Gemma looked him up and down and if there wasn't a devilish grin on her face, he might be fooled into believing that she was considering his suggestion. However, he knew from his interaction with her from the last couple of days that what was about to leave that mouth was the most venomous remark one could ever hear.
He decided to evade it. "On second thought, I will no longer be nosy." "So you do know that you are nosy." She smirked. It was not amusing. "Well, I was just worried about you, ma'am. But now that I think about it with a clear mind, even the devil is scared of you. Dealing with a nutcase detective will be a piece of cake." "The devil is afraid of me." She repeated his words with a raise of her eyebrows. "Why is that? Because I'm too innocent and good?" It was amazing that there was someone who thought so. He was definitely blind. But his next words proved that he wasn't. On the other hand, he must be the most ballsy employeeTime seemed to freeze for a moment. When Gemma came back to her senses, she steadied herself and pulled out of his arms.He held both of his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry for offending you, ma'am. If I didn't hold you, you would have fallen."He was stating the obvious but something was off with the way he said it. Why did it almost sound like he was hitting on her? She cleared her head to stop thinking nonsense and nodded. "I'll go to my room."A couple of steps later, the pain was unbearable in her ankle so she bent down and took off her heels, then she walked upstairs with more ease.His heart ached as he watched her leave. He must be the only man who wished for the woman he loved to be slightly more delicate. If she were as delicate as most wealthy women, she would not have the strength to take off her heels at that moment. She would be in so much pain that she would need help getting to her room, and he would give her just that.
Gemma felt something odd about Livian. Why did he look uncomfortable when she asked him to follow her to her room? He made it feel kind of wrong.Thinking that it was probably because he was scared that he could have done something wrong and upset her, she led the way and kept some distance so he would be comfortable. Whatever she was about to tell him was not something that could be discussed in the kitchen. Not with the Black family snooping around for ways to end her life. They could thwart her plans and before she dealt with them, it was best to be cautious.Her room was nothing like Livian imagined. He had imagined a feminine room with warm tones of gold, red and perhaps white, which would suit her taste from the past. However, her room was filled with silver and black. How cold. This was probably in line with Ethan's taste and she had not changed it. Did she love the bloke that much?She locked the door and sat on the fluffy couch, an arm's length aw
Livian made a panic run down the stairs and when he was certain that no one had followed him, he slipped into his room and shut the door before answering the phone. "Why did you call?"His assistant was taken aback by his raging tone and almost hung up in fear. He would have, if it was not an emergency."Sir, something needs your immediate attention." He nervously reported. "Mr. Parker would like you to make an appearance at the meeting with him tomorrow. Otherwise, he will no longer sign the deal with us.""Damn it." He cursed under his breath. This was a deal he had been negotiating for the past three months, he could not mess it up.For the past few days, he had been making sure to take care of company matters but he had been doing so behind the scenes, while sending his assistant to meetings that could neither be postponed nor held through conference calls. Apparently, it was not working anymore."Someone spread a rumor that you had a fatal accid
Trying out the wedding outfits was nothing like Livian had imagined. It felt magical. The gunmetal gray suit haunted him when he looked at it on the mannequin earlier, but when he wore it, the rest of the world seemed to fade away.It was just him in front of the mirror with a grin of disbelief across his face. He was really getting married to the woman he loved. For a moment, he wanted to forget that this whole charade existed. Forget that it was all fake. Forget that it would all come to an end after six months or even worse, as soon as she recognized him. The thought made his heart clench but he soon let out a breath. The most important thing right now was to make sure she didn't end up with a stranger who might as well be a swindler or a serial killer in the name of a contract marriage.What made her go down this route anyway? Knowing that he had no right to ask, he decided to be there for her nonetheless. If she ever wanted to talk about it, he would be there
"That sounds…" He didn't know what to say. He would have been happy for her knowing she and the man she loved reunited in the least expected way even after losing each other, but he couldn't. The man was an asshole."Fated?" She chuckled. "I thought we were too." She looked down into her cup."He didn't deserve you." He said in a low voice that almost sounded forced. Heaven knew how much he had wanted to say it in the last nine years. He knew that she would be angry with him so he had kept it to himself. Finally, he could say it with ease.She was surprised when he did. "How would you know that?"Crap. He had forgotten that he only knew from years of stalking her.He cleared his throat and shot up another excuse, digging himself even deeper into the mess he had created when he started lying to her. "You don't speak of him as someone you miss but as someone you hate.""Well... ironically, yeah."Maybe it was because Livian was easy t
