All Chapters of Mary Johnson ~ The Paid Bride: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

~~~~And I was right.I arrived in New York on a Sunday, but this time, I wasn’t in a rush to find a place or a job. I rented a little cottage for a month, just in case things went south again. The following Monday, I headed over to the restaurant address.As I walked in, I spotted the front clerk, a formidable woman with a no-nonsense look. She was typing furiously on her keyboard, and the moment I approached her, I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.“Hi, I’m here for the job opening,” I said, trying to sound confident.Without even looking up, she waved me closer. “And you are…?”“Uh, just a hopeful candidate,” I replied, trying to maintain a casual tone.She finally looked at me, narrowed her eyes, and said, “Hopeful, huh? We’ll see about that.”Before I knew it, she had jumped out from behind her desk and took my hand like she was leading me to the gallows. “Come on! We don’t have all day!”“Wait! I thought I was supposed to interview or something?” I yelped, trying to pull ba

~~~~Halfway down the stairs, Clara's boyfriend and his gang were lounging, the air thick with smoke from some hard drugs. I hurried past, doing my best to ignore them, even when he called out, "Oh, you work on Saturdays now? How lovely."At his comment, I threw him the'middle finger salute' without even looking back and continued out of the complex. Their chuckles followed me, and I couldn't help but wish they'd all choke on their cigars.I arrived at the restaurant right on time—exactly 7:00 AM—and just as I predicted, the silver-haired lady was already seated with the manager. She looked younger than when I’d last seen her, and that threw me off for a moment.“There she is,” the manager declared as I approached. “I told you, she always keeps to time.” He turned to me, raising an eyebrow. “And she’s pissed.”I let out an exasperated sigh, trying to mask my annoyance. “No, I’m not. This is my usual face,” I lied, even though it was obvious to anyone who paid attention that I was more

~~~~Clara, still standing at the doorway with her shopping bags, chuckled to herself like she’d just won a marathon, completely unaware of the chaos inside me. Meanwhile, I sat on the floor, staring blankly at her, my mind numb and heart heavy.“Wow! What happened here? Did we get robbed?” she asked, a smile playing on her lips, as if it were a joke.I kept staring at her, my gaze fixed on those bags—my stolen money. I struggled to push myself up, my legs shaking beneath me. As I approached her, tears silently streamed down my face.“Clara,” my voice trembled, barely above a whisper, “where did you go, and what are you holding?”Her eyes widened, clearly not expecting to see me there. “Oh shit! Damn, Mary, you scared the hell out of me!” she laughed nervously. “Why are you back already? I thought you were at work,” she stammered, her voice laced with poorly concealed guilt.She was pretending not to know I was in. Fine. Play it cool, Mary. I forced myself to keep my voice steady. “Ye

~~~~The Black Multiple Enterprise, New York“THEY’RE CALLING YOU a wealthy, ruthless bastard, sir.” Carol said as she scanned the article in the business magazine. “You must be happy.”Eric Black looked at his secretary but didn’t speak. Eventually she glanced up and smiled. “You like being called a ruthless bastard, one that is wealthy too.” She reminded him.“I like respect.” He corrected.“Or fear.”He nodded. “Fear works.”Carol dropped the open magazine on his desk. “Don’t you ever want someone to think you’re nice?” she asked.“No.”Being the nice guy meant nothing in his world. He didn’t see the need for it. As the firstborn of the third-generation conglomerate family of the Harry Blacks, no matter what path he took, people would still stick to him, whether out of fear or ambition. Connections and power were handed to him like an inheritance, and in his mind, niceties were just another form of manipu

~~~~~As the plane touched down in Austria, I could barely keep my legs steady from the nerves. Mrs. Black glanced over and sighed, "No need to look like someone about to face the firing squad, Mary. The marriage won’t happen right away. You still need to meet my son and discuss a few things. So, try to look a bit more alive."Easy for you to say, I thought, but managed a strained smile. "O...kay," I replied. "So, where are we heading now?""To the Black Estate. My son is expecting us there," she said, signaling to someone nearby. Almost instantly, a pristine white SUV pulled up in front of us.I mumbled to myself, “Wow, it must be nice to have this kind of money.”Mrs. Black turned with a curious look. “What was that?”"Nothing," I quickly replied, smiling.“Good. Now, get in the car.” She climbed inside, and I followed, bracing myself as we drove off.To be honest, from the airport to the Black Estate, I kept asking myself why on earth I agreed to this kind of arrangement. For the f