The Undercover CEO's Accidental Wife

At my family's charity gala, I was on stage presenting the drone that would secure my legacy.

Suddenly, the power cut. My own brother and cousin had sabotaged the presentation, causing the drone to crash.

As a cruel joke, a bizarre auction rule was invoked, pairing me with the maintenance worker injured in the chaos. My fiancé, Kurtis, didn't defend me. Instead, he publicly insisted that "rules are rules," abandoning me to the crowd's laughter.

Humiliated and utterly alone, I was tied to a man they called a "glorified janitor" while my family did nothing.

So I did the one thing they never saw coming. I walked up to the maintenance worker and proposed right there on stage.

I thought it was just an act of spite.

I had no idea my new husband was actually a powerful undercover CEO, and that our marriage would be the first step in my family's complete and utter ruin.

Chapter 1

Bailey POV

My brother, Holt, deliberately tripped the circuit breaker, and in that moment, my entire life shattered into a million pieces.

I stood on the charity gala stage, the spotlight hot on my face, ready to present the new energy-efficient drone prototype for Robinson Dynamics. My family' s company. My legacy, or so I thought.

A sudden, sharp pop echoed through the grand ballroom. The lights flickered, then died, plunging half the stage into darkness. The drone, suspended mid-air, sputtered and began a slow, controlled descent, right towards the main attraction: a giant, intricately sculpted ice statue of a soaring eagle.

Panic flared in my chest. I knew the protocol. An emergency manual override. I reached for the console.

But before my fingers could hit the emergency button, a figure emerged from the shadows. He moved with a surprising speed, a wrench clutched in his hand, a greasy stain on his maintenance uniform. He lunged, not at the console, but at the descending drone itself.

A gasp rippled through the crowd. He was going to try and catch it.

He miscalculated. Or maybe, the drone was heavier than he expected. It struck him square in the chest, sending both him and the ice eagle crashing to the ground in a cacophony of shattering ice and groaning metal.

The emergency lights flickered on, bathing the scene in an eerie, red glow. The drone was mangled, the eagle was pulverized, and the maintenance worker was sprawled amidst the glittering shards, groaning.

My eyes swept over the shocked faces in the crowd. My parents, Coleman and Alyce, looked mortified. My fiancé, Kurtis Meyers, stood stiffly, a frown creasing his handsome face. And Chandra, my cousin, watched with a smirk playing on her lips, feigning concern.

"My apologies, ladies and gentlemen!" Holt' s voice boomed, amplified by a microphone he' d miraculously acquired. He rushed onto the stage, a picture of strained composure. "A minor technical glitch, entirely unforeseen! But our brave Dangelo here, bless his heart, tried to prevent further damage."

He didn' t even look at me. Not once.

Suddenly, a voice, deep and smooth, cut through the murmurs. "The rules of the charity auction are clear, Mr. Robinson."

It was Kurtis. He stepped forward, his eyes fixed on Holt, not on me. "Any object or person involved in an unfortunate incident during the main event, if deemed by the committee to have caused sufficient public disruption or amusement, is auctioned off for a humorous 'penalty' pairing."

The murmurs grew louder. People were starting to laugh, a cruel, collective sound.

Holt stammered. "But Kurtis, this is different. Bailey is my sister. And Dangelo is... just a maintenance worker."

"Rules are rules, Holt," Kurtis said, his voice firm, unyielding. He glanced at me then, a quick, dismissive flick of his eyes. "Especially when the reputation of Robinson Dynamics is at stake."

My chest tightened. It felt like an invisible hand had just squeezed my heart, hard.

"What a spectacle," I heard someone whisper, followed by a snicker. "Bailey Robinson, tied to a glorified janitor? What a fall from grace."

Holt cornered me backstage, his face pale with something that looked like guilt, but felt more like annoyance. "Look, Bailey, I' m sorry. It was an accident. The circuit just... went."

I stared at him, my voice a whisper. "An accident? You were standing right there. You saw me reach for the override."

He shifted uncomfortably. "Okay, fine. It wasn' t exactly an accident. But it was for a good cause."

"A good cause?" My voice cracked. "Publicly humiliating me is a good cause?"

He sighed, running a hand through his perfectly coiffed hair. "Chandra felt... undervalued. She thought you coming back from your 'sabbatical' and immediately taking center stage was insensitive. We just wanted to remind everyone that some people have to climb the ladder, not just walk back into a top position."

