Stuck in An Arranged Marriage with The Billionaire Playboy.Chapter 23: awkwardness phase .I peel my eyes open. There is a pillow in my arms. It is Elijah’s pillow. But the owner is nowhere to be seen. I sit up, eyes half-lidded as I inspect the room. It is abandoned.The sheets on Elijah’s side of the bed are cold as I touch them. Not that he spent a lot of time on his side last night. I wrap my arms around my body. It was kind of nice to be held like this. He felt so soft and warm in my arms and smelled so nice. My heart flutters.“No”, I realize, “no, do not fall for him”, I say out loud, giving my own cheek a little slap.You said so yourself, he can’t give me love or affection. Those past few nights were merely because we both wanted to sleep. Yes, this must be it. A mere attempt to find sleep.First me with the thunderstorm. He held me so I would stop wiggling and he could fall asleep again. Yes this must have been it. But then. I touch my forehead. Why did he kiss me?And w
Stuck in An Arranged Marriage with The Billionaire Playboy.Chapter 24: shoulder high shrubs .I study his features for a moment. I have spent enough time with Elijah to notice his habit of making himself smaller after every sentence he speaks. Especially when he thinks that his words could have offended the other person in any kind of way. I blame it on him being secretly very shy, but still can’t shake the feeling that perhaps there was another reason for said habit. I let my eyes linger on his shoulders, looking at whatever little part of his back is visible.“You don’t like it when people touch your back. Do you?”His eyes flit to his lap, his shoulders rise to his ears. He looks smaller instantly. Smaller and just a little scared.“Please don’t tell anyone about last night”, he begs in a whisper.I blink quickly, placing the cup down. Why should I tell anyone about last night?“No of course not. I just want to know for myself so I don’t accidentally do it.”His eyes widen in
Stuck in an Arranged Marriage with the Popular Playboy .Chapter 1: Where it all started .Lori peel her eyes open, already regretting it the moment bright sunlight blinds her vision. She groan in annoyance, rolling onto her side to escape the sunrays hitting her face. Something she regret doing as well as she is now facing a heart-eyed and smiling Jordan.“Good morning beautiful”, he whispers, brushing his fingertips down the bridge of her nose.“Jordan. Don’t”, Lori warn, rolling onto her back to escape his touch.But to no avail. He follows her, now hovering over her with his elbows on each side of her head and a big grin on his disgustingly handsome face. His naked chest brushes her equally bare one with every breath he takes, eliciting goosebumps on her skin.“Why?” he pats his eyelashes at Lori in confusion, “still have insecurities about your ruffled bed hair? After all those months together?” he teases, running his fingers through her messy hair softly.She scoff, rolling he
Stuck in an Arranged Marriage with the Popular Playboy .Chapter 2: Hatred begins Slow piano music starts to play the moment she enters, some classical piece she had never heard of before. Probably Bach or Beethoven, who cares, they all sound the same to her anyways. The guests are already standing when she step through the threshold of the ceremony hall. All eyes are on her, staring at her with as much admiration as jealousy. What are they jealous of? What is there that they could possibly desire? Her dress? Her jewelry? Her future husband? They can have all of it if they so much desire it.Lori looks at the man so many women in this room envy her for. He is wearing a midnight black suit, it must be custom-tailored judging by the perfect fit. His dark hair is styled out of his face, revealing his forehead. Other people would have swooned at the view, but all she wanted to do was to turn around and leave this god awful place. And judging by the iciness in his stare, he was thinki
Stuck in an Arranged Marriage with the Popular Playboy .Chapter 3: 3 broken Hearts . Present day. As soon as the applause had died down and the guest had sat down again, Lori excuses herself, quickly running out of the big hall to get some fresh air. Not that anyone would have minded. Deep down they all knew that this was nothing more than a business marriage. They still liked to play pretend however. It’s the only entertainment those sick voyeurs got.Lori take a deep breath once outside, closing her eyes for a moment. They are burning. Burning so much that all she want to do is cry to get them to stop.“You look beautiful”, a familiar voice startles you.She quickly turn to her right.Jordan is sitting at the end of the stairs with his hands folded between his legs and his cheeks obviously wet from tears. The tip of his nose is bright red, his lips are swollen from biting them to keep them from trembling.It feels like someone had forced a dagger right through her heart. Seei
Stuck in an Arranged Marriage with the Popular Playboy .Chapter 4: a dance with who she loves and who she hates .The singer of the band, a rookie group with big dreams and nervous eyes, sees Lori enter and announces the opening dance as soon as she give him a nod of her head.“May the newly-wed couple open the dance floor”, he speaks into the microphone before counting down.The music starts. It is a slow song, the perfect song to dance to when you are in love, when you want to hug your partner close to your body and whisper sweet nothings into their ears. Given the current situation, it feels nothing more than awkward. Elijah drags Lori to the middle of the dance floor, nearly stumbling over his own feet if she hadn’t pulled him back up again.“Behave”, She warn him, boring her fingernails into his shoulder.“Don’t tell me what to do”, he growls before he presses her against his body rather harshly.She is feeling things she did not want to feel. His stomach pressing against her
