Billionaire Bride: The Cripple's Secret Fortune

I spent five years with Julian. To support him, I spent my days dumpster diving and my nights pole dancing at clubs, and I was barely in my twenties when my body started falling apart from it all.

After finally waiting for him to achieve success, he made a grand entrance with a sweet little innocent who still uses a toddler's bowl for her meals.

Not only did he demand I give up my place as his fiance, but he also wanted me to serve as a foot servant for his sweet little innocent.

I let out a cold laugh, flipped over that sweet little innocent's baby bowl, and turned toward the man standing alone in the corner the illegitimate son the Blackwood family had exiled for ten years, the one everyone said was violent and crippled.

"Damian Blackwood. A hundred-billion-dollar dowry from The Clark Group. Marry me if you dare?"

Crystal chandeliers scattered light like crushed diamonds across the grand ballroom of The Clark Group's seventieth anniversary gala, casting a warm glow over a room full of designer gowns and glittering jewels.

I stood there in a Paris couture dress, holding a single sheet of paper that felt almost weightless in my hand.

It was a freshly notarized share transfer agreement worth over a hundred billion dollars.

Tonight, I wasn't just here to announce Julian as The Clark Group's co-CEO. I was here to announce our engagement to everyone who mattered in Washington, D.C's inner circle.

Five years of absolute devotion, just to prop him up and push him to where he is now.".

He was the kind of man who would drive across the city at midnight just to bring me a bowl of soup. Who would stay up all night by my side when my stomach was acting up. Who had spent six months planning a trip just because I once mentioned I wanted to see the Northern Lights.

I had always believed he was the one I was meant to spend my life with.

"And now, please welcome Miss Victoria Clark to the podium." The emcee's voice echoed through the lavish hall.

I gathered my skirt and walked to the podium, every eye in the room on me every power player in Washington, D.C's inner circle watching.

Julian was standing just below the stage. His tailored suit made him look sharp and polished, almost impossibly handsome. He was looking at me, but his eyes weren't warm the way they used to be. There was something cold in them something I couldn't read.

I pushed the uneasy feeling aside and smiled into the microphone. "Tonight, I have an important announcement to make. What I'm holding is a transfer agreement for thirty percent of The Clark Group's shares. The recipient is"

Bang.

The heavy mahogany double doors flew open, and my words died in my throat.

Every head in the room turned.

"Wait!" A sharp, breathless voice cut through the solemnity of the hall. A girl stumbled in wearing a faded, washed-out dress, her eyes red and swollen. "Wait. Please."

She looked like a white flower battered by a storm fragile, trembling, heartbreaking to look at.

It was Chloe.

The girl I had been supporting for four years. The girl Julian had always introduced to others as his distant cousin.

She moved like a startled fawn, stumbling forward and throwing herself into Julian's arms, sobbing. "Julian, I was so scared. Victoria tried to lock me up they wouldn't let me come see you"

The room erupted. Guests exchanged glances, eyes gleaming with shock and barely concealed excitement.

Dozens of eyes darted back and forth between the three of us, hungry for whatever came next.

I stared at Julian. My fingers tightened around the paper in my hand as I waited for him to explain.

He didn't push Chloe away.

Instead, he pulled her behind him right there in front of everyone shielding her with his body. Then he raised his head and looked at me with an expression I had never seen on his face before. Cold. Hateful. Like I was a stranger.

"Victoria, enough." His voice rang out through the silent hall, each word landing like a blade. "I am so sick of that self-righteous, hypocritical face of yours."

"Did you actually think I loved you? The Clark Group destroyed Chloe's family. I never forgot that. Not for a single day."

"You sponsored Chloe to cover up what your family did all the blood on The Clark Group's hands. And you kept me around because you loved the feeling of grinding someone's dignity under your heel."

"Tonight, I'm getting justice for Chloe. I'm going to expose you for exactly who you are and make you pay for it."

Julian's words detonated like a bomb. The hall went dead silent for one breathless moment and then erupted into a roar of voices.

"Oh my God, The Clark Group has blood on their hands?"

"So Julian stayed with her for five years just to get revenge?"

"Victoria really took a massive tumble this time; she helped an ungrateful person."

I stood on that stage and looked at Julian's face twisted with rage and the sick satisfaction of revenge and suddenly, I just felt like it was all absurd.

Five years.

I stayed up countless nights with him, helping him revise his business proposals. When he was hospitalized with a stomach hemorrhage, I stayed by his side for three days and three nights without sleep. I swallowed my pride and used my connections to introduce him to every major player in the industry.

And after all that, in his eyes, it was nothing but "charity from someone looking down on him"?

A quiet laugh escaped me. Julian's jaw tightened, his eyes locked on me without blinking.