Gemma had chosen a private garden to be the venue of their wedding. There was a cottage and a front yard that wasn't too large, filled with at least five kinds of flowers. It would have been a jumbled mess of color if the garden had not been well taken care of. The flowers were in good shape and the hedges and grass perfectly trimmed.It must be her hideaway. He loved it as soon as they arrived and to be fair, he would have loved it even if it didn't belong to her.They didn't have many guests—Cora was her bridesmaid as well as her only guest, while his guest was Heidi—the woman who had taken up the role of his grandmother when this whole charade began—and her grandson. It was a stretch to say that she and her grandson were his only family but one thing about it was true. He considered her his family.Heidi had been his nanny when he was little so he was closer to her than he was to his real family. Her grandson, Blake, had agreed to be his groomsman under
"Aren't you getting a little too much into the act?" Her eyebrows quivered when Livian placed her on the bed and proceeded to take off her heels. The room had been decorated with red roses and candles, typical of a bridal chamber. It was his idea and of course, it was too real for a contract wedding.The light illuminated the side of his face, accentuating his handsome profile as he took her foot to gently massage it. "You asked me to put on a realistic act. How can it look realistic if I don't act like a normal husband would?"A chuckle escaped her lips. "Do normal husbands massage their wive's feet at random occasions?"Her question made a frown settle on his lips. "Why are you certain that they don't?""That's something dream husbands do and let's be real. They don't exist." She looked indifferent about it. "If we are both working and I'm tired after a long day of work, then so is he. I don't expect any special treatment just because I'm
Not catching the hint of mischief in his tone, she proceeded to open the next box. The content was a ruby bracelet. If she wasn't lost in admiring it, she would have realized that the man beside her had tensed up while waiting for her reaction.She ran her fingers along it gently. "This is beautiful. I don't and don't know who the sender is but it looks familiar."He swallowed beside her. Of course it was familiar. He had given it to her as a gift on her nineteenth birthday. She had worn it for a while before he spoke ill of Ethan, then she'd returned it to him as a sign that she no longer wanted anything to do with him.He watched quietly as she checked it over and over. Part of him wanted her to figure it out, but part of him dreaded the outcome. What would happen once she found out? Would she kick him out? It was too soon for that to happen…But then again, she was going to figure it out sooner or later and she would be mad at hi
Wendy had her eyes shut when he opened the bathroom door."What's the result?" He asked.She didn't intend to tell him without playing a guessing game with him, which he quickly found out. Luckily, it was only a two choice option."Is it positive?" He asked hopefully. She shook her head.His mood dimmed in the slightest but he still asked, "Is it negative?"She shook her head, and he was baffled. Was she going to make him have a gazillion options even though it was a question of yes or no?He tried again. "Were you unable to take the test?"She shook her head to that too, and he was about to ma
It had been several weeks since Mia learned the truth about the past but it was not in the slightest bit easier to bear. It was still hard to imagine that the woman she had hated all her life was also the one who had saved her life. She had not had the courage to tell Carlos about it. Maybe he already knew the truth but kept it to himself. It was probably one of the things that would become clear with time and she was not willing to pry into them before they naturally unfolded. It made her feel guiltier because they were growing closer by the day.They had agreed to be friends but spent a lot of time together, doing things that friends definitely wouldn't ever do—not that she was complaining.On Friday evening, she went to his office as soon as she clocked out. This was how it had been for weeks. He would either seek her or she would seek him, every day. They would either have dinner together or he would drop her off. On weekends—like today—they would coo
“What in the world…” Gemma was rendered speechless by the insanity she had just heard. “Why the hell would such a rule even exist?”The elderly lawyer had no definite answer to that, because it was not he who had written the will nor had he set the rules that his granddaughter was finding absurd. He could only hypothesize. “The old man didn't want his bloodline to go extinct. He had to set some rules, and you are lucky that he did not specify that you must have a son before inheriting his estate.”Gemma sighed when she imagined that such a thing was possible. She had not known her grandfather when he was alive, because her family was yet to find her when he passed away. From the tales she had heard about him from her parents and grandmother, she knew that setting such an absurd rule did sound like something he would do.Even so, it still made no sense when she thought about it. “But I'm a w
