Chapter 3 Billionaire Bride

-Anderson-

I sipped my espresso slowly, staring out over Manhattan like a general surveying his battlefield.

Below, the city bustled and begged. Above, i reigned.

My penthouse was silent, save for the click of polished shoes on marble.

"They're live," my assistant, Marla, said from the doorway, holding up a tablet. "As you requested."

I took it from her. A single headline sprawled across the screen, bold and bleeding:

"Billionaire Anderson White Marries Unknown Woman in Private Ceremony - Who is Paige Whiterspoon?"

I smirked.

It was already spreading-like gasoline meeting flame. News anchors scrambled. Gossip blogs speculated. Investors panicked. Enemies took note.

Exactly as planned.

Marrying Paige had already made waves, and she hadn't even stepped outside yet.

"Have security stationed at all exits. I don't want her ambushed," i would always say.

Make sure she's safe now go. Marla hesitated. "Are you concerned for her... or your investment?"

I glanced at her, cool and unfazed "Both."

When she left, i turned the volume up and let the chaos wash over me .

The media couldn't get enough of the quiet girl with no social profile, no connections, no bloodline. They were calling her everything from a gold digger to a Cinderella.

If only they knew.

I picked up my phone and brought up the surveillance feed-Paige, still asleep in the guest suite,

She was curled beneath the silk sheets like something soft in a world too sharp. Even now, she didn't belong here. And yet... she did.

There was something about her-the defiance in her eyes, the way she didn't tremble when she should have. She didn't beg. She negotiated.

And inliked that.

I shut the feed off.

Feelings were dangerous. That's what my father used to say. "Empathy is what gets kings killed."

I had never let emotion interfere with strategy. Until now. Until her.

A knock sounded. Marla again.

"She's awake," she said. "And already saw the headlines."

I stood, straightened my cuffs. "Bring her to the rooftop terrace."

I was waiting when Paige stepped out, wrapped in a robe, hair still damp, eyes flashing like a cornered animal.

"You could've warned me," she snapped. "You said privacy."

"I said the wedding would be private," i said coolly. "Not the marriage."

She threw the tablet at my chest. "My sister's nurse called. Paparazzi were camped outside the hospital. Ava was terrified."

"That will be handled."

She stared at me, voice breaking. "Do you always burn down the world for attention?"

"No," i said quietly. "Only when it needs to be reminded who controls the fire."

She turned to leave.

"Paige," i said.

She froze.

"You agreed to be mine in public and in private. That means standing beside me. especially when the cameras are watching."

It's going to die down soon it's just been Three weeks and soon they'll look for another bone to pick.

"Bottom feeders"

She turned back slowly, her voice cold. "Don't confuse survival with loyalty, Anderson. I signed your deal. I didn't sell my soul."

But as she walked away, I watched her hips sway, her shoulders squared in defiance, and for the first time in a very long time...

I felt something shift.

Not control.

Not calculation.

Something much worse.

"Want"

And not the kind i could buy or bend.

My phone buzzed.

Unknown Number: Congratulations, Anderson. But marrying her won't stop the truth from surfacing. It wouldn't keep your secrets away and it wouldn't make you a better man..

My eyes narrowed.