Engaged to the Ruthless Billionaire
Eliana Rivera is the firstborn daughter of business tycoon Cassian Rivera. When her father's company falls into debt, he marries her off to the arrogant and ruthless billionaire, Alexander Grayson, as part of a business contract and under the threat of blackmail.
Alexander, the billionaire CEO, never planned to marry, but the pressure of blackmail forces him into a union with a woman he barely knows. Although Eliana doesn't see Alexander as her ideal partner, she agrees to the marriage out of a sense of duty.
Once engaged, however, he barely acknowledges her presence and harbours disdain for her because of her father's actions and their relationship. But as they navigate their newfound relationship, the unexpected desire for each other's touch ignites-a twist neither of them planned, leading them toward an unforeseen love.
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Chapter 1
"Oh God, I had actually forgotten how annoying these events usually are," Katherine said as she glided beside me with her third glass of champagne tonight.
I nodded in agreement.
Being one of the event planners for this charity gala meant that I had to observe every detail, ensure that the party was running smoothly, and ensure that the guests received the best service.
When I first went into business, it felt weird working events I would otherwise be invited to as a guest. But I'd gotten used to it over the years, and the extra income allowed me a small degree of Independence from my father.
"Tell me about it. I've faked so many smiles tonight, my cheeks are actually starting to hurt," I replied as I scanned the opulent ballroom, my eyes darting from the Veuve Clicquot station to the swag table like a general surveying a battlefield.
"Please tell me you saw that woman in the Valentino swipe an extra gift bag," Katherine said, with an arched brow. "She looked like she was committing espionage, not petty theft."
"I did," I sighed. "Tilda Monroe. Third time this quarter. I'm starting to think she believes luxury gift bags are a form of cardio."
Katherine grinned and sipped her drink. "Honestly, I respect the hustle. Those bags are worth more than my monthly rent."
I pressed a hand to my earpiece. "Lilah, Code Pink at the swag table. Tilda Monroe again. Replace the bag before we have a pearl-clutching incident."
"Got it" she replied.
"God, I love it when you get all Mission Impossible," Katherine whispered, eyes sparkling. "Tell me you at least wore cute heels for your covert ops."
I glanced down at my Jimmy Choos and lifted a shoulder. "Six-inch stilettos. So when the chaos inevitably breaks out, I can run gracefully into a wall."
"Stunning. Inspiring. Brave."
"Shut up."
Katherine bumped her hip against mine. "This party's fabulous, by the way. The lighting is giving everyone a face-lift, and the tartlets are like crack. How do you do it?"
"I sell my soul to the glitter gods, threaten two rental vendors, and bribe the pastry chef with my diamond tennis bracelet," I said dryly. "Also, I'm on my third near-anxiety spiral of the night, so let's hope no one decides to set the floral arch on fire."
We both laughed-hers rich and open, mine a little more weary.
"I don't know how you do this for a living," Katherine said. "If I had to manage this many rich people in one room, I'd be hiding in the coat closet with a bottle of rosé and a stun gun."
"Honestly, that was Plan B." I chuckled in response.
But then, something shifted.
It started with a murmur, almost too soft to register at first. A ripple through the guests-a low, shared current of surprise and excitement.
My attention was still focused on the audio setup when Katherine gave a low whistle. "Okay, who just walked in and made half the room stop breathing?"
"I don't know," I said without looking up. "Probably someone with a yacht and a god complex."
"Or both," she said. "Tall, dark, and dangerous just stepped through the door. People are acting like Elvis came back from the dead and started handing out stock tips."
I frowned and glanced toward the entrance.
There, framed by the archway and the buzz of the crowd, stood a man in a black tuxedo so well-tailored it looked like it had been sewn onto his body by angels-or maybe devils. The lighting kissed the sharp lines of his jaw, his hair thick and ink-dark, his expression carved from cool indifference.
My breath hitched before I could stop it.
Katherine leaned closer. "Oh, I know that face. You recognize him."
"Sort of," I said tightly. "He didn't RSVP."
"And yet here he is, being ogled like a limited-edition Patek Philippe. Should I go find out his skincare routine? For science?"
"I think that's Alexander Grayson," I murmured, more to myself than to her.
Katherine straightened. "Wait, the Alexander Grayson?"
The whispers around us had reached a quiet frenzy.
"Yes," I said. "And he wasn't supposed to be here."
Katherine blinked. "Well, he is now. And he's walking this way."
I didn't turn around.
But I felt it. The shift in the room. The magnetic pull like a warning-part thrill, part threat.
