Married To The Grouchy Billionaire

The rumors swirled through Las Vegas like a desert sandstorm, threatening to engulf Richard's reputation in a cloud of doubt. The city was in an uproar.

Gossip and rumors spread like wildfire, fueling a frenzy of speculation and whispers behind closed doors.

Everyone was talking about the anonymous news spreading around Las Vegas like roaring fire.

The gossip was centered on Richard Hernandez; the owner of the most luxurious hotel in the whole of Las Vegas. Glamour Empire Hotel is famous for having the best luxury resort and a luxury casino that host celebrities, wealthy vacationers, award shows, fashion shows, movie premieres, a famous nightclub and so many more.

The hotel has always been praised for its luxurious facilities, but now it's been ridiculed with lots of hateful comments and speeches, because the handsome and powerful Richard Hernandez was rumored to be gay.

The scandal had reached a boiling point as everyone in Las Vegas seemed to know the rumors - that Richard was in a secret gay relationship.

Every citizen, including all Tv stations in Las Vegas were talking about it, and since Las Vegas was a country known for world-class entertainment, it went very viral.

^ ^

The room was silently dark, but a man was being beaten up brutally by some men, while Richard sat down watching as the men descended on the innocent man.

Richard's face holds no emotions, in fact he was dissatisfied by how the men were handling the innocent man.

A snap of his finger, signaled the men to stop with the beating. They didn't need to be informed before the wounded man was dragged to where Richard was sitting like a king.

His cold hands went to the man's jaw, his gray eyes piercing angrily at him.

"Your broadcasting company was the one who started the rumors about me right?" His baritone voice asked, and his eyes darkened with very single words.

"Yes it was, and I am sorry. My broadcasting company was at the verge of bankruptcy and I needed to do something about it"

"By tarnishing my reputation? Do you even know who I am?" Richard asked. The way he spoke was enough to make even the strongest man pee on his pants.

"I'm sorry Mr. Richard"

"Who was the person that sent the fake news to you? If you tell me, I might reconsider not chopping your head off" He glared.

"Forgive me Mr. Richard, but I have no idea who the person is. It was anonymously sent to my company, we just uploaded it on the internet" The chin-bearded man said.

"You think that I'm going to buy your lies? I ask you for the last time, who sent the message to you"

"I'm speaking the truth, Mr. Richard. It was sent anonymously" The man cried. He has had rumors about how dangerous of a man Richard is.

If he wasn't blinded by the thought of boasting his company when the anonymous email was sent to him, he won't be in the realm of the devil's son right now.

Richard stood to his feet, just a move of his eyebrows, his men got his message and they resume with the brutal beating.

The man was screaming for help, but it didn't move Richard.

^ ^

Kristin heaved a sigh after coming out from a building. She has just arrived in Las Vegas, looking for a cheap house to rent, but she couldn't get a house that met up with the amount she can afford.

"Why are houses in Vegas so expensive? I need to start working as soon as possible to take care of my parents in Glenwood, they can't continue farming" Kristin whines.

"Should I find a rich tycoon and get married to him?" Kristin, chuckled at her own words. Her stomach rumbled and she knew it was time to eat, she hasn't eaten since she landed in Las Vegas.

Kristin looked for the perfect spot to sit, and when she found one, she smiled and rushed to sit down. She opened her luggage and brought out the homemade rice cakes her mom prepared for her before she embarked on her journey to Vegas.

"Mmmm, mom's cooking is always the best" Kristin uttered dancing with her head. She wasn't the type of person that gets shy and that's why she was comfortably eating on the roadside despite how the people passing by were looking at her.

"Why are they all staring at me? Haven't they seen someone eating before?" Kristin muttered to herself, enjoying her delicious rice cakes.

"Do you want some rice cakes?" Kristin asked when a lady won't stop looking at her. She even went ahead and made a pose when another lady attempted to take a picture of her and post it online.

•I doubt if she is from Vegas•

•She is definitely not from Vegas. No one in Las Vegas eats outside•

Kristin kept beaming a smile at them even when they were gossiping about her, she kept doing so, until she was the only one left in the roadside, still enjoying her meal.

