-Christian-
Ten million to sort me out as if I’m the goddamn problem; what the hell is wrong with my father? Why does he think marrying me off would change me? That’s the last damn thing I want and to THAT woman?!
Leia Prescott has always hated me, I know this. She thinks she’s better than everyone else, with her multiple college degrees, smug smile, and clipped tones when she speaks to me. Her minor accident of scalding my dick clean off with coffee wasn’t an accident, not with the slight smirk she tried to hide after I screamed. I tolerated her before that, but now I can’t stand the woman.
Her attitude reminds me of someone else, and even if I might have had respect for her before, now I see her as nothing but a woman whoring herself out for money. How do I manage to end up with the gold diggers?
Out of everyone he could have chosen, it had to be his PA. His fucking PA.
I growl under my breath and walk out to my Rolls-Royce Phantom, where my driver is waiting. This evening was a fuck up. I never should have agreed to this; especially not after seeing her smug face.
“Christian, wait!”
I hear her call behind me and let out an exasperated groan. The last thing I want to do is talk to this red-haired witch, but now she’s forcing my hand.
“What do you want, Red?” I call her the name I know she loathes and I turn around to face her.
If I didn’t despise this woman, I might have thought she was beautiful with her sinfully curvaceous body, modest cleavage, smokey green eyes, and that red hair. But even her beauty doesn’t take away the fact that she’s a horrid woman who’s only after money.
Just like HER.
Her lips are a thin line when she approaches me, and she lets out a sigh. “Listen, I know this won’t be easy on either of us, so let's just try to make the best of it, okay? Two years and you can pretend I never existed.”
I can’t help but laugh at this because I don’t even need to pretend.
“I already said yes, didn’t I?”
“So did I and although we don’t like each other, let's just tolerate this for your father’s sake,” she says, trying to sound like she’s doing my father a favor. “He seems to think I can help you.”
This time, I laugh out loud. “That’s so nice of you, acting as if you’re doing this for him when you’re doing this for your own selfish reasons and taking money in exchange makes you nothing but a gold digger,” I say, watching as her face screws up in disgust.
“Excuse me?!” she shrieks, sounding like a strangled cat.
I smirk. “You heard me. Whoring yourself out for a few dollars, then acting as if you’re doing my father a favor. Cut the crap, Red, you’re doing this for yourself and no one else. That makes you a gold digger, in case you didn’t know.” I spit out, then slam the car door and ask the driver to take me to my usual club.
Leia’s shocked expression when I insulted her is the only good thing about this evening, and her slack-jawed look was the cherry on top. Good, now she knows how I feel about her and won’t try to get into my good graces.
If being married to a wretched woman for two years will get me my inheritance and father’s help, then I’ll do it. I need his help for my company to succeed, then I’ll pay him back and finally be on my own two feet.
I won’t simply be Alexander Moore’s son anymore. I’ll make my own way after I pay him back… no more living in his shadow after this. It’s all I have to think about while I’m married to the red witch.
On the way to my usual club, I called up my best friend Jasper to find out he’ll be available for a few drinks. Luckily enough, he’s there already - at least this will be some free therapy. Hopefully, I’ll be able to find a little willing toy to play with and take my mind off things too.
As soon as I arrive, I’m granted VIP access and I make my way to where I know Jasper would be. He’s already surrounded by a couple of beautiful women, two I’m already eyeing for treats later.
He sees me and grins, then pours me a glass of his half-full bottle of bourbon. “Sounded like you need this, mate,” he says.
Jasper Whittington is from the UK. His father owns multiple hotel chains and they have tasked him to handle them here in the States. He’s a veritable playboy like me and isn’t looking to settle down, like me.
Well, until my father mentioned this fucking contract.
“I said yes to his demands and will marry the redhead in a month’s time,” I grumble, shaking my head. “Had no choice because he dangled my fucking inheritance in front of my face again.”
He lets out a low whistle. “That’s rough. Well, it’s only for two years, yeah? After that, you can forget about the wench and go on with your life. Here’s to that,” he says, toasting, and we both down the drink.
Just two years and then I’ll be free. Just two years with her to make my father happy and I’ll pretend to have changed thanks to her. Easy, right?
For now, I’m getting shitfaced drunk and taking two women to the VIP rooms with me. I came here to forget, anyway.