Stuck in an Arranged Marriage with the Popular Playboy.Chapter 5: So no official consummation of your marriage.*LORI* I arrive at my parents table, leading Jordan to his assigned seat and sitting him down despite his complaints. Everyone, including my dear husband, was watching the two of us with confused eyes.“Yo Jordan are you drunk? Why are you sloughing like that?” Logan asks, putting a firm hand on Jordan’s shoulder.“Jordie you didn’t, what did I tell you about getting drunk”, Jana starts scolding her little brother all to his distaste.Now that Jordan was in good hands, well semi-good hands, I am sure Jana will make sure he sobers up, poor Jordan, I circle the table to sit down at my seat. Right next to Kim Elijah.To my surprise he leans in to talk to me. His breath smells of alcohol and his eyes can’t seem to focus on my face.“What’s his problem?” he asks, eyeing Jordan.“Low tolerance”, I lie, “but what do you care?”He sends me an annoyed glare.“You are right, I d
Stuck in an Arranged Marriage with the Popular Playboy.Chapter 6: punishment for your rude words.I am woken up by my stomach screaming for release the next morning. I stand up as fast as my spinning head allows me to and rush to the enclosed bathroom. To my luck the toilet seat was open. In one swift movement I throw myself onto my knees, my stomach already emptying itself on my way down.I hate throwing up, i had hated it as a child and i still hate it as an adult, if not even more. My throat stings and my stomach aches from all of the tensing up. My whole body is shivering, i feel cold despite the big amount of sweat running down my back. I lean my back against the glass door of your shower, closing my teary eyes.“God damn alcohol”, i groan before a second wave of cramps washes over me, forcing me to release everything my stomach had to offer into the toilet bowl.I lean back again, panting. I hate this so much. I never should have drank that much. I take deep breaths, hoping t
Stuck in An Arranged Marriage with The Billionaire Playboy.Chapter 24: shoulder high shrubs .I study his features for a moment. I have spent enough time with Elijah to notice his habit of making himself smaller after every sentence he speaks. Especially when he thinks that his words could have offended the other person in any kind of way. I blame it on him being secretly very shy, but still can’t shake the feeling that perhaps there was another reason for said habit. I let my eyes linger on his shoulders, looking at whatever little part of his back is visible.“You don’t like it when people touch your back. Do you?”His eyes flit to his lap, his shoulders rise to his ears. He looks smaller instantly. Smaller and just a little scared.“Please don’t tell anyone about last night”, he begs in a whisper.I blink quickly, placing the cup down. Why should I tell anyone about last night?“No of course not. I just want to know for myself so I don’t accidentally do it.”His eyes widen in
Stuck in An Arranged Marriage with The Billionaire Playboy.Chapter 23: awkwardness phase .I peel my eyes open. There is a pillow in my arms. It is Elijah’s pillow. But the owner is nowhere to be seen. I sit up, eyes half-lidded as I inspect the room. It is abandoned.The sheets on Elijah’s side of the bed are cold as I touch them. Not that he spent a lot of time on his side last night. I wrap my arms around my body. It was kind of nice to be held like this. He felt so soft and warm in my arms and smelled so nice. My heart flutters.“No”, I realize, “no, do not fall for him”, I say out loud, giving my own cheek a little slap.You said so yourself, he can’t give me love or affection. Those past few nights were merely because we both wanted to sleep. Yes, this must be it. A mere attempt to find sleep.First me with the thunderstorm. He held me so I would stop wiggling and he could fall asleep again. Yes this must have been it. But then. I touch my forehead. Why did he kiss me?And w
Stuck in An Arranged Marriage with The Billionaire Playboy.Chapter 22: two nights in a two .Another thunder rumbles, but it doesn’t sound that scary anymore. Elijah made sure it wouldn’t by placing his hand over my ear before it could cut through the air.Shit. He is actually calming me down. Kim Elijah is actually managing to give me enough comfort to calm down.I close my eyes and inhale deeply. He smells of ylang-ylang and lavender. It's kind of nice.Elijah’s breathing changes, he must be falling asleep again. With his last bit of strength he flips to his side, pulling me against his chest.My eyes are wide open again. My hands are just sort of resting on his chest, his fingers in my hair and his arm is around me. This is so much more intimate than the other position. I can even feel his chest rise and sink and when I concentrate hard enough, I can even feel his heartbeat against the tip of my nose.Should I hug him back? Or is that going too far? But my arm hurts so much in t
