The Billion Dollar Contract
francajones630 · Completed · 42.6k Words
Introduction
A love written between the lines.
Nicole knew the rules from the beginning. One year. No feelings. No expectations.
Gabriel knew them too—yet somehow, everything changed.
Between quiet glances, unspoken longing, and moments that felt too real to ignore, a simple arrangement turned into something neither of them was prepared for.
But when the time comes to walk away, will they honor the deal they made… or the love they never meant to find?
Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1
Gabriel sat alone in his spacious office, his posture rigid but his thoughts anything but steady. The city lights outside the floor-to-ceiling windows blurred into the background as his mind drifted, uninvited, to the one person he tried so hard not to think about—his ex-girlfriend, Ashley.
No matter how much time passed, she still had a way of resurfacing when he least expected it.
******** FLASHBACK
**“**I’m sick and tired of this, Gabriel!” Ashley snapped angrily, her voice raised and sharp.
Gabriel froze where he stood, blinking in surprise. He had just returned home from work, exhausted and mentally drained, and he certainly hadn’t been expecting this kind of welcome. Her sudden outburst left him both confused and shocked.
“What are you talking about?” he asked, genuinely lost.
“Aargh!” Ashley exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air in frustration.
“You still don’t get it, do you?” she asked, clearly irritated by his cluelessness.
“If you make it a lot clearer,” Gabriel replied cautiously, “then I guess I’d understand what you’re talking about.”
“I HATE YOU, GABRIEL!” she spat.
Gabriel stiffened. The words caught him off guard. He took a step back, completely taken aback.
“I’ve been waiting for you for the past three hours, Gabriel,” Ashley continued bitterly. “Three hours—so we could go on the stupid date you promised. But once again, you didn’t show up. Or should I say, you were too busy to show up.”
The realization hit him like tons of bricks crashing down all at once. He had forgotten. Completely forgotten about the date he had promised Ashley. Guilt washed over him immediately, heavy and unavoidable. This time, he had no excuse other than the simple truth—he forgot.
“Babe, I’m sorry,” he said, his voice softer now. “I forgot about it because of an urgent meeting I had to attend.”
“Great. Just great!” Ashley scoffed sarcastically. “You always have something important to deal with. What about me, huh?! Is your company more important than me?!”
Gabriel didn’t like where the argument was heading. He loved Ashley—he truly did—but the company, the family legacy he was expected to uphold, was also important to him. It wasn’t something he could simply ignore.
“I’m sorry, okay?” he said quickly, hoping to stop things from escalating. “I’ll make it up to you.”
“I DON’T WANT THAT, OKAY?!” she yelled.
“You always say that, but you never keep your word,” she continued, her voice trembling with anger and hurt. “You always come up with new excuses. You’re just incredible, Gabriel!” she added, the sarcasm unmistakable.
“You suck at this, Gabe…”
“Ashley, can we not continue like this?” Gabriel pleaded. “I promise to make it up to you. If you like, we can have tomorrow to ourselves.”
He made the suggestion desperately hoping it would calm her down, even though he couldn’t deny the truth—he had been a terrible boyfriend.
“After tomorrow, then what?” she asked quietly.
Gabriel frowned, looking perplexed, not fully understanding what she meant.
Ashley closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, as though bracing herself for what she was about to say.
“I don’t think us having tomorrow to ourselves will be necessary,” she said calmly. “I already moved my things. I was only waiting for you to come home so I could tell you in person.”
“What do you mean you moved your things?” Gabriel asked, disbelief lacing his voice.
“I can’t continue like this, Gabriel,” she replied firmly. “You make me sick. So I think we should end this.”
Gabriel couldn’t hide the shock on his face. Ashley hadn’t only mentioned moving her things out of his house—she now wanted to end their relationship altogether.
“Are you trying to break up with me?” he asked, still struggling to process her words.
“I’m not trying, Gabe,” she replied coldly. “I’m breaking up with you.”
Devastation washed over him. He stood there helplessly as Ashley walked out the door without looking back. She didn’t give them a second chance. She didn’t hesitate. She just left him there—completely broken.
- END OF FLASHBACK *****
That incident had happened five years ago, yet Gabriel still couldn’t get it out of his head. The memory remained painfully fresh, as though it had happened just yesterday, and he doubted he would ever forget that day. That was the reason he became more dedicated to his work than ever before. The company—his family’s legacy—was the only thing that stayed constant, the only thing that seemed to love and understand him.
But his mother thought otherwise.
His parents worried about him constantly. They wanted him to move on, to find someone new—especially his mother. Every month, without fail, she called to ask if he had finally gotten a new girlfriend. She was desperate to become a grandmother, but Gabriel wasn’t buying any of it.
******** FLASHBACK ********
“Gabe, my son, you have to listen to me,” his mother pleaded. “You need to move on. Forget about Ashley. If she truly loved you, she wouldn’t have left you the way she did.”
