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
The car slowed down and then the driver drove them into the premises of Kayden’s mansion. Kayden noticed he was home already so he put his phones away, his eyes was already laced with sleep, he heard a small whimper and he turned towards Crystal. It seemed like she was having a nightmare, she had the nerve to fall asleep in his car and then have nightmares.“Crystal, I definitely warned you and told you clearly that you cannot fall asleep in my car.” Her heard her whimper softly, she wasn’t making any attempt to stand up even though she seemed to be half awake. “Get out of my car.” Her breathing became even more labored and her eyes flitted open, her face had paled; she stared at him as if she was going to say something but she didn’t say anything. “Is this some way of getting attention from me?” he asked curiously still maintaining eye contact. “I’m sorry, I’m used to not giving a fuck.” She turned her head away from him weakly, her hands reaching for the car door. Sh
“Kayden’s wife?” The old man asked again as he came forward, his grey eyes probing her and a satisfied smile was plastered on his face. “From the way you’re looking, I’m very sure, Kayden never spoke about me.” He stepped inside and the lady followed behind him, the maid gathered their bags and brought them inside. “I am Connell Smith, Kayden’s father, and your father-in-law.” He said with a heavy grin plastered on his face; he seemed to be very excited about meeting her. Kayden had never discussed anything private with her and with the way Mr. Smith was reacting, it seemed like he didn’t know their marriage was that of convenience. “Mr. Smith, I have heard so much about you from…” she trailed off her eyes meeting Petra who was in the back and was giving her signs. “From Petra, I’m glad I finally get to meet you today.” “She is such a sweet child,” Lorenza said and her eyes flitted to meet the beautiful old lady; Kayden looked nothing like his mother, her night-black hair and blu
Crystal stared back with him, her brain unable to form words and then suddenly he pulled her by the arms and drag her upstairs with him, she didn’t protest, she knew better than to cause a scene.“I want to have a small discussion with my wife.” He told his parents as he pulled her along with him; he opened the door to his room and he pushed her in and slammed her into the nearest wall.She gasped from the suddenness, her back colliding with the hard wall. “What the hell are you doing to my father?” The surprise was making her unable to talk, she just stared back at him trying her to stop herself from panicking, unable to move or do anything. “Can’t you speak?”“I didn’t do anything to him, can you please let me go now?” she asked and he didn’t make any attempt to unhand her, instead his grip tightened on her arms. “You’re hurting me.” “What did you tell him?” he pressed her harder into the door and she winced slightly. “I didn’t tell him anything,” she answered in a quiet vo
Crystal turned in her uncomfortable slumber, she shuddered from the cold. It was so cold, it was as though her throat was frozen and they hurt. The floor was hard and they made her back hurt, she turned again as she slowly woke up. She huffed as she stared at the ceiling and glanced at her phone; it was about five in the morning. She sat up and stared down at her pillow that was wet probably from the perspiration. She stretched herself, and she heard the bones in her back cracking, she winced from the suddenness. She picked up her pillow from the ground; and walked towards the door as silently as possible so she wouldn’t wake Kayden up. The small closing thud of the door woke Kayden up, he sat up and peered into the darkness. She was gone. “Madam Smith,” Petra called as soon as she climbed down the stairs, her pillow still in her hands. “Good morning Petra.” She answered with a small smile. “I see that you’re all awake.” “We have to get up as early as possible to g
“Mrs. Smith!” Laurie called as soon as she noticed Crystal walked into their working unit. She ran towards her and held her hands, her eyes were full of admiration. “Laurie, I told you, you should call me Crystal.” She mouthed with a small smile. “It’s quite uncomfortable, if you keep calling me Mrs. Smith, especially when I am at work.” “You never just pick up the damned phone, do you?” Paige asked with a small frown on her face, she stepped forward and reach out her hands to get a feel of her forehead. “You seem better today.” “How did you know I was sick?” She asked with an unsure look on her face. “You didn’t come here yesterday and I got so worried I thought that bastard—” Crystal punched Paige lightly in the stomach and she felt air knocked out of her lungs. “What are you talking about Paige?” Crystal asked with an uneasy laugh, she pulled Paige up and gave her a strange look; signaling to her that Laurie was there. Laurie just stood there unable to comprehend what was goin
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