She Agreed to Be a Billionaire’s Fake Fiancée… Then He Fell for Her for Real
Chapter 1
Emma Carter had exactly forty-seven dollars in her checking account when the billionaire offered her a million-dollar deal.
She thought it was a joke.
It wasn’t.
The offer came on a rainy Tuesday afternoon inside a quiet coffee shop in downtown Manhattan. Emma had been working there for almost six months, taking every shift she could get while finishing her degree in event management.
She was twenty-seven, exhausted, and one missed paycheck away from losing her apartment.
Across the table sat Alexander Sterling.
Thirty-four.
Billionaire.
CEO of Sterling Holdings.
And, according to every business magazine in America, one of the most eligible bachelors in New York.
Emma had seen his face before.
Everyone had.
But she’d never expected him to sit across from her.
He placed a folder on the table.
“I need a fiancée.”
Emma nearly laughed.
“I’m sorry?”
“A fake one.”
She stared at him.
Alexander remained completely serious.
“My grandmother owns sixty percent of Sterling Holdings.”
Emma blinked.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“She’s changing the conditions of my inheritance.”
“To what?”
“I have to be engaged before my thirty-fifth birthday.”
Emma leaned back.
“And you picked me?”
“I didn’t pick you randomly.”
That sounded worse.
Alexander opened the folder.
“You’ve worked six months at the Franklin Hotel. You’ve never been late. You don’t drink. You don’t have a criminal record. You don’t have social media scandals. You volunteer at a community center.”
Emma stared.
“You investigated me?”
“I had a background check.”
“That’s creepy.”
“I know.”
She closed the folder.
“No.”
Alexander didn’t react.
“I’ll pay you one million dollars.”
Emma stopped.
He continued.
“Six months. Public appearances. Family events. No intimacy. No expectation that the relationship becomes real.”
Emma stared at him.
One million dollars.
Her mother’s medical bills.
Her student loans.
Her apartment.
Her future.
Everything could change.
But there was something about Alexander’s expression that bothered her.
He looked lonely.
Not arrogant.
Not excited.
Lonely.
Emma sighed.
“Why me?”
For the first time, Alexander looked away.
“Because everyone else wants something from me.”
“And you think I don’t?”
“I think you’re the only person I’ve met who looked at me and didn’t care who I was.”
Emma smiled.
“I didn’t know who you were.”
“Exactly.”
She looked at the folder again.
Then at him.
“Six months?”
“Six months.”
“Separate bedrooms?”
“Absolutely.”
“No kissing?”
“Unless necessary for appearances.”
Emma raised an eyebrow.
“That’s already sounding complicated.”
Alexander almost smiled.
“Probably.”
Emma reached for the pen.
She hesitated.
Then signed.
Neither of them knew it yet.
But that signature would change both their lives.
Because Alexander Sterling had planned to pretend to love Emma Carter.
He just hadn’t planned on actually falling in love with her.
