“You won’t be sleeping with me, and if it makes you feel any safer I promise I am not going to touch you.” He promised and he pulled back, the words resonated in Crystal’s ears, even though she knew that Kayden would never assault her in away, but the fact is that he was still a man and he cannot be trusted. Assuring her that he won’t do anything, doesn’t put her to rest, she slipped her phone from her bag and wrote a text to Paige, it’s not like it could guarantee her safety but she just needed to calm herself. “Hey, are you asleep yet?” She texted Paige and she didn’t even know that the elevator door has opened and Kayden stepped out, he noticed that she was still in the elevator and she was typing on her phone, he leans back in, knocking on the steel doors to get her attention. “Are you not coming out?” He asked and her mouth dried up, she hurriedly picked her bags and stumbled out of the squared space almost bumping into him. “Do you plan to stay in the elevator instead?” “I t
Crystal screamed throwing her hands everywhere, slapping and scratching him, but she didn’t stop screaming, he held both of her hands and pulled her into a bear hug; using all of his strength to hold her close to his body. She seemed like a small person, but she had a lot of strength, as time passed by, her movement began to weaken and her breath came out in labored pants; Kayden still held her in his arms, and now he was drawing soothing circles on her back. She was now fully awake, and she noticed that the figure that threatened her was all a dream, an imagination, she was also aware that she was in Kayden’s arms, and she hated being seen like that, the blood on her hands and the ones in her legs made her realize just how much she had messed up, and she burst into tears, the sound muffled into Kayden’s chest. Unsure of what to do, Kayden simply allowed her to cry, he had a lot of questions but he knew she was in no position to answer them at the moment, he didn’t know how muc
Sunlight creeps into the room, and the rays warm Crystal’s face, her eyebrows were twitching from the sudden disturbance, and she feels something heavy pressed against her waist, and it is like she is pressed up against a wall, a very warm and sturdy wall. Her eyes flew open and her breath hitched when her view was met with the fabric of Kayden’s clothes, her mouth fell loosely when she noticed that Kayden was holding her, his arms were wrapped around her protectively, and a blush of embarrassment crept on her face.Why the hell were they in such a position? She remembered that she slept on her own side of the bed, if she didn’t cross, then did he?Suddenly, she felt a sting in her hands and the events of the previous night came flooding into her mind. She shut her eyes, cursing herself out in her head, it was quite disgraceful, and it seemed that Kayden was still asleep, she wanted to hurry up and get out of his embrace, and also, she wanted to do that without waking him up.
“This design is one of the best I have seen.” Mrs. Darling said with a big smile on her face, Darling shoes is also a world renowned shoe company, a very huge competition for Kayden's company too.Darling and Kayden are on a collaboration to make a shoe design for the upcoming world sports day events. Some of the players would be settling in the island during the weekend; they should be done with the project by then. “I like Mrs. Smith’s design better too.” One of the directors said too with a satisfied nod. “I will be forced to think that Mr. Smith got married to his wife because of her talent.” Crystal let out an uneasy laugh and her eyes trailed off to meet Kayden’s stone cold gaze. he was glaring at her...He was angry again, why is he angry?“That isn’t true.” He corrected adjusting himself in his chair. “I married her because of my affection for her, her talent and good brains comes as a bonus.” She bit down on her lips, he definitely didn’t mean that, don’t be happy
Kayden got up too and she pretended to not notice as she headed out of the office, and She walked as fast as her legs could carry her, clutching her bags to her chest, as she headed for the elevator. She got in immediately the doors opened she tapped repeatedly on the buttons hoping the door would close but as soon as the steel doors were about to close, unfortunately, Kayden’s arms extended in and her heart fell. He got in with a neutral look on his face, for some reason he wasn’t glaring at her like he did before and then she prayed for someone to come and join them, she didn’t want to be alone with him. But as it will be her prayers weren’t answered and when the door finally closed, she let out a depressing sigh. What is she even running for? She didn’t do anything wrong, so why is she afraid? “How close are you with my brother?” He asked curiously, he slipped both of his hands into his pocket and she blinked back the shock; she wasn’t expecting him to be so direct. “You seem
“Thank you,” Crystal said as they got out of the restaurant, she kneaded her hands together as she looked everywhere but at him. “And again, I am sorry for misunderstanding you earlier.” His eyes fell on her hands, the whites of the band-aid attracting him, and he noticed some dried blood on them, his eyes narrowed and he took up her hands. “Did you reopen your wound?” He asked and she pulled back slightly.“I’ve been sketching all day, I must have reopened it but it doesn’t matter now, it is just a minor issue.” She held the hands closer to herself. “Thank you for your concern.”“When we get back to the hotel, you should go to the nurse and have her redress it.” He said his eyes were still full of concern and she didn’t know why he was making a fuss out of nothing.“The bleeding has stopped; I don’t think there would be a need for that.” She said with a small smile on her face. “Cuts like this are nothing.”“You speak as though you have a bigger one.” Crystal’s heart stopped almost
“Aren’t you going to eat?” Paige asked when she saw the bag that Sebastian brought for them, the rest of them had eaten except for Crystal who was just working her ass off, and her hands was bleeding again. “Look your band aid is now stained, why don’t you listen to Deborah and stop?”“I know, I work twice as slow as everyone, we really need to round up the project tonight, so I can’t afford to stop.” She said and Paige shook her head, they were the only ones in the office at the moment, because the rest of the workers were on lunch break. “You don’t have to push yourself too hard.” Paige advised “I do, because I have always dreamt of doing this, travelling around the world, and showcasing my talent.” She said with a small smile, and Paige nodded, she understood too well, a dream that was close to impossible months ago. Crystal would often say things like that when they were younger, but as she grew up she would term it impossible, after every trial on error, but Paige couldn’t bl
“It’s a wrap, congratulations to us all.” Deborah and Lena chorused, the rest of the design team clapped, Crystal fall into her chair and heaved a sigh of relief. Finally, if the project becomes as successful as it is anticipated to be, then she as one of the main designers would be recognized not just by Mrs. Darling, but also her co-investors. Probably after her divorce with Kayden, she might be opportune to work somewhere else, this is the exposure she is hoping to get. Once her skills get to the right audience, she would be getting a lot of designing jobs. Of course, she wouldn’t just be drawing shoes, but drawing shoes isn’t as bad as she expected. “Team Deborah, we need to get back to the resort so we can prepare to attend the fireworks festival.” Deborah advised and the team got up, packing up their things. Crystal yawned loudly, maybe she could get some sleep, since Kayden woke up in the morning and disappeared; she didn’t know where he went to but when she got to the
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