“Mom, please,” Gabriel sighed. “Can we not talk about this?”
“We have to, honey,” she insisted. “You aren’t getting any younger. You’ll be forty in a couple of months, Gabe. Stop hurting yourself like this. She isn’t worth it.”
“I need to get back to work, Mom,” he said, trying to end the conversation. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Just what I was talking about,” she replied. “Stop drowning yourself in work. Go outside. Mingle. Make new friends. Baby, do it for your mom.”
“Hmm… I’ll think about it,” he muttered.
“There’s nothing to think about,” she said firmly. “I want to hear that you’ve got a new girlfriend the next time I call you.”
“But mo—”
“Bye, honey.”
And with that, his mother hung up.
***** END OF FLASHBACK *****
That was his last discussion with his mom.
He was under immense pressure—not just from her, but from the public and the press as well. People speculated endlessly about his personal life, throwing around assumptions and labeling him with different sexualities simply because he refused to settle down. The scrutiny was relentless.
Gabriel knew he had to think of something.
And he had to think fast.
Last Chapters
You Might Like 😍
Bella and Her Beast
.
Locked in her frozen tower, Bella dreamed of warmth, of touch, of freedom and of love. Cursed with the power of ice and snow, she’s spent her life alone. A secret they tried to protect the world from. Her only escape comes in the form of the books she reads. Stories of heat, desire, and the kind of love that could melt even her frostbitten heart.
Damien is the Beast. A dragon King with a temper forged in flame and a soul hollowed by duty. The world fears him. The people call him a monster. But beneath the scales and the rage lies a man who has never been touched by love.
When frost meets fire, the world shatters. She was never meant to leave her tower. He was never meant to find her. But destiny doesn’t bow to kings or care for cages and now the question burns through them both: Can Bella have her Beast? Or will the girl of snow melt in the heat of his desire?
.
"I’m keeping her."
"What?"
Before I can react, he scoops her up. Her small body fits easily in the cradle of his talons. For a split second, she looks startled, but not afraid. Her hand rests against one scaled finger, and she stares up at him with that same curious wonder, as though she’s already forgotten she was ever meant to fear me.
"Put her down," I try to command, panic threading through my thoughts. "You’ll hurt her."
"She’s ours," the beast insists, possessive and fierce. "Our snowflake."
Alpha Under Love Spell
Thorin pushed her on the bed and pinned her with his body. He growled near her face, “Liar!”
“No! No! I am not lying!”
“Then explain this!” Thorin whipped the screen of his phone near her eyes. Maeve looked at the screen, and her eyes widened with shock. It was a DNA report. It clearly said that Valeska was Maeve and Thorin’s daughter. “You have been lying to me for months now. Why did you hide that she is my daughter? Why did you start hating me? Did you never love me?”
“What should I have done? Let you kill my daughter!” snapped Maeve.
“What? Kill? What the hell are you talking about?” shouted Thorin.
After a passionate night with the Alpha Heir Thorin Blackridge, Maeve Arrendale, a human, found herself pregnant. She knew she had left her contact details for Thorin to find her, but he never came. Desperately, she went to tell him everything and ask him to take responsibility. But what came at her was humiliation and the devilish serial killer, Ozul.
She had no idea how she escaped her certain but she thanked every god and ran far away from Thorin and his world. She raised her child on her own. She herself had a difficult life and didn’t want her daughter to suffer. So she did everything in her power to give Valeska a good life.
Her life was turned upside down when Thorin came to her office as her boss. His fated mate, Vespera clinging to his arms. Now, Thorin hated her for vanishing from his life, and Maeve hated him for sending a serial killer to kill her.
Will Thorin accept his daughter? Will Maeve forgive him for attempting to kill her? If not Thorin, then who sent a serial killer to kill Maeve? An ancient magic, a prophecy, a powerful child is going to change everything in everyone’s life. Is everyone ready?
Where The Ice Gives Way
Blake Atlas scents his mate the moment Charlotte arrives. The bond hits hard and unmistakable, but Charlotte doesn’t recognise it. She doesn’t know why her chest keeps pulling toward the one boy she absolutely cannot afford to want. Blake is Charlie’s new hockey captain. Charlie’s chance at making something good. Charlie makes it clear; his sister is off-limits and Blake tries to do the right thing, but secrets don’t stay buried forever. Rogues prowl the edges of town. The ice cracks. The bond tightens. Then Charlotte’s rare white wolf awakens, the very thing that makes her powerful, also makes her a target.
Shanti needs Shakti. (Peace needs strength.)
Where the Ice Gives Way is a slow-burn YA paranormal romance filled with fated mates, protective alpha energy, fierce sibling loyalty, found family pack bonds, hurt/comfort, and quiet, aching tension. It’s a story about first belonging, learning to be cared for, and what happens when the girl who has always held everyone else up finally falls, and someone catches her.
