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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 sat in his office with his mind busy with meditation rolling in circles on his swivel chair. He was lost in thought when a knock was 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 said sternly.
"What is it? Have you handled the documents I gave you properly? And have you sent the mails I asked you to send to our clients?"
His whole face was covered with seriousness . My boss had always been strict from the day I had worked as his Secretary.
"How would I tell him what is on my mind."My thoughts were all occupied.
"Yes sir. I have done all of them. I just sent the emails to our clients yesterday night" I said with my smile almost looking invisible which was 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 mail to send to my clients in the evening and you just sent it in the night. Can you just imagine?"He yelled.
Mr Alphonso could be inconsiderate sometimes. The mail had just be sent to me the previous day during in the closing hours to send to his client which was at an ungodly hour. If he wanted the mail to be sent on time, he would have given me in the morning or during work hours not closing hours.
"Yes, what are you here for ?"Mr Alphonso asked. I thought to myself if I would be able to tell him what I had 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 spoke with his scary face. "Umm-mm" I stuttered .
"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 covered all 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 wiped 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 from my salary or I will borrow from anyone 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 while crying.
That was the first time I would ever see him smiling for the three years that I had worked as his Secretary. As he continued to smile, 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 the effrontery for you to say you would pay me back or borrow it. My question is; "How would you get it?"When you don't know who you would borrow from? And come to think of it; you only work for me or do you work for anyone else?" he asked and 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 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 .You can go now."He ordered.
"Okay sir."My face was covered up with tears. Nothing was pushing me to still beg him or ask for his assistance because I had lost all the courage I had.
"I would be taking my leave, sir." I said with tears almost well.
"Yeah, lock the door after going,please."All his attention was fixated on the file that was in his hands.I turned my back and was already leaving his office .
I cleaned my tears and catarrh I was that was coming out of my nose. I had already gotten 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 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 said that already,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 need help to 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 mean person. He is a very ruthless and arrogant man. He is also one of every woman's choices in town like who 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 which was because of his charming looks having a height of 6'4 inches and his charisma I would have considered it a dream being in a relationship or being married to Mr. Alphonso.
Chances were not left to me but to accept his proposal because of the risk of losing my mother.Since there is not going to be an intimacy of any such , I would have to accept this marriage proposal. Like.... I mean it's just a year.
" I have agreed to accept your marriage proposal,sir." My face was all squeezed up because I already knew what I was putting myself into something tough which was 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.
After catching her boyfriend in bed with her high school bully, losing her job on the second day, and struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. Joana Angelou’s life is in shambles. Before she can even begin to pick up the pieces, she meets James Craig, a ruthless and arrogant billionaire who is inexplicably drawn to her. As she fights to revive her career, James becomes her unlikely ally and potential love interest. But can Joana trust her heart to a man who seems to be hiding the secrets of his owners?
Rachel used to think that her devotion would win Brian over one day, but she was proven wrong when his true love returned. Rachel had endured it all—from standing alone at the altar to dragging herself to the hospital for an emergency treatment. Everyone thought she was crazy to give up so much of herself for someone who didn’t return her feelings. But when Brian received news of Rachel’s terminal illness and realized she didn’t have long to live, he completely broke down. "I forbid you to die!" Rachel just smiled. She no longer needed him. "I will finally be free."
The whispers said that out of bitter jealousy, Hadley shoved Eric's beloved down the stairs, robbing the unborn child of life. To avenge, Eric forced Hadley abroad and completely cut her off. Years later, she reemerged, and they felt like strangers. When they met again, she was the nightclub's star, with men ready to pay fortunes just to glimpse her elusive performance. Unable to contain himself, Eric blocked her path, asking, "Is this truly how you earn a living now? Why not come back to me?" Hadley's lips curved faintly. "If you’re eager to see me, you’d better join the queue, darling."
Madisyn was stunned to discover that she was not her parents' biological child. Due to the real daughter's scheming, she was kicked out and became a laughingstock. Thought to be born to peasants, Madisyn was shocked to find that her real father was the richest man in the city, and her brothers were renowned figures in their respective fields. They showered her with love, only to learn that Madisyn had a thriving business of her own. "Stop pestering me!" said her ex-boyfriend. "My heart only belongs to Jenna." "How dare you think that my woman has feelings for you?" claimed a mysterious bigwig.
Rosalynn's marriage to Brian wasn't what she envisioned it to be. Her husband, Brian, barely came home. He avoided her like a plague. Worse still, he was always in the news for dating numerous celebrities. Rosalynn persevered until she couldn't take it anymore. She upped and left after filing for a divorce. Everything changed days later. Brian took interest in a designer that worked for his company anonymously. From her profile, he could tell that she was brilliant and dazzling. He pulled the stops to find out her true identity. Little did he know that he was going to receive the greatest shocker of his life. Brian bit his finger with regret when he recalled his past actions and the woman he foolishly let go.
"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?
When Zora was sick during the early days of her pregnancy, Ezrah was with his first love, Piper. When Zora got into an accident and called Ezrah, he said he was busy, when in actual fact, he was buying shoes for Piper. Zora lost her baby because of the accident, and throughout her stay at the hospital, Ezrah never showed up. She already knew that he didn't love her, but that was the last straw for the camel's back, and her fragile heart could not take it anymore. When Ezrah arrived home a few days after Zora was discharged from the hospital, he no longer met the woman who always greeted him with a smile and cared for him. Zora stood at the top of the stairs and yelled with a cold expression, "Good news, Ezrah! Our baby died in a car accident. There is nothing between us anymore, so let's get a divorce." The man who claimed not to have any feelings for Zora, being cold and distant towards her, and having asked her for a divorce twice, instantly panicked.