“I know it’s none of my business, but why don’t you try to think for a second?” She murmured as soon as he got into the driver’s seat and started the car engine. “Your father cares so much about you, just what the hell did he do to deserve such cold treatment from you?” “Crystal, like I said, it shouldn’t bother you.” He muttered coldly as he proceeded to the highway, maneuvering the steering wheel professionally, his voice was cold and hard like a stone; he could probably give the Statue of Liberty a run for her money. “Just do your work and keep your nose out of my business.” She sighed looking away from him, he was such a heartless bastard, she could never have such a family and treat them like that, Kayden is just too much. “If you think it would be easy to divorce me, just because you’ve obtained my father’s favor then you’re mistaken.” His voice came back breaking Crystal out of her train of thoughts. “I don’t mind taking my father to court just so you know, and you would bo
“Crystal, have you gone mad?” That was the first thing Paige asked her as soon as she saw her in the morning at work, Crystal glanced at her tiredly; she didn’t have enough sleep the previous; the stress, the hospital, and Kayden instructed the maids to wake her up early to “get prepared for work.” She didn’t even have enough time to wash her hair, it was probably her appearance, that was the reason why everyone is ogling at her. She noticed it too when she was coming in, they were all staring, some of them muttering something and then chuckling; it must be pretty bad for even Paige to complain. “I have a very good reason for this.” She defended as she pointed to her mess of a face and Paige’s eyes narrowed. “Sure, you do.” She said in a snicker, “Did Mr. Smith tire you out last night?” Crystal nodded but then she frowned when she noticed the tease, what was that supposed to mean? The worst part is Paige looked seriously angry. “Will you forget everything that man did to y
“I’m only going because I have nothing to do.” He said as he picked up his phone from the desk and got up, this was about thirty minutes after she had asked him. It was quite surprising, he wanted to go and they didn’t even argue much.A small smile reached her lips as she followed behind him slowly until they got to his car, the driver opened the door to let them inside and that was it.“I’m sure you saw the news,” He started in a bored tone and her eyes narrowed, trying desperately to suppress the blush, but it can’t be helped, as soon as he spoke about the news, she remembered some of the comments.“What news?” She pretended since she thought it would be best if they didn’t speak about it.“Don’t play dumb, it was trending, everyone was talking about it too.” He pestered and she flushed even more. “You do know it’s your fault.”“You should be thanking me,” she suddenly snapped, he always loved to shift blames, it was his fault, if he wasn’t trying to push her out of his car, she wo
She opened the door and walked in, with Kayden coming in behind her. The old man gaze weakly at the door and his eyebrows raised when he saw Kayden waltz into the room, his hands in his pocket. “Crystal, thank you for coming.” Lorenza stood up and pulled her into a hug, Crystal hugged her back and then walked towards the bed to see Mr. Connell.“How do you feel now?” She asked curiously, meanwhile, Kayden just walked across the room to sit on one of the chairs that were in the room.“At least show some concern, you brat.” Mr. Connell snapped, even though he spoke angrily, he was still happy Kayden came and then his silver eyes turned back to Crystal who had an excited look on her face. His eyes narrowed when he noticed the bruise that was forming on her cheeks.“What happened to your face?” He asked as he reached forward to touch her cheeks. “Who hit you?”“Er… I…” she trailed off unable to explain it, her cheek had already turned blood red and the handprint was still there
Kayden closed his laptop and stretched his limbs, they were sore from sitting in one spot for too long. He glanced outside the window; he noticed it was very dark, night had descended upon them, yawning slightly he picked his phone and head outside, Crystal must be tired of waiting. Surprisingly, Crystal wasn’t the one he met by the elevator, it was Laurie, who was always an early bird. “What are you still doing here?” He asked his voice filled with concern, Laurie’s eyebrows raised, she wasn’t expecting to see him just yet.“Uhh...I...” She trailed off trying to find a reasonable excuse but was unable to find one. “What sort of work were you doing up until now?”He inquired and for a while, all Laurie did was say nothing. “Do you know it is very dangerous, for a lady such as yourself to walk alone at night?”She blinked back at him, unable to defend herself.He brings out his phone immediately. “I'll hire a taxi for you immediately.” “N-No,” she shook her hands dismissively, w
“Can you please tell me where you’re taking me?” Crystal asked curiously, she had agreed to follow them to wherever they were going to and in exchange they agreed not to shoot her. As she got into the car, they blindfolded her quickly, even though she was panicking she tried her best to stay calm. “When you get there, you will know?” One of them said and she felt the car engine revved to life. “Why did you abduct me?” She inquired again, for some reason, she felt the sudden urge to know what she should expect. “It’s not an abduction if you agreed to follow us.” The man stated there was something in his voice, she didn’t know whether it was confidence or sarcasm.“Do you know no one would refuse to follow you once you hold them at gunpoint?” She questioned softly, careful enough to not anger them so they don’t blow out her brains on impulse. “Tell me one thing, are you going to kill me?” “Probably, it totally depends on you.” He muttered she was squeezed in between the two hefty
Crystal didn’t know how long she sat there but she could tell it was a lot of time, she felt sore in her arms and legs, she had been sitting for too long and she fell asleep a couple of times too. Jones McQueen had left and he didn’t tell her what he would do to her, she was just seated there in the silence. “Mrs. Smith,” She raised her head up when she heard the familiar voice. “Are you ready to discuss with me?” “I have told you that I won’t aid your nonsense.” She cracked; there was certain dryness in her voice. “I have very valid information that you have the key design to the summer festival shoes.” He said as he proceeds to the chair, he was wearing a bathrobe that revealed his chest; he sat down in all his seductive glory. “I want you to give me that, we checked in your purse and found some couple of useless flash but it wasn’t nothing related to a shoe design.” “I don’t have it.” She lied. “How will stealing someone else’s design be of any benefit to you?” He chuckled dark
“Mr. Smith d,o you have any information on Crystal’s whereabouts?” Paige asked curiously and Kayden dropped the pen in his hands, he glanced up at her, she was standing halfway through his office. Worry was etched on her face, it was very obvious that she didn’t get any sleep too, her eyes were swollen and they were dark underneath. “Are there any leads yet?”“I know you are worried about Crystal, but you should knock before you come into my office.” He complained with a small frown on his face.Paige’s face tightened immediately as she raised her arms to her chest and folded them.“Are you even worried about Crystal?” she inquired. “Shouldn’t you be looking all over for her? I know how you feel about her, but she disappeared, what if something happened to her?”“Since we involved the STIU why should I also bother myself?” He closed the laptop, and glanced outside the building, night was descending on them already and he still hasn’t gotten a text message from the arrogant McQueen bas
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