My Contract Husband Hides His Billions

The brisk Seacrest City wind hit Anika's face, a welcome shock after the suffocating tension in the coffee shop. It did little to clear the knot of frustration in her chest.

She walked blindly, her mind replaying the disastrous encounter with Mr. Price and anticipating the inevitable fallout with her mother. Lost in thought, she slowed to a halt near a storefront, trying to steady her breathing. She didn't notice the shadow approaching until she turned to continue and walked right into a solid chest, stumbling back with a gasp.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she stammered, looking up to apologize. Her words caught in her throat. It was him. The man from the corner.

Strong hands gripped her arms, steadying her. His touch was firm but gentle. "It's alright," his voice was a low, pleasant rumble. "Are you okay?"

Anika's face flushed with embarrassment. "It's you. Sorry about the scene in there."

He shook his head, releasing her arms. "You handled it with grace. He didn't deserve your time."

His simple, validating words were so unexpected they momentarily stunned her. She looked at him properly for the first time. He was handsome, in a quiet, understated way, with a strong jaw and those intense eyes. There was something familiar about him.

"Have we met before?" she asked, frowning slightly. "You look familiar."

A small smile played on his lips. "I don't think we've been formally introduced. I'm Hunter Orozco. I was in the same year as your brother, Leo, at Stanford."

The name clicked. A fuzzy memory of a serious young man in the background of Leo's college photos sharpened into focus. "Hunter... of course! Leo's roommate. You've changed a lot."

The connection, the shared history, however tenuous, felt like a lifeline. It eased the awkwardness of the situation, replacing it with a faint sense of camaraderie.

"Small world," she said, a genuine smile finally reaching her eyes. "What are you doing in Seacrest City?"

"My company transferred me here a few months ago," he replied smoothly, the pre-prepared line rolling off his tongue. "I work in project management."

It sounded perfectly normal, perfectly plausible. Anika nodded, accepting it without a second thought.

Just then, her phone began to vibrate violently in her purse, a frantic, insistent buzz. The screen lit up with one word: Mom.

Anika let out a long, weary sigh and declined the call. A second later, it started ringing again.

Hunter's gaze was sympathetic. "Family trouble?"

A bitter laugh escaped her. For some reason, standing here with her brother's old roommate, a near-stranger, she felt an overwhelming urge to talk.

"You have no idea," she said, leaning against the brick wall of the building beside them. The words felt heavy on her tongue. She didn't mention Kyle—that wound was too deep—but the frustration with her mother was harder to contain.

"She's on a mission to marry me off," Anika said, her voice tight with the effort of maintaining her composure. "She thinks financial security is the only path to happiness."

Hunter listened patiently, his expression never changing, but a flicker of something-pain, anger?-stirred deep in his eyes. He didn't need a private investigator to tell him about Kyle Tucker. Leo’s late-night rants during their senior year at Stanford had painted a vivid enough picture. He knew the damage had been far worse than she was letting on.

Her phone rang for a third time. Defeated, Anika finally answered it.

She didn't even have time to say hello. Her mother's voice, shrill and furious, erupted from the speaker. "Anika, Mr. Price called me! He said you insulted him! How could you be so rude?"

Anika held the phone a few inches from her ear. Hunter could hear every word of the tirade.

"And Heather Sullivan just got engaged to a doctor! A DOCTOR! What are you doing with your life? I'm giving you one week, Anika! One week to find a suitable man to bring home, or I'll arrange three blind dates for you every single day!"

The line went dead. The threat hung in the air between them, heavy and suffocating.

Anika's face was pale, her hand trembling as she lowered the phone. She looked up at Hunter, her eyes wide with a mixture of desperation and a wild, frantic energy.

"A week..." she whispered, the words a ragged breath. It wasn't a statement. It was a countdown to the end of her world.