The $500 Million Contracted Bride: Bound to Mr. Blackwood

A

ntdown to a disaster I wasn't prepared for. Every step brought me closer to a sudd

of a fight in the race to be born. Seriously, w

n because my father has the dramatic capacity of a soap opera queen. Apparently, he can

asquerading as my hairstyle, I looked less like a corpor

ineteenth voicemail, getting kidnapped might act

get to the office.

ugh his sobbing. I wondered which soul

ill had a trust fund worth raiding? Or the cocktail waitress who

ntly a house of cards held together by my sheer will and a few rema

ollapsing against the wood. I tried to claw back enough ox

standing by the door. He'd been my

e he was waiting for

ned in, pointing a judgmental finger at the mess on my head. "And don't e

ugh. He didn't e

g. "On a scale of getting drunk and gambling to flee t

fting to the mahogany doors. "Just

the hinges groaning as the

ed. I didn't wait for a reply. I didn't have the lu

crisis ruin my evening. Liam was the only normal

voice already loade

ng my name and moving to a different continent. I am not babysitting a mistake

ity like he was waiting for a meteor to hit. His shoulders were hunched. His hands wer

ng a stray dark hair

't turn

see a sobbing girl with a baby bump. Instead, my eyes landed on the man sitting in my father's oversi

for a second, I fo

s, and a sharp jawline. He didn't look like a mid-life crisi

will

n to my flushed face, ending at my scuffed heels. He trailed back up, lingering on the curves I usu

d a mind of its own, suddenly felt very dry. I felt a de

es. "She looks better in person," he spoke aga

Sarcasm is a hell of a drug, and I was currently overdosi

ng over his expensive black suit with disdain. "Honestly, I didn't realize Dad had finally

d from the corner. He sounded like he

. I was too busy staring

s still studying my body as if he were deciding if I was wor

t stop

ce as I began to clap. "I have to hand it t

ing his personal space the way he had invaded mine. "So, you're he

!" My father's voice went an octave highe

a fraction of a second too long, but he didn't flinch. Instead, he leaned back

crossed my arms, my survival instinct ma

ilted my head. "I hope you got the money upfront for fucking him, beca

I heard his footsteps shuffling closer, but I

nymore." I made a dismissive motion with my fingers, pointing back and forth between the two of them. "Keep you

rained to say, his voice thin and panicked.

chest. "And you? You will not threaten my father. You're

y father

out. He fell to his kn

was acting like I'd just insulted a god instead of

had seen him crying over lost bets. I had seen h

roken he had looked the night he sat me down

didn't flinch.

father's desk and lacing his fingers together. The

ere the color of the ocean right before a st

d. His voice dropped to a cold, steady tone that m

gering on my lips as if

That mouth of yours is going to star

he trembled on the floor. "Dad? Really? What did you do this time?

p curling. "So how much does he owe you? Eno

a soft, dry sound. He wasn'

ugged upward. He looked at me as if my temper w

g, but it was a

n his knees, his forehead practically pressed to

d, but the name caught in m

eart was suddenly hammering a

of Blackwood Holdings. The man who bough

like it had tur

under headlines about Hostile Takeovers. But seeing him in person was di

ho could buy my father's company and ever

brain tried to restart. I looked at him,

aining air in the room. He walked around the mahogany edge with the slow

and the sharp, clean scent of his aftershave was the only thing I could focus on. I ha

I cleared my throat, lifting a single finger to try and regain some

illion dollars,

olled, yet it felt like a war

million dollars for a chatterbox who does