Episode 1 — The Man Who Offered Me Marriage
The first time a man offered me money to marry him, I thought he was joking.
The second time he said it, I realized he was completely serious.
And the third time…
I realized I might have no other choice.
I sat across from him in the quiet corner of the restaurant, staring at the man who had just turned my entire life upside down.
“Marry me.”
His words were calm.
Too calm.
I almost laughed.
Instead, I stared at him.
“Excuse me?”
“Marry me,” he repeated.
I looked around the nearly empty restaurant.
Nobody seemed to be listening.
Good.
Because if anyone had heard what he had just said, I would have died from embarrassment.
I lowered my voice.
“You invited me here to discuss my father’s company.”
“I know.”
“So why are you asking me to marry you?”
He leaned back in his chair.
For the first time that evening, I studied him properly.
He was probably in his early thirties. Tall. Broad-shouldered. His black suit looked like it had been made specifically for him. His dark hair was perfectly styled, and there was something cold about his gray eyes.
Not cruel.
Just controlled.
Like nothing in the world could surprise him.
“My name is Adrian,” he said.
“I know your name.”
“You know very little about me.”
“Apparently.”
His lips almost curved into a smile.
Almost.
“My proposal is simple.”
“Marriage isn’t simple.”
“It can be.”
“Not when you’re asking a complete stranger.”
“We aren’t complete strangers.”
I frowned.
“I’ve met you twice.”
“Three times.”
“That doesn’t make us friends.”
“I didn’t say it did.”
“Then what exactly are we?”
He looked directly into my eyes.
“My future wife.”
I nearly choked on my water.
I placed the glass down.
“You’re insane.”
“Possibly.”
“You can’t just walk into someone’s life and offer them a marriage contract.”
“I already did.”
I stared at him.
He wasn’t smiling.
That was the frightening part.
He was completely serious.
I folded my arms.
“Why me?”
He was silent for several seconds.
Then he pushed a folder across the table.
“Because I can help you.”
I looked down at it.
I didn’t touch it.
“You mean you can help my father’s company.”
“Yes.”
My stomach tightened.
My father’s company.
The words alone were enough to make my chest ache.
Three months ago, my father had been alive.
Three months ago, Hart Logistics had been struggling, but we still had hope.
Then my father died unexpectedly.
Everything collapsed after that.
The company had debts I didn’t know about.
Banks wanted their money.
Suppliers stopped delivering.
Employees were threatening to leave.
And yesterday, our largest creditor gave me forty-eight hours to make a payment I couldn’t afford.
If I failed, the company would be sold.
My father’s company.
The company he had spent thirty years building.
I couldn’t let that happen.
I opened the folder.
My eyes widened.
There were documents showing the company’s debts.
Every single one.
But underneath them was a proposal.
A payment agreement.
Someone had already negotiated with the banks.
I looked up.
“You did this?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I can.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting tonight.”
I closed the folder.
“You expect me to marry you because you can save my father’s company?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because I need a wife.”
I stared at him.
“You need a wife?”
“Yes.”
“There are millions of women in New York.”
“I didn’t choose them.”
“Why me?”
His eyes remained on mine.
“Because you’re trustworthy.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You don’t know me.”
“I know enough.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I know you refused to sell your father’s company even when you were offered twice its current value.”
I froze.
“I know you used your savings to pay your employees when the company couldn’t meet payroll.”
My fingers tightened around the edge of the table.
“I know you haven’t taken a salary for four months.”
I said nothing.
“And I know,” he continued quietly, “that you’re about to lose everything.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
I looked away.
For months, I’d been pretending I could handle everything.
Pretending I wasn’t terrified.
Pretending I wasn’t waking up every night wondering how I was going to save the company.
But sitting across from Adrian, I suddenly felt exposed.
“How long?” I asked.
“Six months.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“The marriage.”
He spoke as if we were negotiating a business deal.
“Six months.”
“And then?”
“We divorce.”
I stared at him.
“So this is a fake marriage.”
“A private arrangement.”
“What’s the difference?”
“None that matters.”
I stood up.
“I can’t do this.”
“You haven’t heard the conditions.”
“I don’t need to.”
“You need the money.”
I stopped.
