The Unwanted Bride: Claimed by the Billionaire

Cassie's Pov

"This better be your final marriage, or you will have me to deal with!" My stepmom, Rhoda, whispered in my ear. One of the registry officials passed by us, and Rhoda gave him a forced smile.

"Please, Mom," I whispered with tears in my eyes, fiddling with my fingers.

"I am not your mother, and don't you dare let those damn tears fall or I will end you!!! She said with gritted teeth, standing really close to me. "Your miserable, late father left us with so much debt, and someone has to pay for it! It's definitely not my daughter, so you better wipe those tears off the corner of your eyes and don't ruin this for me."

Knowing my stepmom was one whose words never failed to come to pass, I brought a finger to my face and wiped the tears that lingered at the corner of my eyes. I had no makeup on, so I had nothing to lose. I paired my natural face with a well-known knee-length dress. My fourth time getting married in the same dress.

"But I'm innocent. Why should I be punished for my father's sins?" I whispered, trying so hard not to break into tears. Life was hell with the first three men I was betrothed to. I didn't want to go through that anymore. "Lauretta is his daughter, too."

Rhoda scoffed. "You don't understand, do you?"

"My daughter, Lauretta, is going to marry a billionaire who will push this family forward. That's even more work than what you are bound to do. I know I promised your father that I would take care of you. That is why I am sharing the responsibilities. You clear the debt, and Lauretta will bring the riches."

"I will clear the debt, but not this way. If only you let me finish school, I would have gotten a job...." Hardly had I completed my words when Rhoda's hand landed really hard across my face.

Tears instantly rolled down my cheeks.

"You ungrateful bitch!!! Never dare question my decision." She glared at me.

I brought my hand to my face as I sobbed quietly.

Rhoda was about to say something, probably to scold me even more, when her eyes dashed towards the large entrance, making her force a smile. "Here comes your husband. Wipe those false tears off your face."

I obeyed, wiping the tears off my face with the back of my palm. I looked at the entrance and got even more confused. I saw three men. An older man in an average suit, and beside him was a bit younger man in a wheelchair who was in a baggy suit, and behind the man in the wheelchair was a regular dude in casual clothes, pushing the wheelchair.

"Who am I getting married to?" I asked my stepmom with a heavy heart. The registry had a strict rule as to the dressing of married couples, so I knew it couldn't be the man in casual clothes pushing the wheelchair.

"Who else?" Rhoda glared at me. "For a woman with no future and nothing to offer, you should be glad that someone has agreed to make you a wife."

Fresh tears welled up in my eyes all over again. My lips quivered as I tried to speak my mind. "Please, Mom, don't do this to me."

Rhoda chuckled, "He can't be that bad. The least you can do is to take responsibility for your actions. You've been married to three men. The relationship never lasted due to your silly behaviour, so they were not able to pay the debt. I don't think this family is rich either, but that's not my business, as long as the debt becomes theirs. They are probably in need of a nanny for their cripple son, so be on your best behavior and be prepared to stay with them for the rest of your life."

Before I could say anything, the man in an average suit approached us. "Rhoda Tess?" He directed at my stepmother.

She forced a smile. "Yes, I recognize you from the picture."

"Nice to meet you." He stretched out his hand to my stepmom, who stylishly stared at him in disgust.

"Oh, I can't. Doctor's orders. Sorry!" She lied.

"That's fine." The man dropped his hand, not taking offense at how rude my mom was.

"Just so we are clear, once your daughter gets married to my son, my family becomes responsible for the debt on the condition that your daughter gives us an heir in a year and continues to care for my son."

My eyes went wide. "An heir???"

Rhoda slightly pushed me to the side just to stop my so-called father-in-law from seeing the reaction on my face. "Of course!" She said with a cheerful smile. "The deal is on. She will give you as many heirs as you want."

"Can you please give us a second, and we will join you shortly?" Rhoda said.

The old man nodded, then strolled in with his son in a wheelchair behind him. My stepmom glanced at them all in disgust, then she turned to me.

"A baby? Even the previous men that I had been married to didn't request that!" Since my head was a mess, that was the first thing that left my lips.

"So what now? You wanna quit, not regarding my efforts? You are just as ungrateful as your father."

