Adrian's POV
Adrian's phone won't stop ringing.
Board members. Investors. Reporters. His mother screaming. His CFO James trying to figure out if the company is falling apart. Everyone wants answers about the leaked contract and Adrian's marriage and whether he's lost his mind.
He ignores them all and locks himself in his office.
The contract leak is everywhere. Every news outlet. Every social media platform. The numbers are blurred but readable enough. Ten million dollars. One year. The terms spelled out for the entire world to judge. It makes Mia look exactly like what Adrian said she was. Exactly like what he wanted people to think she was.
Except now he's not sure what he thinks anymore.
His PR team arrives at noon looking panicked. Three people in dark suits carrying laptops and bad news.
"We can spin this," the lead strategist says. Her name is Rebecca. She's good at her job. "We say the contract was your idea. That you wanted to honor your father's wishes while also protecting both of you legally. We frame it as romantic. We say you're a man who honors his father's final wishes. We make you look noble instead of desperate."
Adrian considers this. It's a lie but a clean lie. A lie that might work.
"Do it," he says.
By two PM, Adrian is standing at a podium with cameras flashing in his face. He's prepared his statement carefully. Every word chosen. Every expression controlled.
"I want to address the rumors about my recent marriage," he says. His voice is steady and calm. "My father, before he passed away, expressed a final wish. He wanted me to marry someone of his choosing. Someone he believed would be good for me. I honored that wish because I honor my father."
Camera flashes explode.
"The contract that was leaked was my idea, not his. I wanted to ensure that both Mia and I felt protected during this transition. I wanted to honor his wishes while also being respectful of her position as a woman entering a world she wasn't born into. The terms you see are about respect, not manipulation."
Someone shouts a question. "Is this marriage real?"
Adrian looks directly at the camera. He thinks about Mia sitting in the mansion alone. About her red eyes and her fear and the way she signed that contract even though it terrified her.
"Yes," he says. "This marriage is very real. My father saw something in Mia that he wanted me to see as well. I'm beginning to understand what he meant."
The lie feels true when he says it. Maybe that's the scariest part.
The press conference ends. Rebecca looks satisfied. Most of the reporters look unconvinced. But it's enough. It's enough to give Adrian breathing room.
Marcus Hale calls within the hour. His voice is smooth as oil.
"Terrible situation," Marcus says. "The board is concerned, of course. A billionaire paying someone to marry him. It doesn't look good for company stability."
Adrian's jaw clenches. "The company is stable. My marriage is my personal business."
"Is it though? A CEO's personal decisions affect investor confidence." Marcus sounds sympathetic. Concerned. Like a snake. "Maybe you should consider stepping down. Just temporarily. Just until things calm down. Let someone more stable handle the company while you focus on your marriage."
Adrian hangs up on him.
But the message is clear. Marcus is using this as ammunition. He's circling like a predator. One more scandal and Adrian loses everything anyway.
By six PM, Adrian is exhausted. The lie has been sold. The story has been shaped. But none of it feels like enough.
He makes a decision.
He needs to see Mia. He needs to make sure she's not falling apart. He needs to remind her that they're committed to this. That the contract leak changes nothing.
Or maybe he just needs to see her face.
He arrives at her old apartment building in a neighborhood that looks tired. The kind of place where people live when they have nowhere else to go. Adrian has never been here before. His driver waits outside while Adrian climbs the stairs.
When Mia opens the door, it's like someone punched him in the stomach.
She's wearing old pajamas. Her hair is a mess. Her eyes are red and swollen from crying. She looks like she's been breaking apart all day.
"Adrian," she says. Her voice is hoarse. "What are you doing here?"
"Checking on you."
"I'm fine."
She's clearly not fine. Adrian can see her hands shaking even as she lies about it.
"Come on," he says gently. "Let me in."
The apartment is smaller than his office. One room that serves as bedroom and living room and kitchen all at once. There's a window that looks out at a brick wall. There's a glass jar on the nightstand with maybe thirty thousand dollars in bills. Her culinary school fund. Everything she's saved for years.
Adrian feels something crack in his chest.
"Everyone knows," Mia says quietly. She sits on the edge of the bed. "The whole world knows you're paying me. Everyone thinks I trapped you. Everyone thinks I'm the worst kind of person. My foster siblings are calling asking for loans. People I haven't talked to in years want to be my best friends suddenly. It's disgusting."
"I know."
"I can't do this," Mia whispers. Tears slide down her face. "I can't live like this. Everyone hating me. Everyone judging me. I want to give the money back. I want to tear up the contract. I want my life back."
Adrian sits beside her. Not close enough to touch. Not far enough to feel distant.
"You want your life back," he says quietly. "The life where you work double shifts at a diner. Where you can barely afford rent. Where you save two hundred dollars a month toward a dream that never comes true. That life?"
"It was a good life."
"It wasn't," Adrian says. His voice is harder now. More certain. "It was a life where you were invisible. A life where nobody saw you. And yeah, this is harder. Yeah, right now everyone is looking and they're seeing the worst version of you because that's what sells papers. But that will change."
Mia looks at him. "How do you know?"
"Because I know how to manage narratives. I know how to shape stories. And more importantly, I know that most people are too stupid to maintain their initial judgment. They'll forget about the contract. They'll forget about the scandal. They'll just see a woman who married a billionaire and they'll move on to the next thing."
He stands up. He walks to the glass jar with her savings. He picks it up and looks at the money inside.
"This is thirty thousand dollars?" he asks.
"Thirty-two thousand," she says quietly. "Seven years of saving."
Adrian sets the jar back down gently. "After the year is over, you'll have ten million. You could use that money to go to culinary school. You could open five bakeries. You could change your entire life and help everyone you care about."
"If I survive the year."
Adrian turns to face her. "You'll survive. You've survived worse. Foster care. Losing your parents. Aging out of the system with nothing. You're stronger than you think."
Mia shakes her head. "I'm really not."
"You are." Adrian moves closer. He sits back down beside her. "And you're not doing this alone. I know I've treated you like you were my enemy. I know I assumed the worst. But I was wrong. And I'm going to fix that."
"How?"
Adrian doesn't have a good answer. He just knows that he can't let her walk away. Not because of the contract. Not because of his company. But because somewhere between the will reading and the contract signing and the leaked scandal, he started wanting to protect her.
"Tomorrow, you become my wife," Adrian says quietly. "Not in the contract sense. In the real sense. You stand in front of cameras and you tell the world that you chose me. And I'll stand there and I'll tell the world that I chose you. And we'll make it true because we decide it's true."
Mia looks up at him. Her eyes are searching his face for signs of a lie. "Why would you do that?"
Adrian doesn't know. He just knows that he can't be in a room with her crying and not want to fix it. He can't see her red eyes and not want to comfort her. He can't imagine her disappearing from his life and not feel like something essential would break inside him.
"Because my father was right about one thing," Adrian says. "You deserve better than what you had. And if I can give that to you, if I can be the person who finally sees you the way you deserve to be seen, then maybe all of this makes sense."
Mia is quiet for a long moment. Then she nods slowly.
"Okay," she whispers. "Tomorrow I become your wife."
Adrian reaches out and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. It's a small gesture but it feels like everything.
"Get some sleep," he says. "Tomorrow changes everything."
He leaves before she can see how much he's shaking. Before she can see that he just promised to protect someone when he's never been good at protecting anyone.
But as he walks down those stairs and back to his car, Adrian realizes something terrifying.
He's no longer pretending.
He's fallen into this marriage without planning it.
And somewhere between the lies and the scandal and the desperation, he's started falling for her.