Stuck in An Arranged Marriage with The Billionaire Playboy.Chapter 21: thunder rumbling storm .“Aren’t you your own person? You said so yourself to your brother. So why are you not acting like you are?”“I don’t know what you want me to say.”“I mean it. You allow your employees to talk to you disrespectfully without firing them instantly, you do everything your parents want you to do without complaining. Hell, you don’t even own a car because your parents don’t want you to and you work in a shitty office because your father told you to”, he laughs dryly, “you’re a strong, hardworking woman and yet you allow people to use you as their doormat.”I scoff in disbelief. What has gotten into him? Where is this sudden urge to life coach me coming from? I didn’t ask for this and yet I am left staring into his eyes and listening to what he has to say.“You think people will respect you if you show them over and over again that they can treat you as they wish without suffering consequences
Stuck in an Arranged Marriage with the Popular Playboy.Chapter 20: there was a moment.I am already in bed, reading a book, when Elijah comes back. He was out for dinner after his swim and I spent my alone time boiling myself in the hot tub and doing a face mask. It was meant to calm me down, but it really didn’t. I was still feeling terribly guilty. Now I am reading, I very much enjoy reading before bed and tonight I attempt to use it as a distraction in order not to think about everything that had happened.“I’m back”, Elijah announces himself.I hum in acknowledgement, not looking up. I did so because my book is terribly thrilling and you don’t want to miss out on anything. He studies me for a moment, grinding his teeth.“Are you not going to talk to me?”“Mhm?” I sneak a glance his way, “why should I?”He blinks, eyebrows raised.“Okay then”, he gives up, “Imma take a shower”, he murmurs coldly.“Do that”, I say dryly, flipping the pages.Was that too rude? Will this start a
Stuck in an Arranged Marriage with the Popular Playboy.Chapter 19: do cheaters burn in hell .What Jordan is doing right now?I slip my hand into the pocket of my slacks and touch my phone. I could call him.“Hello?” his voice is croaky when he finally picks up.“Jordan, hey! How are you?” I greet him, instantly feeling better now that I can hear his voice.“Sleeping”, he grumbles.“Oh my god”, I gasp, “holy shit, I totally forgot. I am so sorry, Jordan.”He laughs tiredly.“It’s fine, my alarm would have woken me in ten anyways”, he yawns loudly, “how are you? How was the flight?”“It was alright. I worked for the entirety of it.”“Did the jerk annoy you?”“Who?”“Your husband.”“Ew, true he exists too”, I fake gag. Jordan chuckles, voice raspy from sleep, “that bad?”“It's been manageable for now. Let's see if I will have changed my mind tomorrow.”“So you had fun?”“Jordan, don’t tell me you’re jealous.” “Yeah? As if I ever made a secret out of it”, he says and laughs breathle
Stuck in an Arranged Marriage with the Popular Playboy.Chapter 18: progress at least? .“Would you mind walking a little faster?” I call over my shoulder.Elijah raises his head, blinking at me in bafflement. He had been gawking at his phone before that, playing Candy Crush. He locks his phone and stores it in the inside pocket of his suit jacket.“Excuse me?” he says, speeding up, “I’m not the one who insisted on getting smoothies before take-off”, he says, having reached my side.The two of us are hurrying through the halls of the airport, each carrying a big smoothie and trying my hardest not to bump into people. I was running terribly late. The driver had called me three times already, informing me that my plane must take off soon or else I would have to wait three hours for a free spot in the schedule of the airport.I know that it was my fault that we were late. Elijah said so already. I insisted on getting smoothies before take-off and the people, who prepared them, moved in
Stuck in an Arranged Marriage with the Popular Playboy.Chapter 17: brothers can be betrayers too.“Did you do that?” Elijah barks slamming the door to my office closed.I look up from the contracts i was reading through, quirking an eyebrow up at him. This is the first time he visits me at my company. It is definitely weird. Why would he want to visit me?“Good day to you too”, I mumble and look back into the contracts.Elijah storms to my desk and slams his hand on the table.I huff out air in annoyance, closing my eyes for a moment.“For heavens sake, can you stop slamming things?” I grumble, sending him a dark look over the brim of my glasses.“No I won’t, it’s what you get for planning a goddamn vacation”, he spits.At that your attention shifts. I place my pen down, raising my head. Elijah is practically fuming in anger, lips stretched into a thin line.“I’m sorry, what? Did you just say vacation?”“Check your mails”, he says angrily yet calmly and sits down in a chair. He cr
Stuck in an Arranged Marriage with the Popular Playboy.Chapter 16: this is working out? .I let out a disbelieved chuckle, breaking my eyes away from him. He listened to me? I didn’t think that he would actually pay attention to the phone calls I was having close to him. What the hell? Why did this make me feel good for a split second? I look away. I go to work on his second shoe, fighting with the knot. This one is so much tighter than the other one, good god.“So is it for Aqua Cleanse? How important was it?” he asks.“Very, it’s the research reports for the products. I need to go through them before the meeting with the CEO on Monday.”“Isn’t the CEO your father? Why are you so stressed then?” he asks, laughing.“And? You think he is going to be nice just ‘cause I’m his daughter?” I spit.Elijah stops laughing and swallows heavily at the intense glare I send him. He clears his throat and lowers his eyes. “What’s the meeting about?” he asks quietly.I click my tongue and look ba