The billionaire's revenge marriage

Bella pov

Eight years was a long time to carry a question.

Long enough to build a new life around it.

Long enough to convince yourself that you had stopped caring.

Long enough to learn that some wounds did not heal. They simply became quieter.

Bella Laurent stared through the tinted window of the car as Manhattan rose around her, its glass towers catching the late afternoon light.

New York had changed.

Or maybe she had.

The streets were busier than she remembered. Buildings seemed taller. Everything moved faster, as though the city had continued living while she had spent eight years trying to understand why hers had fallen apart.

Her fingers tightened around the envelope resting on her lap.

Inside was a photocopy of a financial document she had found three nights ago in an old box belonging to her father.

One page.

One signature.

One transaction that should not have existed.

Bella looked down at it again.

October 14.

The date made her stomach tighten.

That was the day everything had begun.

The day millions of dollars had supposedly disappeared from Blackwood International.

The day her father had supposedly betrayed Alexander Blackwood's family.

The day two families had gone from powerful business partners to enemies.

And the day Bella had lost Alex.

She closed her eyes briefly.

She had promised herself she wouldn't think about him.

Not today.

Not after everything.

But memories had never listened to promises.

She remembered Alex before the bitterness.

Before the expensive suits and newspaper headlines.

Before he became the billionaire everyone in New York seemed to know.

She remembered a twenty-six-year-old man who used to sneak away from business meetings just to take her for late-night drives.

A man who knew how she liked her coffee.

A man who once told her that no matter what happened, he would always believe her.

Then their fathers' partnership collapsed.

Her father was accused of stealing millions.

Alex's father publicly condemned him.

Bella's family lost their fortune, their reputation, and nearly their home.

And Alex disappeared from her life without giving her the chance to explain.

She had never forgiven him for that.

She had never forgiven herself for still loving him.

The car slowed outside a towering black-glass building.

Bella looked up.

Her breath caught.

She knew that building.

Everyone in New York did.

Blackwood International.

The headquarters of one of the most powerful corporations in the city.

And the company now belonged to the man she had spent eight years trying not to remember.

Her phone vibrated.

Bella glanced at the screen.

Unknown Number.

She hesitated before answering.

"Hello?"

Silence.

Then a man's voice came through.

Low.

Calm.

Familiar.

"Welcome back to New York, Bella."

Her entire body went still.

She knew that voice.

She could have recognized it anywhere.

"Alex."

There was a pause.

Then, quietly, he said,

"We need to talk."

Bella looked toward the towering Blackwood International building.

A cold feeling settled in her chest.

"About what?"

Another pause.

"Your father."

Her grip tightened around the phone.

"What about him?"

"I think you already know."

Bella glanced down at the envelope on her lap.

For the first time since finding the document, she wondered whether someone else knew she had it.

Then Alex spoke again.

"Come inside."

Her eyes narrowed.

"Why?"

His answer came without hesitation.

"Because after eight years, Bella, I finally have a reason to believe your father wasn't the man I thought he was."

The line went dead.

Bella stared at her phone.

For eight years, she had wanted someone to say those words.

Now that they had finally come from the one man whose opinion had once mattered most, they didn't feel like relief.

They felt like a warning.

She slowly looked up at Blackwood International.

Then she opened the car door.

If Alex Blackwood finally wanted to uncover the truth about her father, she was going to let him.

But he was going to learn something too.

Bella Laurent was no longer the woman he had left behind eight years ago.

Alex POV

The moment Bella Laurent stepped through the glass doors of Blackwood International, Alex knew eight years had been a lie.

Not the kind of lie people told with words.

The kind they told themselves because the truth was too painful to accept.

He stood behind the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office, one hand resting against the edge of his desk, watching her cross the lobby below.

She was different.

He had expected that.

He had prepared himself for it.

What he had not prepared for was the way his chest tightened when he saw her.

Her long dark-brown hair fell over her shoulders, catching the afternoon light. She walked with the same graceful confidence he remembered, but there was something harder about her now.

Something he couldn't reach.

Good.

He needed her to be harder.

It would make this easier.

At least, that was what he told himself.

Behind him, the office door opened.

Marcus Reed stepped inside.

"She came."

Alex didn't turn.

"I can see that."

Marcus moved closer to the window and looked down at Bella.

"You're sure about this?"

Alex's jaw tightened.

"Completely."

Marcus studied him for a moment.

"You haven't said what you actually want from her."

Alex finally turned.

