Chapter 4

Ariel then got up from bed and headed straight to the door.

A familiar figure appeared in her front, she squinted trying to place the memory.

“Hello Ms, I am here to get you, please kindly follow me.” The man uttered.

Now she could remember vividly judging with the voice. Anya stood at her back staring at the thought provoking looking man too.

‘Bang!’

Ariel hastily shut the door back.

“The man that handed me the card.” She said as she widened her eyes in disbelief.

“Omg! Get dressed, put on back your clothes and follow him.” Anya suggested.

“Give her five minutes.” Anya opened the door back. To her surprise the man didn't move an inch, he stood there patiently.

His face was hidden behind sunglasses, not allowing them to be able to read his expression.

In a few minutes Ariel was done, then took her CV, Anya quickly handed her two toasts to stay stabilised. She followed the man who came along with three other men who dressed like him.

Anya watched as the Black Audi A8 went into disappearance with her friend.

‘Sigh’ She exhaled deeply.

“Luck is on your side girl, break a leg.” She murmured to herself and went back Inside.

The car came to a stop at the front of a hotel. Ariel furrowed her brows trying to calculate why she was brought to a hotel and not the address she was given.

At that point she started feeling unsafe but couldn't bring herself to ask them why they are here because of how sacry they all look.

Her desperation for a job made her shook it off her mind. She followed them in and they all came to a stop at the front of a room tagged 305.

One of the men swiped the door with a card and it opened.

“Go in Ms.” He ordered Ariel.

“Hun? I sh…should go in?” The nervousness in her tone could be heard in her question.

The man didn't respond but held the door knob waiting for her to go in.

Ariel subconsciously blinked and nodded in agreement. She entered, held her CV tight to her chest.

The sound of the door being shut closed made her jacked, as she felt her heart flew away. She stood at the door front, scanning the room.

“You are 4 hours and 37 minutes late.” A voice broke the silence in the room.

Ariel flinched at the sudden voice, a flicker of curiosity ignited in her eyes as she sought the speaker.

At a corner seated a man who sat powerfully on an armchair. His long legs were crossed above each other, his hands intertwined and placed powerfully above his knees.

His posture gave the room a caution atmosphere.

For about a minute, Ariel couldn't come to her normal self as she sensed fear and power in the room.

“Move closer and have your seat.” Johny ordered.

Ariel concurred, but her legs betrayed her as she felt her them heavy which made her staggered.

Johny could see the nervousness and restlessness in her steps.

“What is your name?”

“Ariel…Ariel Richmond.” She responded.

“Hmm I am Johny Lucas.” He uttered.

“You wasted my time however, I won't waste your time, let's get straight to business.” Johny said as he reached for a file in a drawer.

“I never intended to not show up, something came up on my way there.” Ariel apologetically explained.

Johny didn't respond but put the file on the table and slided it across, followed by a pen and an utterance. “Marry me” He said.

Ariel's hands came to a halt upon hearing the statement. She shifted her gaze up and locked eyes with him.

Her eyebrows squinted in disbelief “What did you say?” She asked for certainty.

“You heard me right.” Johny responded, his eyes remained calm and emotionless staring intensely at Ariel's.

“Read what the offer comes with.” He signaled on the file in front of her front.

Ariel took the file to read, her brain was in chaos with her heart. Her expectation was to be given a job not get flashily entangled with a stranger.

Her eyes darkened at the amount she was being offered.

~30 million dollars!?”~ She thought inwardly.

She eyed scrolled down the contract to read further.

“Act like your wife for three months!?” She asked in confusion.

“Yes, am I asking for too much? In a blink of an eye 90 days would reach.”

“Hmmm…no, not at all.” She responded, blinking uncontrollably. At that moment she didn't know if it would be of a great fortune for her or a devil's grasps in an angel’s rescue.

She was done reading but still in a dilemma. Her head whooshed in confusion. “I came here to get a job, not to get married. I can't do this, this is insane!” She exclaimed and slammed the file on the table in disagreement to the offer.

Johny chuckled softly at her expectation.

“Your job is to be my wife for three months, then we end the contract afterward. No string attached.”

She stared at him trying to read him but Johny's expression remained unreadable.

“I'm getting impatient” He signaled on the pen, like asking her to sign the contract.

“Do I have to do this?” She groaned. Her tone was pitiful and wavy. She gripped the pen and the file tightly.

“Then do you have to be concerned about your son’s health care? Think about it, how sure are you that he'd survive if care is not taken?” Johny said, applying a soft grin on his lips.

Ariel's head robotically snapped towards Jonny, her face turned horror, her mouth hanging open in a grotesque parody of shock. Her blood ran cold, some thin layers of sweat appeared on her palms.

At that point she thought of how she got traced to her place.

~Who is this man? How did he know I have a kid? How did he know where I live.~ She questioned inwardly, with an intense stare at Johny.

He could read in her eyes the questions she wanted to ask.

“You're safe dear, I got you trailed when you left me hanging at the restaurant.” Johny answered her unsaid questions.

“So what do you say?” He asked, giving her a cold yet intimidating look.

~something is fishy, why three months, what is his motion!?~ She thought inwardly however, she was left with no choice as the desperation to care for her child swallowed her.

“I will sign it.” She murmured.

Johny nodded in satisfaction to her response. An evil grin formed on his lips.

Ariel rolled her eyes at his exasperating look. She signed the contract and stood up hastily to exit the room.

“It's late already, I will have my chauffeur drive you home.”

“Alright” She agreed.

“Be ready to leave for Las Vegas this coming week. I will send someone to get you and your stuff.”

Ariel's hair prickled with alarm, her ears flicked in response to the danger in Johny's announcement.

Her body tensing up……….

“What…what did you say? Las…Las Ve..Vegas?”

Her legs buckled beneath her, sending her crashing back into the chair. Her face turned the color of fire, her eyes twitching uncontrollably, her breath coming in short and hot, panicked gasps.

Regret clawed at her, drowning her in a sea of despair, If only she could undo her fatal mistake. How she yearned for time to be reversed; however, it is impossible. Her heart became heavy with the weight of her irrevocable decision.

~What have I done to myself, what sort of cunning game is fate playing with me?~ She yelled inwardly.

Las Vegas was a forbidden city for Ariel. A place of torment and terror to her. A place where she sustained a wound that refused to heal, a wound that left a miserable memory.

Las Vegas........... a place of nightmares and constant reminders of the darkness that had consumed her.

“Ariel are you alright?”