Chapter 4

Carly's POV

I groggily opened my eyes, only to shut them again as the sun's rays pierced through my skull like a dagger. And I groaned in pain as the throbbing headache threatened to split my head in two. I slowly reopened my eyes, blinking lazily as I struggled to take in my surroundings. Then I realized that I was in an unfamiliar room, and panic began to creep its way into me. My heart racing as I threw frantic glances around the room, trying to remember how I ended up in there.

“So you are awake." I heard a low, smooth voice, and immediately turned to the direction where the voice came from. And my eyes landed on a shirtless man sitting crossed-leg on a single chair at a corner. His wet dark hair gleaming in the the sunlight, and his perching dark eyes were locked on mine as if monitoring me from running away. He looked like a Greek god sitting on his throne, he was effortlessly handsome. My eyebrows drew into a confused frown as his thin lips curled into a smile.

“You slept longer than I expected," he said, his eyes never leaving mine.

“And who are you?" I demanded in a raspy voice. “What am I doing here with you?" I added, my eyebrows drawing together in confusion.

“What do you think?" He shot back, and a demonic smirk tucked in his mouth.

My anxiety spiked as I frantically looked beneath the duvet, checking my body, realizing that all my clothes were gone. Fear gripped me by the throat when I realized what had happened between us.

“What have you done to me?" I accused, my voice raising with anger.

“I should ask you that, but I will ask you this." He said, standing from the chair and moved closer to me. He leaned forward, his face inches from mine, and my breathe seized immediately. My heart started racing abnormally. Having such a handsome face close to mine was dangerous to my fragile heart. “Why did you do that to me?" He questioned, and a pang of curiosity hit me.

“What are you talking about?" I was confused. “What did I do to you? Aren't you the one who took the advantage of me by kissing me?" I retorted when I remembered what he had done.

“Is that the only think you remember?" He asked, his eyes glinting with amusement.

Then I felt a surge of uneasiness inside me, sensing that something more had happened.

“What happened? How..." I started, but my words trailed off as memories of last night began to resurface.

I remembered following him to the bar, getting drunk, kissing him. The memories of how I'd dragged him to the room came flooding back, and I felt a wave of shame wash over me. So it was clearly my fault, I felt like a stupid person. But still he could have stopped me, I was drunk. I believed I acted that way because of what happened yesterday.

“But still you could have stopped me, I was too drunk to think straight." I said, telling him that what happened wasn't entirely my fault.

“Stop you?" He repeated, chuckling. Then stood upright, putting his hands in his pant pockets, then I released a sigh of relief, because having him up so close almost had my heart out of my chest from beating like crazy. “You asked me why I didn't stop you? Don't you think I am a man. Do you think I would do that when I had already been cornered." He said, but I couldn't understand what he was talking about.

“Let's... Just forget about it." I mumbled, “It's just a one-night stand." I added, feeling like a fool. I was hurt by my sister and fiance and all I could do next was to get myself involved with another man?

“I don't think I can," he replied, making me to stared at him curiously, wondering if he was out of his mind.

Why was he behaving like a nut? He can't forget about it? Why? I should be the one to be mad that he took the advantage of me, but why was he being so dramatic?

“What do you mean by you can't?" I demanded softly.

“Will you dress up first, we have some business to discuss." He said, ignoring my question.

Then I carefully wrapped the duvet around me and quickly gathered my clothes, feeling a sense of unease as I thought of what he wanted to say. Then I went into the bathroom to dress.

After dressing, I returned to the room to find him already dressed. He so dazzling in his well-ironed and smooth grey suit that I couldn't stop myself to staring at him.

“Like I said, let's just forget about this." I told him, averting my eyes from him. But instead of him to give me a response, he picked up a brown envelope and pulled out some paper.

“I want you to marry me," he announced and I suddenly felt like I was punched in the gut.

“What are you talking about? How can I...?"

“It won't be a real marriage after all, it will only be a contract marriage for a year. Then after that, you can go on your way." He said, cutting me off, and I felt like I was dreaming.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?" I snapped.

“I will advice you to consider this, Miss Carly Williams, because you will need me. Don't you want to take a revenge on your sister and fiance who betrayed you?"

“What?" I gasped, my eyes widening in shock. Wait, how did he know my name? And how did he know that my sister and Mark betrayed me? Did I mention it when I was drunk? “Who are you? Did you do background check on me? How dare you?" My voice trembled with indignation.

“About that, it's just a piece of cake. So what do you say?" He said, his expression serious and solemn.

I watched him in disbelief, my mind reeling with questions. He seemed so confident and which made me curious on who he was. How did he knew so much about me? But I refused to play into his hands

“You are crazy," I muttered and immediately picked up my handbag, and headed to the door.

Just as my hand reached the door handle, my phone rang. I hesitated, then answered it.

“Good morning," I said.

“Carly, do you know about it?" My secretary asked in an urgency tone.

“About what?" I retorted, curiosity getting the better of me.

“There was a broad meeting in the company and they have removed you from your position as the CEO." She said, her words dropping like a bombshell.

“What..?" I was tied-tongue.

“And now your sister has taken over your position. They said you used your shares as collateral and now you have no shares in the company anymore." She continued, her words cutting deep through me.

“What?" I gasped, my breath becoming irrational. My heart tightened in my chest, causing me an unbearable pain.

I'd been removed from my position? Wasn't that what had kept me living all this time after the sudden passed of my parents. The hotel that my parents left for me after they died, and it had become my dream that I was going to make it the best in the world. But now, my sister and my fiance had taken it away from me.

My heart clenched in pain as I felt like my heart was stabbed with a thousand knives. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes as I realized the truth. It was Mark's idea to use my shares as a collateral to get loan from a cooperation to make use of it to begin the construction of the new hotel I was planning to build in New York.

So it must have been their plans from the beginning, they never cared for me after all, when I was dying to make them happy. It was their plan to hurt me. My eyes became reddish from anger and hurt, and before I knew it tears started dripping down my face. My hands trembled in pain and my heart quickened, pounding in my chest like crazy. Why would they go this length to hurt me?

I turned back to the man, my lips quivering. “What will I gain if I agree to your proposal?" I asked, and he gave me a reassuring smile.