Mia translated the document and while she didn't think there was anything secretive about it that would make Carlos unable to give it to someone else, she got the work done within the deadline nonetheless. It was the only way to get him to stop seeking trouble. She hated having to do everything he asked of her but he was the boss and there was nothing she could do about it. At least not yet.He was still sitting at his desk when she returned."That took you half an hour,." He remarked when he saw her.She placed the folder on his desk. "I'm done." She muttered, wondering why he sounded like he was complaining when he had given her two hours. She had not even taken up half of the allocated time. Was he going to scold her for being too fast?"Thank you." He half whispered. It was the first time he was appreciating anything she did and she was baffled."You're welcome." She smiled. He was smiling back at her and for the first time as well. She not
She thought he would ask to spend more days of the week with her or something along the lines but what he said surprised her."Promise me that you will sue Declan and that you will definitely go through with it no matter what happens."She frowned. "How is that paying you back? It's in my favor either way." She looked at him in confusion. Did he have a misunderstanding about the meaning of paying back?"It does pay me back. It's a win-win situation for both you and me."She thought hard about it and still couldn't understand how that was remotely possible."Is it because the man who hurt the woman you love will be behind bars and you will no longer have to see his face around? or, do you have personal grudges with him? Are you planning to use his term in prison as a way to end him?He smiled at her vivid imagination. "It's nothing of the sort. Well, those would be added benefits of putting him behind bars but the main reaso
"You are so beautiful." Livian ran his hand down her shoulder and kissed her cheek. She would have thought that he was just saying it to get on her good side but when she met his gaze, she had to believe that he truly meant it. His eyes were filled with adoration and if it was humanly possible, his attraction for her seemed to have intensified after what they had just done.She purred like a comfortable kitten when he kissed her cheek. She was lying against his chest with her body half sprawled against his. She pulled her knee up against his thigh and it drove him crazy. He groaned in pleasure."You are insatiable." She chuckled. They had done it twice in a row and she was beginning to realize that it didn't take much for him to be hard again.He wrapped his arms around her waist and chuckled against her neck. "Who am I to blame for that? If the wife is too sweet, is it the husband's fault that he got addicted to her sweetness?"She looked
Liam and Wendy had a shotgun wedding and it was baffling to everyone. The first thing they had to do was fulfill a part of the contract, which was for Wendy to make an appearance in the Dumont family as his wife.Their plan was to pass off as a real couple but they were shocked when they found out that Gemma was not falling for it."The two of you broke up two years ago, didn't you?" She questioned them."We reconciled and realized that we didn't want to risk losing each other again, so we decided to get married." Liam held her hand.Gemma chuckled. "Or, Liam had his assistant get him a suitable wife for hire so he would be able to access the trust fund from his great grandmother and since his assistant couldn't get a suitable woman, you decided that it would be more believable if it was you and him getting married." Gemma teased."That's not…" Wendy didn't know how to defend herself."It's okay. It's perfectly
She was certain that if she chose to agree to the contract marriage, the money she would earn would be enough to pay all her debts including her rent. Forget paying rent. Even if she wanted to purchase the entire estate and kick the landlady out of the apartment complex, she would have the power to do so.She was only in such a predicament because she had a falling out with her parents and decided to leave.It was impossible to count the number of bosses and managers who had tried to take advantage of their position to sexually harass her.Even so, she did not regret her decision, nor was she going to bend her will for that man. She shrugged. Many of her problems would be solved once she received her salary from the diner.After eating her snacks, she took a shower and prepared to go to bed.…It was already 7pm and the traffic couldn't get any crazier. Wendy was already an hour late for her evening shift and she kne
Evenings were the busiest time of the day at the diner and when Wendy was finally done with her work for the day, it was already 7pm. Even so, she couldn't leave until her replacement who would be working the night shift arrived since it was a 24 hour restaurant.She glanced at her pocket watch in irritation. Alma, that bitch, was late again. What irked her was the fact that she knew Alma disliked her and she was doing it on purpose like she always did whenever she had to take over the night shift from Wendy.Clara had already changed out of her work uniform and sent it to the laundry, so she was ready to go. She offered a smile at Wendy as she made her way towards the back door. "Want to go home together? My boyfriend will pick me up. We can give you a ride. Go on and change, I'll wait for you."Wendy looked up from the orders she was preparing for a couple and their daughter, returning the smile. "It's alright. I'll take the subway." She was gratef