Page 10 of Wrong Number, Right Billionaire (Wrong Number, Right Guy #7)

CHANTAY

EIGHTEEN MONTHS LATER

" A re you sure about this?" Maya asks for the tenth time as she adjusts my veil. "I mean, I know you love him, but getting married in the middle of nowhere Nevada? What if people get lost?"

"Maya, relax. The only people who matter are already here." I smooth my hands over the simple ivory dress that perfectly suits an outdoor mountain wedding. "Besides, GPS exists."

"GPS doesn't account for your husband's paranoia about privacy. I swear we passed three security checkpoints getting up here."

"Two," I correct. "And they're not paranoia when you're worth three billion dollars and value your solitude."

"Three billion? It went up?"

"Crypto investment. Don't ask me to explain it."

Through the cabin window, I can see our guests gathering in the meadow where Maxim proposed six months ago. It's a small group: Maya and her husband, Elena and her family, Maxim's sister and her family, and a handful of close friends. Exactly what we both wanted.

"You look happy," Maya observes, stepping back to survey her handiwork. "Like, genuinely, completely happy. It's disgusting."

"I am happy. Disgustingly so."

"Good. You deserve it." She hugs me carefully, mindful of my dress. "Though I still can't believe you're moving here permanently."

"I'm not moving here permanently. We're splitting time between here, Atlanta, and San Francisco. Plus, we both travel for work." I check my lipstick one final time. "It's called compromise, Maya. You should try it sometime."

"I compromise. I compromised by wearing heels to your mountain wedding."

A knock on the door interrupts our banter. "Chantay? It's Elena. Maxim wants to know if you're ready, or if he should keep pacing like a caged animal."

"Tell him I'm ready," I call back. "And Elena? Thank you for talking sense into him about the prenup."

"You're welcome. Though I think you talking sense into him about the prenup was more effective."

Maya raises an eyebrow. "Prenup drama?"

"He wanted one that gave me half of everything immediately. I wanted one that protected his assets and treated our marriage like a partnership, not a merger." I grab my simple bouquet of wildflowers. "It took three lawyers and two months to find a middle ground."

"Only you would argue for less money in a prenup."

"It's not about the money, Maya. It's about building something together instead of him just handing me everything out of guilt."

"And that's why you're perfect for each other. You're both crazy."

The cabin door opens, and Zennika peeks in. "Ready? Your billionaire is about to wear a hole in the ground from pacing."

"Ready."

We make our way outside, where the late afternoon sun is painting the mountains gold. Our guests are seated in two small sections of chairs, with an aisle between them leading to an arch covered in wildflowers. It's simple, beautiful, and perfectly us.

But I only have eyes for Maxim, standing at the end of the aisle in a charcoal suit that makes him look devastatingly handsome. When he sees me, his face lights up with a smile that makes my heart skip.

Ranger sits beside him in a bow tie, serving as best man. Ghost lounges in the front row, wearing what I can only describe as a judgmental expression about the whole human mating ritual.

I walk down the aisle without anyone giving me away, because I'm not property to be transferred. I'm a woman choosing to build a life with the man I love.

When I reach Maxim, he takes my hands and leans down to whisper, "You look incredible."

"You clean up pretty well yourself, mountain man."

The ceremony is short and sweet, officiated by a friend of Elena's who drove up from Reno. We exchange vows we wrote ourselves, promising honesty, partnership, and enough compromise to make living together bearable for our animals.

"Do you, Maxim James Chen, take Chantay Rose Jackson to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in good times and bad, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do. And I promise to never lie about my identity again, no matter how scared I get."

The crowd chuckles.

"Do you, Chantay Rose Jackson, take Maxim James Chen to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in good times and bad, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do. And I promise to keep challenging you when you try to hide behind your money instead of dealing with feelings."

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Maxim's kiss is soft, sweet, and full of promises for our future. When we break apart, our small crowd erupts in cheers. Ranger barks his approval. Ghost remains unimpressed but doesn't leave, which counts as enthusiasm from him.

"How does it feel to be Mrs. Chen?" Maxim asks as we walk back down the aisle together.

"Like the best wrong number I ever received."

"Best accident of my life."

The reception is held on the cabin's back deck, with Elena's husband manning a grill and Maya documenting everything with her camera. As the sun sets behind the mountains, painting the sky in shades of pink and gold, I look around at this life we've built together and feel overwhelming gratitude.

"Happy?" Maxim asks, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Completely." I lean back against his chest. "Though I think Ghost is judging our music choices."

"Ghost judges everything. It's his job." He presses a kiss to my temple. "Chantay?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you. Mrs. Chen."

"I love you too, Mr. Chen."

"Ready for our honeymoon in that cabin in Montana? Just us, the mountains, and absolutely no cell service for a week?"

"I thought you said no cell service would make me crazy."

"I changed my mind. I want you all to myself for seven whole days."

"What about Ghost and Ranger?"

"Elena's watching them. Ranger will probably destroy her couch, and Ghost will judge her housekeeping skills, but they'll survive."

"In that case, I'm absolutely ready."

As our guests begin to wind down and head to their hotel in town, Maya pulls me aside for one last sister moment.

"So," she says, "any regrets about your mountain man billionaire?"

"None. Except maybe that it took us so long to figure out how to be honest with each other."

"And the money thing? That doesn't feel weird?"

"Sometimes. But Maxim's teaching me that money is just a tool.

What matters is what you do with it." I gesture toward the reception, where Elena is telling a story that has everyone laughing.

"He's funding three new wildlife rehabilitation centers.

I'm launching a nonprofit focused on conservation marketing.

We're building something together that's bigger than either of us could create alone. "

"That's very mature and inspiring. I hate you both."

"No, you don't."

"No, I don't. But I'm going to miss having you closer."

"You'll visit. I'll visit. And Maya?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. For pushing me to take chances, for supporting my crazy decisions, for being the best sister and maid of honor a girl could ask for."

"Thank you for proving that sometimes accidentally texting strangers works out better than any dating app."

Later that night, after our guests have gone and we've cleaned up the remnants of our perfect small wedding, Maxim and I sit on our deck under a canopy of stars.

"So," he says, pulling me closer on the porch swing he built last month. "How does it feel to be married to a tech billionaire?"

"Ask me again in fifty years."

"Deal. Though by then I'll probably be a cranky old hermit who talks to his animals more than humans."

"You already do that."

"Fair point. What about you? Any thoughts about our future, Mrs. Chen?"

I consider the question seriously. A year and a half ago, I was a single marketing manager in Atlanta whose biggest excitement was bad dates and work drama.

Now I'm married to a man who owns half of Silicon Valley and prefers wolves to board meetings, living in a cabin in Nevada and running a nonprofit focused on wildlife conservation marketing.

It's not the life I planned. It's infinitely better.

"I think," I say finally, "that we're going to have the kind of love story that starts with accidents and ends with exactly where we're supposed to be."

"Even if where we're supposed to be is in the middle of nowhere with a judgmental wolf hybrid and a sock-stealing dog?"

"Especially then."

He kisses me under the Nevada stars, and I taste our future in it. Adventures and challenges, quiet mornings and passionate nights, building something beautiful together out of trust and compromise and the kind of love that makes everything else make sense.

"I love you, Chantay Chen."

"I love you too, Maxim Chen."

"Forever?"

"Forever."

We head inside to start our first night as husband and wife. I now know that sometimes the best things in life really do come from the most unexpected places. Wrong numbers and accidental photos and the courage to trust someone with your whole heart, even when it scares you.

Especially when it scares you.

Because that's when you know it's real.