"I want the truth."

Marcus raised an eyebrow.

"That isn't what you told me yesterday."

Alex's expression hardened.

"Yesterday, I wanted revenge."

"And today?"

Alex looked through the glass again.

Bella had reached the private elevator.

She was standing there alone, waiting.

He remembered another elevator.

Another life.

Bella laughing beside him as they rode to the rooftop of his father's old building.

He remembered the way she had looked at him that night.

The way she had trusted him.

The way he had believed he could trust her.

Then everything had disappeared.

His father.

His family's company.

Their reputation.

His future.

And Bella.

He had spent eight years rebuilding everything.

Money.

Power.

Blackwood International.

But there was one thing he had never managed to rebuild.

The part of himself that had existed before Bella Laurent.

Alex turned away from the window.

"Today, I want to know why she's back."

Marcus watched him carefully.

"You already know why."

"Do I?"

"She came back to investigate her father."

Alex's eyes darkened.

"That's what she wants us to believe."

The elevator doors opened.

Bella stepped inside.

Alex watched until the doors closed.

Then he reached for the phone on his desk.

"Send her up."

Marcus didn't move.

"And Alex?"

Alex looked at him.

"If you're doing this because you still love her, don't pretend it's revenge."

Silence filled the office.

Alex's expression became unreadable.

"I don't love her."

Marcus gave a quiet, humorless laugh.

"I didn't ask whether you loved her."

He walked toward the door.

"I said don't pretend."

The door closed behind him.

Alex stood alone.

He hated Marcus for being able to see through him.

More than that, he hated himself for knowing Marcus was right.

A soft knock came at the door.

Alex straightened.

"Come in."

The door opened.

Bella walked inside.

For one brief second, neither of them spoke.

Eight years disappeared.

He saw the girl he had loved.

She saw the man she had once trusted.

Then her expression changed.

Cold.

Guarded.

Professional.

"Mr. Blackwood."

Alex felt something inside him crack.

Mr. Blackwood.

Not Alex.

Not even Alexander.

He had earned that distance.

"Bella."

She remained standing.

"You said you wanted to talk about my father."

"I do."

"Then talk."

Direct.

Still stubborn.

Still Bella.

Alex gestured toward the chair opposite his desk.

"Sit."

"I'd rather stand."

His mouth almost curved.

Almost.

"You always hated being told what to do."

"And you always enjoyed telling me."

The words hung between them.

For a moment, Alex could almost hear her younger voice teasing him.

Then the memory vanished.

He walked toward his desk.

"You've been asking questions about the Laurent investigation."

Bella's eyes narrowed.

"How do you know?"

"I know everything that happens inside my company."

"I didn't ask anyone at your company."

"You didn't need to."

He watched her carefully.

She was hiding something.

He knew it.

The question was what.

Alex picked up a folder from his desk and placed it between them.

"Your father wasn't guilty."

Bella froze.

There it was.

The reaction he had been waiting for.

Hope.

Suspicion.

Fear.

All at once.

She looked at the folder but didn't touch it.

"What is this?"

"Information."

"About my father?"

"Yes."

"Why would you have it?"

"Because I've spent eight years looking for the person who destroyed my family."

Bella finally picked up the folder.

Alex watched her fingers tighten around it.

"And you think that person wasn't my father?"

"I know it wasn't him."

She looked up.

"Then who was it?"

Alex held her gaze.

"That is what I intend to find out."

Bella's eyes searched his face.

"And where do I fit into this?"

There it was.

The opening.

Alex had rehearsed what he would say.

He had imagined this moment countless times.

But looking at her now, the words felt heavier than they had in his head.

"You're going to help me."

Bella gave a quiet laugh.

"After eight years of blaming my family, you suddenly want my help?"

"No."

He stepped closer.

"I want you close enough that neither of us can hide the truth anymore."

Her expression hardened.

"Why?"

Alex looked directly into her eyes.

"Because I have a proposal for you."

Bella waited.

He let the silence stretch.

Then he said the words that would change both their lives.

"Marry me."

Bella stared at him.

For the first time since she entered the room, Alex saw genuine shock cross her face.

And beneath it, something else.

Something he couldn't identify.

He had expected anger.

He had expected disbelief.

He hadn't expected the tiny flicker of something that looked dangerously close to fear.

Alex kept his expression calm.

He had spent eight years preparing for revenge.

He wasn't going to let one look from Bella Laurent destroy his plan.