Lilah squealed in my earpiece, and I had to visibly cringe at the shrill sound. "I thought he wasn't going to come"
I shrugged, "Maybe he's just really interested in helping the endangered animal."
I'm sure he definitely wasn't.
I didn't know him personally, and I didn't care to. I've heard enough about the arrogant billionaire CEO of Grayson Group to know to keep my distance.
"Oh, please, no one cares", Katherine stopped and lowered her voice " No one actually cares about the endangered animal, let's be honest. The people are only here for the scene."
She was right. But regardless of their respective reasons, at least the event kept my business running.
"The real topic of the night is going to be how good Alexander looks in that tuxedo"
"You have a boyfriend, Kat," I stated as I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Doesn't mean we can't appreciate other people's beauty", she replied with a grin.
"Yes, well, I think you've done enough appreciating. I'm here to work, not ogle the guests," I replied as I focused my attention back on the sound setup, and Katherine muttered, "Buzzkill" before walking away.
An insistent buzz against my hip washed away the tingles coating my skin and drew my attention away from Alexander's fan club. My stomach sank when I fished out my cell from my purse and saw who was calling.
I double-checked to make sure there were no emergencies requiring my immediate attention before slipping into the nearest restroom.
"Hello, Father." The formal greeting practically rolled off my tongue easily after almost twenty years of practice. According to him, it sounded more "sophisticated" and upper class."
"Where are you?" His deep voice rumbled over the line. "Why is it so echoey?"
"I'm at work." I leaned my hip against the counter and felt compelled to add, "It's a fundraiser for the endangered piping plover."
I smiled at his heavy sigh. My father had little patience for the obscure causes people used as an excuse to party, though he attended the events and donated anyway. It was the proper thing to do.
"Well, since you're at work, I'll keep this short," He said. " I'd like you to join my guest and me for dinner on Friday night. I have important news."
Despite his wording, it wasn't a request.
My smile faded. "This Friday night?" It was Wednesday , and I lived in New York while he and my sister lived in Boston.
It was a last-minute request even by his standards.
"Yes." He didn't elaborate. "Dinner is at seven sharp. Don't be late."
He hung up.
It was funny how one sentence could send me into an anxiety spiral.
I have important news.
Did something happen with the company? Was someone sick or dying? Was he planning to get married again after the death of our mother?
My mind raced through a thousand questions and possibilities that I didn't have the answer to, but I knew one thing.
An emergency summons like this to the Rivera Manor never boded well.
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7.9
One night of deception.
A lifetime of consequences.
A bond that cannot be broken.
Nadia Williams is an Omega living in the shadows of the pack she once called home.
Since her father's death, she and her mother, Estelle, have been treated as outcasts by her ruthless uncle, Alpha Edwards. When her mother is framed for theft, Nadia is forced into a deal with the devil.
To save her mother's life, she must become a virgin substitute for her cousin, Danielle.
Her aunt, Katerina, offers a devil's bargain to set her mother free: Nadia must spend one night in the bed of the most powerful man in the country, the billionaire; Alpha Conrad Bradley.
The catch?
She must swap places with her spiteful cousin.
Conrad demands a virgin bride to secure his royal bloodline, and Danielle, Nadia's cruel cousin, has already forfeited her purity.
What begins as a desperate night of passion in the dark spirals into a web of hidden identities and betrayal.
Nadia survives the night and disappears, hoping to bury the shame of the encounter forever.
But fate has a different plan.
Desperate for a fresh start away from her uncle's shadow, Nadia secures a high-level position at Bradley Group of Industries.
As Alpha Conrad unknowingly hires Nadia at his company, an undeniable connection sparks between them.
Conrad is haunted by the scent of the woman from that night-a scent that doesn't match his fiancée, Danielle, but seems to cling to his new, brilliant employee.
As they work side-by-side, Nadia finds an unexpected and beautiful second chance at a life she thought was lost.
Yet, buried secrets threaten to destroy everything.
When the Alpha discovers the woman he truly bonded with, the fallout will be legendary.
7.9
Elena Crane wakes up in a hospital bed after barely surviving a resort fire, only to discover the devastating truth. The kidney she donated to her husband Leo three days ago wasn't for him. It was for his mistress, Lydia. Worse, she overhears Leo instructing a doctor to kill her within five days and make it look like surgical complications so he can collect two hundred million dollars in life insurance. Their entire five year marriage was an elaborate scheme to steal her organs and murder her for money.
