LOGINBella
“Aren’t you ashamed? You don’t even care about the fact that I’m her best friend!” I wailed angrily. Deep down, all I need was a better route to escape my problems. The offer was indeed golden, but why did it have to come from him? Why did he have to be the one to ask for such a delusional favor? “Are you actually going to give me an answer? Or you’re going to go back with all the baggage of problems waiting for you back at the home you might probably sell?” Alex replied. I was stunned. For a man who has such wealth,I should never have been shocked to know he did a background check on me. “This is hard…” I muttered to myself while holding my abdomen. My unborn child… I was not only trying to pay the loans by being his contract wife, but I was about to give my unborn child a future. I was standing on the edge of a lot, and it was indeed a heavy one for me. “Bella… I need to cover up for myself. I need to save my reputation. You have to pay those loans…” he sounded so true to himself and in as much as it was hard to accept it ,that was the truth. Tears clouded my sight as I scanned the entire mansion again, “…and the unborn child?” I had to ask him. I wanted him to know that it was his child. “You can’t be serious, right now? Are you going to marry me or not?” He shouted; goosebumps raided my skin. “Yes! Yes, yes! Alex Blackwood. I’m going to marry you. I’m going to be your contract wife!” I cried out, trembling. He rushed to the get the ring. The same ring my best friend wore, the same one that made me so happy for her, he passed the same engagement through my middle finger. “I’ll send you the papers. They have to be discreet. The marriage will be the day after tomorrow. I'm only giving you time to process who the father of the child is,” he coldly uttered as he picked up his suit and stepped out of the mansion. I was stunned, shocked in fact. I didn’t know how it happened, but it did. I didn’t know how to express how confused I was, yet over the moon. I decided to get a ride back home. In my head, I was still going to figure things out. The weight of the ring on my finger made it harder for me to move my hands around. When I got back home, I was slammed by my father’s portrait, which is kept in the sitting room, directly facing the entrance. “Dearest Father!” I uttered in tears and I had no idea what to say next. “Rest in peace!” I uttered, and I moved to turn on the light switch. When I did, I was numb. “Valerie?” I muttered, staring at her while quietly removing the engagement ring from my hand. I slipped it into my bag. “I waited for you long enough and I don’t know where you went to…” she uttered with a cracked voice as she cried for hours. “I’m sorry.” I couldn’t think of another response. I was sorry because I was doing everything in the right way possible even when it was wrong. “You don’t have to. I mean, you’re losing a lot. You’re losing a gig that came as hope to all the problems you have,” she responded softly as tears ran down her cheek. I immediately buried my face to the ground. I was reminded that I had problems. I mean, everyone had some. However, mine made me a living corpse. I was running crazy because I didn’t want to lose the only thing my father left for me. It was the only memory I had left. “Why are you giving up on him?” I asked subtly. I wanted to give it another shot before she boldly found out about the bitter truth. “Ama, are you seriously asking that question? He cheated? It’s everywhere. He didn’t only do it one one lady,” she started crying again. “Not only one person?” I uttered with so much doubt in me. “Great! You are not even updated, Ama. It is all over the news. It is everywhere. I feel so worthless. I feel like I amounted to nothing with him. He didn’t respect me,” she managed to spill everything out while crying. “I’m sorry, Valerie. I don’t think I can blame you for any decision you make. I think you have to look into things a bit more. You were so happy with him, why would one truth rip you apart?” I asked, trying my best to open a room of consideration. Meanwhile, Mr. Blackwood has a new fiancée, and she has no idea about it. “I don’t even know, Ama. I don’t want to think about it. I’m losing my mind. I don’t think I can face him,” she responded, stretching her hand to reach the wipes on the table. “Alex doesn’t look bad. It must be done sort of coincidence…” I tried again, losing my faith this time. I could still run back and return the ring. “Scandalous crimes make me sick. I don’t want that, and I won’t bother looking into it. He can do whatever he wants to do it is his business,” she uttered nonchalantly. My faith was finished. “Vale…” I wanted to call her out, but I was briefly interrupted by the buzz sound from my phone. After that, it continued, like it was not going to stop. “Valerie!” I wailed finally after checking my phone. There was no hope for me anymore. I thought I would have a solution asides having to marry Alex, but after seeing all the messages on my phone, I was destroyed within. “What’s going on again?” She responded coldly. I shook vigorously falling my phone to the ground. I didn’t know what to do anymore. “All my accounts have been blocked, including the event-planning business,” I cried, and goosebumps raided my entire body. “What? That should have happened earlier. You are owing so many loans. "You were lucky from the start,” She ignored me. “I can’t even help you at this point, I’m mourning my loss. I feel you should find something else doing,” she added. I knew I was alone at that point. “Is that all you’re going to say after realizing you put her out there and now everything has been seized?” I angrily pulled out. “I don’t care about absolutely anything that has to do with Alex, Ama.” She uttered, and grabbed her bag to leave. “Valerie?” I called out with the last strength I had. “Don’t turn your back on me now. I need you at least. We could figure out something,” I pleaded. Valerie slammed the entrance door before I could say another word. There and then, I realized it was just be and my unborn baby against the world. Valerie only cared about herself. I stared at my bag where I threw the engagement ring for a couple of minutes before wiping my tears. When I was about taking my bag to get the ring back to its rightful place, I heard the door bell. Who could it be?Bella In this little life of mine, there were people who made me feel safe enough to say the things I shouldn't—Ethan was one of those people. For me, that was the first warning I ignored. His presence in the mansion was surreal and uncomfortable at first. He mostly came around when Ahex decided to work from his office at home. It wasn't intentional to see him drop by. I was innocently seated in the garden while rebranding my event planning company and working on a small event contract. It was my first contract after I got married. It was a moment to get reminded of the things I've always loved doing before my life took a big spin. He took quick steps into the mansion building and this was me sitting outside the garden. I buried my face quickly when I saw him and after some seconds I began to question why I did that. I acted like a little girl had just seen her crush after a long time. “Are you hiding?" He called me out and sat across from me, joining me without any form of in
