay the mortgage and medical bills.”

“But she doesn’t live with her?”

“Nope.”

“What about the ex?”

“A piece of shit. Heath Davis. He brought his girlfriend with him the day he kicked her out, and tonight, he threatened to throw her things out. She’s still looking for an affordable apartment, but her co-worker at Bazz Village offered her a room.”

“Let me get it straight. You want me to marry a 23-year-old college student who works at the bar, takes care of her grandmother, and pays the mortgage, but without an apartment? Are you crazy?”

“You don’t see what I see, boss.”

“Enlighten me, OB.” I folded my arms over my chest.

“She doesn’t rely on anyone. She works hard to pay her bills. She declined my offer. She could have swallowed her pride and accepted a five hundred grand after the contract ended. She has integrity despite her worst situations. And she will pay me back, by the way.”

“Call her and increase the offer.”

“And one more thing.”

“What?”

“She thinks she’s marrying your father?”

“Shit.” I barked out, laughing. “What the fuck did you do?”

“I wanted to correct her, but she cut me off.” He shrugged, beaming.

“Process our license and get us an appointment. I wanna get married next week. And OB, increase the offer and make sure she can’t resist.”

MAVERICK

I was furious to find my things outside the apartment building. The garbage truck could have collected them if I were only five minutes late. That douchebag was testing my patience, and that left me no choice but to take the room Genesis offered to me. It was out of my price range, but that’s the only apartment cheaper than anywhere.

Genesis helped me remove some of the boxes left by the previous tenant before she left for work.

My stomach churned when the alarm on my phone went off. It was a reminder of an appointment on my calendar. While the bills kept piling, I had zero balance left on my savings with a max credit card, and my grandmother was due for another checkup.

“Shit.” I went to my bag and fished out my phone.

My mind was telling me not to do it, but on the other hand, my pride couldn’t pay the bills, and deep inside, I wanted to get revenge against my ex. Maybe I was leaning more towards revenge.

I dialed the number, and it picked up right away.

“Boone.”

I cleared my throat before I spoke. “Does the half-million dollar offer still stand?”

I held my breath, but my heart began racing as I waited for a reply from the other line.

“Yes.” I cringed at his response. God, I wished I could take it back.

“Great. I have a list of demands I want you to relay to your boss.”

“It wouldn’t be you, Miss Bates, if you don’t have demands.” And one of them was no intimacy.

“I don’t recall telling you my full name.”

“Knowing who I am dealing with is part of my job. And I will forward them to my employer. Just send the list to the email provided in the card.”

“I want a cash advance. And that’s not negotiable. Rest assured, I will do the best of my ability to be a wife.” God, even the sound of it made me gag. What the hell did I put myself into?

“Very well then. I will send the money right away and the details of the contract. A lawyer will meet you with the NDA, contract, and the prenuptial agreement later today.”

I hung up the call, staring at the screen. What have I done?

My grandmother would never forgive me for my behavior, which would lead me down a slippery slope. I was nothing but those gold diggers I saw on social media. Maybe it was bad karma, judging people I didn’t know, what they’d been through, and the humiliation they had to deal with every day.

I wanted to cry, but my pride wouldn’t feed me and pay the bills.

Later that day, the ten thousand dollars arrived in my account, and I met the lawyers at the fancy restaurant in the evening.

After reading through the NDA and ignoring their ironclad prenup to protect their client’s wealth, I signed them right away because if I had been given another five seconds to think, I would have run out of the restaurant and needed the money. And besides, I didn’t want his family assets and inheritance but the amount I signed up for.

“Here’s the marital agreement for twelve months. Just as what is written in the NDA, you can’t disclose it to anyone.”

“I know what an NDA means.” I signed the agreement and dropped the pen. The two lawyers, Milus and Anders, did not miss to see my shaky fingers.

“Thank you, Miss Bates. Don’t worry. You did not sign away your rights to file a complaint when our client mistreats you or any domestic abuse throughout that marriage.”

***

I looked at myself in the mirror. I wore a new white oversized suit, applied a little makeup, and tied my hair in a bun. I bought a pair of shoes because I couldn’t go to my wedding day looking like a homeless person while my husband-to-be was wearing a thousand-dollar suit from a major brand.

I grabbed my bag and threw my stuff inside, including the small blue velvet box. I hadn’t opened it even if it arrived yesterday.

Every minute that passed as I drove to the city hall made my heart pound hard. I was not much of a crier. I thought life had taught me to be tough when my mother abandoned me to be with an asshole because her boyfriend didn’t want to take care of a kid.

The city hall came into view. Despite days of controlling my emotions, my chest finally gave up. I pulled the car over to the empty spot and screamed silently.

It just didn’t feel right. My grandmother raised me well, but what would it have left me if I had left the man alone to whom I now owed money? The fact that he was filthy rich, he could just hire someone to ruin my life or kidnap me and then dump my dead body in the river.

A knock on the window startled me. I took a deep breath and pulled myself together before I checked whoever was outside my car.

It was Owen in his fancy suit.

I grabbed my bag and unlocked the door.

