Chapter 1The ATM Billionaire

At a party, my fiancée Ava’s ex lost a stupid game. His penalty: pick someone of the opposite sex to act out their “wedding night.”

Everyone watched as he walked straight to Ava. “Ava,” he said with fake sincerity, “I heard you’re getting engaged. Let me have one last perfect memory with you. Please?”

Ava’s eyes softened—that lovesick look I hated—and she began to stand.

I tossed the engagement ring onto the table. It clattered, silencing the room.

“Choose carefully,” I said, my voice low. “Him, or the entire Chen family fortune.”

Ava froze. Her ex, Leo, glared at me. “It’s just a game. What’s your problem?” he sneered. “Not even married and this possessive? You’ll probably cage her later.”

She believed him. Turning to me with contempt, she said, “It’s a joke, John. This is the 21st century. Drop the patriarchal act.”

I watched quietly as they disappeared into the private lounge.

Then I called my contact. “If she treats our marriage like a game,” I said, “then the Chen family’s easy ride ends now.”

* * *

Ava emerged from the lounge, her clothes disheveled, just as I ended the call. Her lipstick was smudged, a faint trace of blood on her lower lip that spoke of a frantic, passionate struggle.

Our eyes met, and she flinched.

A moment later, her familiar perfume filled the air as she walked toward me. "John, it was just a game. Leo had to pick someone, and he chose me. Don't be so sensitive."

My gaze drifted to her neck, and she instinctively turned away. "We... we just went through the motions. It's a mosquito bite."

"A mosquito bite?" I scoffed. "Must be a whole swarm of them in there. They seem to have left their stamps all over your neck."

Ava’s lip trembled. "Stop being such a sarcastic asshole! Leo doesn't know the other girls here. I was just helping him out as a friend. What's the big deal?"

Before she could continue, Leo sauntered out of the room, buttoning his shirt.

"It was just a game, Mr. Astor," he said with a smug grin. "If you're worried, just have Ava take a morning-after pill."

He held a small box out to me, his eyes gleaming with provocation.

"It is a shame, though," he added, his voice dropping. "The pill can be rough on a woman's body."

Ava snatched the box from his hand, her eyes flashing with disgust as she looked at me. "Why would he care about my health? He only cares about the precious little membrane down there. Fine! I'll go to a clinic tomorrow and have it surgically replaced, how's that?"

Leo's laughter filled the suite. He was triumphant. The other guests, seeing my cold silence, started looking at me with disdain, as if I were the one in the wrong.

Looking at Ava’s defiant face, I felt like I was seeing a stranger.

Five years ago, she had knelt before me, begging me to pay for her college tuition so she could escape her misogynistic family.

"Mr. Astor," she'd cried, "I'll do anything you ask, just please help me get my education."

At the time, my family was pushing an endless parade of socialites on me for an arranged marriage. She became my convenient excuse, a shield. But over time, I fell for her. I fell hard. I poured millions into her dream of becoming an actress, pulling every string I had to shield her from the filth of the industry and propel her to A-list stardom.

She dared to pull a stunt like this with Leo because she was sure I’d clean up her mess, just like I always had.

I had given her everything. This was how she repaid me.

"We're not even engaged yet, John," she snapped, seeing the look on my face. "I'll take the pill, I'll get the surgery, whatever. Stop looking at me like you're at a funeral. You're killing the mood."

The arrogance rolled off her in waves.

I ignored her and answered a call.

She ripped the phone from my hand and smashed it on the floor. The screen spiderwebbed into a thousand pieces. My eye twitched.

"Our engagement party is in one week," she hissed. "It's being live-streamed globally. The whole world sees us as the perfect couple. Are you really going to start drama with me now?"

"The perfect couple?" I sneered, my eyes flicking from Leo back to her. "Did you think about that when you were getting off with him in the other room?"

Ava winced, hating that I'd said it so bluntly. "It was just a game, you—"

"Enough." I cut her off and took a sip of my wine. "The Astor family doesn't need a wife who entertains old lovers on the side."

Her face flushed with rage. Before she could retort, the door opened.

Her agent stood there, looking panicked. "Mr. Astor, I'm so sorry, Ava has a last-minute magazine shoot—"

His eyes landed on the love bites covering her neck, and his pupils shrank. He fumbled in his bag for a compact and rushed forward, his hands shaking as he tried to cover the marks.

"Mr. Astor," he pleaded, his voice cracking, "I know you and Ava are getting engaged, but… but she can't take this kind of abuse. I don't know if I can even cover this up…"

"What does he have to do with it?" Leo shoved the agent aside, then wrapped a possessive arm around Ava's waist. "I'm Ava's first love. Who the hell is John Astor?"

The agent's face went slack with shock. Ava, however, didn't seem to care.

"You can go," she said to her agent. "I'll—"

Leo cut her off by kissing her, hard. "Baby," he purred, "why is your agent a man? It makes me jealous." He looked at me, his voice high with victory. "Mr. Astor, you seem to enjoy pairing your fiancée up with other men. Maybe you secretly wanted her to get seduced, just so you could play the victim? Tsk, tsk."

SMACK!

The agent, trembling with rage, slapped Leo across the face. I had hand-picked this man for Ava; he knew better than anyone that her entire career was a gift from me.

Ava gasped and cradled Leo’s face, then turned on the agent with murder in her eyes.

"You dare touch him? Do you have a death wish?"

The sight of them made me sick.

I set down my glass. "That's enough," I said calmly to the agent. "Don't dirty your hands."

"Are you doing this on purpose, John?" Ava shrieked. "Apologize to Leo! Now!"

Leo. She was already calling him by his first name.

"You think you can get away with this?" Leo clutched his cheek, his face a mask of fury as he pointed at me. "Fine! See if I don't ruin your precious engagement party!"

He stormed out, slamming the door behind him.