Married to the Cold CEO
Chapter 1 – The Contract Bride
The marble lobby of Lu Corporation gleamed under the golden morning light. Polished floors reflected every step Lila Chen took, her heels clicking like a metronome to her racing heartbeat.
She wasn't here for a job interview. She wasn't here to beg for charity either.
She was here to marry him.
Not because she wanted to. Not because she loved him. But because her father's debts had left her no choice.
Lila's fingers tightened around the folder she carried—the contract that bound her future. Her once-peaceful life had shattered in an instant when creditors had stormed her family's home. The Chen family company was drowning, her father was hospitalized from the stress, and her mother's eyes were filled with silent despair.
And then came him.
Adrian Lu.
The youngest billionaire in the city. Ruthless. Cold. Powerful enough to decide the fate of families with a single word. The media called him the Ice King, a man who built his empire with brains sharper than steel and a heart frozen to anything resembling warmth.
Now, she was walking willingly into his frozen world.
---
On the top floor, Adrian sat behind his desk in an office that overlooked the glittering skyline. Every inch of the room screamed authority: dark oak shelves, black leather chairs, and floor-to-ceiling glass that cast him in a silhouette of power.
He signed a document with swift precision before his secretary entered.
"Sir, Miss Lila Chen has arrived."
Adrian didn't look up immediately. His pen hovered over the paper for a moment, finishing the last stroke of his name before he set it down. Only then did his eyes lift, cold and piercing.
"Send her in."
---
When the elevator opened, Lila felt her breath hitch.
Adrian Lu was more intimidating than the newspapers or television ever revealed. His suit was tailored perfectly to his tall frame, his jawline sharp enough to cut glass, and his eyes—dark, calculating—seemed to strip away every layer of pretense.
"You're late," he said flatly.
"I… the traffic was bad," Lila replied, her voice almost trembling.
"I don't care." His tone carried no emotion, only command. "Sit."
She obeyed, settling into the chair across from his desk. Her hands trembled slightly as she placed the folder on the table.
"About the contract—" she began softly.
Adrian leaned back, folding his arms. "There are three rules."
His words were slow, deliberate, and each one fell like a stone in the silence.
"First, this is business. Not love. Don't expect affection from me." His gaze didn't waver.
"Second, you will play the role of my wife in public. Perfectly. No mistakes. No scandals."
Lila swallowed hard, her throat dry.
"Third…" His eyes flickered briefly to her lips before locking onto her own gaze. "…if you break the contract, your family's company will cease to exist."
Her chest tightened. She had known this wouldn't be easy, but hearing the conditions spoken aloud was suffocating.
Adrian slid a black-and-gold folder across the desk, the marriage contract inside. The faintest curve of a smirk touched his lips. "Sign it."
Lila stared at the paper. Her father's tired face flashed in her mind. Her mother's trembling hands. The house she grew up in, now at risk of being lost forever.
With trembling fingers, she picked up the pen.
And signed.
The moment her name inked the page, Adrian leaned back in satisfaction, his icy expression unchanging.
But deep in the shadows of his gaze, there was a flicker—something unreadable.
Lila Chen had just entered the cage of the Ice King.
And the door had locked behind her.