Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 24436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Everyone thinks I’m the luckiest girl on earth to be married to San Antonio’s newest billionaire rancher Ryu Harcourt.
But they couldn’t be any more wrong, and it’s time I take back control of my life.
I asked my husband for a divorce, thinking he’d be thrilled to get rid of me.
Instead, Ryu turns my whole world upside-down by demanding my heart and body.
He wants me to fall in love with him…even when he has someone else.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
The Bride
YOUR MARRIAGE IS YOUR best cover-up story.
And your wife, your strongest witness.
But only if you marry the right woman.
The wise words of Ryu's mentor played in his mind as he studied the profile reports he had ordered from the matchmaking agency.
Hmm.
Only one girl caught his eye: twenty-year-old college student Summerine Chan, and it had everything to do with what she was not.
Zero job experience.
No particular achievement in academics or sports.
Parents frequently disparage their own daughter for not having a backbone.
Even better, his investigator managed to unearth evidence of George Chan's debts, which Ryu could then use as leverage to prevent his future in-laws from interfering in his marriage.
The life he wished to maintain required the utmost secrecy, which could only be provided by the illusion of a perfect marriage.
Pretending to be a fairytale prince was something he was used to. But Ryu also knew that such a role could only go so far.
Sooner or later, people would start wondering and asking questions...unless of course, he chose to pre-empt this by giving everyone something new to talk about. And was there anything more entertaining than news of a billionaire falling in love with a girl society least expected to catch his attention?
Ryu reached for the profile report he had been studying for the last hour.
Summerine.
Her name matched her delicate features, but why did he have a feeling that she was not at all like everyone assumed her to be?
Now or Never
I'M SORRY TO DO THIS.
But I have to.
I'm twenty, not two.
I'm a full-fledged adult with a fully functioning brain, and I respectfully decline to marry just because you want me to.
The words sounded good in Summerine's mind, but the moment she faced the mirror and allowed herself to imagine saying the exact same words—-
I can't.
Her courage dwindled into nothing in a nanosecond.
"I'm t-twenty, n-not t-two."
And it had her stammering like she often did when confronting her parents.
You have to say this, she reminded herself forcefully.
Because if you don't...
Bile rose from her stomach as she tried to envision the future her parents had cold-bloodedly arranged for her.
Their arranged marriage might have worked for them, but...
You need to make a stand!
It's now or never!
So speak up!
Summerine she took a deep breath—-
KNOCK, KNOCK.
But it was too late.
"I need you out." Her mother's tone was imperious.
Summerine contemplated never opening the door.
"I'll drag you by the hair if need be."
And since Annie had never been the type to make idle threats, Summerine reluctantly stepped out of the powder room and was immediately subjected to a frosty glare.
"Why must you always be so slow?"
Because you scare me to death.
The older woman's gaze raked over her from head to toe. "You'll do." Her mother swung away with a decisive snap of her Louboutins, and Summerine followed behind her mother even as a voice inside of her head started taunting her.
(Coward!)
Oh shut up, she mentally snapped back even though she knew talking to herself would only make things worse.
(Why do you even bother dreaming when you don't have the guts to make it come true?)
(Just accept it. You'll always be under their thumb.)
(And you'll be doing their bidding until the day you—-)
Summerine shoved her Inner Troll into an imaginary closet and kicked the doors shut. The last thing she needed was a nonexistent entity pointlessly pointing out the obvious. She would be better off spending her last precious hours (minutes?) of freedom devising a way out—-
Or not.
Summerine could feel her lungs working overtime at the sight of her father impatiently waiting for them in the living room.
Her father, who was supposed to be thousands of miles away.
Her father, who was even more terrifying than Annie.
Like, a lot.
"Stop that."
Summerine jumped involuntarily at her father's tone, and his glare had her unclenching her fists in a hurry. George thought the mannerism unladylike and unbecoming, and she had never had the courage to tell him that she never meant to do it deliberately.
It only happened when she was anxious, and unfortunately for all of them, there was nothing more anxiety-inducing for Summerine than being in the presence of her parents.
George surveyed their surroundings with satisfaction. "You've done a very good job, Annie."
Their entire home had recently been featured by a local morning show, and her parents' costly remodeling had garnered praise from its hosts.
I've never seen 'ornate' done so tastefully!
The way they've woven red silk in every room is impressive!
And those Oriental lanterns, oh my!
To the whole of San Antonio, their penthouse apartment was a visual celebration of their Chinese-American heritage.
But to Summerine, it was nothing but her gilded prison.
And the only way to escape it...was that.
Everyone in the living room tensed at the sound of their front door opening and their butler showing their visitor in.
George suddenly gestured to Summerine. "Is it new?" he asked his wife under his breath.
"It's for an upcoming season. It hasn't even been released."