Aria Brooks thought she was living the dream—married to a successful businessman and finally escaping her tragic past. But her world comes crashing down when Ethan serves her divorce papers at their anniversary party, humiliating her before their friends and family. Thrown out into the rain, she’s rescued by none other than Julian Huxley—her ex-husband’s billionaire rival. Julian offers Aria a shocking proposal: a contract marriage. In exchange for acting as a mother to his daughter and accompanying him on his public endeavors, he will cover her mother’s medical bills and provide financial security. Hesitant but desperate, Aria agrees. But as she navigates the dangerous waters of their agreement, she begins to uncover secrets that threaten her newfound stability—and her heart.
더 보기Julian!” I screamed louder so that he would wake up.“Why are you shouting, Aria?” Julian asked in a disgruntled voice. He was obviously still disoriented from sleep.“Julian, I thought we talked about this? Why are these men at my room door?” I shouted “ I gave them the order yesterday before I came into your room. I’m sorry, I forgot to call them off.” He apologized.“Now call them off.” I ordered as I stormed down the stairs to the kitchen.“Miss Aria?” A small sweet voice called me.“Good morning, sweetheart.” I picked Gabriella from the ground.“I’m almost ready for school…” she announced.“I can see that. And I can also see that you’re not so happy this morning, can you tell me about it?” I asked as I placed her on my hip and headed for the dining room.“It’s her…” she whispered and pointed to her nanny.I furrowed my brows “what did she do?” “She was shouting at me…” a tear dropped from eyes.“Why?” I asked.“Because I said I do not want to go to school today and she was har
Officer, I don’t get it. I’ve been sitting here for almost an hour and nothing has been said to me. Why’s nobody talking to me? Can someone tell me if the guys trailing me have been caught?“Well the truth is that they were never really after you.” an officer said.“What do you mean? If they weren’t after me, then who were they after?” A thought immediately came to my mind. “Were they after Gabriella? My daughter? Were they after my daughter, officer? Why are you guys so calm about this?” I panicked and shouted at them.“Calm down, ma’am..” an officer said.I was one step away from giving him a slap. “Don’t tell me to calm down. Some months ago there was a break in and my daughter’s room was vandalized. If she’s at risk then I need to be informed.”A female police officer came forward “She’s not—“ “Daddy!” Gabriella’s voice diverted all our attention to Julian who just worked in.“How are you, my doll?” Blake asked as he picked her up.“Hi babe” he said and planted a kiss on my lips.
"Look, Ethan, I don’t know what game you’re playing, but I want you to leave my mother out of it.” I spoke to Ethan over the phone.He chuckled dryly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”“Don’t play with me Ethan. I got your text and I want my mother back to her hospital bed so that she can get the necessary treatment.”“I’m not playing any games. All I see is a mother-in-law that feels comfortable in the house of her son-in-law She’s safe with me. You know that.” He laughed.“No, I don’t. Get her safely back to my house, else I’ll involve my husband.” I said to him.“The same husband she hates?” He laughed again.“Ethan, I’ll have your head for this, I promise.” The line went off. ***“Hi Aria.” Gabriella came running in.“Hi baby girl… you’re welcome how was school today?” I asked.“It was fine. Daddy came to pick me up from school and not the driver.” She said.“Oh really?” I asked in a faux childlike excitement.“Yes, he’s outside talking to the butler.” She answered.“So…
CHAPTER“So this is where you live now?” My mom asks.“Yes, Mom, thanks for visiting.” I set a glass of milk on the table for her.“Hmm, you sure do have eyes for nice things. This house is grander than your husband’s.” She sipped a bit of the milk.“Mom, I am married to Julian now.” I crossed my hands and placed them on my lap.“Oh forgive me, I can hardly keep up. How many husbands in the space of five years now?” She smiled.I forced a smile back.“He sure has more money that can make a woman cheat on her husband who has stood by her for so many years” she continued.“Mom—““I never trained you to be this promiscuous and greedy. I surely don’t behave like this, neither does your sister, Vivian.” She doesn’t give me a chance to speak.“I’m glad that you’re now well, mom and able to move around but I didn’t cheat on Ethan, neither did I leave him.” I moved closer to her and placed my hands on hers.“Ethan left me, he served me a cold divorce. His family never liked me anyways. But th
MAYORAL CANDIDATE, JULIAN MIGHT BE IN LOVE WITH HIS NEW WIFE BUT DOES HE KNOW THAT SHE LOVES TO CHANGE MEN?I stared so long at this headline that I think I got lost at some point.“You have given him nothing but trouble since you came into his life” Julian’s mother’s voice shook me.“Since you meandered your way into my son’s life it’s been one media accusation or the other. One attack or the other. Arson, bulgary, you name them.”As she spoke I looked at my feet in shame.“I really hope you’re worth it because my son might take things lightly with you but I won’t. Make sure you fix things. I do not want to hear that anymore of these crazy headlines”I nodded.My phone screen came on for a few seconds, an indication that there was a notification since I had placed it in silent mode.“I’ll take care of it. Do not bother about it. Ethan really is sowing seeds.” The text was from Julian.,Tears immediately filled my eyes. I ran upstairs to my room and balled my eyes out.Julian’s mom wa
