“Marry Me and I’ll Help Raise Your Daughters” — Billionaire to Single Dad, His Daughter Said…
Chapter 2
Emma had never been impulsive.
She thought before she spoke.
She observed people.
She noticed things adults often missed.
So when she told me to marry Victoria, I knew she wasn’t joking.
I still wasn’t going to do it.
“Absolutely not.”
Victoria remained seated.
“You haven’t heard the terms.”
“I don’t need terms.”
“You should.”
“I am not marrying you.”
She nodded calmly.
“Why?”
“Because this is insane.”
“That’s not a legal objection.”
“It’s a father objection.”
She looked toward Emma.
“Can you give us five minutes?”
Emma smiled.
“Sure.”
She walked away.
I waited until her bedroom door closed.
Then I looked at Victoria.
“Explain.”
She opened the folder.
“My grandmother established a private foundation forty years ago.”
“I know the name.”
Sterling Family Foundation.
It funded children’s hospitals, schools, and foster-care programs.
“My grandmother left controlling authority to me.”
“So?”
“There is a succession clause.”
I groaned.
“Of course there is.”
“To retain control, I have to establish a permanent family household before the next trustee vote.”
I frowned.
“That sounds ridiculous.”
“It is.”
“Then why not change the clause?”
“Because I can’t.”
“Why?”
“The foundation’s trust is irrevocable.”
“So marry someone.”
“Yes.”
“Then why me?”
She looked at me.
“Because everyone else I know has something to gain.”
I laughed.
“You don’t even know me.”
“I’ve watched you for six months.”
That sounded worse.
“You’ve been watching me?”
“Your work.”
She corrected herself quickly.
“I’ve watched how you work.”
I wasn’t sure that made it better.
She continued.
“You never use your position to get favors.”
“You rejected a management promotion because it would interfere with your daughters’ school schedule.”
“You volunteer at the children’s ward when you’re off duty.”
“You pay for groceries at the end of the month in cash because you don’t trust credit debt.”
I stared.
“You really have been watching.”
“I investigate people who might become part of my family.”
I rubbed my forehead.
“This is absurd.”
“I know.”
She took a breath.
“My uncle will take control of the foundation if I fail.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“He believes children are an expense.”
I looked at her.
“That sounds like a problem.”
“It is.”
She placed another document on the table.
“He plans to privatize the children’s programs.”
I read the proposal.
Community clinics would become premium facilities.
Some scholarship programs would disappear.
The foster-family grants would be cut.
“That can’t happen.”
“Not if I remain in control.”
“And your solution is me?”
“Yes.”
I laughed again.
“Why not hire a husband?”
“I don’t want a husband who wants my money.”
“That’s apparently an industry standard among billionaires.”
She ignored that.
“I want someone who already knows how to care for children.”
I looked at her.
“My daughters aren’t part of a business plan.”
“I know.”
Her voice softened.
“They’re the reason I chose you.”
That stopped me.
Victoria wasn’t looking at me like a CEO anymore.
She looked almost vulnerable.
“My mother died when I was eight,” she said.
I stayed silent.
“My father was always traveling.”
“My grandmother raised me.”
“She taught me that family is not the person who signs your inheritance documents.”
Her eyes moved toward the hallway where my daughters had disappeared.
“It’s the person who stays.”
I didn’t answer.
The front door opened.
Emma returned.
She had clearly heard enough.
“So…”
I looked at her.
“Emma.”
She ignored me.
“If you marry Dad, do you have to live here?”
Victoria smiled.
“We would move to a larger house.”
Emma considered that.
“Can Sophie have her own room?”
“Yes.”
“Can Dad still cook?”
Victoria glanced at me.
“Does he cook well?”
Emma laughed.
“No.”
Victoria laughed too.
“Then we have a problem.”
Sophie appeared behind Emma.
“I can cook.”
“You burn toast,” I said.
“I am learning.”
Victoria stood.
“I can teach you.”
Sophie looked delighted.
Then Emma asked,
“Are you going to leave?”
Victoria’s smile disappeared.
“No.”
Emma nodded.
“Then I think Dad should say yes.”
I stared at my daughter.
“Why?”
She shrugged.
“Because you’re happier when she’s here.”
Victoria looked at me.
I couldn’t deny it.
That night, after Victoria left, I sat alone in the kitchen.
I thought about the proposal.
The contract.
The foundation.
The money.
The risk.
Then I thought about my daughters.
They deserved stability.
And Victoria, despite everything, had looked at them like they mattered.
I called her.
“I’ll do it.”
There was silence.
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
She laughed softly.
“That’s honest.”
“But there are conditions.”
“Name them.”
“My daughters come first.”
“Agreed.”
“No pretending with them.”
“Agreed.”
“No using them for publicity.”
“Never.”
“And if this marriage becomes toxic, we end it.”
“Agreed.”
I breathed out.
“Then we have a deal.”
Victoria’s voice became quiet.
“One more condition.”
“What?”
“We don’t fall in love.”
I laughed.
“That shouldn’t be difficult.”
Neither of us knew how wrong we were.