What Leo and Lydia don't know is that Elena is actually Roberta Alfred, the legendary jewelry designer and billionaire heiress who abandoned her empire for love. After enduring multiple murder attempts, including being locked in a morgue and losing her uterus to forced hysterectomy, Elena escapes. She divorces Leo, claims the insurance money herself, and returns home to reclaim her identity and her family's billion dollar empire.
8.4
Ayleen Avery was just a struggling hotel worker trying to survive her shift. But during a sudden blackout, she accidentally stumbled into the pitch-black VIP suite of a ruthless billionaire driven mad by chronic insomnia.
Calmed only by her unique natural scent of roses and rain, the terrifying man attacked her from the shadows and forced himself on her. Terrified and broken, Ayleen fled at dawn, unknowingly leaving behind her late mother's antique rose necklace in his bed.
Her greedy coworker found the necklace, claimed to be the woman from that night, and was instantly swept into a life of luxury. Meanwhile, Ayleen was blackmailed into a forced marriage with her attacker—Cassius Doyle—to save her adoptive father from prison. Deceived by the stolen necklace, Cassius believed Ayleen was a manipulative spy. He brought the coworker into their home and paraded her around the master bedroom.
"In this house, you are lower than the dirt on my shoes."
He choked Ayleen, forced her to sleep in a damp storage room, and treated her with violent disgust while pampering the thief.
Ayleen was suffocating in absolute despair. She had lost her innocence, her freedom, and her mother's only relic to a vicious liar. She couldn't understand how this all-powerful man could be so completely blind. Why couldn't he recognize the very scent that had cured his agonizing madness?
Staring at the dark bruises he had just left on her neck, Ayleen wiped the blood from her lip. She would endure this three-month marriage to secure her family's safety, but once the contract ended, she would expose the truth and tear down the fake savior he cherished so much.
8.7
Brought back from a humble life in Montana, Nora found out she was the true biological heiress of the ultra-wealthy Beaumont family.
But her biological parents didn't love her; they loved the fake daughter, Olivia, much more.
The moment she arrived, her father pushed an engagement termination agreement across his massive desk, forcing her to give up her wealthy fiancé so Olivia could have him.
Her mother looked at her with pure disdain.
"You should know your place. Don't reach for things that were never meant for you."
To break her spirit, they moved her into a cramped, dusty servant's room. They even ordered the butler to feed her cold kitchen scraps and gristle.
They wanted to humiliate her, to make her feel like a piece of trash rather than a daughter.
They expected her to cry, to beg, and to be absolutely crushed by the realization that her own flesh and blood saw her only as a liability to their reputation.
They thought the country girl would easily fold under their united front of cruelty.
But Nora felt no sting of betrayal, only the calculating clarity of a chess player.
She calmly signed the paper, pulled out the Beaumont family trust rules, and looked them dead in the eye.
"Since I am the legal heir, I demand what belongs to me. I'm taking the master bedroom."
8.5
Alexandrea woke up with a splitting headache in a strange hotel bed, terrified to find a brutally handsome, half-naked stranger beside her.
Before she could even scream, the door burst open. Her adoptive mother, Ivette, stormed in with a swarm of reporters and flashing cameras.
"How could you disgrace our family name like this?"
Ivette sobbed, putting on a theatrical performance of a heartbroken mother. It was a setup to completely ruin Alexandrea's reputation in front of New York's elite.
For ten years, Alexandrea had lived in a house of horrors. Her back and arms were covered in silvery scars and puckered cigarette burns left by Ivette's vicious abuse.
Yet to the public, Ivette had carefully crafted Alexandrea's image as a wild, ungrateful, and manipulative liar.
Trapped under the duvet, Alexandrea was drowning in shame, her voice lost in the storm of accusations.
She didn't understand why her adoptive family hated her so much, treating her worse than a stray dog while using her brother's future to keep her chained.
But what she understood even less was the stranger beside her.
Instead of panicking, the man slowly sat up, his presence alone silencing the frantic room. He was Ace Griffith, the billionaire heir who owned half of Manhattan.
He wrapped his suit jacket around her trembling shoulders, looked Ivette dead in the eye, and dropped a bomb.
"I will be marrying her."
Then, he carried Alexandrea away from her ten-year prison, ordering his men to dig up the Terry family's darkest secrets and her true identity.
8.8
Bella Danvers aka Isabella Powell is a 20-year-old college student who encountered the hot and ruthless CEO of the Rinaldi Corporation, Gabriel Rinaldi. They had a forgetful one-night stand that took a turn for the worst. Will he be able to find her before he is forced into an arranged marriage? Will she be able to tell him the news? Or will they be forced apart?