Marry Money: Accidental Marriage Billionaire Romance

By Laikyn Meng

My money didn't come from daddy or mommy it came from my captors.

Levina Sullivan was taken and held for ransom, vanishing without a trace for years. When she suddenly reappears, her reality is warped. But she soon hears of an opportunity s

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Orange 9 Publishing Company LLC
• Release date: Apr 14, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869305190

Book preview

Chapter 1

Zero

I’ve never lied to my best friends before. But the moment I wake up and see her in my arms, I know they won’t accept love as an excuse for marrying the woman of my dreams.

Our world wasn’t built on love but manufactured in corrupt loyalty.

We only have a few minutes right now, but I want to keep her safe so she can stay warm. Once my brothers found out what I did. With the glint of a wedding ring on my finger as a reminder, they won’t stop until I pay for the crimes.

We have rules in our brotherhood. These are the ones we follow to keep our investments safe for the future.

Marry to gain more power, extend our wealth, and welcome more privilege. But the last and most important, never, ever marry for love.

It is a vow I’ve broken, committing promises to her. But I know I won’t deny the commitment to my new wife just to satisfy our code.

Levina Sulivan was my childhood pen pal. We exchanged emails, IMs, and texts up until the day she was taken.

I remembered my thirteenth birthday being hollow as if her absence made the world darker. Lieve didn’t come back for my fourteenth, fifteenth, or sixteenth. By then, I was on the verge of giving up hope; by then, I was ready to murder anyone who took away my closest friend.

Emails went unread, letters went unsent, and I prayed for a reply for years. But not a word, even when Lieve’s family found her and she returned home. I found the girl who left wasn’t the same woman who returned. Yet, I would love her anyway, with everything I’ve got and more.

Something was different, wrong even with her. I scan over her sleeping figure, knowing there is a stranger I might never really know. Those light golden eyes now glower with a darkness she purses those pretty lips with. Her hair catches between my fingers, and I rub the thickness of it together. It’s a few shades deeper than I remember. But that scent, there is no camouflaging it.

I close my eyes, and I inhale. I want my wife to be the reason my heart has a beat now that I have her, You’re mine now, V.

I don’t care who she is, not my Lieve. Those eyes are haunting, but I want them to condemn me. Her features are so striking I know there is danger around her, but I thrive in the pain. I want to kneel at her altar and have her curse me for eternity. Because she has stolen every part of my innocence in ways Lieve will never regain hers.

My chest flutters with intensity as I hear her whisper a moan in her sleep. It’s not even sexual but ethereal.

I love you. My lips meet hers as I exit the bed to handle damage control.

The community area of our hotel room is set up for breakfast already, and Savvy sits there like a mobster, ready for his morning ritual of spilling blood. I remember his bachelor party, how they got distracted after two a.m., precisely when I made my getaway. Keeping my eyes low, I figured out the best way to spill the beans is to just say it and get it over with.

Guys, I did something last night, and before you get upset, start using big boy words. Let me remind you that you love me. We are best friends, and I am the glue that keeps our family together. I stand there; fidgets of anxiety start coming. I know I need to tell them. We don’t keep secrets, and it’s terrible for our business. Fuck! My mom is going to disown me.

Did you fuck a maid again? Royce rubs his skull, wincing at the pain. I can smell the mixture of perfume and cologne from here. Whoever he was with last night certainly made a stain on him. How often do I tell you to have higher standards than the help, buddy? The asshole of the group gives me an I told you, so look.

But he isn’t really in a position to give me advice on who I fuck or who I let fuck me.

I got married last night. Ready for the worst? At least no one has hit me yet.

No one moves, and I wait, wondering if they heard me. My eyes connect with Ghost, who starts shaking his head, and I know I might have fucked up big time. More than the other times, I needed a bailout. But this might be more damaging than I thought possible.

Last night was Savvy’s bachelor party. An arranged marriage his sister devised with the eldest daughter of the Tanzer Corporation. An agreement that has been months in the making with endless editions of their contract.

Savvy? For the love of the devil, someone say something. I am not good with patience or silence; those two things freak me out.

When you say married, do you mean like actually wed, or is this a form of role-playing for you? Royce cuts into his egg benedict, but I ignore the question because there are more pressing issues.