Tears welled up in my eyes once more. I'm sure Dad, in his grave, would be filled with regrets about getting married to someone like Rhoda. It's just a shame that I have to be the one suffering the consequences.

"Your father-in-law is cocky as hell. He has the guts to refer to a child as an heir. Doesn't he know that the title 'heir' is reserved for the rich and mighty? Whatever!" She scoffs and then points at me. "I don't care what they say. You are going to give them what they want."

My lips moved to say something, but Rhoda shunned me by throwing me nasty glares.

She gestured for me to go into the registry, and I obeyed, taking slow steps, with Rhoda walking behind me.

Cassie, 25, never have I been in love, experienced a true love's kiss, had an orgasm, but here I was, about to sign the certificate for my fourth marriage.

We were five in the small room. I, the registrar, my husband, whose name I learned was Shawn, his father, Donald, and my Stepmom, who served as witnesses.

Everything happened so fast, and soon enough, Shawn and I were pronounced man and wife. Rhoda's clap and cheers were the loudest. Tears tickled in my eyes. I had never seen her this happy for me.

Once the certificate was issued, Donald approached Rhoda and me, holding a brown envelope, which he handed to her. She was sceptical at first, but she accepted it.

"That's the contract. We will pay 40% of the debt this week and will pay the rest subsequently once she gives birth to my grandchild. Should she back out of this marriage, then your family would repay all of the loan in 5 folds." Donald said, and I instantly felt sick to the pit of my stomach.

"That's fine, you are not going to regret this." Rhoda smiled. She took out the papers from the envelope, reached for a pen in her purse, and signed me away without reading the contents.

She handed the papers to Donald, then leaned close to me, whispering in my ear. "I hope I never see you again. Enjoy your lifetime with a cripple."

Heavy tears welled up in my eyes.

"Are you serious? Her husband is a cripple?" Lauretta laughed, waiting for a confirmation from her mother as both their asses landed on the couch at the same time, each of them carefully holding onto a glass of champagne.

"Not only that, he is ugly as hell," Rhoda responded, bringing the glass to her lips and taking a sip.

"Well deserved," Lauretta smirked. "I wish you had let me come with you. You know how much I love seeing that bitch in pain."

"I know, my love." Rhoda caressed her daughter's cheek with her other hand. "But I didn't want them to know I have a beautiful daughter. You are far better than that witch. I don't want them changing their mind and requesting you to marry that cripple."

"Eewww, that's true! I'm glad she ended up with her kind of man." Lauretta giggled.

"Oh yes, my love. You needed to see the sadness and pain on her face. We won for real this time around." Rhoda smirked.

"But wait, how's she going to make a baby with a cripple?" Lauretta burst into a peal of satisfied laughter.

Rhoda joined her daughter. "I don't know, I don't care! But I made her understand I was going to murder her if this marriage didn't work."

"Poor Cassie! I hope the baby isn't born crippled." Lauretta mocked.

"Well, that's her life now, so she would have to deal with the misery that comes with it. And now that she's out of the way and the debt has been cleared, it's time to find you a rich man." Rhoda winked at her daughter.

Lauretta smiled proudly. "I'm glad you can focus on me now."

Rhoda playfully rolled her eyes at her daughter. "Don't throw tantrums. No rich man would find you worthy if they found out we've got so much debt attached to us."

"Yeah! Whatever! Just do your magic. I can't wait to walk down the aisle with my billionaire husband!" Lauretta said dreamily.

"Trust me to make that happen. Cheers to being debt-free and to a successful future!" Rhoda brought up her glass, which still had some champagne in it, and clicked it with her daughter's own."

.......................

CASSIE'S POV

I reached for my nightdress in my little duffel bag and dashed into the adjoining bathroom. My eyes met the tiny mirror by the sink. Seeing how puffy they were, I burst into another round of tears as the memory of what had happened earlier today clouded my mind.

I felt so much pain in my chest that I suddenly wished I had died along with my father. But here I was, bearing the consequences of the offence I had no hand in.

I have never had it this bad. The previous men I was forced to be with were able to do basic things on their own, and all I needed to do was be stubborn to them, cause so much trouble for them, and they let me off the marriage. None of them requested a child. I can't believe Rhoda would enter into such a deal without consulting me. I mean, how was I supposed to have a baby with a man that I do not love? My life was hard and miserable enough. Why bring an innocent child into it?