Not again.

Bella pov

"Marry me."

The words remained between us.

For several seconds, I couldn't move.

Of all the things I had expected Alex Blackwood to say when I walked into his office, that wasn't one of them.

I stared at him, searching his face for some sign that this was a joke.

There wasn't one.

Alex had always been difficult to read, even when we were young. But eight years had transformed that skill into something colder. His steel-gray eyes revealed almost nothing.

"What did you just say?"

"You heard me."

A bitter laugh escaped me.

"You want me to marry you?"

"Yes."

"After eight years?"

"Yes."

"You spent eight years believing my father destroyed your family."

His jaw tightened.

"He did not."

I blinked.

That was the second time he had said it.

My heart gave a painful beat.

"Then why me?"

His eyes held mine.

"Because you're looking for the same answers I am."

"That doesn't explain marriage."

"No," he said calmly. "It explains why you should consider it."

I folded my arms.

"Try again."

For the first time, something shifted in his expression.

"You want access to the information surrounding your father's case."

I said nothing.

"I can give you that access."

My stomach tightened.

"And what do you want?"

"Control."

I almost smiled.

"At least you're honest."

"I've never lied to you about what I want."

The words struck harder than they should have.

Because once, I had believed that.

I looked away.

Outside his office, Manhattan stretched beneath us, glittering through the enormous windows. From this height, the city looked beautiful.

Untouchable.

Nothing like the life my family had been left with after the scandal.

"What are the conditions?" I asked.

Alex's eyebrows lifted slightly.

"You're considering it?"

"I'm listening."

He walked back toward his desk.

"The marriage will last one year."

"One year?"

"After that, we're free to end it."

"And publicly?"

"Until then, we're husband and wife."

I stared at him.

"You've thought this through."

"For eight years."

I looked down at the folder on his desk.

"What else?"

"You'll move into my penthouse."

"Absolutely not."

His eyes flickered with amusement.

"You haven't heard everything."

"I don't need to."

"You'll have complete financial independence. Your career remains yours. You can continue your investigation."

I looked at him again.

"And in return?"

"You'll play your part."

"What part?"

"My wife."

The words were simple.

But something about them made my pulse quicken.

I hated that.

I hated that my body still remembered him when my mind had spent years trying to forget.

"You're asking me to marry a man who hates my family."

Alex's expression became unreadable.

"I don't hate you."

I swallowed.

"That almost sounds worse."

His eyes darkened.

For one moment, the room felt too quiet.

Then he said, "You don't have to love me."

I gave him a cold smile.

"That won't be difficult."

Something flashed across his face.

Pain.

Gone almost instantly.

I hated that I noticed.

I hated even more that part of me wanted to take the words back.

Instead, I reached for the folder.

"Can I keep this?"

"Yes."

I opened it.

There were copies of financial statements, old transaction records, correspondence and documents relating to the scandal.

My heartbeat quickened.

This was more information than I'd managed to find in months.

Alex watched me carefully.

"You'll have access to everything I can legally give you."

"And if I find something that proves your family was wrong?"

His gaze didn't leave mine.

"Then we'll deal with it."

"And if I find something that proves my father was innocent?"

"Then I'll admit I was wrong."

I studied him.

That sounded almost too easy.

"What aren't you telling me, Alex?"

Silence.

His expression hardened.

"Everyone has secrets, Bella."

I closed the folder.

"Then I guess we'll find out whose secrets are worth more."

I turned toward the door.

"Bella."

I stopped.

His voice was quieter now.

"If you agree to this, there is no going back."

I looked over my shoulder.

There was something in his eyes I couldn't understand.

Something that made me wonder whether this marriage was really about revenge.

But I pushed the thought away.

I had come back to New York for one reason.

My father.

The truth.

And if marrying Alex Blackwood was the price of finally discovering what happened eight years ago, I would pay it.

I turned back toward him.

"I'll do it."

Alex didn't react.

Not immediately.

Then his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Why?"

I held his gaze.

"Because I want the truth as much as you do."

That wasn't the whole truth.

Not even close.

Alex thought I was agreeing because he had offered me access to his records.

He thought I wanted answers.

He was right.

But there was something he didn't know.

The night before I left London, I had found another document.

One that could change everything.

And I hadn't brought it to his office.

I had hidden it somewhere Alex would never think to look.

Because if my suspicion was correct, the person who destroyed our families eight years ago might still be watching us.

And I wasn't about to let them know I was coming.