"So," I said, my voice cold and steady calm enough to surprise even myself, "you're standing here today, fighting for her, declaring war on me?"

"Yes!" Julian lifted his chin, his eyes burning with resolve. "Victoria, as of today, I'm done with you done with The Clark Group. We're finished!"

Chloe was hiding behind him, pretending to tremble, but I caught it clearly that fleeting smirk at the corner of her lips.

I lowered my gaze and ran my fingers over the transfer document in my hands.

The bold heading EQUITY TRANSFER AGREEMENT printed across the top of the first page felt less like a legal document now and more like a silent mockery.

Mocking me for being blind.

I glanced down at the document a stake worth over a hundred billion dollars.

Then, under the stunned eyes of everyone in the room, I gripped the edges of the paper with both hands.

Riiip

The sharp, clean tear cut through the silence of the hall like a blade. Julian instinctively stepped forward, but Chloe grabbed his arm.

I tore apart the document that so many people would have killed for, and tossed the pieces into the air.

White scraps of paper drifted down like snowflakes, scattering at Julian and Chloe's feet.

"Julian, who do you think you are?" I looked down at him, a cold, contemptuous smile playing at the corner of my mouth. "Without me, you wouldn't even have the right to stand in this room. You want to declare war on me? You really think you have the right?"

Julian's face went ashen. "Victoria, don't push it! I already have access to The Clark Group's core client source. Even without you, I can"

"yeah?"

I cut him off, my gaze sliding past his furious face toward the quietest, most overlooked corner of the hall.

A wheelchair sat there.

A man sat in it.

He was dressed in an all-black suit, his entire presence blending into the shadows as if he were part of the darkness itself.

Damian Blackwood.

The Blackwood family's illegitimate son the one they kept hidden from the world. Julian's older half-brother.

Rumor had it that a car accident ten years ago had left him paralyzed from the waist down. He was said to be volatile and dangerous, exiled abroad by the Blackwood family, and had only been brought back last month. he was a total failure.

I gathered my skirt and walked down the steps, one step at a time, moving through the crowd as it parted for me, heading straight toward his wheelchair.

Every eye in the room followed me. Julian's brow furrowed deeper with each step I took he had no idea what I was doing.

I stopped in front of Damian and leaned down slightly, meeting his gaze. His dark eyes were bottomless, like they could swallow everything whole.

"Damian Blackwood." I parted my lips, my voice soft but clear enough for the entire room to hear.

"A hundred-billion-dollar dowry from The Clark Group, plus a thirty percent stake in The Clark Group. In exchange marry me."

"Do you dare?"

The air seemed to freeze in that instant.

Everyone held their breath, eyes wide, staring at the scene unfolding in front of them like it couldn't possibly be real.

The most dazzling star in Washington, D.C's inner circle publicly proposing to a paralyzed illegitimate man?

Julian stared for a moment, then let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Victoria, have you lost your mind? You're throwing yourself at a worthless cripple just to get back at me? He can't even stand up. What could he possibly give you?"

Chloe chimed in, her voice small and timid. "Victoria, don't be impulsive. Julian just being too angry, Please don't gamble your whole future over this..."

I ignored the noise behind me and kept my eyes fixed on the man in front of me.

Damian didn't move.

The cigarette between his fingers was still burning, a thin curl of smoke drifting up and blurring his features.

Just as everyone assumed he would stay silent like a coward he let out a low, quiet laugh.

It was deep and rough, like something dragged across sandpaper, carrying a magnetic edge that sent a chill crawling up your spine.

He slowly raised his hand and pressed the cigarette out in the ashtray on the arm of his wheelchair. Then, those long, sharp-knuckled fingers shot out and closed around my wrist.

His strength was shocking. I let out a startled cry, lost my balance, and tumbled right into his lap.

"Victoria."

His hands gripped my waist. His breath was hot against my ear, carrying the faint scent of tobacco and something cold and sharp that felt almost like a threat.

"Think carefully. Once you get involved with me, there's no walking away."

The look in his eyes was terrifying like a beast that had been lying in wait for a very long time, and its prey had finally walked straight into its jaws.

I forced myself to ignore my racing heart and met his gaze. "I'm only asking you one thing. Do you dare?"

Damian's throat moved in a hard swallow.

The next second, his long fingers slid through my hair and gripped the back of my head, pulling me roughly toward him.

His lips pressed against the corner of my mouth with a force that felt like punishment, his voice dropping to a ragged, almost unrecognizable rasp:

"Vivi, once you belongs to me, for the rest of your life even in death you'll only ever belong to me."

A wave of disbelieving gasps erupted through the hall.

Julian's face went dead white. His eyes locked onto Damian's hand at my waist, and a flicker of something passed through them a panic and jealousy he didn't even seem to notice himself.

"Damian! Let go of her!" Julian stormed forward, reaching out to pull me away.