“I was having a second thought that you might not show up.” As gentlemanly as he was, he opened the door for me.

“I still want to live.” I chuckled as I remembered what I had thought about not a moment ago. “It’s just twelve months in hell, and I’ve been in hell almost all my life, Owen.”

“You’ll be fine, Miss Bates. Trust me.” He stared at me, maybe realizing that I did not wear the dress his boss bought for me to wear for the hoax marriage ceremony.

I fixed my clothes and stared at him. “I don’t even know you to trust you. I’m sure you don’t give a crap about me if this isn’t your boss ordering you to be here.”

“I do care about good people, Miss Bates.”

“Just Maverick, Owen.”

“It’s my job to address you properly, Miss Bates.” He gestured his hand. “Shall we?”

I could literally feel my heartbeat against my chest as I walked inside the city hall.

“Relax,” Owen said as he nodded at the other guy in the same suit as his.

Gut tensing, I did my best to smile. “Easy for you to say. You’re not marrying an old stranger for money.”

For the first time, I heard him chuckle. His straight, pearly white teeth appeared as he smiled. Owen was a handsome, fine man, tall and muscly in his textured undercut hairstyle.

“Not funny.” Just now, I noticed he was wearing an earpiece like those bodyguards. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. You’ll be next after a couple is getting married right now.”

“Great. Now I’m feeling so nervous.” I followed him inside the small chapel and sat on one of the couches, but I still didn’t see my groom.

My heart could burst anytime in my chest, and I was about to ask Owen about my groom when someone took a seat to my left that smelled of expensive cologne.

“For you,” said the deep baritone voice from my left, offering me a beautiful bouquet of peonies, daisies, and white roses.

I shifted my eyes to the man in a navy blue Italian tailored suit. “No thanks. I’m sure my groom can afford a bouquet just right.”

I haven’t seen his face when he chuckled, but judging by his suit, his voice, his scent, and the flower he chose, he was not Wallace Winston. This man was definitely younger.

“And you’re not wearing my ring and the dress I picked for you.” He sounded almost disappointed.

In a single moment, I just changed my world, giving me a bitter taste of reality. My stare hardened as I met the man in the eye— stone blue eyes staring back at me, catching me off guard. He was not Wallace. Not even fucking close.

Shit.

With a single dark brow arched, patiently waiting for my reply, his stare was hard and focused, and all I could do was swallow hard.

“Maverick.”

LAKE

Damn. She’s fucking gorgeous. The picture in her background profile did not do any justice. She even looked younger than her age.

The shock on her face and those beautiful, expressive olive-green fox eyes were prominent. She even paled. By then, she realized she would not marry my father but me. She thought she was about to sell her soul to the devil by being Wallace’s wife.

I felt the desperation in her voice when she called Owen. I was there listening, and she had a confident and determined voice as she asked for money— not so much right now.

I took my time skimming at her heart-shaped face. Those eyes widened even more.

She put some makeup on her beautiful face and light lipstick on her pouty lips. Her nose was cute in celestial shape. Maverick was not that tall compared to the woman I slept with, but she seemed to be the most authentic among them.

“Maverick,” I called her name while patiently waiting for her reply.

“You tricked me.” Her face went white, cringing, realizing her mistake was too late to back out.

“Excuse me?”

“I thought—”

My heart instantly pounded as I watched her lick her lips. “I left the documents blank. When Owen told me that you thought you were marrying Wallace Winston, I told him not to correct you.”

“Why is that?”

“I thought it would be fun?”

“Fun?”

Silence stretched between us, and so did her stare.

“Mr. Winston and Miss Bates?”

“I believe that’s us.” I offered my hand as I stood up, fixing my suit with the other.

“I can’t do this.” She shook her head, her eyes flashing with emotion before she blinked them away. “I can’t marry you.”

“Give us a minute,” I told the staff as I sat down. “Maverick, you can’t humiliate me here. People know me, and I’m looking forward to this marriage.”

“Why?” She met my gaze. She looked terrified with a fiery exchange of rage.

“I’m taking over a CEO position from my father. That’s the truth. I ignored his condition for me to get a bride for months, and now he only gives me three weeks to fulfill that demand, or I will lose the position.”

“You have a girlfriend, why me? Because I need money? I’m desperate and a loser?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend. I’ve never been in a relationship since college. Can we talk about this later?”

“I will give back your—”

“You can arrange another appointment, Mr. Winston,” the staff said, interrupting us.

“Five seconds.” I raised my finger, giving them a warning instead. “If you marry me today, I will give you a house. You can choose it yourself.”

Hopeful, she stared at me for a second before she shifted her look at the people waiting for us and back to me. She then grabbed her bag and took something from it. It was the engagement ring I bought for her.

When she finally put it on, I let go of a shuddering breath of relief. I was desperate, too, and I had a feeling this contract marriage would be a roller coaster ride for twelve months.

The moment we stood before the officiant, Owen, my witness, had our rings, while my other bodyguard, Homer Huxley, was next to Maverick.

