Three

Chapter three

Paul and Joanna were meeting up. He was very surprised when he heard that Joanna was going to get married. As soon as he heard that he rushed over to this bar that the both of them were always visiting. It was a surprise that she was getting married all of a sudden. As far as he knew she did not have anyone that she was dating. So how come she is suddenly getting married all of a sudden? Who is she getting married to?

"Joanna what is going on here? What happened to you? Why are you suddenly getting married? As far as I know you don't have anyone that you are dating so why are you getting married? What is all this supposed to mean?" Paul asked. If he had his way, he did not want Joanna to get married. He wanted her to be his.. but he could not tell her that. It would be too selfish. He did not want to burden Joanna in any way.

Joanna sighed. She was getting into an arranged marriage but she did not seem to mind at all. She was actually happy that she was going to get married. After all her suitor is Raymond Walker. The CEO of the legendary Helain Group. The biggest company in all of the country. Raymond Walker, one of the top ten richest CEOs in the country. Of course she should be happy. He had everything,the looks and the money. Of course she wanted to get married to him so badly.

"I'm getting into an arranged marriage. My uncle already arranged for me to get married to the CEO of a company. They made it sound like they were doing it for me but they just want me to get my 'husband' to help the JK Enterprises that's already on the verge of bankruptcy. Those people, they think that they can do whatever they want with me" Joanna said. Even though she sounded like she was complaining she could not keep the excitement out of her voice at all.

Paul was instantly charged up. He could not believe that those people were doing this to Joanna. They already did a lot to her since the day she came to live with them. They basically took it upon himself to make life difficult for her. And now they want her to get married for thier company? How can they force her like this? He was really angry. Do they think that Joanna is an item that they acquired when her parents died? This is just too much!

"I really can't believe that they will do this to you Joanna. How can they force you to get married for them? They want you to marry some CEO so that you can help thier company? What is going to happen to you then? Are you just going to live your life as the wife of some CEO? And what is going to happen to your career? Will you quit acting? You can't do that Joanna. You already put in so much effort" Paul complained. He got into the entertainment industry for her, she can't quit.

Joanna had not really thought of this part. She was just caught up in the swell of marrying a rich man and living a great life after that. She did not think that she might have to stop acting. Joanna shook her head. It does not matter if she quits or not. She only started acting because she wanted to make a name for herself. It wasn't as if she was attached to it or anything. She can just quit. Joanna Walker, that was much more impressive than Joanna Anderson the actress.

"I really don't know anymore Paul. I really can't get out of this. They are forcing me to get married to him. They are even threatening me with the fact that they raised me up when my parents died to force me. I'm so broken Paul. I'm going to get married to some man. But no matter what, I'm not going to quit acting. Like you said, I put in so much effort. I won't quit" Joanna said. She was lying to Paul. She did not know what she would get from it but she just liked the feeling of Paul feeling sorry for her and being at her back and call.

Now Paul was super angry. For goodness sake she said that she does not want to do it! Why do they have to make her get married? And they are even threatening her with the fact that they raised her? Can that even be called raising? They never treated her like a member of thier family. And now they want her to get married to help thier family. Why does Joanna have to suffer because of them?

"I really don't believe this. Now you have to get married to someone that you barely even know just because he is some CEO that can help thier company. What do you care if it goes bankrupt? It's not as if they are going to give you a part of the company. Why are you the one to save it? And by the way, who is this CEO that you are getting married to? Is he famous?" Paul asked.

Joanna blushed a little before replying. "Raymond Walker"

Paul was shocked. He was even more angry when he heard the name of the person that she was going to get married to. Raymond Walker? That Raymond Walker? The CEO of Helian Group? That cold blooded and heartless CEO? Those people are really going to make Joanna get married to that kind of person? Just because they want him to save thier company? He gets the fact that they don't like her but this is too much!

"Wait! You are going to marry Raymond Walker?! That Raymond Walker. The one that is the CEO of the Helain Group?! How can they want you to get married to that man? He treats even his closet subordinate terribly! Do you think that he will treat a wife from an arranged marriage any better? I'm pretty sure that the both of you have never met each other before, you are not going to be happy living with that man at all!" Paul said.