But before he could get close, several broad-shouldered bodyguards in black seemed to appear out of nowhere, forming a wall between him and us.

"You think you can put your hands on the young master's fiance?" the lead bodyguard said, his voice ice-cold.

Julian stared at the bodyguards in disbelief, then shifted his gaze to the man in the wheelchair his older brother, the "useless cripple" he'd looked down on for over twenty years.

"You where did all these people come from?"

Damian didn't even glance at him.

He simply reached up and gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear, then said quietly, "Take me out. The air in here is filthy."

The bodyguard stepped forward immediately and wheeled him toward the exit.

I walked beside Damian. When we passed Julian and Chloe, I stopped.

"Julian." I looked at his face twisted with shock and fury. "Remember what you said tonight. Starting tomorrow, I'll show you exactly what it looks like to lose me. In this circle, you won't even be worth a stray dog."

I didn't give him another look. I turned and walked out of the hall.

The night breeze was cool, carrying away the stuffiness of the ballroom.

Damian's black Maybach was already waiting at the entrance.

The bodyguard helped him into the car. I slid into the backseat right after him.

The door shut, cutting off all the noise from outside.

The cabin was dim. Damian leaned back against the seat with his eyes closed, looking nothing like the commanding, untouchable man who had just silenced an entire room.

"Why me?" he said suddenly. His voice sounded especially low in the quiet, enclosed space.

I studied the side of his face, half-hidden in shadow, and answered honestly. "You're the best fit."

"The best fit?" His eyes snapped open. He turned and stared at me hard. "That's all?"

For just a moment, I caught something complicated in his expression like a rage he was barely holding back, and beneath it, something that looked almost like hurt.

Before I could figure out which it was, he suddenly leaned in, caging me between himself and the car door.

"Victoria. Am I just a tool for your revenge against Julian? Or a business match to stabilize your stock price?"

His fingers brushed lightly across my cheek, sending a shiver through me.

"Fine. so we fit, You're right we're perfect for each other." A low laugh escaped him, edged with something unhinged. "As long as I can keep you close, I don't mind being a mad dog."

The next morning. The top-floor conference room of The Clark Group.

The atmosphere was so thick it felt suffocating.

Julian sat in what used to be his seat as Vice President, his expression dark and dangerous. Chloe, his so-called "special assistant," hovered nervously behind him.

I pushed open the conference room door and walked in steady, unhurried with my lawyers and security team at my back.

"Victoria, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Julian shot to his feet, both hands slamming down on the conference table as he glared at me.

"Wasn't last night enough of a scene? You really want to push this that far? Let me be clear I control the three most critical overseas projects The Clark Group has. if you dare harm me, and the stock price tanks tomorrow. I'll make sure of it."

I pulled out the chair at the head of the table and sat down, looking at him with cool, steady eyes.

"Julian," I said, "do you have some kind of misunderstanding about what you're actually worth?"

I gave my lawyer a look over my shoulder.

He stepped forward immediately, slamming a thick stack of documents onto the table. "Julian Blackwood, during your time at this company, you embezzled one hundred and thirty million dollars in company funds. You made private contact with our competitors and leaked trade secrets. You falsified your academic credentials and doctored your rsum every piece of evidence is right here."

With each charge, Julian's face went a shade paler.

Chloe was trembling so hard she could barely stand, clutching the hem of Julian's jacket. "Julian, this this isn't true, right? They're framing you!"

"Shut up!" Julian shook her off with an irritated jerk of his arm, his eyes locked onto mine. "Victoria, you had me investigated? You've been watching me this whole time?"

I let out a cold laugh. "Julian, I gave you my trust, and you threw it in the dirt. Did you really think , i was the kind of fool who'd let love cloud her judgment who'd hand over the entire Clark Group to someone she hadn't fully vetted?"

"Those overseas projects you were so proud of? The core technology is all in my hands. You thought pulling a few executives to your side would be enough to push me out? How naive."

I rose from my seat and leaned forward, both hands flat on the table, looking down at him with eyes sharp as blades.

"As of this moment, in my capacity as Chairman of the Clark Group, I am officially terminating Julian's position and all associated duties within this company. The legal department will be filing suit against you. I hope you're ready to spend the rest of your life behind bars."

"Security get these two out of my sight."

Several broad-shouldered security guards moved in at once, seizing Julian and Chloe by the arms.

"Victoria! You can't do this to me! Everything I did, I did it for Chloe! Your father drove her parents to their deaths you owe her!" Julian thrashed wildly, his eyes bloodshot.

"I owe her?" I walked over to Chloe and looked at that pitiful face of hers. Then I raised my hand.

Crack.

The slap landed hard across Chloe's face, shattering the act she'd been putting on all this time.