I had no idea how long I cried my eyes out, but I eventually freed myself from my thoughts, undressed, and got into the shower.

As the cold water touched my body, I decided that I wasn't going to change my tactics. Just as the other men got tired of me and requested a divorce, I'll do the same to Shawn.

I dried my body and changed into my knee-length nightdress.

Hardly was I out of the bathroom when the door to the bedroom opened. Shawn, my husband, wheeled himself in and then gently shut the door behind himself. I looked away and tucked my so-called wedding dress away in my little duffel bag, which had just three other dresses. That was all I owned.

"Why are your eyes puffy?" My husband asked, causing a shiver to run down my spine. He hardly said a word at the registry, and I could swear that the tone of his voice didn't match his outer look. His voice was deep, hard, commanding, and car.....

I mentally slapped myself in the face.

I ignored Shawn, zipped up my bag on the couch, and then made my way over to the bed. I was almost by the bedside when his voice came through again.

"Are you fine?"

I mentally facepalmed, then turned to face him. "You should have thought about that before forcing yourself on a woman who wants nothing to do with you!"

My voice came out harsher than I had predicted. I saw Shawn take a glance at his lower body, and my heart ached.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not mocking you. It's not your fault that you can't walk around, and I'm sorry about that. But I would treat you the same even if you were standing in front of me right now."

"I don't want to be your wife. I'm never going to give you what you want. If I had the power, I wouldn't be here, so please stop being nice to me." I tried my best to speak as politely as I could, but I failed because I could hear my voice echo in my head.

Shawn stared at me with calm eyes. Almost impossible to believe that he was the one I was angry at.

My heart ached even more. "No, I won't feel guilty. I'm the one suffering here." I mumbled, then started making my way to the bed. I was almost crashing into it when his voice stopped me. "Won't you undress me and prepare me for bed?"

Even though his words were polite, I felt my chest burn with anger. I turned around to face him. "Sorry?" I exclaimed because I was sure I must have heard him wrong.

"Take off my clothes, help me shower, then we'll go to bed together." He said casually, as though it was my duty.

My lips parted to say something, but I ate my words and, at the same time, fought the tears in my eyes. Today was traumatic enough that I didn't think I was going to be going through something worse.

I took three steps closer to Shawn and heaved a deep sigh. "Who cleaned you before today?"

"The maid, but my father fired her this morning after getting me ready, since I now have a wife."

I ran my fingers through my long, thick, wavy hair. "You said it just now that I'm your wife and not a maid. Why do I have to deal with this?"

"Besides, aren't you ashamed or something?"

"No. You are my wife. We will eventually have a baby. So what's there to be shy about?"

I stared at Shawn in horror. I had no idea what shook me more. His confidence or the fact that he keeps treating the situation like a casual one.

"You are really serious about having a child with me? You don't even know me. You don't know if I'm okay health-wise. Hell, what if I were a psychopath? How would even make a baby?"

"Sex." He responded, and I immediately rolled my eyes at him.

"Sadly, you are going to be doing most of the work, but I will try my best to complement your efforts with hip thrusts. You will ride me here or when I'm lying on the bed."

Cassie's Pov

I don't know why, but Shawn's words made tears escape the corner of my eyes. I sniffled, brought my fingers to the corner of my eyes, and stylishly wiped away the tears. I don't even know what it means to have an orgasm, and yet I have to create a baby by bouncing on him. Maybe love was never meant for me.

Remembering I made up my mind not to be weak, I decided to stand up for myself.

"Don't even go there because I'm going to break you!" I said with gritted teeth, then took closer steps to Shawn's wheelchair. "I'm going to do this not because I want to. But for hygiene's sake." Even though I was clueless as to how to go about cleaning him up, I crouched down to my knees.

"You've never had an orgasm?" His words stopped me before I could touch his arm.

My eyes went wide. Did I say that out loud?

"S..orry?" I almost stammered, hoping I did well in acting clueless.

"What kind of life do you want for yourself?" He asked.

I looked away in embarrassment. It was clear that he heard my mumbling.

