The $500 Million Contracted Bride: Bound to Mr. Blackwood

MAYA

"Maya, please. Just get to the office. It's an emergency."

As I sprinted toward my father's office, I realized my mother really should have swallowed me in a blowjob. Or at the very least, I should have lost the race to be born. Why did I swim so hard? Was the prize really this?

I was running in four-inch heels that were about to snap. My hair was a bird's nest, and I looked more like a runaway than a corporate heiress. Judging by my father's nineteenth voicemail, getting kidnapped would have been a better way to spend my Tuesday.

I could barely hear him through his sobbing. I wondered which girl he wanted me to pay off this time. Was it the twenty-two-year-old yoga instructor or the cocktail waitress who finally realized his credit cards were made of plastic and lies?

I knew the truth, even if he refused to accept it. The Sullivan fortune was a house of cards. It was held together by my willpower and the last few pieces of my mother's jewelry that he hadn't gambled away yet. My father couldn't handle a single crisis without dragging me into the middle to make it my problem, too.

I reached the heavy doors of my father's office, leaning against the wood for support. My lungs were burning, and I needed a second just to catch my breath.

Marcus, my father's secretary, was standing there. He had been my father's right-hand man for a decade, but today he looked like he was waiting for a funeral to start. He looked like he'd aged ten years overnight.

"Good god, Marcus. What did he have you doing all night?" I panted. I pointed a finger at my messy hair. "Don't even look at me. I got into a fight with the wind, and the wind won."

Marcus didn't laugh. He didn't even crack a smile.

"Just give me the rating," I said, keeping my voice low. "On a scale of one to ten, how much of a disaster am I walking into?"

Marcus swallowed hard and looked away. "Just go in, Miss Sullivan," he whispered.

He pulled the doors open, and the heavy hinges groaned as I stepped inside.

"He's finally knocked up some woman, right?" I sighed. I didn't wait for a reply. I didn't have time for this, especially with a date with Liam in an hour. I just wanted one normal night with Liam this week. He was the only thing in my life that was sturdy, predictable, and safe.

I wasn't going to let my father's latest crisis ruin my evening. I stepped inside, my voice already loaded and ready to fire.

"Dad! If I'm here because you've managed to create a secret sibling, I'm changing my name and moving to a different continent. I am not babysitting a mistake born from cheap tequila and a hunt for a paycheck."

He didn't answer me.

"Dad?" I panted, wiping a stray hair from my forehead.

He didn't even turn around. He was standing in the far corner by the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out at the city like he was waiting for it to give him an answer that wasn't coming.

I frowned, letting my eyes wander away from my father's trembling back. I expected to see a sobbing girl with a baby bump. Instead, my eyes landed on the man sitting in my father's oversized leather chair. The chair my father usually used to look important while doing absolutely nothing.

Our eyes met, and for a second, I forgot how to breathe.

He had the kind of handsome face that made you stop and look twice. Dark hair, sharp jawline, and cold blue eyes that seemed to see right through me. There was something familiar about him, a nagging feeling that I'd seen his face before, but I couldn't place where.

"This will do."

He nodded slowly, snapping me out of my trance. His blue eyes raked over me, from my messy hair down to my flushed face, ending at my scuffed heels. He trailed back up, lingering on the curves I usually tried to hide under my blazer, looking as if he were checking the ripeness of a piece of fruit.

I blinked. My mouth, which usually had a mind of its own, suddenly felt very dry. I pulled the edges of my blazer together, suddenly feeling far too exposed.

A small, satisfied smile touched his lips. "She looks better in person," he spoke quietly, but his voice seemed to fill every corner of the room.

He was looking at me like a pervert, and that was all the motivation I needed. My mouth was no longer dry; it was loaded and the sarcasm was already bubbling up. I was currently overdosing, and I was about to give him a lethal dose.

I let out a scoff. "Oh, I get it now." I leaned in slightly, looking over his expensive black suit. "Honestly, I didn't realize Dad had finally run out of girls half his age and moved on to whatever you are. A high-end trophy husband?"

"Maya, stop," my father's voice cracked from the corner. "Please, just be quiet."

I didn't even look at him. I was too busy staring down at the man in the chair.