Chandra. Of course. Her sickly sweet smile flashed in my mind. She always knew just how to poison the well.

"So you thought ruining my presentation, tying me to a maintenance worker, would make her feel better?" I asked, my voice laced with disbelief.

"It' s not a big deal, Bailey," Holt waved his hand dismissively. "It' s just for one night. A bit of fun. Everyone will forget about it tomorrow. We' ll make sure the pairing doesn' t actually go through."

His words felt like a slap. A cold, hard slap across my face. My stomach churned. The bile rose in my throat, hot and acrid. I pressed a hand over my mouth, trying to keep it down.

The crowd' s chatter outside grew louder, their laughter echoing through the thin walls. They were having a field day at my expense.

Holt pulled out his phone. "I' ll call Father. He' ll get Kurtis to reverse this nonsense. Kurtis is always so rigid about 'rules.' "

As he spoke, he subtly glanced towards Dangelo, who was still being attended to by a medic near the shattered ice. A silent message seemed to pass between them, a fleeting flicker of understanding in Dangelo' s eyes that I couldn' t quite decipher.

My father, Coleman Robinson, stepped onto the stage, his booming voice cutting through the din. "Ladies and gentlemen, we appreciate the spirit of the evening, but surely, we can amend this impromptu pairing. My daughter, Bailey, is a lead engineer, not... entertainment."

The auctioneer, a jovial man with a booming laugh, held up his hands. "Mr. Robinson, with all due respect, our rules are sacrosanct for the integrity of the charity. And Miss Robinson, with all due respect, you were the centerpiece of the 'unfortunate incident.' "

He motioned towards Dangelo, who had just been helped to his feet. "And Mr. Holden here, our brave maintenance man, is equally bound by the outcome."

My breath hitched. Holden. The name resonated with a strange familiarity, a faint echo from a forgotten corner of my memory.

A figure stepped forward onto the stage. Tall, immaculately dressed in a tailored suit, his features sharp and commanding. It was Kurtis Meyers. He wasn' t just my fiancé, he was an executive at a key partner firm, and his word carried weight.

"I' m afraid I must side with the auctioneer," Kurtis stated, his voice devoid of any warmth. "Rules are rules. Upholding them, even in jest, ensures the integrity of the event and, by extension, reflects positively on those involved." He looked pointedly at my father. "Especially Robinson Dynamics."

A round of applause broke out from some corners of the audience. They appreciated his 'integrity.' I felt a chill run down my spine.

My father' s face flushed crimson. "Kurtis, this is about my daughter!"

"And I am upholding the principles of fairness, Coleman," Kurtis retorted, his gaze unwavering. "To waive the rules for your daughter would make a mockery of everyone else who participated."

The crowd' s approval solidified. The tension in the room morphed from nervous energy to a palpable sense of judgment. My family' s reputation, usually pristine, was teetering on the edge.

"You promised me, Kurtis!" my father hissed, his voice low, but audible. "You said you' d always stand by Bailey, always protect her!"

Kurtis' s jaw tightened. "And I am, in my own way. Upholding the rules protects everyone from accusations of favoritism."

Suddenly, a woman in the front row, a well-known socialite, leaned over to her companion. "Didn' t Kurtis and Chandra arrive together tonight? And I heard they' ve been spending a lot of time at the club."

The whispers spread like wildfire. My eyes snapped to Kurtis, then to Chandra, who had rejoined my parents. Chandra quickly averted her gaze, a tell-tale blush rising on her cheeks. Kurtis' s expression remained stony, but a tremor ran through my carefully constructed future.

The air felt thick, suffocating. My vision blurred. I could feel the tears pricking at my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not here. Not now. I wouldn' t give them the satisfaction.

A new surge of defiance, cold and sharp, cut through the pain. I was done being their pawn, their embarrassment, their easy target.

I took a deep breath, the air burning in my lungs. I walked forward, past my stunned brother, past my red-faced father, past a visibly uncomfortable Kurtis. I stepped directly into the spotlight, my gaze sweeping over the sea of faces.

Then, I looked at Dangelo Holden, the maintenance worker. His eyes, surprisingly clear and steady, met mine.

"I accept," I said, my voice cutting through the hushed ballroom like a whip. "The rules stand. I accept the pairing."

A collective gasp filled the ballroom. My family froze, their faces a mixture of shock and horror. Kurtis' s jaw dropped. The auctioneer stared, his mouth slightly agape.

I turned back to the crowd, a ghost of a smile on my face. "Let the games begin."