He was right.
I hated that he was right.
Adrian opened the folder again.
“I’ll clear your father’s company’s debts.”
My heart skipped.
“All of them?”
“All.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
I swallowed.
“And what do you get?”
“You.”
The word made me uncomfortable.
“Why?”
“Because I need everyone to believe I’m married.”
“Why?”
He looked away for the first time.
There was something behind his eyes.
Something he wasn’t telling me.
“That’s complicated.”
“Then explain it.”
“I can’t.”
I shook my head.
“Then I can’t agree.”
He didn’t try to stop me.
Instead, he said something that made me turn around.
“Your father’s company will be auctioned in two days.”
I froze.
He continued.
“Unless you accept my offer.”
I slowly turned back.
“You’ve been investigating me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I needed to know whether I could trust you.”
“And?”
“I decided I could.”
I stared at him.
The restaurant suddenly felt colder.
“You expect me to marry a man I barely know.”
“Yes.”
“For six months.”
“Yes.”
“In secret.”
“Absolutely.”
“And after six months, we walk away.”
“That’s the agreement.”
I picked up my handbag.
“Give me twenty-four hours.”
“You have twelve.”
I looked at him.
“Twelve hours?”
“The bank’s lawyers are already preparing the documents.”
My heart sank.
He stood.
“Elena.”
It was the first time he’d said my name.
His voice was strangely gentle.
“Think carefully.”
I didn’t answer.
I walked out of the restaurant.
The cold New York air hit my face.
I stood on the sidewalk and looked up at the city lights.
I should have been angry.
I was angry.
But beneath the anger was something worse.
Fear.
My father’s company was dying.
And the only man offering to save it wanted something I never thought I’d give anyone.
My marriage.
I reached for my phone.
There was a message from my younger sister, Sophia.
Did you find a way to save the company?
I stared at the message for a long time.
Then another message appeared.
Elena, please tell me you have good news.
I closed my eyes.
I didn’t have good news.
I had a billionaire offering me a marriage contract.
And somehow, that might be my only way out.
⸻
The next morning, I returned to Adrian’s office.
The building was enormous.
Glass.
Steel.
Security everywhere.
I had never been inside a place like it.
A receptionist looked at me.
“Do you have an appointment?”
“Adrian asked me to come.”
She immediately stood.
“Mr. Blackwell is expecting you.”
I stopped.
“Blackwell?”
She looked confused.
“Yes. Mr. Adrian Blackwell.”
My heart suddenly beat faster.
I had heard that name before.
Everyone had.
Adrian Blackwell.
The billionaire businessman.
The CEO of Blackwell International.
One of the youngest billionaires in America.
The man whose company owned businesses across three continents.
I slowly looked at the receptionist.
“You’re talking about that Adrian Blackwell?”
She smiled politely.
“Yes.”
My stomach dropped.
I had just agreed to meet a man whose wealth I couldn’t even comprehend.
And I had been too desperate to ask his last name.
The elevator doors opened.
I stepped inside.
When I reached his office, Adrian was standing beside the window, looking over Manhattan.
He turned when I entered.
His expression didn’t change.
“You came.”
I nodded.
“I need the contract.”
He walked toward me.
“You’ve made your decision?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
I looked directly into his eyes.
“I’ll marry you.”
For the first time, something changed in his expression.
Relief.
But it disappeared almost immediately.
He walked to his desk and picked up a black folder.
I reached for it.
Then he said quietly:
“There’s one more thing you need to know.”
I stopped.
“What?”
His eyes met mine.
“If anyone discovers that our marriage is a business arrangement, everything changes.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
He stepped closer.
“Our marriage must look real.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
His voice dropped.
“Then the people I’m trying to protect you from will know exactly where to find you.”
My blood ran cold.
“Who are you protecting me from?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
Instead, he placed the marriage contract in my hands.
“Sign it, Elena.”
I stared at the first page.
At the bottom was Adrian Blackwell’s signature.
And beside it…
was a blank space waiting for mine.
I picked up the pen.
I had no idea that the moment I signed that paper, I wasn’t simply becoming a billionaire’s secret wife.
I was stepping into a family war that had begun long before I was born.
End of Episode 1
