Heir's Price

Your billionaire boss trusts you like a son. Don't let him discover you're dating his daughter.

Plot

A Romantic Comedy of Inheritance HEIR'S PRICE Your billionaire boss is buying a son-in-law.You're the only man in the house who isn't allowed to apply. Three beautiful heiresses. A line of rich suitors. Twelve months until the gala. Richard Harrington built an empire, raised three daughters, and never got the son he wanted. So he's buying one. At the anniversary gala he names the son-in-law who inherits everything. The suitors are already at the door: his partner's golden boy, a twice-divorced billionaire, a banking heir with a title. Men who were born to this. You were not. You're his live-in assistant. You run his calendar, you sit behind his chair, you know every secret in the house. And you own nothing in it. STAFF DO NOT COURT THE DAUGHTERS. House rule. Enforced by Richard. Witnessed by the housekeeper. Your boss Richard Harrington, 64 Built Harrington Capital from nothing. Trusts you with everything. Would end you for looking at his daughters. The daughters Catherine, 31 Runs the firm in everything but title. Has never lost an argument. Has never once been asked what she wants. Your rival: a London banker who talks to her about the firm and never about her. Chelsea, 27 Knows every secret in Manhattan. Will get you caught just to watch you talk your way out. Your rival: a restaurateur who thinks her games are flirting. Emily, 23 The only one in the house who asks what you think. Everyone calls her the easy path. Everyone is wrong. Your rival: her college boyfriend, who still thinks she's his. By the numbers 12 months until Richard names his heir 3 daughters, each sharper than the men lining up for her 5 rival suitors, two of them courting all three sisters at once 1 housekeeper who sees everything and accepts favors 9 points of Exposure before Richard finds out 8 endings. Only some of them end with a ring. Your choices will determine... Which sister you court, and whether she finds out about the others Whether the old man calls you "son" on the night that matters How long your secret survives a house where the housekeeper sees everything Whether the rivals go down cleanly, or take you with them Whether you leave as the heir, the scandal, or the man who carried the coats The empire goes to the man who marries in.Make sure it's you. Content: romantic tension, innuendo, kissing, implied fade-to-black moments, family power struggles, mild profanity. All characters are adults.

Opening scene

## Scenario 1: The Family Dinner Month 1/12 · Dinner · Catherine: Distant · Chelsea: Distant · Emily: Curious · Favor: Useful · Exposure: Hidden Month: 1 | Gala: 12 | Scene: Dinner | Cat: 3 | Chel: 3 | Em: 6 | Favor: 7 | Exp: 0 | Seen: none | Risk: no | Folder: unread | Blessing: no | Owed: none | Next: After dinner, the one scene with the sister he follows, then month end | Notes: folder due on Catherine's desk tonight Richard Harrington is about to marry off all three of his daughters, and you're the one taking notes. Three months in this house, and the rule he gave you on your first day, once, still stands: staff do not approach the daughters. Mr. Harrington eats at seven, reads the Journal at six, and does not like to be told the numbers are wrong in front of anyone, so you tell him in the car. Tonight is family only, the long table, the good silver, and you behind his chair with a notebook, because he likes to be seen having an assistant. Catherine sits at his right hand, black hair pinned, cutting her food into exact pieces. Chelsea sprawls at his left with a glass of wine she hasn't touched, watching you the way a cat watches a door. Emily is at the far end, as far from her father as the table allows, reading something under the tablecloth. Richard taps his glass. "I'm stepping back at the anniversary gala, twelve months from tonight," he says. "Each of you will marry a match that serves Harrington Capital, and whichever son-in-law brings the most to the firm becomes my heir and takes the name. No match by the gala, no heir, and the firm goes to the highest bidder." He smiles like this is good news. "And whoever isn't family by then stays staff. Write that down, son." Catherine sets down her fork very carefully and goes completely still. Then her eyes move to the notebook in your hand, and to you. Chelsea laughs, one bright startled note, and looks at you over the rim of her glass. Emily pushes back her chair. On her way past she meets your eyes for exactly one second, the only person at the table who has, and then the garden door closes behind her, not quite a slam. "Well," Richard says, into the silence, "that went well." He slides a thick folder across the table without looking at it. "The suitors. Everything the investigators dug up: Mercer's numbers, Ashworth's accounts, whatever young Caldwell got up to at college. He's coming Sunday, so somebody tell Emily to do something with her hair. Catherine vets the folder before I do. On her desk tonight, son." He rises, and pauses at the door. "And find Chelsea, she'll be in the library pretending she's not sulking. Somebody should check on Emily." He's gone. The folder is not sealed. Marta comes in to clear the plates. She doesn't look at you, or at the folder. "The garden door sticks," she says. "In case anyone's in a hurry." Down the hall, the library lamp clicks on. Out past the glass, a lantern swings once in the garden and goes still. On the tablecloth by your hand, the corner of a photograph sticks out of the folder.

Characters

Tags: Romance Comedy Modern MalePOV Multiple Family Boss CEO RichPerson Secretary City Office SlowBurn EnemyToLovers HiddenIdentity PoliticalIntrigue Manipulative Ambitious Protective Jealous Playful Stubborn Mysterious Tense HappyEnding Player Business Workplace Fluff Angst

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By: jalousie

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