“We are gathered here in the presence of witnesses for the purpose of uniting in matrimony, Lake and Maverick.” The officiant probably said those words a million times. “The contract of marriage is most solemn and is not to be entered into lightly, but thoughtfully and seriously of its obligations and responsibilities.”

“Repeat after me. I, state your name.”

I held her trembling hands as we faced each other and instantly felt the softness, the warmth, and the jolt of electricity running through me. “I, Lake Archer Colter Talon Braddson Winston, take Augustine Maverick Morgan Bates II.” Then I slipped the ring into her finger.

Maverick did the same. “With this ring, I thee wed.”

“You have joined yourselves in solemn matrimony. I have now declared, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the State of New York as Deputy Marriage Commissioner, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride.”

Owen and Huxley applauded us, and I couldn’t help but smile while Maverick hadn’t loosened up a bit but could pull off a slight smile on her lips. I held her hand tight, leaned in, and dipped my head to kiss her on the lips.

It was a quick peck on the lips, barely a brush, just a straightforward, gentle kiss because I wouldn’t expect a passionate kiss like a couple in love shared. Still, I felt every softness, suppleness, and wetness of her lips and the tiny gasp escaping from her, just enough for me to float away to make me forget that I barely met her five minutes ago.

I’d kissed many women, but I certainly did not feel the enthusiasm, excitement, or eagerness for another kiss until Owen and Huxley interrupted us with loud applause and a flashing camera that pulled us apart.

“Congratulations, Mr. And Mrs. Winston,” said Owen, grinning like an idiot as he gave the bouquet back to Maverick. “Just one last pose.”

I wanted to roll my eyes, but we had an audience, and this was my wedding day, after all, so I put my hand on her waist, pulled her closer, and smiled while Owen and Huxley were taking pictures of us.

“Okay. That’s enough. We can do it outside. Another couple is waiting to be wed.” It was me, excusing myself. My heart still pumped so hard even though the kiss was over minutes ago.

As we walked outside the city hall, Maverick went silent and tensed while Huxley went to take the car.

“I’ll take you to lunch.”

“I’m good.” That was all she said.

“We will be living under the same roof. I know it will be a huge adjustment for both of us, but we have to make it work. You need to be flexible to be with me.”

“I know. I know what I signed up for, but Owen should have told me before I signed everything.” She looked away as she breathed deeply. “But it’s also my fault. I should have met you first and didn’t depend on your people, but it is what it is.”

“So you’d rather marry an old man?”

Her eyes glared. “In my head. I prepared my mind and myself to have an older husband.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, Maverick, but my father no longer believes in marriage. And he’s not the man you always see on the screen. Believe me, you’d be grateful if you were married to me than to Wallace Winston.”

“Can I take a raincheck on the lunch?”

“Why? Do you have a place you’d rather be?”

“Um, yeah. Actually, after this, I’ll be free. Let me know where you want me to be. I’ll be there.”

I chuckled as I shook my head. “You’re unbelievable.”

“I believe a honeymoon is not in the package deal, so let me guess, I’m staying in my apartment—”

“Maverick, you’re my wife now. Starting today, you’ll be staying at my penthouse.” I tipped my chin at Owen.

“Here’s your keycard, Mrs. Winston.”

She hesitated before she took the card from Owen.

“Take it, or you have to wait outside the building.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. You have everything you need there. You don’t have to bring anything from your apartment. And we have a lot to talk about at home.” My phone just vibrated. It was probably my assistant, Venus, reminding me of my meetings.

“Owen will drive you wherever you want.”

“No. I don’t need him. I have my car parked over there.” She gestured over her shoulder shyly.

“Let me walk my wife to her car,” I told Owen. I knew the car she drove. It was old but still running. Even the word wife still sounded strange in my ears, but Maverick seemed the type of woman who obeyed and valued loyalty to her partner.

Huxley just parked my ride and waited while I walked Maverick to where she parked her car.

She unlocked her car door and murmured, “Thank you.”

“If you need anything, call me.”

“I don’t have your number,” she muttered, her voice shaky.

“Right. Give me your phone.”

Her phone was an old model, which twisted something deep inside me as I saved my number. “Why didn’t you wear the dress?”

“It’s too beautiful for a short ceremony.”

I smiled as I got her phone back. “You look stunning anyway.” Yes, she was. She could come to the ceremony in her pajamas, which wouldn’t change the fact that she knocked me out with her beauty.

“Thanks.” Her cheeks flushed.

“See you at the penthouse.” I went to the car as soon as she drove off.

“Do you want me to follow her?”

“No, OB. Let’s head to the office.” I dialed Venus.

“Mr. Winston, should I cancel your meeting?”

“No. I’m on my way. Buy a new iPhone model with 1TB memory, and put it on my personal account. Check a car dealer near the office.”

When I hung up the call, Owen was looking over the rearview. “What?”

“You’re buying your wife a car?”

“And how is it your business now?”

“Not my business, but I’ll still say it even if you don’t want me to talk. Take her with you. Let her be involved in the decision-making. She’d love that.”

“I got it. Now shut up.”