-Leia-It’s been a month since I had that argument with Christian and in a few hours, I’ll be his wife. His gold-digging wife with zero respect for herself.When I told my mother what was happening and that it would help with her treatment, she wouldn’t talk to me for a week. Not because she felt disappointed in me, but because she blamed herself for it. She thinks her cancer pushed me to do this, truth be told I am doing this for her but I would do it again and again if it would help.I’m paying for her first round of treatments and my debt in full tonight. There’s an upside to my wedding day!Currently getting preened and pampered in my wedding suite, I allow myself to be transformed into a woman I do not recognize. This is who the Moores need, this is what I’m being paid to be so I can’t complain.After I’m done being dolled up and the dress slipped on, I take a look at myself in the mirror and groan. I’ve always dreamt of having a huge wedding one day, now I’m getting it just with
-Leia-I never would have thought I’d be miserable on my wedding day and yet here I am, miserable as heck. Everything was perfect; the church, the reception, the cake, even the dress. The only thing not perfect was the groom. I know I have no right to be pissed off about it especially since I chose this, but damn, could Christian at least pretend to like me in front of others? It feels like I’m playing a one-sided game here.Thank God the mess is over at eleven pm; I’m just about ready to strangle someone.The drive to Christian’s penthouse is spent in an awkward silence when I realize that we haven’t really spoken about anything regarding this arrangement. Like at all. Damn it, I didn’t want to be the first one to break the silence, but here goes.“Uhm, Christian,” he visibly stiffens at the mention of his name and turns his head to face me with a questioning raise of his eyebrow. “Yes, Red?” ugh, that nickname.Swallowing my pride, I take a deep breath and try not to let his ridic
-Leia-“There she is! Mrs. Christian Moore!” Lucas exclaims when he sees me walking into the restaurant for brunch and I nearly hurled. He wraps his arms around me in a warm embrace and does a little squeal of excitement. “Please, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I said yes to this dumpster fire,” I say while kissing his cheek and plopping down opposite him then immediately ordering a glass of wine.Lucas whistles when the server walks away. “Not even a Mrs for 24 hours and you’re knocking back the brunch wine. Tell me everything,” he says, leaning forward for some hot gossip when there’s none.Lucas McBride is nearly six feet tall and looks like a surfer; green eyes, sandy blonde hair, and ripped to perfection. He’s just your typical gorgeous guy who loves fashion, gossip, brunch time mimosas, and looking at eye candy, not of the opposite sex. Yep, you guessed it - besides, every woman deserves a colorful bestie, yes?“You’re salivating,” I comment with a scoff
-Christian-“Check your emails, mate, you might just see somethin’ interesting.” Jasper had said just before the shit hit the fan. I had been having a good morning up until then, a productive morning with CEOs from three major companies inviting me to a luncheon this weekend to discuss an important merger.Since then, it has wrapped me in nothing but a veil of anger the entire day. From the minute Jasper sent me that article, to the moment Leia arrived back at the penthouse as if nothing happened. Yeah, I get that I have a reputation for being a bit of a man whore, but I promised to push it aside when I married Leia. Not because I felt something for her, but because I know how sacred those vows are, even if they were fake. I wasn’t about to sleep around when I promised not to, but that went out the window when I realized Leia wouldn’t do the same. Was I foolish to think she’d think this is sacred, too? Of course, I fucking was.Once upon a time, I would have given everything to a wo
-Leia-I get up from the floor after getting off the phone with my mother. They started the new treatments with her almost immediately after I paid them and for the first time in years, there’s hope in her voice again.That alone makes it worth it; that alone tells me I need to push forward and do this.I haven’t heard that light in her tone in a very long time, not before her diagnosis and everyone bailing on her. It pains me not to be there for her right now, but she also refuses me at times. She hates pity and I understand that.When Christian barged in here a few minutes ago, it confused the hell out of me. I thought he would have apologized to me for getting it wrong, but it was simply to tell me about a stupid luncheon. Ah, I guess I’ll be paraded around this weekend then. ***I haven’t been able to visit my mother since our last phone call and it’s leaving me anxious. Her doctor has informed me that she’s taking well to the new treatments, but they’re leaving her drained. The
-Leia-The luncheon passes slowly and every time I turn my back, I see Christian chatting up some beautiful woman. This happened more times than I can count, and after he sees me looking, he merely winks.What the hell is going on with him right now? I thought we had some kind of breakthrough earlier, but clearly, I was wrong. The man cannot be broken as easily as I suspected. I’ll need to figure out what type of person he really is if I’m going to win.Before we are about to leave, I need the lady's room and excuse myself. Christian doesn’t look as annoyed with me as he did before, and I think my silence throughout the day has something to do with it.When I’m done doing my business, I walk out of the stall to wash my hands… and who should saunter in while I’m doing this, all while looking smug?“Hello, Amber,” I greet her while looking at her in the mirror. She crosses her arms and chuckles, shaking her head.“I knew you were dumb, but I didn’t think you were this dumb,” she says, s
-Leia-I won! I am back at work again, and everything is right with the world. Well, if you want to call co-workers staring at me and having continuous sex dreams about Mr. Grumpy Face winning; ugh, what the hell!After what happened in my bedroom, Christian has made himself even more scarce. There’s no hair or nail of him at the penthouse, and I’m starting to suspect he barely comes back. I mean, yeah, that kiss had all kinds of steam levels, but there’s no reason for him to stay away from his own home.Perhaps I should call him to clear the air. Aaaah, no, why should I be the one to clear the air when he was the one who kissed me?! But then again, I didn’t exactly stop him, did I?“No, you pushed into him and moaned like a hussy,” I grumble while drinking my cup of super-sweet coffee. “He probably thinks even worse of you now; you’ll go from Red to The Scarlet Woman.”“Is that so?” Christian’s voice behind me makes me nearly drop my coffee cup when I jump to my feet. He smirks when
-Leia-It’s Saturday morning, and I just woke up with a headache. I roll out of bed, throw on my fluffy bunny slippers and shimmy downstairs for a cup of strong coffee. My hair is a mess and I am not wearing make up, but fuck it. These last few days have been terrible, not to mention my change of season allergies.Terrible, you ask? Well, my mother had an adverse reaction to her treatment and had a mild stroke. Alexander has been in a pissy mood for the last few weeks and takes it out on the first person he sees AKA Me. Then there’s Christian who is apparently in Tokyo and all without even telling me. My life fucking sucks right now.Klaus follows me downstairs for his morning kibble. At least there’s one constant in my life. After six months of living here, he’s finally ventured outside of my bedroom. “Let’s get you some brekkie, my Klausy Wowsy,” I grumble as we walk into the kitchen. He prows in agreement and after I tend to him, I walk over to de-zombify myself with some, expens