He didn't even blink. His blue eyes stayed fixed on mine, heavy and unreadable. He looked like a man who had seen everything and was still waiting for me to impress him. He wasn't just looking at me; he was challenging me to keep going.

I didn't stop to think. I let a slow smirk spread across my face and started to clap. "I have to hand it to you, Dad. You really outdid yourself this time."

I leaned in closer, forcing myself into his personal space until our faces were inches apart. I wanted him to feel as uncomfortable as I did. "So, are you here to check out your new step-daughter? Do you like what you see... Daddy?"

Up close, his eyes weren't just blue, they were the color of the ocean right before a storm.

"Maya Sullivan! Shut your mouth right now!" My father choked out. He sounded absolutely terrified.

The man's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. His gaze dropped to my lips for a heartbeat, a brief, heated moment that felt like a physical touch. Then he leaned back slowly, his eyes never leaving mine. I snapped back to an upright position and crossed my arms.

"Because if there isn't a secret sibling, why the hell am I here?" I tilted my head. "I hope you got the money upfront for fucking him because my father's cheques have a habit of bouncing higher than your ego."

My survival instinct had officially kicked in, and she was a massive, relentless bitch.

"Maya, for the love of God!" my father hissed. I heard him rushing toward me, but I held up a hand and silenced him with a single look. I wasn't finished.

"Why do you look so scared, Dad? No one cares about who you're fucking or if you're bisexual. It's the twenty-first century. Own it."

"Be quiet!" my father strained to say, his breath coming in short, panicked bursts. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to? This is-"

I ignored my father and turned back to the man, leveling a finger at his chest. "And you? You're just the latest in a long line of Dad's expensive mistakes."

"Maya!" my father shrieked.

His legs finally gave out. He fell to his knees with a heavy thud, his face pale and dripping with sweat.

I rolled my eyes. God, how dramatic could he be? He was acting like I'd just insulted a god instead of a high-maintenance boy toy in a well-tailored suit.

But the man in the chair didn't argue. He didn't even look angry. He just looked like a man who had just found a new favorite toy and was deciding exactly how to break it.

I had seen my father, Arthur Sullivan, drunk, crying over lost bets, and begging mistress number four not to leave him.

But this? This was nothing compared to how broken he had looked the night he sat me down and told me my mother was never coming home.

Surprisingly, I wasn't getting a reaction from this man. He was terrifyingly calm. He rested his elbows on my father's desk, lacing his fingers together.

"Your father isn't being threatened, Maya," he finally spoke up after everything I had said. "He's paying back what he owes."

He paused, his gaze lingering on my lips as if he were memorizing them.

"And you should watch what you say. That mouth of yours is going to start a fire you aren't ready to put out."

"What he owes?" I let out a frustrated sigh, looking at my father as he trembled on the floor. "Dad? Really? What did you do this time? Is he the reason Marcus looks like he's about to have a heart attack?"

I wasn't done. I turned back to the man in the chair, my lip curling. "So how much does he owe you? Enough to keep on affording Botox for your face?"

"Botox?" he repeated. The corner of his mouth tugged upward. He let out a short, dry laugh, his gaze staying locked on mine. He didn't look like a man who had been insulted; he looked like a man who had finally found something interesting enough to keep him from being bored.

"Maya, please," my father muffled into the carpet, his voice trembling so hard I could barely understand him. His forehead was pressed to the floor. "Don't talk to Mr. Blackwood like that."

"Mr. Who?" I snickered, looking down at my dad.

But his voice echoed in my head again. Did he just say Mr. Blackwood? I snapped my head toward the man in the chair. My eyes widened with realization.

"Mr. Blackwood?" I pointed at him, my finger trembling despite myself.

Silas Blackwood. The CEO of Blackwood Holdings. The man who bought entire companies just to tear them apart.

That was why he looked familiar. I'd seen his face on the covers of every major business magazine, usually under headlines about Hostile Takeovers.

Did I just throw insults at a man who could buy my father's company and everything we owned without even checking his bank balance? With a snap of his fingers?

God, why couldn't I just shut up for once? I should have asked why he was here instead of picking a fight over the way he looked at me. I groaned internally. I hadn't just started a fire; I'd poured gasoline on it.