AlexanderI had built my life the way I built my business: systematically, without sentiment, with every variable accounted for. Bella Anderson was a variable I had dramatically miscalculated.I didn't see it coming. It was so hard to find all my hard work in ruins. She was my only solution. I had to put things together to make sure I saved my reputation. At midnight, my thoughts raced drastically without any end. I was uptight about having her around, and yet she had an irreplaceable value to being my wife. She was virtuous; this alone made my business partners see me differently. A man of respect and a man of his word. They always whispered, “Just look at his beautiful wife." It was always a proud moment for me. I was pleased and happy each time I heard comments like that or anything similar. Across my desk was a window which showed Bella's window too. I was taken aback when I saw her light was on across the corridor. I grabbed my pen and forced my head down. I tried to focus
Bella I felt the cool weight of the diamonds as they pressed against my skin. In the mirror, his eyes met mine as he fastened the necklace himself. “I need you to smile like you mean it tonight." I immediately curved my lips the way I have been practicing and held it there. It was the Blackwood's Foundation Annual Gala and every corner was filled with people in the grand ballroom of the Metropolitan Club in New York. It looked like a live constellation.I stepped out of the car with my arms in his arms. The diamonds were still getting warmed on my skin. He remained close to me and the first camera flash went off before we even reached the steps. "Mrs. Blackwood,” someone gasped in surprise, and the band slid over me like a second skin. This time around, Alex's hand was still on the lower side of my back. It was like a mark of gentle territory. Every single person who came close enough acknowledged both of us. I moved through the room just like I usually did on the other nights
Bella The last time the three of us had been in a room together, Valerie had thrown a diamond ring across a marble floor. Today, we were drinking Earl Grey. The civility was somehow worse.I took deep breaths and tried my best to avoid making things look horrible or worse. “Yeah, Valerie. It's been a long time. You came to visit?" I uttered without a break and she looked at me carefully. "I came to carry my things, and yes, it's not bad to pay a visit. Is it?” She responded coldly. I couldn't tell it was me being judgmental, or it was now her new way of life. I nodded silently because I was taken aback by the response she gave that Alex was not in that same space as we were. He gave all his attention to the cup of coffee he held in his hands. I was stunned. She wasn't that good to come visit her bestie, who married her fiancé. “Don't think deeply about it," she added again, smirking to one side. “I actually wanted to get my things…the person's items I forgot at the mansion bef
Bella The heartbeat on the monitor definitely looked like a question I would never have the answer to yet. I was tired of ignoring myself. I realised I did them after I had the discussion with Alex. I knew I only fed his curiosity. I only gave him tips. After he left the house for his usual routine in the morning. I couldn't say which it was because he started acting up. He wanted to be unpredictable. I decided to mirror his own actions for the benefit of my child. The weather looked as daring as it did on the night I opened my freaking legs to a stranger. Goosebumps raised my skin as I threw my clothes on myself and wore random shoes in the bid of leaving the house to a clinic. I needed to have backup. Honestly, the last time I knew I was really pregnant was when I got the test results at my door. I remember, it was a bad disaster. I needed to be sure that inside me was really a fetus. The thought of it naff my heart beat a thousand times over and it left me catching my brea
Bella I have been rehearsing this conversation in forty different ways. None of them made it seem like I was going to express my anger at him. It was time to address the baby growing in my tummy, the secret I have been planning to hide, but I hadn't believed myself to do any of such. I wanted to remind him about the one night stand. I wanted to say everything, to express myself, to feel like myself, to let him know that I wanted to feel the same way I felt that night. “Bella! Bella!!” I shook after hearing my name. I turned and it was him.I stood up abruptly while trying to understand what exactly just happened. “What?” I muttered, furrowing my brows in confusion. “I have been calling you for a while now. What have you been thinking about?” He asked in a tone that felt immersed in anger. “Nothing…I've been waiting—for you—you return home late,” I replied, demonstrating as I uttered. “Really?” He stared at me from my toes back to my head. I would hate to say he looked at me
BellaAlex's world was full of men who smiled with their teeth and watched you with their eyes. After receiving the large sum of money, I realized that truly, I was nothing more than a pet in the eyes of Alex. I had to do everything he told me to. I acted only in the way he needed me to act. I was
Bella The bedroom I was given was bigger than my entire apartment that the bank almost took away from me. Deep down, I told myself that it was a good thing. Even after I said that to myself more than three times, it was hard to believe in even one of them. I was shown my quarters and at that mom
BellaI married for money and not for love. I dumped the fact that there may be people who care about me, and there were those who faked it. While the wedding certificates were being signed by my contract husband, I lived in the delusional state that this was not a contract, it was real. Mr. Blac
BellaI had no control of myself because the room fell with me. From the moment of forcing a smile in front of everyone to pretending to be happy. After hearing the magistrate's voice brush the silence that choked on me after signing the contract papers, I was weak. The reading of the last contr