Her head snapped to the side. A thin trickle of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. She pressed a hand to her cheek and stared at me in disbelief.

"That's for biting the hand that fed you eating my food, living off my generosity, and then stabbing me in the back."

I gripped her chin and forced her to look at me.

"Chloe, you know better than anyone how your parents really died. Your father embezzled public funds. When his crime was exposed, he took his own life out of guilt. Your mother couldn't bear the grief and followed him. My father felt sorry for you, so he buried the truth and paid for your education all these years."

"And this is how you repay him. To get close to Julian, you spun this monstrous lie and used him as your weapon."

I let go of her, then pulled out a wet wipe and cleaned my fingers with undisguised disgust.

"I have no interest in how you two lovebirds found each other. Now get out of my sight."

Julian went still.

He turned to Chloe, his expression hollow with disbelief. "Chloe is it true? What she said your parents weren't driven to their deaths?"

Chloe's eyes darted away from his. She shook her head, sobbing. "No, no, that's not true Julian, don't listen to her, she's lying to you"

But the guilt flickering in her eyes said everything.

Julian looked like he'd been struck by lightning. All the strength seemed to drain out of him at once, and he crumpled to the floor.

By the time I'd finished dealing with everything at the company, I was completely drained.

I had just pulled up to my private villa when I noticed a black Maybach parked in the courtyard.

Damian was sitting in his wheelchair, out in my garden pruning roses?

He had on a loose black button-down, the collar slightly open, just enough to reveal the line of his collarbone. He held a pair of sharp shears in one hand, trimming away the dead branches with practiced, unhurried grace.

The last light of the setting sun fell across him, softening the hard edges of his face with a warm, golden glow. There was something breathtaking about it.

He heard my footsteps and paused, turning his head to look at me.

"You're back." His voice was quiet, carrying a warmth he almost managed to hide.

"How did you get in?" I frowned. The security system at my villa was absolutely top-notch.

Damian gave a soft laugh and held out a single red rose he'd just cut.

"There's nowhere in this world I can't get into if I want to. Besides I'm your fianc. Dropping by to see my future wife isn't exactly a crime, is it?"

I didn't take the rose. I just looked at him, my voice cool. "Damian, this is a business partnership. Don't go getting too caught up in the role."

The light in his eyes dimmed instantly, then was replaced by a flash of wild obsession.

He tossed the vibrant rose onto the floor without a second thought and wheeled forward, closing in on me.

"A business partnership?" He grabbed my wrist and yanked me toward him.

I tumbled into his arms and ended up straddling his lap.

"Damian! What are you doing!" I struggled to get up, but he locked his arm around my waist with a grip that was impossibly strong.

"Victoria, I warned you. Once you get involved with me, don't expect to walk away clean."

His eyes were dark and terrifying, like he wanted to devour me whole.

"At the office today, you went off like that for that worthless piece of trash. Do you still have feelings for him?"

His voice was thick with jealousy and barely contained rage.

"Are you insane!" I glared at him, furious. "I did that to clean house! I don't have feelings for anyone!"

His voice was thick with jealousy and barely contained rage.

"Are you insane!" I glared at him, furious. "I did that to clean house! I don't have feelings for him!"

After heard me. The hostility in Damian's eyes eased, just a little.

He suddenly buried his face in the curve of my neck and breathed in deeply.

"Good." His voice came out muffled, and to my surprise, there was a thread of vulnerability in it. "Vivi, you're mine. Only mine. Anyone who tries to take you from me I'll kill them."

I didn't know what to do with him when he was like this.

This man one moment he was a raging lion, the next he was a giant dog desperate for reassurance.

Then my phone rang.

It was Julian.

I was about to decline the call, but Damian moved faster he hit answer and switched it to speaker.

"Vivi" Julian's voice came through the line, hoarse and defeated. "I looked into it. Chloe really did lie to me. I was wrong. I should have believed you. I should never have let her fool me. Vivi, can you forgive me? Can we start over"

Before I could say a word, Damian let out a cold laugh.

"Start over?" His voice was like a blade dipped in ice. "Julian, who the hell do you think you are? You really think you can compete with me?"

Julian went dead silent on the other end. "Damian?! Why are you at Vivi's place? What did you do to her?"

"What did I do?" Damian's fingers deliberately traced along my waist, slow and suggestive, sending a shiver through my body.

He leaned close to my ear and spoke into the phone. "What any engaged couple does, of course. I suggest you give it up unless you want your legs to end up just like mine."

Then he hung up and tossed my phone aside.

I was shaking with anger. "Damian, what the hell was that!"

He looked up at me, eyes blazing, a wicked smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

"Was it a lie, Vivi? Maybe we should make it real."

Then his lips came down on mine overwhelming, punishing, possessive leaving no room for me to pull away.