Bargaining with a Billionaire

LAUREN

I found Mr. Campbell in his office an hour later. Standing in front of him, I let out a breath.

“If we’re going to do this, I need to know why you suddenly want to get married.”

He met my question with a smug smirk.

“Well,” he started, stepping away from me and leaning against a table. “I guess I owe you an explanation, don’t I?”

I was genuinely surprised. I didn’t think a man like him felt he owed me anything.

Mr. Campbell moved to sit on a chair, crossing his legs.

“My grandfather has a fortune. It’s more than you can imagine. He has two sons—my father and my uncle.

“He gave each of them twenty percent of it, and the remaining sixty percent goes to his eldest grandchild.

“It should have been Tom, but he had an accident six years ago. He lost his sanity and was deemed unrecoverable.” His face was as emotionless as his voice.

I didn’t know what to say, so I stayed silent.

I thought saying sorry might be wrong, or he would snap at me for interrupting him. Besides, I didn’t think he expected me to say anything.

“After that, it was passed on to the next grandchild. That would be me,” he continued.

“Well, not me exactly, but to the woman I marry, my wife.” His tone hardened, and I noticed.

My eyes widened. “I’m getting all that money?”

He looked at me sharply. Realizing what I had said, I smiled sheepishly, my cheeks burning.

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Then how did you mean it, Ms. Hart?”

I rolled my eyes. “Why to your wife? Why not you?” I asked slowly.

“Shall we go to the grave and ask him that? Maybe he would answer your question,” he replied sarcastically.

“So you want to marry me and—”

“Acquire the property, yes.”

“But isn’t that cheat—”

He cut me off. “We aren’t here to debate on it, Ms. Hart.”

Then, he chuckled harshly. “And honestly, you’re the only woman I trust not to run away with the money as soon as it hits her bank account.”

I frowned. “Oh geez, lucky me then.”

“My great grandfather’s lawyer expects me to marry a woman within this month, or I lose the money to my jerk of a cousin.

“And if I don’t choose a bride soon, it is stated in the will that I marry the woman my father approves of.” A brief flash of anger crossed his face.

“Marrying someone of my father’s choosing is not an option, Ms. Hart.”

My mouth formed into a smirk. “So, the great Mason Campbell bends to someone else’s will?”

He glared at me. “My father is a strong-willed man who takes what he wants.”

“Like father, like son.”

“I will not let him choose a wife for me. If I let him control me in this, he will be convinced he can control me in everything, and no one controls me.”

His voice hardened and I swallowed.

“This is not the most suitable match…”

An unlikely match is more like it, I wanted to say. I managed to stop myself in time. He would take it as an insult.

The thing about Mason was he could insult you, but when you do it to him, he doesn’t take it lightly.

When I offered no reply, he arched a dark brow.

“You don’t have anything to say? Not going to ask for more money? You really are different.” He sounded surprised.

“So you keep saying.”

“So what do you say, Ms. Hart? Are you ready to be mine?”

My eyes widened.

~His.~

So this was it, I was really agreeing to this. I was going to become the wife of this bold stranger.

He might as well be a stranger since I knew nothing about him.

For me, I had always dreamed about a lavish wedding and marrying someone I loved, owning a house together, and living our lives in happiness.

How could I live in a house for a year with someone who didn’t even care about me?

How could I live in a house where everything might be restricted, and I couldn’t be comfortable with it?

For a timeless instant, I swung helplessly between yes and no.

If I agreed, it would be a lonely marriage and probably with an absentee husband because something tells me Mr. Campbell wouldn’t agree to live with me.

I’d be mad to say yes to this marriage, and just as daft to say no.

“You know you’ve yet to ask,” I said, eyeing him. “All you did was take away my rights and assume I’d say yes to you. You’re an arrogant man.”

He cocked his head to the side. “You want me to get down on bended knee?”

“Somehow, I don’t see that happening.”

“Good, you’re smart. You know what I can and cannot do,” he replied, looking at the door as if he had grown bored of the conversation and had much more important matters to attend to.

I was doing him a big favor! Actually, we both would gain something out of it.

“And another thing. You’re not to come to the office again.” He met my gaze coolly. “You’re going to be my wife, and I separate work from my personal life.”

“But…”

“Money got you to work for me, right? You will get that when our marriage expires.”

I sighed. It might be best. I couldn’t imagine walking around the office with everyone calling me Mrs. Campbell.

“That aside,” I began, catching his eyes again. “I would like to negotiate the terms of this contract. It has to be to my own liking.”

For a long moment, he stared at me as if he could barely comprehend what he’d just heard. A dark scowl passed across his face.

“So you want it your way?” he echoed. “You do realize we’re in this together, right? It’s not like you’re marrying yourself.”

“I can’t just agree to a marriage contract without setting my own terms. That would be insane.”

His jaw tightened, and any trace of humor vanished.

The anger in his eyes made it clear he wasn’t used to being challenged, especially not by a woman.

He was accustomed to being feared and obeyed.

Mason moved closer, his cologne filling my senses. He towered over me, glaring.

“I’ll have my attorney meet with you to draft the contract. We’ll tweak it until we’re both happy.

“Go home and write down all the rules you want, Ms. Hart. We’ll see how many are worth keeping.”

~Jerk.~

He stepped forward, heading for the door. He opened it and, with a nod of his head, silently signaled for me to leave.

I walked out in a daze. My mind was spinning, struggling to process everything.

It all felt so…unreal.

Just a few weeks ago, I’d met this man…now it seemed I was about to become his wife.

Mrs. Lauren Mason Campbell.

The thought terrified me. How was I supposed to be a wife to someone like him?

Someone whose world was so different from mine? What did it mean to be Mrs. Mason Campbell?

How could I even begin to answer that?

I knew my marriage to Mason wasn’t meant to last forever. In a year, I’d look back and realize there was nothing to worry about.

But I had to survive that year first.

I had to tread carefully. Mason Campbell was more than just dangerous. It wasn’t just his wealth and power—it was his attractiveness.

And he knew it!

I was doing this for my dad, and only for him. But whenever Mason was near, or if he touched me, my body betrayed me!

I had to stay calm.

I was playing with fire…

~But when I look at him, I can’t help but want to get burned.~