Chapter 5

Steven's Pov

I slowly opened my eyes, feeling drained and unenthusiastic. The buzzing sound of my phone was annoying, and it had pulled me out of a deep sleep. The remnants of last night's exhaustion still lingered in my body, making me groaned tiredly. The first thing I saw as I opened my eyes was her beautiful face, up close to mine. Her dishevelled hair covered part of her stunning face. As I gazed at her, my mind went numb, and I couldn't resist the urge to gently tuck a stray lock behind her ear.

She was gorgeous, beautiful...

“And sweet." I whispered, as memories of our passionate night together flooded my mind. My phone continued to buzz, snapping me back to reality.

Then I reached out to it and hesitantly answered the call without checking the ID.

“Do you think you can deceive me with a lie like that? When did you find someone you want to marry without my knowledge." My grandfather's voice boomed through the phone, causing me to quickly push it away from my ear for a moment before putting it back.

“Good morning, grandfather." I replied in a calm tone, knowing that he was foaming with anger at the moment. And all I had to do was to placate him was to speak calmly at him.

“You think ignoring my calls can help you get away from me? But trust me it will only put you in a tight situation. Come to dinner tonight with the woman you said you want to marry." He said, and a chill ran down my spine, causing me to freeze for a moment.

Then immediately I sat up on the bed, my heart beating harder. “What woman?" I replied, uncertainty clouding my mind.

“You said you had someone you wanted to marry. Wasn't that why you chased your date away last night?" He questioned, his anger intensified as I could sense it from his voice. “If you don't bring her to dinner tonight, trust me I will announce Peter as the CEO the first thing tomorrow morning." He threatened, and an anxiety gripped my heart tightly. Before I could reply, he disconnected the call.

That bitch mush have told him something. I cursed under my breath, seething with fury.

Now I felt trapped, I thought using the woman as a shield was to escape myself, but only to implicated me more. How could I introduce her as my girlfriend or whatever, when I knew nothing about her, or who she was.

And my grandfather wasn't someone who joke around, he was dead serious when he said he would do something. His threats were never mere words, which meant I would be losing my position soon if I refuse to take any action. I pressed my lips together as I tried to think of what to do.

Then a thought came up my mind. What if I managed to convince her with money and made her pretend to be my fiancee? That would surely buy me sometime. But as I stared at her, I doubted that she could be brought; she didn''t seem poor. I had to find something else which I could use to get her interest, but what could that be?

I snapped a photo of her face with my phone and immediately sent it to my secretary. My phone buzzed seconds later.

“Good morning sir, you sent me a photo of a woman. What would you like me to do with it?" He asked in his usual cautious tone.

“I want you to dig out anything about her immediately. I want everything about her, don't leave out a single thing." I ordered sternly, my impatience rising. Then the line suddenly went silent.

“But, that would take some time sir. I mean, I will need to send her picture to our private investigator, and..."

“I give you an hour, no, forty-five minutes and trust me if you can't find anything about her before that time. Consider yourself sacked." I threatened and immediately he agreed.

“Right away, sir."

Then an hour later he had sent me a document containing everything about her. I sat on the chair in the room, scrolling through the document; She was a successful woman who owned some big hotel. She's engaged to a man, who was the same man I saw her with last night. And also she had a sister... My phone buzzed interrupting my moment.

“What?" I snarled.

“And one thing sir," he said, hesitantly.

“What's it?" I asked coldly.

“Our private investigator reported that an emergency broad meeting was held in the company some minutes ago, and the woman has being removed as the CEO."

“Do you know who is behind it?" I asked.

“According to him, he said it was her sister and her fiance." He said, and I let out a frustrated sigh. “But sir, do you know this woman?" He asked, but I hung the call. I hated unnecessary questions.

I looked at her where she was sleeping peacefully on the bed, wondering how she would react when she discovered out that her fiance and her sister had stabbed her in the back. I quickly shook off the thought, reminding myself that her feelings shouldn't be my concern. I was only interested in gaining leverage over her.

And now that I had finally found out what I could use to hold her, I knew for sure that she would be willing to do anything to save her position, just like I was desperate to save mine. So I would start off by pretending that what happened between us was her fault, and that way she would be hook. Though, partly it was hers because she had stirred up my desire last night.

Then I instructed my secretary to prepare a contract outlining the term of our agreement and ordered him to bring it to the hotel. He seemed surprised, but I refused to tell him anything, I didn't want any flaw in my plan.

****

I saw tears well up in her eyes and my heart tightened, then she questioned me, “What will I gain if I agree to your proposal?"

“You will gain what you lost back, and also I will give you a substantial amount of money as a compensation." I told her, trying to sound persuading, but she shook her head.

“I don't need your money, I only want my company back." She replied, and stood still for some moment, contemplating on my proposal. Then finally she nodded, a courageous look settled on her face.

“Okay, let have a deal." She said, walking back to the bed and sat down, her gaze locking on mine.

“Okay..." I said, and handling the contract to her.

She read it thoroughly, her brows creased in concentration. She read it multiple times, her eyes scanning the pages over and over again with a great intensity that made me shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

“Aren't you ready?" I asked when I noticed the hesitation in her eyes.

“No, I am." She answered and I gave her the pen. But before signing it, she looked up at me, and I saw a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes. “Why do you want a contract marriage? When you are a good catch for many woman?"

“I thought you read it clearly that we mustn't pry into each other's life." I replied coldly, trying to keep my emotions in check. “All you needed to do was act like my wife and I will help you get your position back"

“But I haven't signed the paper yet," she retorted, and I sighed annoyingly. This woman would be a headache for me, or maybe I should find someone else.

“It's okay if you don't want to sign it." I said, wanting to reach for the paper, but she pulled it away from my reach.

“Who told you I am not interested?" She asked. “I am desperate to get it back, I have something which I must achieve before I leave." She said, making my brows furrowed in a confusion.

“Leave?" I repeated, arching an eyebrow as I was confused about what she was talking about. This had been the second time she would be saying the word. “What do you...?"

“I thought you said we mustn't pry into each other's life." She cut me off immediately, using my statement against me.

This woman would definitely cause me a headache. I concluded.

She signed the paper and handled it back to me.

“Now tell me, who are you? And how are you going to get my shares back?" She asked, her eyes boiling into mine.

“Have you ever heard the name The knight before?" I asked, and silently watched as her eyebrows creased in a confusion. “I'm Steven Knight." I announced proudly, and I saw how her expression remained still for some moment, before her face lit up.

It seemed that she finally knew who I was.