Joanna sneered in her mind. She did not believe that Raymond was as cold as everyone was saying that he is. And even if he is that cold, she believed that it was only because he had not met the right person yet. He had not met her. Once he meets her, he won't be cold and heartless to her. He is going to fall in love with her. She still had her face after all. The face of Joanna Anderson that so many men had fallen for.

"Well, I really don't have a choice Paul. I guess I'm going to have to go through with it. I'm just lucky that at least he is rich and handsome. As long as we stay out of each other's way then he won't do anything to me at all" Joanna said. But she had other plans. He will fall in love with her. She will make sure that she makes the great Raymond Walker, her man. She looked at Paul's face. He seemed really worried for her, well she was really happy about the marriage!

Just then, a waiter walked up to them to deliver the drinks that they had ordered. The waitress seemed like she was having a hard time concentrating and so when she dropped the glasses, it had mistakenly toppled over and a few drops had spilled on Joanna's dress. The waitress covered her mouth. She felt her heart sink to her stomach. She just got the job today. She did not want to lose it.

Joanna was angry. For goodness sake this dress had cost her five thousand dollars! How dare this stupid waitress pour beer on her dress? Does she want to ruin it? She was sure that her pay for the month won't be enough for the dry cleaning of her dress! "What do you think that you are doing right now? Do you have eyes on top your head?" Joanna yelled.

Allen immediately bowed her head to apologise to the woman she had poured the drink on. Her long black hair had covered her face so they couldn't see her face. She had just gotten this part time job today. She figured out that working at the hotel won't be enough for the surgery so she took on a second job. She did not want to lose this job. She really needed to save her grandmother. Why is she messing up like this?

"I'm really sorry ma'am. I'm really sorry for the dress. I probably won't be able to pay for the dry cleaning. Please forgive me. I'll do anything to make up for this, except pay for it. I really don't have enough money with me" Allen begged her. She still had her head bent when she heard someone shouting her name. It was the boss! He must have seen what happened. She really did not want to get fired. "I'm really sorry ma'am" Allen repeated again and ran to her boss.

Joanna was both flustered and angry. What just happened? Some woman just ruined her 5000 dollars dress and ran away with a simple apology? What did she say? She won't be able to pay for the dry cleaning? How can someone be so cheap? She really wanted to go after her but she did not want I ruin her image. She could only turn to Paul. "Did you see that Paul? That woman just left after doing this to my dress! You have to go after her and find out what this means. Who knows if she is a reporter pretending to be a waitress?!" Joanna asked. As an actress, she had seen this trick a lot. She asked Paul to go, forgetting that he was an actor too

Paul, on the other hand had seen something that completely shocked him. Even though he did not get a good look at the woman's face he had seen her eyes. He used to think that those kind of eyes were only for one person. Joanna. But that woman's eyes, it looked so much like Joanna's. He was suddenly curious about her. Paul turned to Joanna. "Wait here Joanna. I'll go find our what this is!" Paul said.

Raymond arrived at the hospital. Immediately he heard that his grandfather had collapsed he ran here to see him immediately. Even though he was a cold and ruthless billionaire his grandfather was the only family that he had left. He had to be filal to him. So he came to the hospital to see him.

The director of the hospital was at the front of the hospital to receive him. Immediately the old man was rushed to the hospital he knew that Raymond Walker was going to come. So he came out here to receive him, himself.

The hospital's director led Raymond to a private elevator. He did not dare let Raymond use the same elevator as the other patients in the hospital. He wanted to make small talk with him but immediately decided against it. If he said something wrong, he would have to pay for it with his job. After all, this hospital was just one of the many places they owned. Better to keep his mouth shut.

The elevator stopped and they got out. They were now in a private ward. Raymond's grandfather's ward. It was the only ward on this floor. It was built so that members of the Walker family could have medical attention whenever they wanted.

Raymond immediately opened the door and went to his father. He was awake. He raced here thinking that the man was on the verge of death but he was awake! Did his grandfather trick him? "Grandfather, you are awake!" Raymond said.

He smiled. "Were you expecting me to be dead?" He asked.