CHAPTER ONE

OLIVIA

The hot water running out of the shower head reminds me how late I am on my rent again, especially with my heater cut off in this cold season.

I enjoy every bit of it knowing that this gym shower was the only place I could warm up before going back to my beat down apartment to die of cold.

When I’m done I wrap a loose towel around my chest and leave the bathroom stall. If I stayed there any longer then someone was going to get suspicious that I was the one always finishing the hot water.

I dry up, putting my wet hair up in a two braids. I pull on my basket ball shorts and tank top, my sneakers going on next.

I’m about to leave when my phone rings, I look at the caller ID to see its my landlady. I decline it.

My fingers swipe across my phone to check if Jess had replied my text but it was still empty making me sigh. She was my bestfriend and my only hope of paying my rent before I’m thrown out.

Yes, this was the thousandth time I was asking her to lend me some money and promising to pay back but I hoped this was the last. Her family was rich but I wasn’t going to keep taking advantage of that and living off her. I was going to find a job and everything would be okay.

I sigh.

The gym was the only thing keeping me sane at this point. It was a good thing Jess had a free membership that I was able to use because she couldn’t hit the gym to save her life.

My rings again and I know this time I cannot decline the call.

“Hello Ms. Wang, I was not expecting your call” I say with a grimace, that was a lie. I push the gym doors open and step into the busy street, making sure not to bump into anyone.

“You have been declining my call!” She yells making me shriek and put the phone away from my ear. When I put it back on she’s yelling a bunch of Chinese that I can’t even understand so I say the only thing that comes to mind.

“I’ll have your money by weekend, I promise. You know I always pay up” I say with a sweet voice that sickens me.

“You always say this, have it before midnight today or I’m throwing you out!” She yells something else again before hanging up on me.

Tonight?

She had to be joking.

It was literally impossible to have the money before then. I glance at my watch, I barely had fifteen hours before it would hit midnight, does she expect me to rob a bank or something? Jess was still not answering my text, I just hope she’s alright.

Lost in thoughts I bump into a wall, or a wall bumps into me… I’m not quite sure which. I rub my forehead to ease the pain from the contact, only to look up to see a pair of blue eyes staring at me.

Well, it’s not a wall but a guy. How crazy would he working out to have strong muscles like that, that they almost knocked me out.

The suit he was putting on hid some of it but not quite all, I can still make out the hard planes of his shoulders and his strong arms from it.

“If you’re blind the least you can do is apologize for bumping into other people” he says, his strong jaw ticking with the little patience I had.

“Excuse you!” I exclaim “You bumped into me so you should be the one apologizing. And I’m not blind!”

“Do you also not have manners that you’re yelling in the street and disturbing a whole lot of people?” he smirks at me and I want to punch the living daylight out of him. I was already having a bad day and do not want to deal with this.

“I’m not dealing with this” I say and take deep breaths to calm myself. I step to the side to g around him when he grabs my arm.

“You need to pick these up” he gestured to the bunch of flier scattered on the floor “After all you made me drop them”

I scoff unable to believe what he was saying “You mean I should bend and pick this for you?” I ask, putting emphasis on each word.

“Yes,” he answers simply, a small grin on his face like he was enjoying our entire ordeal. Well, I wasn’t.

“Let go of me this instant” I say but he doesn’t make any move, if anything he grip on me tightens and borders on becoming painful.

“Just do as I ask and you’ll be on your way” he removes his hand but doesn’t move away.

Why is he being so stubborn about this?

“Move”

He doesn’t even seem to be bothered by the anger that is widely displayed on my face, or the deepness of my voice “No” he just says simply.

The corners of my mouth turn up in a tight smile “I just need to pick it up?” I ask sweetly which takes him aback as he takes a step backward.

“Yes?”

I nod before bending down to grab the fliers. I slowly stand up, able to see the smile on his face. He probably thinks he won.

