The continuous beeping of some sort of machine woke Crystal up, and as soon as she opened her eyes; they absorb the bright white lights of the room. She shut her eyes slightly, wincing in pain, she opened them again and noticed that she seemed to be in a hospital, the pungent smell of drugs made her even more sick than she already is. She groaned the only thing she felt in her body was pain; a body ripping pain She groaned as she tried to get up, when I felt something heavy against her neck and one of her leg was casted and hanged in the air. She hissed in frustration, when she noticed she was handicap.What the hell happened? Yes, she received an anonymous text that told her to come to the rooftop and she was pushed down the stairs. She could not even move her head to the side that was when she noticed that there was a heavy cast around her neck. Suddenly, the door opened and Kayden came in his brow furrowed in a long frown, he looked in her direction with an irri
“Madam Smith, you need to let us wash you. Mr. Smith said, you had not taken your bath in two weeks and you stink.” her eyes widened in embarrassment, was that what he said? That bastard… “I don't stink, I only smell like drugs.” She defended herself, she held the top of her dress together, they had tried to force her to take the dress off, but because she was struggling too much they left her alone and tried to convince her with words. She clutched the dress even closer to her chest, preventing Petra, Sheryl, or anyone else from touching her. “Come on, you have to wash up.” Petra said with a small frown on her forehead, her worry increasing as the time passes. “I can do that myself.” She insisted. “No, you can't.” Petra yelled again, now very frustrated by her attitude, there was literally nothing to be embarrassed about, because they were all women. “Mr. Smith carefully gave us order to make you clean.” Petra moved closer to her again and as she reached for Crystal again,
“Can I speak to you for a minute, Paige?” Kayden asked as soon as Paige left Crystal's room, she jolted in surprise, because she wasn’t expecting to see him right in front of the bedroom door. She let out a sigh from relief when she noticed that it was just Kayden and not some ghost that she had imagined in her head. “It’s pretty late right now and I don’t think you can go home. So, I suggest you just stay in the guest room.” He said as he folded his arms across his chest, he stared down at her, a mischievous glint in his eyes; he noticed her initial surprise and felt it was comical, he didn’t laugh obviously but his expression was equally mockingly. She was exactly like Crystal in so many ways. “No, I’m fine.” Paige said with steel like expressions, she didn’t know how long he had been silently waiting in front of the door like a predator, and she wasn’t so sure if he had heard anything they discussed. “I need to go home, I still live with my parents and they must be so worr
“Can I come in?” Crystal popped her head from the door, her blue eyes resting on both Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the smell of antiseptic and disinfectant in the hospital room filled the air as she entered, Mr. Smith was laid on the hospital bed, shrouded by crisp white sheets. The tubes and wires connected to machines wound their way from their source to the wrists of the poor old man. He was plopped up on a stack of pillows, his face was pale and sickly and shadows of exhaustion clung beneath his eyes, and as soon as he saw her, his eyes narrowed from a smile. “Crystal, how are you?” Lorenza asked with a small smile, she got up from where she was seated and strolled towards Crystal, Paige was supporting her from the side; it hasn’t even been one week since she got rid of the cast away from her neck and her leg but she was already up and doing. “Should you be walking around like this?” Mr. Connell asked curiously as he watched Crystal limp towards them. Lorenza pulled her into a wa
“Miss Smith, you should come downstairs for lunch.” Petra said with a small smile, Crystal had been sketching all day, she was so engrossed in what she was doing that she didn’t notice it when Petra opened the door or when she came in. Petra loved her diligence, even while she was sick she requested to be handed her drawing tablet. “What are you drawing?” Petra whispered into her ears and Crystal jolts in surprised and quickly hugged her drawing tablet to her chest, but Petra had already gotten a glimpse of it. “Petra, I didn’t know you were here.” She answered with an uneasy smile, hoping that Petra didn’t see it, or she would think the worst. “Is that Kayden you are drawing?” She probed with a burgeoning excitement and Crystal felt a small flush on her cheeks, she had been caught. “Let me see.”“Don’t tell anyone. ” She warned first and Petra did the sign as if she zipped her mouth, that was the only time Crystal was able to trust her and show her the drawing. “Yes, it is Kayde
Sebastian rushed through the hallway but he found his mother sitting outside the room, on the visitors chair, her face was buried in her palms, he knew she was crying. He stopped for a while before he walks up to her quietly. “Mom,” He called her softly and she glanced up at him, the little details of her face, just like her ears, her eyes and the tip of her nose, all of them were now red. It was probably from crying too much. “Sebastian.” She stood up as well and he knew that she craved comfort, he pulled her into a big hug and she held unto him tightly as she cried into his chest. “Connell left me, he left me.” “I’m sorry mom. “ He said unable to form other words or other thoughts, even though Mr. Connell was very sick he never believed he could die, after all he was a strong man; he was supposed to get discharged tomorrow but he died in the morning. “What am I going to do without him, Sebastian, how am I going to live?” She asked and at this point Sebastian was also as c
