My New Life as a Rancher with a Hot Billionaire Husband Chapter 04

My New Life as a Rancher with a Hot Billionaire Husband Chapter 04

Half a month later, I found myself standing at the foot of Mistpeak.

A gust of wind blasted sand straight into my face.

I stared at the barren land in front of me, so desolate even birds couldn’t be bothered to fly over it, and fell into a long, silent contemplation.

Beside me, the real estate agent rubbed his hands together, smiling eagerly.

“Miss Rhodes, just look at this place. So open and expansive. Completely natural, untouched, exactly the kind of ‘authentic wilderness experience’ high-end clients are obsessed with these days.”

“Only five hundred thousand dollars for seventy years of usage rights. You can develop it however you like.”

I looked at him expressionlessly. “You call this natural? This is wasteland. There isn’t even a proper road. This is basically the middle of nowhere.”

He awkwardly wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Well… that’s part of the charm. City folks love this kind of raw, undeveloped environment, right?”

I took a deep breath. “Deal.”

I chose this road myself. I’d crawl if I had to, but I was seeing it through.

The next six months taught me exactly what “burning money” really meant.

Road construction. Drilling wells. Running power lines. Building houses. Leveling land.

Five million dollars in startup capital disappeared like water down a drain.

Back when I was playing the perfect stand-in for Killian’s first love, my life had been absurdly easy. I copied her every move, every habit.

No cooking. No dirty work. Drenched in expensive perfume, living a life that was polished, delicate, and completely fake.

Now?

I wore cargo pants and a straw hat, arguing with contractors over budgets and deadlines every single day. My skin had darkened several shades.

But when I flexed my arm and felt the muscle I’d built from hauling materials myself, I felt something I never had before.

Grounded.

Finally, on a crisp autumn morning, Cloudrift Wellness Ranch officially opened.

I looked at the row of high-end lodges nestled against the mountains and water, designed in a rustic luxury style with floor-to-ceiling windows, and tears welled up in my eyes.

“Miss Rhodes, do we have any guests today?” Lexi Vance, the prettiest girl in the nearby town and now my very well-paid receptionist, leaned over to ask.

I opened the booking system and stared at the completely empty reservation list, forcing a calm smile. “Don’t worry. We’re high-end, private, wellness-focused. This isn’t the kind of place just anyone can book. The right clients take time.”

Reality proved one thing very quickly.

If you brag too hard, it will come back to bite you.

An entire month passed.

Not a single guest.

The only visitors were the neighbor’s ducks from Harold Miller’s farm. They occasionally swam in my decorative pond and, for good measure, left behind a mess.

Stress had me breaking out with painful sores at the corner of my mouth.

At this rate, I wasn’t just going bankrupt.

I was going to drown in debt.