Silas suddenly stood up, towering over the desk. He walked around the edge with the slow grace of someone who never had to hurry because the world waited for him. Every step he took toward me felt like a countdown I couldn't stop.

I chuckled nervously, the sound dying in my throat. "Mr. Blackwood." I cleared my throat, lifting a single finger to try and regain some ground. "Listen, this is clearly just a misunderstanding regarding-"

Silas didn't say a word. He just looked down at my pointed finger as if it were a toddler waving a stick. He didn't move a muscle, but the coldness in his stare made my finger tremble. I held it for three seconds until the silence became so loud that I slowly, embarrassingly, let it fall.

"Five hundred million dollars," he finally said.

The room started to spin. Five hundred million dollars debt? I couldn't breathe properly.

Has my father gone mad? Or was Silas Blackwood insane?

Silas didn't wait for me to recover. "Did I really just exchange five hundred million dollars for a chatterbox who doesn't know how to shut the fuck up?" He turned his gaze to my father, his eyes narrowed into slits. "I expected a lot more for that price tag."

MAYA

"Five hundred million?"

My brain tried to do the math, but the numbers were too big and the reality was too small. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Bullshit!" I blurted out. No one was buying anyone in the twenty-first century. "Pfft... Five hundred million? Dad, please tell me I'm at least worth a billion. This is insulting."

I turned to my dad, beads of sweat breaking out on my forehead. My voice dropped to a whisper, pleading for a logic that didn't exist.

"He meant the company, right, Dad? He bought the office and the stocks? Tell me he's talking about the business. Tell me he's talking about the Sullivan name and the real estate."

"Maya, be serious!" my father sobbed. He wouldn't even look at me. He was too busy burying his face in his hands, acting like if he couldn't see me, the sin of what he'd done would just disappear.

This was getting terrifyingly real. I looked back at Silas, and my stomach did a slow, sick flip that felt like the drop of a roller coaster.

"You're joking. This is a prank, right? Where are the cameras?"

I spun around. The sound of my heels clicking on the floor was the only sound in the room as I searched the corners of the ceiling, looking for a lens or a red light. I let out a high, shaky laugh that sounded more like a scream.

"Cut the cameras! You can come out now, guys. Prank's over! Ha! Very funny, Dad! You really got me with the 'sold to a billionaire' bit! I almost believed you!"

I waited. I waited for a producer to walk in with a clipboard. I waited for a film crew to pop out from behind the curtains and tell me I was the star of a new reality show. I waited for a single shred of evidence that my life wasn't currently being destroyed.

Silas didn't move. He didn't even blink. He just watched my meltdown with a calm, steady gaze that made my laughter die a slow, pathetic death.

Then, he reached out.

His thumb hooked under my chin, tilting my face up until I had no choice but to look him in the eye. His skin was warm, but his grip was absolute. It wasn't the kind of hold that hurt. It was the kind of hold that told me my permission didn't matter anymore.

"No cameras, Maya," he said, cutting through the silence of the office. "Just a contract and a paid debt."

He leaned in, looking at me as if he were already figuring out exactly how to use me.

"You're coming with me," he murmured. "After all... Daddy likes what he's seeing."

I gasped.

"Fuck you! Dad, call the lawyers. Call the fucking lawyers! You can't do this to me!"

I was in denial. This didn't happen in real life. People didn't get traded like stocks in the twenty-first century. This was a nightmare I just hadn't woken up from yet.

"I can't do that, Maya. Just go with him. It's the best option," my father whispered. "I don't want to go to prison."

"Best?" I repeated. My eyebrows shot up as I looked at the man I called my father, who was currently handing me over to save his own skin.

I looked at his shaking hands and realized there were no lawyers coming to save me. There was nobody left but the man standing in front of me.

"You should listen to your father," Silas added. He wasn't asking me to follow him. He was telling me that my life as I knew it was over.

"How did this happen? Why me?"

"You're the only asset Arthur has left that isn't already underwater," Silas replied. "You aren't a daughter today, Maya. You're currency, collateral. And your father just spent you."

