Wait… You’re Putting THAT Inside Me! — Billionaire Bride’s Shocking Wedding Night Confession
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The Chronos Patch: The Billionaire Bride’s Shocking Wedding Night Confession
Chapter 1: The Call of the Crisis
The air in the wildlife sanctuary smelled of damp earth and pine needles. Sierra Vance wiped a smear of mud from her cheek, her hands faintly tingling from the low-voltage shock used to safely secure a distressed elk tangled in discarded fencing. It was nearing midnight.
Sierra’s nonprofit, Haven Crest, was her life, but it was under threat. The local municipality had threatened to condemn their main property for a luxury resort. A shadow that hung over every late shift.
Her worn, cracked phone buzzed with an unfamiliar, cold, sterile number.
“Miss Vance,” a voice devoid of inflection cut through the night. “This is Mr. Jason Hail, legal counsel for Anovia Global. Mr. Ryland Thorne requires your immediate presence at the Anovia Tower. A car is already en route.”
Sierra frowned. “I’m sorry, who? I’m a vet. I’m busy. I don’t know any Ryland Thorne.”
“He knows you, Miss Vance. Specifically. He knows you from the Pine Ridge fire incident six months ago. He recalls your composure. Your nonprofit’s land development issue. Mr. Thorne has the immediate and absolute ability to resolve it.“
The threat of losing Haven Crest, the land where she’d saved hundreds of animals, made her chest tighten. She swallowed her pride and the exhaustion. “I’ll be outside in 10 minutes.”
Forty minutes later, Sierra was climbing out of a black sedan in front of the Anovia Global Headquarters—a monolithic spire of glass and polished steel, glittering with cold, indifferent wealth. She felt hopelessly out of place in her scuffed boots and mud-splattered clothes.
At the end of the hall, silhouetted against a panoramic view of the sparkling city, stood Ryland Thorne. He was tall, lean, and dressed in a perfectly tailored dark suit. Even from a distance, she sensed the tension coiling in his shoulders.
“Sierra,” he said, his voice low and gravelly, “Thank you for coming. I apologize for the secrecy and the hour, but I am on a clock. A matter of minutes.”
Chapter 2: The Contract Marriage
Ryland led her into a large glass-walled office where digital screens flickered with stock reports and legal documents stamped with urgent red warnings. The air felt charged, like a storm was about to break.
“You didn’t come here for a donation, did you?” Sierra asked, cutting to the point.
“I came to you because you’re the only person I’ve encountered in the last five years who wasn’t asking for something that began with a dollar sign. You put the well-being of a creature above your own safety that night. I need that integrity right now.”
He turned to a screen displaying a complex legal chart. “Isaac Hail, my primary investor and a hostile board member, is trying to initiate a takeover.”
“I’m not following. You need a wife?”
“The charter requires the spouse to be untainted by any prior financial or corporate ties to Hail or his associates. Anyone in my social circle is already compromised. The board meets to vote at midnight.” Ryland’s eyes were shadowed with exhaustion and desperation. “I need to be married in the next 60 minutes. A legal ceremony, witnessed and filed.”
“A contract marriage, Sierra. Purely legal. You walk away with the deed to the Haven Crest land, legally secured and debt-free. You also receive a substantial retainer. No strings, no expectations, only a piece of paper that gives Anovia the legal shield it needs.”
The thought of saving Haven Crest, her life’s work, was a siren song.
“What happens after you block the takeover?”
“You’re my wife,” Ryland stated simply. “You are protected by the full force of Anovia’s legal team. After the immediate threat is neutralized, we discuss an exit strategy. But tonight, you need to sign a marriage license.”
Sierra looked at the luxurious room, at the billionaire pleading with his eyes. She took a deep, steadying breath. “Okay, Ryland, I’ll do it.”
The quick, cold, vowed ceremony was surreal. A retired judge, Jason Hail (the lawyer), and a sharp-eyed board member witnessed the briefest legal rites. There was no kiss, no hug, only the exchange of signatures.
The digital countdown on the central screen flashed 15 minutes to board meeting. Ryland turned to Sierra. “The first part is done. Now for the protection.”
Chapter 3: The Kronos Patch
Ryland led her to a private study. “Sierra, everything I told you was true. But there’s one last critical detail that couldn’t be revealed until the marriage was legally binding. It’s why I needed you secured immediately.”
Ryland walked to a concealed safe behind a modernist painting. The safe slid open, and inside, sat a small, matte black titanium case.
“Anovia Global’s true value isn’t its market share. It’s the proprietary code for our next-generation clean energy matrix. It’s worth billions. This is the core reason for everything.”
He touched a scanner on the case. The box opened. Sierra instinctively leaned closer. Inside, was not cash or a hard drive, but a device. It was sleek, curved like a medical implant, made of surgical steel, about the size of a large thumb, with tiny glowing blue filaments running beneath its surface.
“What is that?” Sierra whispered.
“It’s called the Kronos Patch,” Ryland explained. “It’s a life vault access patch. It contains the biometric encryption key for the entire Anovia matrix.”
“Why are you showing it to me?”
“Hail and his associates have initiated a legal protocol that allows them to forcibly seize any corporate assets currently in my physical possession after midnight. They can force a transfer of the key. The only way to keep the key safe, to keep it out of Hail’s hands, is to transfer the primary activation signature to a new legally protected holder—my wife—and to place it somewhere that cannot be legally searched or seized.”
The shocking proposal hit her. She backed away slightly. “Place it where?”