There is a certificate; I have a ring; we both have rings. I lift my hand and point at the ring I had custom-made before last night. Sure, last night happened faster than I imagined, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been planning for the day for a while now.

The room explodes, and I close my eyes.

Married? Are you fucking insane? Royce is yelling.

How, Zero? When did you possibly have time to hook up with someone and exchange fucking vows? Savvy is on damage control.

We left the club at two and returned here, but where did you go Zero? Ghost wants answers, and I sometimes hate being the youngest of the group because I feel like a child.

Downstairs. I glare at him, knowing he will want all the details and witnesses.

And after downstairs? I hate my scary best friend. It appears he wants to have a conversation, which must make this a big deal, given he doesn’t speak most of the time.

I met up with someone; we went to the city outskirts and may or may not have spoken in an agreement with an appointed official to make the wedding legitimate. I act innocent, but I am anything but coy.

I wasn’t entirely sober, but I wasn’t completely wasted by any means, and I know for a fact my sweet wife didn’t have a taste of alcohol on her precious breath. I tasted enough of her tongue last night to know if there was any.

Who did you, dear brother, decide to marry on a sweet, stupid last-minute whim? Royce is edging closer, and the guys are surrounding me.

I am rethinking this was a good idea to tell them.

Levina, Levina Sullivan. But it’s not my voice that speaks her name; it’s Ghost’s, and his pale complexion gets strict with a name we all know is bad news.

Why does that name sound familiar? Royce snaps his fingers and then points right at me like a loaded gun. Oh, you fucked up, pretty boy. That girl got kidnapped when we were kids and came back all kinds of twisted.

My eyes widen as if I am hearing this for the first time. I am allowing them to process the information so we can move on to more pressing issues, like dealing with my mother finding out.

It should be one of the best days of my life, of our lives. I should be in bed with my wife, not scrambling to reveal the news to my friends that I did something they would disapprove of last night.

But I can’t tell them the absolute truth. They don’t know that I have been waiting for Levina Sulivan to return to my life since I was thirteen. I can’t tell them I have been crushing on a girl I no longer know.

Worst of all, I can not tell them that I had already given my heart away to her when we were kids and that I never wanted it back.

How? Savvy stands there pressing his fingers into his brain, hoping that will solve this riddle.

Um, well, it started with, hey, do you want to get married and ended with, I do. You should rehearse this shit, man. I think your wedding is coming up next month? It seems awfully hot to be this upset this early. Guys, it’s not a big deal; let’s not ruin the moment with my actions. Anyone want breakfast?

"Not how did you get married, you idiot! But how the fuck did you go and get married without us even knowing you were missing? Did you ditch the bodyguards? Pay off security?" Savvy takes a long drink of his bloody mary, and we gag.

They came with us. I smile, hoping the triumph will wrap this pretty little tension up.

And they allowed some stranger, some psycho, to marry you? Without a prenup, Savvy wants to say, without a contract, without a hefty fifty-page summary that says something like if you decide to leave my sorry ass, please, for the love of god, don’t take my mother’s fortune or her candy company.

Aren’t we all a little crazy these days? Ghost, back me up here? But I look at my body, and he seems baffled as fuck, and I know this is about to be a one-against-three fight.

Your mother is going to murder you. Savvy grabs the liquor instead.

And I will definitely help. Royce grinds his jaw at my person.

Therapy might be a good idea, Royce. Work out all those daddy problems you’ve got going on. I give him a wink, and he throws a beer bottle at my head. See, rage! Not healthy! You are all mad at me, but that guy there is unstable and a maniac.

Why? It’s Ghost’s question that has everyone stopping.

Why? I mumble it because I shove a hand out to Royce as if it explained everything.

No, why did you marry her? Ghost clears his throat with the extra words clogging his mouth. You never had a serious relationship with anyone. You’ve never even had a girlfriend. But now you want to be married, and you want to be married to Levina Sulivan?

It’s not as cruel as it sounds. My friends toss her name with weight because they think if I hear it enough times, it will knock some sense into me. But the more I listen to it, the more I want to correct them. It isn’t Levina Sulivan anymore.

She belongs to me, Lieve Alastor.