Julian’s POV“Sir you can’t go in…He’s in a meeting…” that was all the chaos I could hear before I burst into Ethan’s Office.I immediately seized him by the shirt. “What the hell is wrong with you?! Why do you keep pushing me to the wall?” I shouted at him.A scrawny young girl fled the office, fixing her blouse as she ran out. I smirked.“How would the world love to know that their heroic impeccable businessman sleeps with young interns?” I whispered in his ears.His breath hitched.He glanced at his secretary. “Leave us.” “Will you release my neck now so that we can talk like civilized people?”I let him go and sat on his sofa. I poured myself a cup of wine.“Mmm…this is fine wine you’ve got here. As sweet as the girl who just left here, I’m sure.” I sipped on the wine.He just stared at me.After I had sipped to my fill, I dropped the glass on the table so loudly you might think it shattered.“I know that you’ve been the ones sending threats to Aria. I know we have settled the
Aria’s POV“Hi!” A tiny bubbly voice woke me up.“Hi…” I answered tentatively.She kept jumping on the bed, “Miss Clara said I could go into your room. Are you angry?” She asked.“I can never be angry with you, Gabriella. You’re such a doll.”I cupped her face.“No, you are the doll.” She retorted I laughed.“Have you had breakfast yet?” She shook her head, “No…I’m not hungry.”“Oh, but I am. Let's go find something to eat.” I told her.As we approached the kitchen, she turned to me, “When are we going back home?” She asked.“Umm, soon, I guess,” I answered.“I miss my friends in school.” “I know you do and you’ll see them soon.” I ruffled her head We were currently in Julian’s vacation home. After he discovered that there was a mole, he moved us here and shuttles to and from New York.“But Dad is never here. He said we are on vacation but I don’t see him vacationing.” Gabriella asked again.She was such a smart girl.“Well, that’s because he has to work. He has to work to provide
ARIA’S POVI stand in front of the mirror and stare at myself. This gown was as simple as they come. I had had one wedding with long white ball dress, I wasn’t going to do that again.“Time to go, sis” Vivian said as she came into my dressing room.I nodded and followed her.“Mum is not here to walk you down the aisle like she did last time, let me.” Vivian offered.“No. This is no real wedding. I deceived myself once and dragged you guys into my mess. I won’t do it again. This is pure business and I need to work alone to shake hands with my patner.” Vivian looked at me with empathy.“Don’t cry Vivian. I’m not being forced here. I’m doing this with my reasoning in tact. I only want what is best for us. For me, you and Mom.” I cupped face.She immediately wiped her face.The generic ‘here comes the bride’ starts playing. I took a deep breath and braced myself for my new reality.Walking down the aisle, I kept my eyes focused on Julian. I didn’t want to see the faces of these numerous
Julian’s POVI should deal with Vanessa and I will. First I had to figure out how to calm Aria’s nerves. She has been fidgety.My phone buzzed beside me and I picked up “The bouquet of flowers have just been delivered.” The florist said from the other side of the phone.“Good.” I replied simply.“Thank you so much for your patronage, Sir. We value it.” She rattled on the words she has probably rehearsed more than a thousand times.My legs hurt from sitting at a place. I got up to stretch and my eyes caught the wall clock. It was almost 10pm. I’ve been working since the previous night. It was time to go home. I needed to see my daughter.As I walked through the underground parking lot, I realized that I noticed a shadow. “Who’s that?” I called as I kept up my pace.No answer.I heard the footsteps a little bit louder now. I got into my car and zoomed out of the parking lot.I got my CSO on the phone immediately. “I need security to be tightened up. I want security guards at home and at
Aria's POV My eyes zoned in on my laptop screen as I searched for a hall to celebrate my fourth anniversary with my husband, Ethan . Next, tomorrow was the set date. I had already hired the best caterer in the state and one of the most famous bartenders. It was guaranteed to be spot on. “Perfect,” I muttered, saving a picture of the hall for reference later. Ethan and I always celebrated our marriage anniversary with a huge banquet, and this year, it was no different. Every single social elite in town would attend, so I had to make sure everything was prim and proper. The unmistakable perch of Louisa's heels on the tiles drew closer as she approached the dining room with her mom sauntering behind. The smug look on their face was seen beneath the white chandelier. “Sign it bitch.” Louisa slammed the brown envelope on the white marble table, the thud snapping my thoughts out of my head. My neck craned and my eyes flickered between the envelope, Louisa, and Tracy. “Wha...
Welcome to GoodNovel world of fiction. If you like this novel, or you are an idealist hoping to explore a perfect world, and also want to become an original novel author online to increase income, you can join our family to read or create various types of books, such as romance novel, epic reading, werewolf novel, fantasy novel, history novel and so on. If you are a reader, high quality novels can be selected here. If you are an author, you can obtain more inspiration from others to create more brilliant works, what's more, your works on our platform will catch more attention and win more admiration from readers.
댓글