He was right. The company was a sinking ship. My father had sold the sails to pay for his booze and the oars to pay for his women. I was the only thing left on board to trade for his life.

"What's the plan, then? What happens now?" I swallowed hard, the reality of it clawing at my throat. "What's going to happen to me?"

"Now?" Silas's gaze dropped to my lips. "Now I own the rights to that mouth of yours."

He gripped my chin again, his thumb brushing against my lower lip. "Although, I'm still weighing my options. With a mouth as sharp as yours, it's either going to be your greatest asset or your undoing."

He let go of my chin so abruptly my head snapped back slightly.

"Let's go."

"I have plans tonight," I argued. "And those plans definitely don't involve being a debt collector's plus-one."

"You still think you're a person with a schedule?" Silas leaned down, his face hovering so close to mine that his breath was warm against my lips. "That's cute. But your time belongs to me now. Every second of it, sweetheart."

For the first time in my life, I couldn't find a comeback.

"Welcome to the Blackwood family," he added. "Do try not to die in the first week. It would be such a waste of my Botox money."

He straightened up, adjusting his cuffs with a terrifying level of nonchalance, as if he hadn't just crashed my entire world in under ten minutes.

Silas's fingers closed around my elbow. I tried to pull away, but my body seemed to lean into his touch of its own accord, drawn to the very man who was ruining me. He didn't wait for me to find my footing. He simply turned and began to lead me toward the door.

As the heavy mahogany doors swung open, I saw Marcus's horrified face. His eyes met mine for a split second before he looked at the floor. He was ashamed that he was letting this happen. He wouldn't look at Silas.

Just as the doors swung shut, my phone buzzed in my pocket, making me flinch. It was a jolt of the real world hitting me at the worst possible moment. I didn't need to look at the screen to know who it was.

Liam. It was probably a text telling me he'd booked the table at that Italian place I liked. Maybe a "Can't wait to see you, beautiful."

My throat ached with a sob I refused to let out.

I wasn't going to my date with Liam. I wasn't going back to my apartment to wipe off my makeup and forget this day ever happened. I wasn't going to see the sun set as a free woman ever again.

I was being collected.

And Silas Blackwood didn't look like the kind of man who ever lost what he owned.

MAYA

The world was a blur as my feet moved. My brain kept playing the same image over and over. My spineless father remained glued to the floor while a stranger took me as collateral for his debt.

He signed me away.

The figure was still impossible to grasp. The amount was still ringing in my ears. It felt fake. It was too big to be real. How could one man even spend that much money? How could he owe it? I couldn't understand how he had managed to lose that much, or why I was the one paying for it.

"Get in the car."

Silas's voice snapped me back to reality, sharp and cold as the Bay York wind hitting my face. We were at the curb. Three massive, black SUVs were waiting, their engines humming as if they were impatient to haul away the day's latest purchase.

I looked at the open door of the middle car, then back at Silas. I shook my head and took a step away from him.

"No. I'm not getting in there. This isn't real. You can't just collect people."

Silas looked at his watch. "You're wasting my time, Maya. I have a board meeting at six. Get in."

I stood my ground, even though my legs felt like they were going to give out.

"I don't care how many zeros were on that contract, Mr. Blackwood. I am a human being, not a business acquisition. You don't get to just take me because my father decided that using me as collateral was cheaper than therapy for his gambling habit!"

Silas stepped toward me. He was so close I had to look up to see his face.

"That mouth of yours really doesn't stop moving, does it?" He watched me for a moment. "I wonder if it'll be quite as chatty when you're saying your vows."

Vows? The word hit me like a physical blow. This wasn't just a debt. This was a life sentence.

My pride finally took a backseat to my survival instincts. I panicked. I spun around to run, but I didn't make it three steps.

Before I could even draw a breath to scream, Silas's arms were around me. He scooped me up effortlessly, hoisting me against his chest in a bridal carry that felt more like a kidnapping.

I gasped as my view tilted. My hands instinctively flew up to grab his shoulders for balance before I remembered I was supposed to be fighting him. My heart was beating fast, but it wasn't just from the fear. It was the way he held me, as if I weighed nothing at all.