Goddess Of The Underworld
When the veil between the Divine, the Living, and the Dead begins to crack, Envy is thrust beneath with a job she can’t drop: keep the worlds from bleeding together, shepherd the lost, and make ordinary into armour, breakfasts, bedtime, battle plans. Peace lasts exactly one lullaby. This is the story of an orphan pup who became a goddess by choosing her family; of four imperfect alphas learning how to be better. Steamy, fierce, and full of heart, Goddess of the Underworld is a reverse harem, found-family paranormal romance where love writes the rules and keeps three realms from falling apart.
From Substitute To Queen
Heartbroken, Sable discovered Darrell having sex with his ex in their bed, while secretly transferring hundreds of thousands to support that woman.
Even worse was overhearing Darrell laugh to his friends: "She's useful—obedient, doesn't cause trouble, handles housework, and I can fuck her whenever I need relief. She's basically a live-in maid with benefits." He made crude thrusting gestures, sending his friends into laughter.
In despair, Sable left, reclaimed her true identity, and married her childhood neighbor—Lycan King Caelan, nine years her senior and her fated mate. Now Darrell desperately tries to win her back. How will her revenge unfold?
From substitute to queen—her revenge has just begun!
The Deadly Mafia Princess
Her gang take the matter in their own hands, to try to save their leader from the horror of her home. What none of them know, they wasn’t her real parents, and now Ro will be sent away to live with her real family. That makes her closest members in her gang pack up and move as well. They don’t want to be far away from their leader.
Rise of the Banished She-Wolf
That roar stole my eighteenth birthday and shattered my world. My first shift should have been glory—blood turned blessing into shame. By dawn they'd branded me "cursed": cast out by my pack, abandoned by family, stripped of my nature. My father didn't defend me—he sent me to a forsaken island where wolfless outcasts were forged into weapons, forced to kill each other until only one could leave.
On that island I learned the darkest edges of humanity and how to bury terror in bone. Countless times I wanted to surrender—dive into the waves and never surface—but the accusing faces that haunted my dreams pushed me back toward something colder than survival: revenge. I escaped, and for three years I hid among humans, collecting secrets, learning to move like a shadow, sharpening patience into precision—becoming a blade.
Then, under a full moon, I touched a bleeding stranger—and my wolf returned with a violence that made me whole. Who was he? Why could he wake what I'd thought dead?
One thing I know: now is the time.
I have waited three years for this. I will make everyone who destroyed me pay—and take back everything that was stolen from me.
After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms
I’d appreciate all your support, thank you so much!
From first crush to wedding vows, George Capulet and I had been inseparable. But in our seventh year of marriage, he began an affair with his secretary.
On my birthday, he took her on vacation. On our anniversary, he brought her to our home and made love to her in our bed...
Heartbroken, I tricked him into signing divorce papers.
George remained unconcerned, convinced I would never leave him.
His deceptions continued until the day the divorce was finalized. I threw the papers in his face: "George Capulet, from this moment on, get out of my life!"
Only then did panic flood his eyes as he begged me to stay.
When his calls bombarded my phone later that night, it wasn't me who answered, but my new boyfriend Julian.
"Don't you know," Julian chuckled into the receiver, "that a proper ex-boyfriend should be as quiet as the dead?"
George seethed through gritted teeth: "Put her on the phone!"
"I'm afraid that's impossible."
Julian dropped a gentle kiss on my sleeping form nestled against him. "She's exhausted. She just fell asleep."
A pack of their own
Protectors Of Her Warrior's Heart
Rescued by men who call themselves Protectors—warriors from another realm who embody the legends of angels and vampires—she is thrust into a world she never knew existed. For the first time, she experiences freedom, safety, and the possibility of a future.
But freedom comes with a price.
Tali is forced to face the father she believed abandoned her and a powerful council determined to use her for their own ends. Stranger still are the abilities awakening within her—powers no one understands, yet everyone seems desperate to control.
As she learns to trust, she chooses the mates destined to stand beside her. In their arms she finds love, devotion, and a family worth fighting for. But not everyone wants their bond to survive.
When the council betrays the Protectors and attempts to steal her newborn son, it ignites a war that will shake every realm.
Now Tali stands at the center of a conflict far greater than herself. The answers to ancient mysteries, the fate of her child, and the future of countless worlds all rest on her shoulders.
Surrounded by mates who love her fiercely and refuse to leave her side, Tali will battle enemies old and new, forge powerful alliances, and discover just how strong she truly is.
Because this war won't be won for her.
It will be won with her.
And together, they will fight for their future, their family, and a love worth crossing realms to protect.
Mated to Her Alpha Instructor
Weeks later, our new Alpha combat instructor walks in. Regis. The guy from the woods. His eyes lock on mine, and I know he recognizes me. Then the secret I've been hiding hits me like a punch: I'm pregnant.
He has an offer that binds us tighter than ever. Protection… or a cage? Whispers turn ugly, darkness closes in. Why am I the one without a wolf? Is he my salvation… or will he drag me to ruin?