"It's no big deal in Glenwood when you eat by the roadside, so why is it such a big deal here?" When she was done eating to her satisfaction, she began zipping up her luggage and in the process of doing so, someone stole her bag containing all the money she has.

"You thief! Come back here!!!" Kristin screamed going after the thief, leaving her luggage.

"You're so dead, if I get my hands on you!" The thief was a good runner, but despite his talent, Kristin didn't stopped chasing after him.

Her whole life savings were inside the bag, the thief stole from her.

^

Richard came out of the building, after he instructed his men not to restrain from beating up the man until he speaks.

He was about entering his black Royce car, when a notification from his phone prevented him from opening the car door.

He slide up his phone, his gray eyes reading through the message sent to him.

Meanwhile, Kristin was still on the run, looking for the theft that stole her bag, and she found Richard backing her.

She'd take notice of the clothes the theft was wearing, and this man backing her, was putting on the same black hoodie like the thief.

Kristin sparked immediately.

"You good for nothing thief!" She spats. She rushed to him, jumps and lands a thunderous slap on the back of Richard's head.

"What the heck!"

Richard turned to looked at the person who had the audacity to slap his head.

Kristin's eyes were sparkling in anger as she glared at Richard, but she could sense the cold aura around him.

"What was the meaning of that?" He asked, his eyes not moving.

"Give me back my bag" Kristin stretched out her hand, ignoring his question.

"What stupid bag are you talking about?"

"You stole from me and now you're going to pretend like you didn't?"

Richard's eyes darkened, and Kristin could swear she was scared by his cold attitude.

"I stole from you, have you lost it?" He rage, and Kristin flinched.

"The man who stole from me had the same hairstyle as you"

"And you assume it was me?" He knitted his eyebrows.

"You won't blame me, Vegas is country filled with fake people. They tend to dressed expensive just to fit in, and at the end of the day, they steal from people"

Richard walked closer to her, covering Kristin with his height.

"Are you new in Vegas not to sense who I am? You'd think I would fake my life just to steal mere change from you? I can ordered for your corpse if I want to" His baritone voice said, scaring Kristin.

But growing up in the slums and learning never to show her fears, Kristin faked a laugh, and step backwards.

"Oh my bad! You must be the king of Vegas, I am sorry if I mistook you to be the thief, I will go my way and you should do the same" Kristin said in a laughing tone.

She turned to leave, but Richard caught her from the hood of the yellow hoodie she was wearing.

"Where do you think you are going?"

"Home" She said in a low voice, and she could feel her heart pounding.

It's her first time in Las Vegas and she is already getting into trouble.

"Do you think I'd let you go after what you did to me? You still need to pay the price of using those filthy hand of yours on me" His voice hovered and Kristin looked at him shivering.

^

^

Kristin's kept clenching her fingers frighteningly under the table, as Richard's cold eyes pierced at her like he'd rain bullets in her chest.

She kept wondering if he was even human until Luke's voice woke her up from her bed of thoughts.

"What's your name?" Luke asked. He is Richard's personal assistant, a calm man with a jet dark hair.

"Kristin Santiago,"

"How long have you been in Las Vegas?"

"This is my first time in Vegas. I have lived all my life in Glenwood, and I just came to Las Vegas because I want to make money. Please let me go, I didn't know Mr. Grouchy was not the one who stole my bag"

"Grouchy?" Richard asked, and Kristin dabbed her head on the marble floor to avoid looking at Richard's gray eyes.

"It's a miracle you're still alive" Luke muttered.

"I kept her alive because I wanted to confirm something from her. It's not a coincidence that you mistook me as a thief, did that scheming woman send you to spy on me?"

"What woman are you talking about? I don't know any scheming woman" Kristin said with a puzzled face, and Richard took a pen and stamped it on the table, vigorously.

Kristin flinched on seeing the scene before her, but Luke didn't, he was already used to Richard's nasty temper, but most of the time when Richard displays a new angry character, he gets terrified by it.

Stamping a pen on the table, Luke has seen Richard done it so many times.

"You better start talking, else this pen will go straight to your neck. I don't give a damn if you're a woman, because women are what I hate the most in this world. So if you love your life, you better puke out the truth" Richard said.

His face was so closed to Kristin, and Kristin could feel his cold breath penetrating inside her nose.