"You were just being bold for nothing when you cannot even look me in the face and declare what you want." He said, and I looked into his eyes.

"Of course, I don't want to be with you, but do I have a choice? I'm not shaming your condition, but hell, I know what I want for myself, but life can just be so unfair." I said, trying so hard not to tear up.

"Even though I don't know what it means to be loved, I know what a marriage should look like."

"What are your views on marriage? My legs are not okay, but that doesn't mean I'm a bad person."

I scoffed. "Do you wanna get changed or keep pretending that you actually care about me or what I think?"

"Are you acting this way because I'm not good-looking enough for you?"

I was almost saying something, but he beat me to it. "What if I make you cum?"

I stared at Shawn in shock. My heart started racing. My lips parted to say something, but words failed me.

"Are you this blunt?"

"You are my wife. There's no point holding back my words when we can always clear the air."

"Since you are afraid you are going to break me, then I will have to make it up to you."

I rose to my feet. His eyes followed my face. I folded my arms below my breasts. "I'm not attracted to you, and there is no way I am going to let you touch me."

"What if I gave you your first orgasm?" His voice held so much promise, making me swallow painfully. I took a step back, staring at him with confusion all over my face.

"Are you scared?" He asked calmly.

"I don't know what's going on in your head, but there is no way I'm letting you come close to me."

"What do you have to lose? You are scared I'm going to surpass your expectations?"

I scoffed. "I don't mean to shame you, but nothing about you would make even the tiny hairs at the back of my neck stand to attention."

"If I lose, I'll call off the marriage. I'll let you go, and I'll pay off the debt. But if I win, you will do everything that I tell you to do." He said carefully.

I scoffed, vexed at his level of confidence. "Yeah, we lodged in this hotel for our honeymoon, but there is no way I'm going to let you slide your dick in me."

"I need not put my cock in you to get your legs all wobbly," Shawn said almost immediately.

I swallowed painfully as my heart raced even faster. I tried my best to stop my thoughts from running wild, but I felt my cheeks burning up.

"Deal?" He stretched out a hand; His eyes challenging me.

"Then I guess I would be free from you in a few," I responded with my hands on my hips. I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into. But I was too proud to stay still and watch myself being challenged by the person I disliked.

Shawn nods, putting down his hand as I didn't receive it.

"Here!" He gestured towards his lap for me to come sit.

I threw him a glare in return, already regretting why I had accepted the bet.

"Is that all you can do?" I scoffed. I know he wouldn't be able to do much because of his condition, but I was angrier about why he would propose such a deal.

I was almost storming away from Shawn when I saw him press a button on the arm of the wheelchair.

My brows creased as I watched him slowly drop his feet down. And my eyeballs almost fell out of their sockets as I watched him stand to his feet.

My lips moved to say something, but words failed me. With his eyes still on me, Shawn started to take off his beard. My jaw literally fell to the floor when he also took off a hyperreal mask from his face.

I froze, staring back into the eyes that were hidden behind the mask all day. The jawline, the cheekbones, the nose, full and trimmed brows, a defined hairline, gorgeous eyes. Fuck!!!

Shawn tore his eyes away from me, then went ahead to take off his baggy jacket and shirt.

I swallowed painfully at the drop-dead gorgeous sight before me. His chest, fucking toned abs!!! Did he live in the gym all his life?

I saw Shawn's hand move to his belt. He unbuckled it and eventually took off his oversized pants, leaving him in nothing but his briefs. I felt something weird in my stomach, and I couldn't stop staring at Shawn either. I had never seen a man this.....s perfect "I.....Is th....he really my husband?

I was so, so lost in my thoughts that I had no idea when Shawn approached me. For the first time that day, I inhaled his scent. I shivered, instantly feeling some moisture in my core down there. He smelled sooooo good. I took three steps backwards, finally hitting my back against the wall.

Shawn cornered me, still staring deeply into my eyes. I wasn't a pro at reading people's emotions, but he was staring as though he was about to eat me up.

"Yes, this is your husband, and you are going to do everything that I say." His deep voice came through as he brought his hand to my face and softly caressed my cheek with the back of his fingers.

The tiny hairs at the back of my head stood to attention at his touch.

Fuck!