I open my mouth to formally protest, but someone knocks on the hotel door, and that knock is my mother’s calling card.

Shit. I thought I would have more time. I thought I would have a better explanation. I am a little bit of a romantic, and when I saw my childhood crush, I thought, what the fuck? This could be true love. Mom. I get to the door after heavy badgering from my brothers.

She walks in like a fortress, as if her domain hovers around her, protecting her, and we are all minions in her play.

Zero LaGregory Alastor.

It’s the full name that has me squinting and swallowing in unison. There isn’t much good that comes after that calling.

I try to explain, but there are no words, Savvy jumps in to save my skin, and then every thought stops when I turn to see Lieve, my wife, in the daylight.

Lieve. She’s a goddamn dream, and it has finally come true. God, her name is a prayer I have been chanting since I was a boy.

Her eyes won’t meet my face, and I wonder if I genuinely fucked up with her and my family.

My family is waiting for me. She thumbs the door but straightens her shoulders at my mother, never lowering her head in fear.

I step toward her, but my mother stops me. Ghost escorts her out of the room, and I stand there staring at a closed door, wondering what the fuck I am going to do.

Sit down, son. Let’s have a talk. But whatever my mother wishes to say or sway in her favor won’t work.

I promised a woman forever, for the rest of our lives, and I will give her every second we have left. Because we have so much time to make up for.

They think I made a mistake, a standard error. But they will have me committed when they find out why I married Lieve. Because we aren’t allowed to marry for love, not even if it is true.

Chapter 2

Lieve

Caspar Vanina escorts me out of the hotel room, and while we wait for the elevator, I hold my breath, hoping I don’t run into anyone who might recognize me.

Zero’s friend presses the button; his face doesn’t scare me. Even if the scars are notorious for tragedy and mischief. We are both outcasts, yet his presence is more forgiving than mine.

I lied; my family isn’t waiting for me downstairs. I stare straight ahead, my fingers ache to fiddle, but I push them to my sides.

My family doesn’t know I am in Nevada; they don’t even know I’m not in my room back in the apartment above the barn in Wisconsin.

I know. Caspar touches the button again, and at his command, it opens promptly. He waves me to go in first. A driver will be out front waiting for you; he will take you to the airport. I already told the pilot where to drop you off. His kindness seems strange. Although any sense of sympathy appears out of character.

But maybe that’s prejudice built by rumors, and I should know better than to judge others as I have been portrayed.

Thank you. I reach for his hand, but then we both pull away. I keep my head down the rest of the elevator ride, and when I get outside, I never once look back to the hotel or see if my husband is chasing after me.

I figure both are better off without my acknowledgment. Both are better forgotten and placed behind locked doors where they have been before.

When I touched down in River Hills, my family and their parade of sapphire-stripped cars were already there. My sisters are in their Rivians. My brothers are in their Bugattis, and I know I have made such a splash that my father’s Ferrari parks in front of the herd.

This is not the welcome home I was expecting. I didn’t expect one at all. They have done their best to ignore my existence. It was easier than having them accept I wasn’t the same little girl who was lost along the way. I don’t blame them, but they fault me. I assume some gossip has traveled and reached my siblings’ social butterfly ears.

"Expliquer." My father’s French comes out strong when he is agitated. My mother stands behind him, rubbing his back to calm down.

My eyes scan the crowd, and as always, I am on trial for being the misfit.

I married Zero Alastor. I cover the ring, hoping it won’t get any judgment for my actions.

No, no, none of this! My father’s broad shoulders rise as he throws his hands up. You do not get married to no one, especially not an Alastor.

I don’t flinch at his words; I have heard them enough to know the bark will never be a bite.

My mother was eighteen when she met my father; he was ten years older and had already been through two wives but no children to take his name.

She was backpacking through Europe for her gap year after high school. Only to become pregnant one month into their affair, and he knew he had met his soulmate. It turns out all his soulmates needed to be was fertile, and he would have given any woman the world. My three older sisters came before me, and then my twin brothers.

Each of us was a year or two apart from each other; it was hard to get attention when we were little. But now, I would give anything to be invisible again. To have them forget my name and presence altogether. Like they did when I was being held captive.

