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Almost losing the woman she thought was her mother, Cherry seeks many ways to pay for her Mother's surgery but couldn't get any help. She had no choice but to agree to go into a contract marriage with her boss, the ruthless and arrogant billionaire CEO of the Alphonso construction company, Leonard Alphonso. They fell in love within six months of the one-year contract and lived happily from that moment until Leonard offered her a divorce paper claiming he ran out of love for her; which she vehemently refused. Later on, she had no choice but to sign the divorce papers after Leonard had already put her in a tight condition. Being pregnant and helpless, she left his house and that was when she found out that she is the heiress to a billionaire fortune. Cherry becomes successful, powerful, and independent. Leonard eventually regretted his action and sought many ways to get her back. But will Cherry give Leonard a second chance after being betrayed by the first man she had ever loved?
Prologue (An office)
The CEO of the Alphonso Construction company sits in his office meditating while rolling in circles on his swivel chairs. He is lost in thought when a knock is heard on the door of his office.
"Yes who is it", Mr Alphonso asked.
"It's I, Cherry", the lovely tender voice of mine said.
"Come in", Mr. Alphonso says sternly.
"What is it? Have you handled the documents I gave you properly? And have you sent the emails I asked you to send our clients?"He asked with a serious face. My boss has always been strict from the day I have always worked as his Secretary. I have always wondered about myself since last week; how I would tell him what is on my mind.
"Yes sir. I have done all of them. I just sent the emails to our clients yesterday night", I said with a short smile covering the fear I had after saying that.
"Just yesterday night!"He shouted with a strong frown on his face.
"How incompetent can you be? I gave you an email to send to my clients in the evening and you just sent it in the night. Can you just imagine?"Mr Alphonso can be inconsiderate sometimes. He had just given me the email to send yesterday in the closing hours to send to his client which was an ungodly hour. If he wanted the mail to be sent, he should have given me in the morning or during work hours not closing hours.
"Yes, what is it that you came into my office to tell me?"Mr Alphonso asked.
I thought to myself if I would be able to tell him what I came into his office to tell him. I tried to summon courage thinking to myself that asking for whatever I wanted would not cause me to lose my life. The worst is that he would decline or maybe shout at me.
"Yes? Answer me on time. I don't have the whole day, please. "Mr. Alphonso speaks with h his scary face.
"Umm-mm" I stammered."I just want to ask you for a favor, sir."
"Okay, what is the favor" He asked.
"I just want to ask you if you could pay me my salary in advance. I need money urgently. I have sought money from where I could, but I have not seen anyone who can render me any assistance. I need the money for my mother's kidney transplant." I said She is the only one I have now because I no longer have a father and I don't want to be an orphan at this stage of my life." I said with tears coming out of my face.
"The money is just $32,000 to cover all of the expenses for her surgery and medications. I promise to work harder than I have ever worked." I said while wiping away my tears.
"Haha!", he laughed.
"You say "32,000".Where do you expect me to see such? Do you know how much the company needs to spend on expenses? You must be kidding me. I don't have money to give you ."
Sir, Please I promise to pay you back my salary or I will borrow from anyone that I know to give you back. My mother is in a critical condition and it is so urgent.
Mr Alphonso laughed again and stared at me crying. I would say that this is the first time I would ever see him smiling for the first time in three years that I have been working with him as his Secretary. While he continued to smile at me, I felt excited that he was ready to assist me.
"Cherry" he called out my name.
"Sir" I replied.
"Do you know you just made me laugh by what you just said?" he asked.
"It is the way you had the effrontery to say you would pay me back or borrow it. My question is; How would you get it? When you don't know who would borrow from? And come to think of it; you only work for me or do you work for anyone else?" he asked and then I gave a negative nod.
"You see, why I can't offer you any assistance?"He said with a smile while my eyes were covered with tears. I felt the smile was to make fun of my misery. I guess my boss must not only be arrogant but a sadist.
"But, sir....." I tried to talk before Mr Alphonso interrupted me on purpose.
"Make sure you help me to inform the members of the board office that we will be having a board meeting this afternoon. I also want to give you some correspondence for you to handle for me. So that's all I want you to do ."He ordered.
"Okay sir, "I said while my face was all covered up with tears. Nothing was pushing me to still beg him or ask him for assistance because I lost all the courage I had.
"I would be taking my leave, sir," I said with a sad face.
"Yeah, lock the door after you've gone."All his attention fixated on the file that was in his hand. I turned my back and was already leaving his office while trying to clean my tears and breathing in the catarrh that was coming out of my nose. I was already close to the door.
"Cherry!" I turned back and saw Mr Alphonso's serious face glaring at me. I was already shocked at the spot where I was standing. I was already thinking of what I had done wrong.
"I am willing to offer you more than the $32,000 you need for your mother's treatment if you would do my biddings".After he said that, I had a smile on my face without asking what his biddings were.
"I want you to act as my wife for a year and I would pay you $35,000 for accepting my proposal. I just want you to see it as a fake marriage. After a year of the marriage, We would get a divorce. But during the marriage, there would not be any form of intimacy at all. So it would be a contract marriage. When it is already a year, I would give $150,000 by the time we are about to be divorced."
After he had finished saying that, the smile on my face dropped and tears began to fall out of my eyes.
"Why? Why do you have to offer me a contract marriage? Of all people why does it have to be me? This seems to be hard for me, sir." I whined.
"Are you kidding me right now? Where you not just crying and complaining about how you would save your mother from dying because you don't have money to take care of her. I am rendering you this offer, which is of mutual benefit and you are acting petty."I wondered within myself why he would ask for a contract marriage with someone like me.
"Or do you want your mother to die?" he asked with a smile.