Everything about Richard was cold and dark.

Kristin's eyes shivers as it came in contact with his eyes. His eyes meant every word he said.

She knew that he is capable of killing her right now, and no one will ask him about it.

Come to think of it, she is a foreigner here in Las Vegas and even if she dies today, no one will recognize her and take her back to her parents in Glenwood.

Her dreams of building a castle and taking her family out of poverty will go unfulfilled if she dies right now.

Why on earth did she have to encounter a man like Richard?

Kristin asked herself, as Richard's cold eyes didn't leave her eyes.

She knew she needed to do something to save herself. She can't just die after all her sacrifices to be in Las Vegas.

There was one thing she knows how to do best, even if it wasn't sincere, people will still believe her, and it was - crying.

"You are testing my patience, Peanut! Did Ophelia send you to spy on me? Answer me!" His voice roared at her, and all of a sudden, Kristin began to cry.

"I don't know who this Ophelia is. Believe me when I say I am new here in Vegas. I don't know anyone here, I only came to Vegas because I want to work and provide for my family in Glenwood" Kristin cries.

Though everything she said was true, but her tears were fake.

Her talent was to make people believe her through her fake tears. She is so good at shedding crocodiles tears, that anyone will believe her right away.

"I'm not a spy, Mr. Grouchy" Kristin said, bringing out more tears from her eyes.

How she produced tears from her eyes within a second without being in pain, is still a misery.

"Do you think I'd fall for those tears of yours?" Richard asked, his eyes not batting at all.

Kristin's jaw secretly dropped, wondering if he was a wired robot not to be move by her tears, which every human being on earth falls for.

Before she could think of what next to do, Richard's hand went to her neck in an attempt to strangle her to death.

Kristin kept struggling to breathe, while Richard glared at her, his manly hands not leaving her neck.

Ophelia has always sent countless of spies to him, and this time around she had to send the gender he hated so much.

But if only he knew Kristin was clueless to the fights he has with Ophelia, he won't be hurting an innocent girl like Kristin.

If not for Luke who intervened, She'd have been dead.

Kristin kept coughing hard, while Richard glared at her.

"I don't think she is sent by your mom"

"She is not my mom!" Richard shouted, and angrily swiped down the flower vase on the table, horrifying Kristin.

"Kristin" Luke called her name.

Kristin slowly drifted her eyes from the broken vase to Luke.

"Go to the lobby and wait"

"Lobby? I don't know where the lobby is" Kristin said.

Her body were trembling, she has never seen anyone that possessed the kind of anger Richard has.

She doesn't even know where she is. Richard just bundled her inside the car, and she found herself in this luxurious place that looks like heaven on earth.

Luke made a call, and a man came and took Kristin to the lobby as instructed by Luke.

"I am sorry if I called Ophelia your mom, but I don't think Kristin is working for her"

"How sure are you? All she did was shed fake tears! You already know Ophelia have always wanted to label me bad in front of my dad! And this time, she had to use a female gender!" Richard shouted.

"I know Ophelia has always been in your neck, but she is still afraid of you! Leave that aside, Kristin is not a spy, she is too innocent to be working for Ophelia, and I think you need her" Luke said.

"How? Why would I need her?" He asked.

Richard's wanted to know why Luke said he needed Kristin, when she just a woman who accused him of being a thief.

"Why would I need her?" He asked again.

The rumors about you won't go down until you find a way to prove that the rumors aren't true. The owner of the broadcasting company where the rumor was first uploaded from doesn't know who the anonymous person is. Not only your reputation but your hotel and the company you have worked so hard for will go down the drain if you don't do something about it"

"Then what am I supposed to do? I might not have been in a dating rumor before, but I definitely know I am not gay! I feel like wiping everyone out!" Richard yells boiling in anger.

Richard doesn't just have a cold personality, but he is also hot tempered.

He gets angrily easily and he finds it hard to control himself anytime he is angry.

"Can you at least calm down and let me talk? You should be thankful, I'm used to your anger"

"Then resign if you want, I don't care!" Richard's eyes burn in fury.

Luke swallowed his saliva and said.

"I have an idea how you can stop the public from believing the rumors that you're gay"

"What could it be?" Richard asked.