Don’t worry, Loys. I am sure we can get the lawyers to annul the whole arrangement. My mother’s words stab me in the gut, slowly dragging the blade from my belly up to pierce my heart.

She has become demented with her words. If any of her children’s actions threaten the image of the family, she turns into someone feasting on vengeance.

We have never been close; she and my sisters are every bit of each other, and I always sought out my father’s approval.

I think about what happens if they make this go away. If they do, I will never have a chance to live my life. There are no bars on my windows, no lock keeping me in, but I am a prisoner they want to hide, so I don’t mortify their name.

There will be no freedom.

No. I look down at my toes, and my shoes hand me down from my sister’s designer collection. I won’t back out of this. My head rises in defiance, and I have nothing to lose. My family has treated me like an outcast since the moment I came back home four years ago when I was seventeen.

You dare to defy your father’s wishes? There is a gap of shock on my mother’s face. She had better be careful, as flies might enter that cave.

Papa. My feet don’t move as I wait for his permission to listen.

Who could have thought the family freak bagged one of the wealthiest bachelors in the country. It comes from Antoine, the taller of the twins. Guess all her time away taught her how to please a man.

Benoit laughs with his twin, and I let the words wash over me and swirl at my feet. I doubt it. Have you seen her scars, man? Our sister came back from the dead as Frankenstein’s monster.

"Ferme ta bouch." My father’s command for them to shut their mouths initiates silence, stunning us all and freezing us from a further fight.

Their words can’t hurt me. They never could, not the way my own could create craters.

My sisters stare at me with annoyance. Only one is married, Cosette, while the other two, Apolline and Marguerite, remain single. Their glares tell me I have stolen an opportunity from the sisters who deserve it most. The look tells me I am not worthy; I will never be worthy.

Papa. I won’t beg for his permission anymore. I want this scene to end, this spectacle to meet its demise.

He nods only once, and I finally let my chest expand.

Disobedient are my steps as I near him and kiss him on each cheek as he opens the door for me to slide into the back seat.

My mother pats my hand with a sad, supportive smile. I don’t meet her gaze; there is no revival when you rage from one war to another.

Once we return to the ranch, we will gather around the table to discuss the matter thoroughly. Family meetings are always held around the dinner table, with my father at the head.

Why? Cosette twists her diamond ring as she eyes mine, jealous of the size comparison.

I asked, and he agreed. My stomach clenches as the room fills with laughter.

Everyone except my father and my mother hold their hands in solidarity.

Break tradition. My father leans back in his chair, assessing me for this new married woman that I am.

It’s not very ladylike. My mother pets her diamond necklace as if she doesn’t calm it, it will run away.

I can’t pretend I know what ladylike means these days. I just know it isn’t me.

We sit there in a standoff.

Until the doorbell rings.

And then my husband is there, shaking hands, slapping backs with my brothers, kissing cheeks with my sisters and mom.

All rise to greet him and welcome him into our home. But I sit in shock and confusion as to why he has followed me here.

Everyone is thankful for his arrival, as am I, but I am the only one afraid to touch him because maybe my family is right. I am tainted, and where Zero is light, I hold only shades of darkness collected by the midnight moon.

Lieve, babe. He bends over and kisses my head. Sorry I am late for the family meeting, I had to stay behind. My best friend is getting married soon, and we were celebrating his bachelor party. My new husband adjusts himself beside me. Holding my hands, mimicking the same model as my parents.

I might despise it a little.

Savvy Satou and Roux Tanzer? My sisters start gushing about all the details.

Where are they having the wedding, Zero? My mother picks herself up for the formal performance.

Italy, Lake Como. I believe. Zero strains a smile while all I can do is stare into the infinite void of our hands touching.

Last night, I did not rock his world.

Last night, we spent hours talking and laughing, just like when we were kids. But we aren’t young-minded anymore; some of us have bruises covering our memories now.

I pull my hands away and hide them on my lap, not wanting him to get used to the cool chill of my flesh against his warm welcome.

Italy? How romantic! I hear that is the place to get married. All the good families get married there. Cosette has a twinkle in her eye.

My sisters are salivating to be invited to such an exclusive event.

Yes, I am sure it will be quite the event.