"Put me down! You asshole! Let me go!" I screamed, finally finding my voice.

I hammered my fists against his chest, but it was like hitting a brick wall. He didn't even flinch. His grip only tightened, his fingers digging into the back of my knees and my waist.

"Are you insane? We just met ten minutes ago!" I yelled into the crook of his neck. "You don't just kidnap and marry people because you have a high credit limit!"

He didn't say a word. He didn't even look at me. He just carried me toward the SUV calmly while I swung my feet in defiance, feeling small and pathetic.

He tossed me into the backseat like a piece of luggage and climbed in after me. His large frame made the spacious SUV feel suddenly cramped. The door slammed shut with a heavy, final thud.

"Drive," he muttered to the driver, not even glancing at me as he adjusted his suit jacket.

I scrambled to the opposite door, pulling the handle until my fingers hurt, but it was useless. It was locked.

I turned to him, "I need to go home. Please. I have things. I can't just leave," I pleaded, my voice trembling.

Silas turned his head slowly. He looked at my tear-filled eyes, his expression unreadable. For a long second, those ocean-blue eyes searched mine. He was looking for a lie, for manipulation, or for the sarcasm I usually used as a shield. But there was nothing left but the truth.

"There's nothing for you back there," he said calmly. "Your new life started the moment we left your father's office."

"My mother's things," I blurted out. "I have a box filled with photos, her jewelry, a scarf... some clothes that still smell like her perfume. If I'm never coming back to that apartment, I can't leave them behind. They're all I have left of her."

The car went silent. I held my breath, watching him and waiting for an answer. For a second, I thought he was going to mock me.

But then he looked away, staring out the tinted window at the passing city.

"Five minutes." He gave a curt, sharp nod to the driver. "Make a stop at her apartment. Five minutes. And if she isn't back in the car by the sixth minute, I'll go in and get her. I don't care what she's wearing or what she's holding."

When we arrived at my building, Silas didn't let me out of his sight. He followed me all the way to my door.

"I need privacy. I thought you'd wait in the car," I said. My hand trembled as I gripped the bedroom door handle. My heart was racing so hard I thought it might burst through my chest. "It's my last time here. Give me time to say goodbye to my life in peace."

He hesitated. He looked past me, checking the room for other exits or windows. Finally, he stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Five minutes, Maya. If you aren't out by then, I'm coming in to get you."

I slammed the door and locked it. I didn't go for my clothes. I didn't even look for my mother's jewelry. I grabbed my passport from the nightstand. I kicked off my heels and shoved my feet into a pair of worn sneakers.

A heavy knock hit the door, making me jump. "One minute, Maya."

"I'm coming! I'm just grabbing the box!" I yelled back.

I was already swinging my leg out the window.

The metal was cold against my hands. I looked down and swallowed hard, already feeling sick. The fire escape felt much higher than I remembered.

I climbed down as fast as I could. When my feet hit the alley floor, I took off. I didn't look back once. I ran until I found a taxi three blocks away.

I climbed into the backseat and gave the driver Liam's address.

I tried to catch my breath. Silas really thought he could just own me. He was in for a surprise.

When I saw Liam, I couldn't hold it in anymore, finally letting go. I broke down, falling into his arms, sobbing as I told him the whole story. The contract, the money, and Silas. He must have realized I was gone by now.

Liam just shook his head. He looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "He really thinks he can take you as collateral? He's insane. We aren't letting this happen."

He grabbed his car keys. "We're getting out of here, Maya. Now."

"Where would we go?" I wiped my face with the back of my hand.

"The Marriage Bureau," Liam replied. "There's a loophole, Maya. If we're already married, that contract is useless. He can't claim a wife as a debt settlement."

I stared at him, my heart skipping a beat. "You want to marry me? Now?"

"I love you." He dropped to one knee right there in his room. "I don't have a ring, and this isn't how it was supposed to happen. But I won't let him have you."

I didn't care about a ring. I reached down and hugged him, nodding against his shoulder. "Yes. Let's do it."

He stood up and gripped my hand. "Then let's go. We do this now, or you're his."

I looked at Liam's determined face and then back at the road. I was about to marry one man to escape another, and I didn't know if I was ready for either.