Chapter one

Catherine

I stood in my living room with the divorce papers in my right hand and my other hand clutching the mail I received saying a transfer of properties.

 I wiped the tears from my face and looked down at the papers again as I tried to recall what happened the night before.

I was drugged, that fucker drugged me because I felt dizzy after taking that drink.

My phone pinged, and a message from an unknown sender came through, telling me to go to a place I didn’t recognize.

I pulled on my jacket and slid into my car and drove off.

“Sorry miss, but you can’t go in without an invite.” The guard said.

From the look of it, it was an event estate, the kind used for weddings and private events, gardens wrapping around it.

“Get out of my way,” I yelled. But the guards didn’t budge.

I stood there stupefied by what I was seeing. Dean’s silhouette came through with a brunette in his arms.

I gasped. “Is that Samantha?” In her white wedding dress, she and my husband walked toward me.

“Let her in,” Dean ordered the guards.

Heat surged through me and a sharp ache knotted in my chest as I stormed toward them.

“Nice to join us dear wife, or should I say ex-wife,” he said. Flashing his white teeth.

“What is this, Dean? What the hell is going on?” I demanded.

“Exactly what you think this is,” he said, smirking.

I slapped him hard across his face and he laughed like a maniac.

“Hey, watch it,” Samantha snapped, stepping in front of Dean.

“You bitch,” I yelled. “You are my assistant, and to think you had eyes for what’s mine makes  you so disgusting.”

“Don’t speak to my wife that way,” Dean cut in. “Guards!” He shouted.  “Take this woman out of my presence.”

My fingers twisted in his jacket, knuckles white, my vision blurring until his face doubled in front of me. “You will pay for this, Dean. I promise.”

“Just so you know, Catherine,” He spat, “I own  half of the Rosawood shares now, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

The guards led me out of the building, with Dean and Samantha laughing behind me.

My knees gave out before I even realized I was falling, as the gates slammed shut.

*****

I finally made it to my house. On wobbling legs, I made it to my room as I broke down.

I was ten years old when my parents lay in that hospital bed after a terrible accident. My mother’s words still rang in my ear: 

“Catherine, I want you to at least get married by twenty. I don’t want you to be lonely for a long time.” That simple wish had become a shadow I carried with me every step of the way.

I grew up with my aunt. I met Dean at twenty one. I thought we had things in common; that’s why I agreed to marry him. But I was naive and stupid that I didn’t see the handwriting on the wall. And now I’m back to that lonely girl who had lost her parents that night, who always hides from the world– my chest felt hollow, like something inside me had been ripped out and left open.

I clutched the sheets as the betrayal dawned on me. I cried and cried until there were no more tears left in my eyes.

******

Catherine Rosawood, I heard my name as I looked up to see a man looming over me. 

I was in a pub, downing shots upon shots to kill the pain, but I guess drinking can’t always mend a broken heart.

“Who are you?” I asked, gurgling.

He pulled the chair and sat down. “I’m Kaden Mitchell,”  He said, leaning back in the chair.

“Wait, as in Mitchell’s empire?”

“I guess I’m that famous,”  He said, taking a sip of my drink.

I really looked at him this time: Dark hair, brown eyes.  He sat there in his sleek black suit and Armani watch, looking like a god.

“What would the CEO of such an enterprise want with me?” I asked.

“And what would a Heiress be doing in a pub this late at night?” He asked back, never taking his cold gaze away from me.

“None of your business,” I snapped.

“Hmm…. Well, I have come with a proposal for you, Catherine.”

Now that got my attention. “What?”

“A marriage contract.”