Mr. Alphonso is one hell of a horrible person. He is a very ruthless and arrogant man. He is also one of every woman's choices in a town like we would not want to be with a man like Leonard Alphonso, a wealthy and successful billionaire. Meanwhile, I had also had a crush on him. He has a very charming look at how many out of 6'4 inches.
But I had never imagined myself being in a relationship I'm not even married so Mr. Alphonso. I guess I don't have any of that chance but to accept his proposal Because my mother's life is more paramount to me And I cannot imagine losing her. Since there is not going to be any form of intimacy, I guess I would have to accept this marriage proposal. Like.... I mean it's just a year.
" I have agreed to accept your marriage proposal," I said with a sad face because I knew what I was putting myself into even when it was not inevitable.
" Good girl. Now you are talking. I will call my lawyer tomorrow and he will bring the contract for you to sign tomorrow. I guess we have got ourselves a deal right" he said bringing out his hands for a shake. I shook his hand and accepted his offer.
"You're my wife in name only, on paper only. My heart and love will never be yours." Edward made it clear to Daisy that she was nothing to him. They were both victims of family greed -- the marriage was arranged for them. Six years passed. She remained quiet, gaining a reputation in the army as a tough-as-nails colonel. When she walked into his life again, Edward fell in love with this woman, unlike any he had known. She surprised and delighted him. But will Daisy take him back? Can their son keep them together? Can the rift between them be healed? Pick this one up and find out!
Three years ago, Cecilia was left battered and alone by the man she loved most, Alston, yet she bravely completed the wedding ceremony while pregnant. Three years later, although they were married, they grew apart over time. Cecilia focused on her career, no longer foolishly believing in love. But her transformation instantly threw Alston into a panic... And what is the secret from 11 years ago that Cecilia has always been reluctant to reveal? *** "She went to a law firm, met with a lawyer..." A lawyer? Is Cecilia suing someone? Who? Is there any recent litigation against the company? Alston suddenly chuckled coldly, "Who could she sue? I'm the CEO of this company. How come such a matter doesn't come to me first?" The assistant swallowed nervously, speaking softly, "Sir, there's no litigation against the company. She met with... a divorce lawyer."
Lindsey's fiancé was the devil's first son. Not only did he lie to her but he also slept with her stepmother, conspired to take away her family fortune, and then set her up to have sex with a total stranger. To get her lick back, Lindsey decided to find a man to disrupt her engagement party and humiliate the cheating bastard. Never did she imagine that she would bump into a strikingly handsome stranger who was all that she was currently looking for. At the engagement party, he boldly declared that she was his woman. Lindsey thought he was just a broke man who wanted to leech off her. But once they began their fake relationship, she realized that good luck kept coming her way. She thought they would part ways after the engagement party, but this man kept to her side. "We gotta stick together, Lindsey. Remember, I'm now your fiancé. " "Domenic, you're with me because of my money, aren't you?" Lindsey asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Domenic was taken aback by that accusation. How could he, the heir of the Walsh family and CEO of Vitality Group, be with her for money? He controlled more than half of the city's economy. Money wasn't a problem for him! The two got closer and closer. One day, Lindsey finally realized that Domenic was actually the stranger she had slept with months ago. Would this realization change things between them? For the better or worse?
"Ahh!" She was in a moaning mess. She did not want to feel anything for this man. She hated him. His hands began to move all over her body. She gasped when he pulled down the back chain of her dress. The chain stopped at her lower waist, so when he zipped it off, her upper back and waist were exposed. "D-Don't touch m-ummm!" His fingers rolled around her bare back, and she pressed her head against the pillow. His touches were giving her goosebumps all over her body. With a deep angry voice, he whispered in her ear, "I am going to make you forget his touches, kisses, and everything. Every time you touch another man, you will only think of me." - - - Ava Adler was a nerdy omega. People bullied her because they thought she was ugly and unattractive. But Ava secretly loved the bad boy, Ian Dawson. He was the future Alpha of the Mystic Shadow Pack. However, he doesn't give a damn about rules and laws, as he only likes to play around with girls. Ava was unaware of Ian's arrogance until her fate intertwined with his. He neglected her and hurt her deeply. What would happen when Ava turned out to be a beautiful girl who could win over any boy, and Ian looked back and regretted his decisions? What if she had a secret identity that she had yet to discover? What if the tables turned and Ian begged her not to leave him?
In the previous life, Maggie Johnson was so cowardly, gullible and stupid that she was coaxed by her fiance and stepsister and then broke her legs and lost everything including her fortune, love and even life. However, she was so lucky that she was reborn in the year before everything happened. Since her life restarted, how could she repeat a previous tragedy? Therefore, in this life, she took the opportunity to improve herself and take revenge on the ones who had ever insulted her. Facing the people who had humiliated her previously, she became smart and experienced to break their frames and tricks that had caused her to hurt in the previous life. Finally, no one could stop her pace to amaze the world any more.
"There will be no falling in love, we will only act as a loving couple when we are in public, we will share a room to make it believable, but no intimacy, touching is off-limits. We'll only have sex once a month, and that's solely to produce an heir. You won't interfere in my business, and I won't interfere in yours. You will be my wife in every sense and you will not be involved with any other man," he said, arrogance seeping from every word. I watch his mouth move, I'm not ready to fall in love with any man, especially not one as arrogant and egoistic as him. I can handle acting as a loving couple, and as for intimacy once a month. I can agree to that just to satisfy my sexual cravings with no strings attached. "Where can I sign?" I asked since I had nothing to lose. *** Nadine's wedding dreams turned to nightmares when she caught her sister and fiancé cheating! With a secret recording, she's ready for revenge. But then mysterious billionaire Logan West offers a deal: A Contract Marriage to take down her ex's empire. But what Nadine doesn't know is her life is getting complicated as she takes her chance to get revenge or risks everything for a chance at love?"