Ryland held her gaze with unwavering honesty. “It must be biometrically embedded under your skin temporarily. The most secure, rapid access, and legally protected location is a small insertion beneath the tissue of your lower back, near the lumbar spine. They cannot violate the physical sanctity of a legally married spouse without a federal warrant that will take days to obtain.”
The silence in the room screamed. She stared at the beautiful, terrible device. Her mind immediately jumped to the humiliating conclusion fueled by a lifetime of self-doubt.
“Wait, you’re putting that inside me!” she blurted out, trembling, utterly disbelieving.
Ryland’s silver eyes widened, not with lust or malice, but with a shock that was mirrored in her own expression. He immediately understood the crude, painful interpretation she had leapt to.
“Sierra, no. I promise you this is a medical grade subcutaneous implant, not a request for intimacy. I am asking you to carry the key to a multi-billion dollar company inside your body. The protection of this key is the only reality.“
The woman who risked her body to save a trapped elk felt a familiar surge of protective instinct. Only this time, the “life” she was saving was a vast, fragile technological dream.
“Get the doctor, Ryland. Let’s get this done.”
Chapter 4: The Human Vault
The study transformed quickly into a sterile medical bay. Dr. Leela Mir, a former military surgeon, stepped into the room. She was a woman of calm, authoritative efficiency.
“The procedure is five minutes, minimally invasive,” Dr. Mir assured her. “The risk profile is lower than a standard dental filling.”
Ryland stood stiffly by the window, his gaze fixed on the cityscape. The ticking of the clock was merciless.
“Ryland,” Sierra said, her voice firm. “I need to know what happens if the patch is damaged while it’s in me.”
“It’s designed to withstand extreme physical trauma. If it were destroyed, the encryption simply vanishes. It’s the ultimate kill switch. The threat isn’t to you, it’s to the data.”
Sierra absorbed that. A digital dead man’s switch. She was the temporary vault.
Dr. Mir efficiently prepared the area on Sierra’s lower back. “Ryland, you should monitor the activation interface. We need confirmation the synchronization is flawless.”
The current of fear and trust pressure came and went. A feeling of invasion that made Sierra’s fists clench involuntarily. The moment that steel patch slid beneath her skin, her life became fundamentally linked to Ryland Thorne’s empire.
“Miss Vance, you need to relax. Your adrenaline is spiking. The patch won’t sync under duress.”
Sierra laughed. “I just married a man I barely know and let a piece of military tech be implanted in me to save a company I don’t understand. Relaxation is not an option.”
Ryland finally stepped forward. “Sierra, look at me. This is not about the money. This is about me asking a human being for an unbelievable act of trust. Focus on the land. Focus on the animals. Focus on the reason you are here.”
His voice, stripped of its CEO polish, was the most honest thing she had heard all night.
As Ryland spoke, the chaotic pounding of Sierra’s heart slowed. The thought of Haven Crest, of the elk and the owls, became clear and sharp. She forced the tension from her shoulders. The red light on the interface panel flickered, then turned a vibrant, stable green.
“Synchronization complete,” Dr. Mir announced. “The patch is now online and drawing a low-level power from Miss Vance’s unique bio-rhythm. It is sealed, safe, and fully active.”
Ryland let out a long, ragged exhale. “You are the most resilient person I have ever met,” he murmured.
“I’m just a vet,” Sierra managed, a faint smile touching her lips. “I’m used to dealing with difficult patients.”
Chapter 5: The Unstoppable Shield
The corporate skirmish moved back to the main control panel. The countdown timer hit zero.
A holographic screen snapped into life, displaying a digital conference room. Dozens of board members flickered into view. Prominently featured was Isaac Hail, Ryland’s rival.
“Mr. Thorne,” Hail’s voice was oily. “I formally move to invoke Clause Three, Article Five—the leadership instability clause—and temporarily seize control of all corporate assets, including the proprietary matrix encryption, to preserve the company’s value.”
Ryland stood tall, his hands clasped behind his back, looking directly into the camera. “Motion denied, Mr. Hail.”
“The clause is nullified. Article Five, Section Seven clearly states that the leadership instability clause is immediately void upon the CEO achieving a legally secured familial succession.”
Hail’s smile faltered. “You rushed into a sham marriage with a low-level employee to dodge your responsibilities. That marriage is clearly null and void under corporate fraud statutes.”
Ryland pressed a button. The screen behind him projected an image of the marriage certificate and a live feed of the Kronos Patch interface, now glowing a stable green, confirming the transfer of the main encryption key to his spouse’s biometric identity.
“My wife, Sierra Vance Thorne, is neither an employee nor associated with any foreign interests. Furthermore,” Ryland continued, leaning forward slightly, “the entire Anovia matrix encryption was transferred to a federally protected medical-grade life vault activated by her unique bio-signature.”
Hail gasped. “You can’t be serious. You’ve secured the entire company through a…” He paused, searching for the most insulting word.
“A marriage,” Ryland finished for him, his victory absolute but silent. “A legal protective seal. The company is safe, Mr. Hail. Your motion is invalid. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a wife to attend to.“
Ryland abruptly cut the connection. The holographic screen vanished. Sierra, watching the whole exchange, felt a shiver run down her spine. Ryland Thorne was not just a genius. He was a warrior.
“It’s done, Sierra,” he said, walking over and stopping a respectful distance from her. “You saved Anovia.”
“I saved my land, Ryland. You just made me a much more dangerous person than I ever wanted to be.” She felt the metallic certainty of the patch beneath her skin. She was no longer just his contract wife. She was the physical storage unit for his legacy.
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