Billionaire Woman Went to a Party Dressed Poor—Everyone Rejected Her Except a Kindhearted Single Dad
Chapter 6
Their marriage agreement was signed the next morning.
It was painfully practical.
Separate finances.
Separate bedrooms.
No interference with Daniel’s company.
Lily’s education protected.
A public marriage for twelve months.
No romantic expectations.
Victoria read every line twice.
Then signed.
Daniel signed afterward.
The wedding was small.
A courthouse.
Two witnesses.
Lily.
And Victoria’s lawyer.
No flowers.
No media.
No family.
Except someone leaked it anyway.
By the afternoon, the internet exploded.
BILLIONAIRE VICTORIA STERLING MARRIES UNKNOWN SINGLE DAD
The board panicked.
Victoria smiled.
“Good.”
Daniel stared.
“You enjoy this?”
“No.”
She looked at the headlines.
“I enjoy watching people lose control.”
Lily laughed.
The marriage immediately activated the family trust.
The voting shares returned to Victoria.
The board’s attempt to remove her failed.
But the victory came with a problem.
The opposition began attacking Daniel.
Articles called him a gold digger.
A fortune hunter.
A struggling contractor who had “married up.”
Daniel ignored them.
Victoria did not.
She issued a public statement.
“My husband had no knowledge of my financial position when we met. He helped me before he knew my name. That is the only fact that matters.”
The statement went viral.
Daniel read it.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Why?”
“Because it was true.”
He looked at her.
“Thank you.”
She smiled.
“Don’t make it emotional.”
He laughed.
They moved into Victoria’s townhouse temporarily.
Lily loved it.
She called it a castle.
Daniel hated how large the kitchen was.
“It takes forty minutes to find the salt.”
Victoria laughed.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“So I’ve been told.”
Their fake marriage began to feel strangely normal.
Breakfast together.
School runs.
Dinner.
Arguments about laundry.
Lily’s homework.
Victoria discovered Daniel’s greatest weakness.
He couldn’t fold fitted sheets.
Daniel discovered Victoria’s greatest weakness.
She worked until two in the morning.
He started forcing her to eat.
She started fixing his terrible ties.
They slowly became friends.
Then something more difficult happened.
They became comfortable.
One evening, Victoria returned home exhausted.
She found Daniel asleep on the couch.
Lily was sleeping beside him.
A blanket covered both.
Victoria stood quietly.
She had spent years surrounded by people who wanted something.
Money.
Access.
Influence.
But this man expected nothing.
She covered him with another blanket.
Daniel woke.
“You’re home.”
“Yes.”
“Bad meeting?”
“The worst.”
He sat up.
“Want to talk?”
She nodded.
They sat together in silence.
Then Daniel said:
“You don’t have to be strong all the time.”
Victoria looked at him.
“Who says?”
“Me.”
She smiled.
“You’re very confident for a man who can’t fold a sheet.”
He laughed.
She rested her head against the couch.
For a moment, she forgot about the company.
The board.
The trust.
The cameras.
She only heard Daniel breathing beside her.
Then her phone buzzed.
A message.
You married the wrong man.
Another appeared.
A photograph of Daniel and Lily leaving school.
Victoria’s face turned cold.
Daniel noticed.
“What is it?”
She showed him.
His expression changed immediately.
“This isn’t part of the deal.”
“I know.”
“You’re in danger.”
“So are you.”
He stood.
“We need security.”
Victoria nodded.
But that wasn’t what frightened her most.
Someone knew where Lily went to school.
And someone knew about the marriage before the public announcement.
Someone had been watching them.
