The Genius Bride's Secret Contract Marriage

For twenty years, I obeyed my adoptive family, enduring my stepsister's mockery and my parents' cold neglect.

But at a lavish hotel party, my stepsister forced a glass of spiked champagne into my hands.

As my vision blurred and a strange, creeping heat consumed my body, my adoptive mother looked at me with ice-cold eyes.

"We raised you for twenty years. It's time you paid us back."

They had sold me to a sweaty, middle-aged businessman to save their failing company. I watched the man approach with a triumphant smirk, his oily hand reaching out to claim me.

A wave of sheer nausea and profound betrayal hit me. I couldn't believe the people I called family were treating me like livestock to be traded.

Using my last ounce of strength, I shoved him away and fled down the maze-like hallway.

Terrified, dizzy, and desperate to hide from my pursuers, I stumbled into a random unlocked suite. I crashed into a tall stranger with sharp gray eyes before the world went completely black.

When I woke up, I was in a presidential suite, wearing a man's oversized silk shirt.

Sitting across from me was Damian Blackwood, the ruthless billionaire CEO and uncrowned king of Wall Street.

I thought he would hand me a check to buy my silence or throw me back to my abusers.

Instead, he looked at me calmly and offered me a deal.

"Marry me, and the Foster family will never dare to touch you again."

I looked at the marriage contract, took a deep breath, and chose to survive.