“I would go with you.” Crystal said drying her eyes, she can’t believe that Mr. Connell was dead; she spoke to him on the phone with Petra just the previous day. “I want to come as well.”“No, you should stay here.” He said with the same cold expressionless face from minutes ago. “I will go to the hospital and come back.”“But I want to—“ He interrupted her sharply with a bang to the wall, she flinched sharply. “Just stay back and do as you are told!” He yelled his eyes narrowing in anger; she had never seen him lose his composure that much before. “He’s not your father, so don’t even try to pretend to care, you can shed your crocodile tears in your room!” That was the last he said before he left and Crystal broke down again, in tears, and almost immediately Petra came running in with a tears in her eyes also; Kayden probably told her. She got down on her knees as well, and held he hands. “I heard about Mr. Connell.” She said before pulling Crystal into a heartwarming hug, the
As if common sense or reasoning would ever stop Kayden from looking down on Crystal, it has been two months since Mr. Smith died and it was as though everyone had moved on fast. Occasionally, Crystal thought about him, and how sad he always was when it comes to his family, she felt sorry for him. She doesn’t wish to involve herself any further, for the sake of her mental health; Kayden didn’t mind making her lose her mind, especially since he has been so demanding from her at work recently. It makes her feel like his hatred for her increased since his father’s death. Or it could be that it was because of his father that he was being nice to begin with, she didn’t even know what to think anymore… it is none of her business. “Crystal,” Deborah called from the doorway, Crystal glanced up at her from the desk she rested her head on. Deborah had a worried look on her face and she came inside with a grim expression on her face, Deborah didn’t need to talk, she could already tell wha
Alright! *drops pen* This is a special shoutout to everyone who turned the pages over, this is my first book (the first one I ever took seriously lol) and I'm glad it's not that bad. *hehe* Thank you so much for reading, commenting, venting your concerns, voting, and supporting "My Contract Marriage." Your opinions were appreciated and valued and it was just enough for me to go on as a writer. Y'all are my special babies and I won't forget this beautiful ride. Will it have a sequel? Probably. I hope to write more books in the future, so please stay tuned. My favorite character in the book is Sebastian, hehe, you should see more of him in the sequel (If I ever take my life seriously *hehe*). Thanks once again for supporting this book and staying with me through its rough times. xoxo
“Would it be a surprise if I told you?” He teased, pulling some stubborn strands of her hair away from her face and feeling up the soft skin of her face with his long thin fingers.“Don’t you think this is too much?” She asked, staring in the distance, her feelings overwhelming her. “It’s too much for me.”“I don’t think it’s enough.” He answered, and Crystal looked around once more. “Not enough?” she asked herself internally, what did he mean by it isn’t enough? She pinched the insides of her palms, hoping she would wake up from the unreal dream.“You deserve to have this and more. This is not enough for someone like you.”“But why?” it was still unbelievable. This building was worth millions, yet she couldn’t understand why Kayden thought she was worthy to have something of the sort. “I don’t know how to pay Mrs. Darling back, nor do I know how did I ever deserve to get such a gift?”“You don’t have to pay her back, however, you can also pay her back by doing exceptionally good in
Kayden glanced at Crystal who was staring outside the window with a rather unhappy look on her face, he was concerned because she had not spoken a word to him since the beginning of the ride, and he couldn’t help but feel that she was either angry or sad.“What’s making the birthday girl so sad?” He quizzed with a teasing smile as he controlled the steering wheel professionally, but Crystal didn’t glance back at him as much, which was even more suspicious.“It’s nothing.” She muttered and even after some seconds passed, she was still staring outside, yeah, she was mad at him, but what did he do? He had no clue what he had done wrong. Is she mad he was celebrating her birthday?That didn’t seem to be the case, she was just fine a few seconds ago, what could be the problem? He glanced back at her worriedly. “Did I do something wrong?” He guessed but she didn’t reply to him. “Crystal?”“No, you didn’t,” her response resembled that of a doll with missing batteries and Kayden’s eyebrows
