The Billionaire’s Fake Marriage

You can read The Billionaire’s Fake Marriage free below.

Blurb:

A marriage of convenience, BWWM, billionaire romance novel. Savvy entrepreneur Janet is on a mission to make love happen worldwide. So, she launches a dating app with nothing but high hopes that she can be the ultimate matchmaker.

There’s just one problem: the app is starting to look like a total failure! Janet takes matters into her own hands and pretends to find love on the app with a man name Brian. But before long, their staged romance turns into a real and passionate relationship.

As their secret faces exposure, can their love story withstand the media glare and the complexities of their marriage of convenience? Or will the pressure of deception and public scrutiny drive them apart? Get answers in this interracial entrepreneur romance book by Vanessa Brown.

Chapter 1

COOKUP GOES FOR SALE IN A MULTI MILLION DOLLAR DEAL

The dating app for food enthusiasts, also called Tinder for Foodies is seeing a change in its ownership. With a humble beginning in 2010, the service with an app & website now boasts of having more than 1 million users — who are finding suitable mates worldwide, while enjoying their love for food. If you are interested in food and dating, chances are you are already registered on CookUp that is now being bought by MSG Network. Owning more than 5 cooking and lifestyle channels, MSG Network is now the proud owner of CookUp, which it believes will prove to be a valuable addition to its portfolio. Janet Crane, founder and owner of CookUp is being paid a whooping 9.8 Million Dollars for this deal. 30 year old Janet was already a millionaire when she started this food dating network. Like many of her previous business ventures, CookUp also added millions to her bank account and net worth, making her one of the youngest billionaires in the world. And after this deal, the world is dying with the anticipation of what Janet will bring next — that many economic pundits have already started calling The Next Big Thing.

Janet was smiling while reading the article on her laptop. This was not the first article about her — she had been featured in several articles in numerous publications before. Being an African American woman under 35 has made her a subject that was widely discussed in many circles of the elite business class all over the world. But Janet read every article and piece about her with the same curiosity and thrill. Knowing that people knew who she is and what she does made her proud of herself.

But this moment was interrupted by a phone call. Janet looked at her phone screen — it was her personal assistant Kitty.

“What would I do without you, Kitty?” Janet said with a smile.

“Somebody is in a good mood today.”

“I am going to be 9.8 Million Dollars richer. I deserve to be happy.”

“Really? You are happy because you are getting more money?”

“Why else do you think?” Janet said playfully.

“You don’t care about money. I bet you are reading one of the articles about today’s deal…”

Janet could not help but laugh at how right Kitty was.

“Tell me,” Kitty further asked. “How many times have you read that same article?”

“Did you call me to piss on my parade?” Janet tried to control her laughter.

“No! I called to remind you that you still own CookUp. The deal goes down in two hours. So you better haul your ass to your lawyer’s office.”

“I know. I will be there in an hour.”

“We are waiting for you here.” Kitty replied.

“You are already there? Is Rebecca with you?” Janet started getting up from her bed.

“Janet, I am offended!” Rebecca’s voice jumped out of the phone’s speaker and Janet again started laughing.

“What are you two talking about behind my back?”

“Why don’t you come here and find out for yourself?” Rebecca replied without revealing anything. It made it sound more mysterious.

“Alright! I will be there in an hour.” Janet said, taking her clothes off as she stepped into the bathroom.

“Great! Kitty and I will grab some breakfast then.”

“Sounds awesome!” Kitty welcomed Rebecca’s plan.

“See you there, then.” Janet disconnected the call and turned on the shower.

*****

“So what next?” Rebecca looked at Janet with several questions in her eyes.

Janet realized that not just Rebecca, but even Kitty was looking at her.

“Are you guys serious? I am yet to sell this one. There is no next yet.” Janet replied with a mysterious smile. She could understand why Rebecca would do that, but she did not expect it from Kitty.

“I understand her, but why are you looking at me like this? You know I have not planned anything.”

“That is not good!” Rebecca interrupted. “If that is true then you need to come up with a new plan as soon as possible.”

Janet knew Rebecca was right, but she was yet to find her ‘next big thing’ that many analysts were dying to see. She had a reputation in the market. The three of them were really good friends who helped each other. Janet was the mastermind behind all the strategies and decision. Rebecca helped her with all the legal work and connecting with the ‘required’ people. Kitty on the other hand was a mistress of many trades — she was Janet’s Personal Assistant, secret keeper, best friend and trusted advisor. Unlike most of the girl’s of her age, Kitty was quite sharp and had proved many times how useful she was to Janet.

Janet valued Kitty and her opinions, and so she was looking at her anxiously, waiting for what she would say to Rebecca.

And Kitty replied after a long pause, “She is still confused. There is no idea yet.”

“What is the confusion?” Rebecca asked Janet who was clearly trying to avoid this conversation. Janet did not say anything, but just shrugged.

“It’s not a personal thing, Jan!” Rebecca reminded her, “It’s business. You need to talk about it.”

Janet could not argue for Rebecca was right. Her decision or indecision was going to affect many people direct or indirectly. And so Rebecca decided to be honest about it.

“I don’t know.” she said looking at Rebecca and Kitty. “I am still trying to figure out that big idea. I have thought of so many ideas but every single one of them has been taken already.” Janet finally concluded. “Seems like I am running out of ideas.”

“Are you serious?” Rebecca said being astonished. She was not satisfied by this answer.

“What else were you expecting?” Janet had told her exactly what the problem was but Rebecca was probably expecting a different answer.

“I thought maybe you did not want to continue anymore.” Rebecca replied. “I thought maybe you were thinking of settling down and having a family.”

Kitty burst into a laughter on hearing this, making Rebecca chuckle.

“What is wrong with that?” Janet looked at Rebecca and suddenly the laughter stopped. Rebecca’s smile vanished and a frown appeared in its place. “What do you mean what is wrong with it? Name 3 African American women who are worth more than a billion and have a family.”

Janet was stumped. She tried to come up with names or faces that could fit Rebecca’s criteria, but it was all a big blank. And suddenly, she realized that there were no women who had both a family and a billion dollars that they earned on their own.

“See?” Rebecca was perhaps reading Janet’s mind. “There is a reason why you could not give me even one name, let alone three…”

And after a dramatic pause, Rebecca revealed the reason. “Because there are no woman who have both a family and a billion dollars of there own.” She was echoing exactly what was going on in Janet’s mind.

But then Janet remembered that this discussion had nothing to do with her situation. “I get it, but I was not thinking of settling down.”

“Oh thank God!” Rebecca heaved a sigh of relief. “I would hate to lose my biggest client.”

Kitty, who was silent during all this, finally spoke up. “Can we come back to the original discussion? We need to come up with the next big idea… or should I say, Janet needs to come up with the next big idea.”

Rebecca and Janet realized Kitty was right.

“That is not a problem. If somebody is already working on a good idea, we can buy it from them.” Rebecca proposed a simple solution.

Janet wanted to come up with something that she could call her own. CookUp and the ideas prior to that were her brainchild, and so buying an idea seemed a little odd to her.