He stretches his hand to take them from me which leaves him unprotected and vulnerable to what I’m about to do next.

Folding all my fingers in. I throw a punch directly on his face, the loud crunch I hear giving me a deadly satisfaction as his expression takes in the one of agony.

I laugh.

Hard.

“Next time don’t mess with every girl you see” I say, patting myself on the back as he cradles his nose in his palm.

Despite the pain he manages a smile “If anything you’re hardly a girl”

I’m about to throw another punch when someone holds my arm from behind. I turn to see another human wall in a suit behind me.

“I’m not sure what is going on but I apologize for his behaviour” the new guy says, his voice calming and making me drop my fist to my side. If only Mr. Asshole here was just as nice.

“Did you just call me Mr. Asshole” he exclaims, grunting from pain.

Did I say that out loud?

I put my hand on my hips “And what if I did?”. I don’t even give him a chance to reply because I text pops up on my phone and it had me screaming in terror.

Oh no! My interview!

I look between the two guys unsure of what to say so I just run as fast as my legs could go. I had just two minutes to my entire I couldn’t afford to be late, if only that wall of a man didn’t bump into me.

When I push open the door to the cafe the place is already empty and I can tell that I’m more than late for the interview. I walk straight to the counter where a girl about my age is sitting with her headphones on.

“Hello, I’m here for the interview” I fiddle with my fingers.

She pops the gum she’s chewing before raising her eyes to me like I was an annoying kid that she wanted to get rid of “They finished like an hour ago, don’t know why you even bothered showing up”

I suck in a deep breath “I can’t even see the manager. Surely there’s something that can be done for me”

She doesn’t even answer.

Just keeps chewing her gum like no one was speaking to her. I look to the little office beside the counter where I’d first met the manager and she offered me a job, if only I was early. I would have gotten that job.

Everything was going well, until wall man showed up.

I’m fuming.

And if I ever see him again he’s dead meat.

I don’t even realize I’m still holding unto the flyer until I’m standing outside the cafe and trying to hail a taxi.

The colorful fonts grab my attention and soon I’m reading it all through. By the time I’m done I’m laughing like a maniac.

Wife for hire? Definitely something someone as arrogant as him could pull off, why is he looking for a wife anyway?

What am I even asking? He goes around bumping into girls and demanding they apologize instead, who would want to be with someone like that? Besides all men were so not worth the trouble.

 I’m about to discard the fliers when something huge catches my eye. That can’t be… $20,000? That’s a lot of money. Even a half of it would solve all my problems this minute and even more.

I go through the instructions on the flyer with rapt attention this time, and it says that a lady is needed to pretend to be his wife for just three months and they would be paid handsomely with $20,000 as just the starting price and conditions are negotiable.

This had to be a dream.

How can he possibly give out this huge amount of money, and what would he even need a wife for? This is getting interesting.

My phone dings and I check it to see its a message from the bank and not Jess. This was turning into a sticky situation real quick. Why was she not answering my calls?

It was just me and my debt, in this entire city. No family, the one friend I have has most likely abandoned me to my fate. Maybe this was the end for me, I’ll move out and live under the bridge and maybe get a rich woman to fall in love with me.

This was totally not going to work.

As I went over my predicament in my head, the flyer I my hand got even more attractive. There was no harm in it, being someone’s wife didn’t seem that big of a job. I wasn’t even attracted to men so it was perfect.

No stress, for an entire twenty grand.

No! I can’t do this. But I have no other choice. Without Jess to help I was down for good this time.

I sigh.

I check the address on the flyer, there’s an interview in…five minutes? I might have missed the cafe interview but I couldn’t miss this one, it was my ticket out of hell.

With the last penny in my purse I hail a cab, it better be worth it because this was all the money that I had.

The cab stops in front of an expensive looking restaurant and I have to double check if its really the address.

It is. I stand outside the glass door and take a couple deep breaths before pushing it open. Here goes all or nothing.