The door to the room opened and Connell sat up on the small hospital bed, he had been here for close to three weeks now and they finally told him he could be discharged tomorrow. His wife, Lorenza just left the hospital this morning, for a change of clothes, she was quite supportive the whole time he was still at risk. He was expecting his nurse but it seemed like his visitor was different. His face softened with relief when his eyes met the cold blue eyes of his visitor.“Smile a little, Sebastian.” He urged as he supported his back with a pillow and sighed, Sebastian’s glare deepens as he strolled further into the room. “You look like you were forced to come here.”“I was,” He confessed with a lift of the end of his mouth. “Mother threatened me.” Sebastian stepped closer to the bedside and took out the flower vase, he pulled out the withered flowers and then arranged the white roses he bought inside the now empty vase. “Your mother also forced you to buy me flowers?” He queri
Crystal was seated on her bed, leisurely brushing her hair, when the door opened and Kayden came in.“Hey!” She yelled as she jumped up from her bed, she was in nothing but her night dress, so she was quite embarrassed. “You should knock before you come into other people’s rooms!”He chuckled darkly, a kind of laugh that she remembers all too well, she freezes when she caught a glimpse of his face again and noticed that it isn’t Kayden; she could feel a very familiar sense of displeasure oozing from him.“How on earth did you find me here?” she asked with a little tremble from some of her limbs, she tried to run but it was as though her legs weighed like tons of bricks. The heavy feeling of dread and despair overwhelmed her and she fell to the ground.Her lips quivered when she heard his heavy footsteps that approached her, unable to move, he gripped her hair tightly, and he yanked her head backward to take a proper look at her face.“Do you think you can run away from me?” somehow
Crystal angrily walks out of Kayden’s office leaving him quite a bit confused; he was expecting her to turn his offer down especially since she seemed to have a lot of pride. She was just full of surprises, and he liked it, she gave him the opportunity to exert his power, however he likes it. Crystal bumped into a lady on her way out of Kayden’s office; the lady stumbled for a bit before she was able to catch her balance. “Mrs. Smith, please pardon me.” Laurie said with an unsure voice, her body was tensed it was as if she wasn’t comfortable with Crystal’s company. “I didn’t notice you were there.”“No, it’s fine,” Crystal said with an uneasy smile, as the memory of her threats flooded her, she was sure Laurie hated her. “I’m equally to be blamed.”“If you would excuse me,” Laurie said as she tried to maneuver her way pass Crystal but Crystal was quick to stop her. “Laurie,” she called and Laurie stopped in her tracks immediately. “Yes, Mrs. Smith.” She answered in a small voic
“Ms. Laurie,” Crystal called Kayden’s secretary with a small smile, Laurie look up at her from underneath the desk, it seemed as though she was looking for something. As soon as her eyes met with Crystal’s she got up in a hurry, adjusting her skirt as she sat. “Is there any problem, Mrs. Smith?” “Is Mr. Smith in his office?”She asked curiously and more politely, she had promised herself that she would never overlook Laurie’s importance in the office anymore; if she ever has a reason to see Kayden, she would wait if necessary and leave if Laurie tells her to. “Yes he is.” She answered as she sat properly in her seat. “Shall I call him to tell him that you would like to see him?”“Yes please.” She said with a small smile and they both watched Laurie reached for the intercom and she called Kayden’s office; she paused for a while, as it rang.“Hello,” she answered, she was holding the phone closely to her ears. “Mrs. Smith and her assistant is here to see you sir” She glanced up a
“I’ll prove to you that I’m worthy of working here.” She said confidently, breaking the silence that had settled upon them and Kayden raised a suspicious curious brow eyebrow at her as he snaps the papers in his hands shut. She sounded pretty confident, so much that it irked him, he shifted in his seat and he glanced out of the car window; he would prefer to ride in silence but she had been talking a lot today; he wasn’t sure if he was talking to him or to herself. “You are going to one day appreciate the fact I came to you for work.” “Is that so?” He asked curiously as the car began to slow in front of the company. “Then you should hurry up and start designing; you don’t know what might satisfy me.” She opened the door and she hopped out first, she was about to leave when she heard him call her name. “Crystal…” she swung her hair, glancing at him from over her shoulder. “Good luck.”She didn’t know why Kayden wished her luck, even though he sounded nice, she was still un
Crystal wouldn’t stop pacing about their workshop, she had a lot of confidence before their presentation but when it was time, she was so nervous; Paige was gathering all the necessary things they would need for their presentation. “Don’t worry, Crystal. Everything will be fine.” She assured her friend with a heartwarming smile. “You told me to be confident in your skills; did you lose your confidence just now?” Everything seemed wrong, she got a feeling that it wouldn’t work out and she doesn’t know why. “Calm down, Crystal.” Paige’s voice came back again to help soften the anxiety-filled atmosphere. “We’ve done our best.” “Yeah, you’re right. We should get going.” They made their way to the board room, to get this over with, the closer they got to the room the louder Crystal’s heartbeat got. “We were about to send for you again,” Kayden remarks slightly irritated, as soon as they got in. Everyone was ready for the presentation, she distributed photocopies of their design
“Crystal I’ve had enough of your childish attitude, come out already.” Paige snapped already feeling impatient, it has been hours since Crystal disappeared and has refused to come out. “You can’t stay in there forever and you know that.” Crystal was too ashamed to face Paige, she was sat on the toilet bowl, tears leaking from her eyes and dropping on her phone that she placed on her laps. She was sure it was someone who cleared the video and replaced it with the stupid tutorial. It was Kayden, she was wrong to have trusted him, she did all she could to make sure something like this doesn’t happen, and yet he was one step ahead of her and he had acted when she least expected it. She squeezed her hands in frustration and fresh tears made its way to her eyes; he just wouldn’t stop until she has finally gone mad. He wanted her to be his housewife, even though she had a lot of dreams for herself, he wants to punish her by making her handicap and unable to reach her goals. That bas
“Go on your knees, beg me, and grovel at my feet.” He laughs hysterically. “Maybe if you’re miserable enough I will help you.” It sounded like a threat Crystal couldn’t help but shiver from the intensity of his voice; there was no doubt in her anymore, it was now obvious that he is insane. Since she had chosen to swallow her pride and beg him, this was nothing. She drops to her knees and bows her head to the ground; this is nothing she had gone through even worse things. “Please.” She whispered Kayden moved in his seat and took out his wine glass, he sips from it feeling somewhat accomplished. “Please let Paige continue to work with you.’ “Make it sound sincere, there are no emotions in your voice.” He corrected sternly. “You are not sounding miserable enough to make me pity you.” Crystal raised her head to give him a questioning look, there was no sense of remorse in him. Kayden smirked at her when glared at him; even though she wanted to do it; her body wasn’t cooperating wit
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