"I know it's going to sound weird and annoying at the same time, but that's the only way to make the public stop talking"

When Richard didn't say anything, Luke got the signal that it was go ahead.

"You have never been in a dating rumor before, and I think the public will stop talking about you if you tell them that you're in a relationship by making Kristin..." Luke hesitated before completing his statement.

"Your wife"

"Are you crazy?! You want me to make a woman I know nothing about my wife? You already know I hate women a lot, and you want me to make her my wife? Are you trying to annoy me?!" Richard shouted.

"I'm not trying to annoy you Richard, but that's the quickest way to make the public stop talking about the rumors. It's not like you will be in an official marriage with her, it's just going to be a contract marriage"

"Contract marriage my foot! There's no way I'd live under the same roof with that Peanut!"

"Sometimes, you should listen to other people's opinions. The main reason why everyone believes you're gay is because you haven't been seen with any woman before. Kristin is the ticket to clear the misunderstandings the public have about you. At least no one knows about her, because she is not from Las Vegas. I know you hate women a lot, but this is the only way for you to save your reputation and that of your dad's company and the hotel you work so hard to establish. At least while you are married to Kristin, you can distract the public and find a way to fish out the anonymous person who wants to tarnish your reputation. Even if you suspect Ophelia or someone else, we need..."

"Enough! I have enough from all your talkings"

"I will leave you alone" Luke made to leave, but Richard's baritone voice stops him.

"Bring Kristin to me" He ordered and Luke smiled.

^

Kristin kept hitting her chest, trying to stop herself from hiccuping.

She was still not over the scene Richard displayed in from of her.

This will be the first time she will be scared of someone. She was always nicknamed fearless by the people in Glenwood, but right now, her heart is pounding in fear, at the thought of Richard.

He possibly can't be human, Kristin thought within her, as she took notice of the employees

It came as a shock to her, because all the employees were all males. There was no single female working here.

"I wonder where I am?" She muttered, feeling homesick.

If she was still in Glenwood, she would have been in her small bed sleeping, but she doesn't even have a floor to lay on here in Vegas.

"Did I make a mistake coming here?" She muffled, almost regretting coming to Vegas.

"Kristin!"

She raised up her head and sees Luke walking up to her with a smile.

"Can I go now? I didn't mean to slap his head"

"Do you have a place to go to?"

Kristin sadly shook her head.

"Richard wants to speak with you" Luke said.

"There's no way I'm gonna go back there, he sees me as a spy and he is going to kill me. I don't want to die. Just help me escape from here" Kristin pleased with her eyes.

Luke smiled and patted her.

"This time around, he is not going to do anything to you, trust me"

After much convincing, Kristin went to meet Richard, and Luke left them alone to talk.

There was silence between them, and Kristin kept avoiding his gray eyes.

His eyes were dashing, but the coldness in his eyes, gave Kristin a reason to avoid his eyes.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Richard asked, breaking the silence between them.

Kristin wondered why he was asking such question all of a sudden, but nevertheless, she gave an answer to his question.

"I... don't have a boyfriend"

"How much should I offer you to be my wife?"

"Why should I be your wife?"

Without answering her question, he threw a newspaper at her and signaled her to read it.

Kristin hesitated before taking the newspaper from the table.

After she was done reading the newspaper, she drop it back on the table.

"Well since you're gay, just tell the truth"

"Do I look like someone who is gay to you? I just want you to be my wife for a certain period of time to shut the public from insisting I'm gay. You said you're from Glenwood right? What amount of money should I offer you to be my acting wife?" Richard asked, his face tightened like rock.

"I admit that I am in need of money, but I have a pride to protect. You treated me like a criminal earlier, and you need to apologize to me before I can reconsider if I will be your acting wife or not"

"I don't apologize to anyone, so why should I start from you?" He asked.

"I am not going to give an answer to your question. You grabbed my neck unjustly and almost killed me, and since you can't apologize, I am going to leave" Kristin stood up to leave, but just after she walked two steps away from him, Richard held her hand.

"I am sorry. Will you forgive me and be my wife?" He asked in a low voice.

Kristin's heart developed a beat.

Her heart wasn't beating this time around because of fear.... It was fluttering.