"Are we not going to work?" Crystal asked as she climbed the stairs and headed towards the dining area. She noticed that Kayden, who was usually dressed by this time, was sitting at the dining table in his pajamas, drinking his morning coffee. Crystal glanced at her wristwatch and realized that it was way past their usual resumption time. She quickly opened her calendar app to confirm that today was not a weekend or a public holiday.They were already late, because even though she tried to get him out of bed, he wanted to cuddle a bit more, and she also couldn’t resist his charms.Instead of their usual breakfast foods, Petra and the other maids arranged the table with sweets, scones, and a baked turkey.“What?” she asked curiously. “Is this for Thanksgiving or something?”Crystal sat down on the chair next to Kayden. “Do you not know what day today is?” Petra asked, taking the words right out of Kayden’s mouth.“No, is something going on today?” She asked him curiously, and Kayden c
The sounds of birds chirping filled Crystal’s ears, she turned to the other side of the bed, her hands instinctively reaching for the pillows to block her ears; she turned away again, and this time it was the sunlight that was in her sight, she picked the other pillow to shield her eyes.Suddenly, she was pulled against a sturdy chest, the skin of which was smooth and enticing. She snuggled closer to him, relishing in the comfort from the heat his body radiated.It felt like she was floating on a cloud, she opened one of her eyes to observe his beautiful face, Kayden’s eyes were closed as he slept peacefully, and for a moment she wished time stopped so she could remain like this forever.It was peaceful.“I can’t sleep properly if you keep fiddling about the bed.” He murmured against her ears, smoldering her cheeks with kisses even though he was still half asleep.“I think it's morning though.” She noticed returning the small kisses to him as well, placing her head against his chest a
“I told you I am fine.” Sebastian scolded Lorenza, his mother because she had been complaining about his health ever since she got to the hospital. She cried about thirty minutes before he was able to convince her that he wasn’t going to die.“What do you think I am going to do if you had died?” The door opened and Crystal ambled inside with a tray of food in her hands, for the three days he had been here, Crystal hadn’t left the hospital. “How do you think I will survive?”“Mom, I told you that I wouldn’t die from such a shallow stab wound… It would be laughable.” Sebastian muttered and Crystal scrunched up her nose in disgust, as she neared the bed.“I told you not to speak like that again.” Crystal scolded glaring down at him, he used the same words Kayden used when she was worried about him. “What part of your death would be comical to us?”“I am pretty sure some people would find it funny, especially Kayden.” Sebastian pouted “That’s no way a man should die.” Lorenza rolle
Crystal’s eyes fluttered open when she heard a pained growl that came from Jake, when her eyes opened, he was on the ground, with Sebastian’s heavy boots placed against Jake’s head.“Crystal!” She turned in the other direction, and she saw Kayden heading toward her in fast strides, he pulled her as he got down on one knee and his silver eyes narrowed when he noticed her busted lips and swollen eyes. He reached for her face and caressed her in his palms, she felt fresh tears well up in her eyes, and his frown deepened when he noticed the narrow cut on her neck, it was terrible, even though shallow.Kayden didn’t want to imagine what would have happened to her if they got there any second later, the bastard had a knife to her delicate throat, as though she was a piece of vegetable, why would someone be so evil?“I-I’m sorry,” she whispered and his frown deepened, for what reason is she apologizing? “Kayden…” She reached for him and pulled him into a hug, he noticed that she was tre
Trigger WarningThis chapter contains some violence, please read it at your discretion.Crystal thought to herself, she had to clarify the misunderstanding, probably this anonymous sender was planning to send those gifts to someone else and there must have been a mix-up in the addresses… She wasn’t close with any middle-aged man, so why did he keep sending her letters and gifts? She was only lucky Kayden had moved her out of his office, he would be so worried by now, that’s why she would meet with this old man and tell him to stop. She was able to get out of the company and proceed to the parking lot without being noticed by anyone; at least not anyone close enough to follow her.She stood out in the open, her eyes met by the very bright lights of the underground parking lots, that almost blinded her. She stood there rigidly in one spot for about a minute or two, unsure of what to do or where to go, and there was no one in sight too.The letter didn’t give much details, it simpl
Sunlight creeps into the bedroom from the slightly opened blinds in the room, warming up Crystal’s face, she stirred being disturbed by the light. She felt something heavy on her waist and she glanced up to be met by a pair of silver eyes staring intently at her.“Hic…” she gasped softly when she realized she had been sleeping against Kayden’s chest, she could hear his heart beating in slow steady rhythms, he pulled her closer with a smug satisfaction on his face, his heavy arms on her back.“Good morning,” He murmured his voice still husky with sleep, Crystal flushed red from his seductive bedroom voice, and unable to form words, she nodded at him. “Did you sleep well?”“Y-yes,” she answered with a slight tremble in her voice, it was unbelievable, who would have thought that one day she and Kayden; would be lying down in her bed, naked and tangled underneath the sheets? “How long have you been awake?”“For a while now,” He confessed and he reached to feel the soft skin of her fac