Wife on Paper, Enemy in Bed

For hours, Aaron had been staring at the marriage contract. His mind had yet to recover from his earlier encounter with Ms. De Armas. He hadn't expected her to be beautiful. He certainly hadn't expected her to stand her ground.Shocked at her audacity was certainly an understatement.His father, Mr. Alejandro Martinez, entered the home office to find his son already seated, his head buried in the contract."By the look of things, it seems like your dinner with Eduardo De Armas' daughter went well," his father said as he took his seat across from him.Aaron tore his gaze away from the contract, rolling his shoulders in quiet frustration, "I find it surprising that you would take the approach of an arranged marriage when it came to me. I don't dislike Montserrat. Beautiful woman she may be, but I have no interest in getting married."Alejandro let out a measured sigh, the slightest hint of disappointment crossing his face. With a subtle wave of his hand, he dismissed the staff lingering

Montserrat arrived at Aaron's estate with Carson and a few staff members from her family home, people she had long grown accustomed to having around."Just Aaron lives here," Carson said as he helped bring down her luggage. "Good thing we brought our own staff along."Montserrat looked around. The property, from the circular driveway to the manicured gardens, was eerily empty."At least if he had any manners, he should be here to welcome me. It's rare to find any gentlemanly men these days," Montserrat murmured with obvious disapproval."I'm right here, boss," Carson grinned, trying to lighten the mood.She rolled her eyes at him before proceeding to press the doorbell.She did so twice, and still there was no response at all from the other end.As she lifted her hand to do it the third time, the door opened.Rebecca stood at the front door, her hair loose, wearing a shirt much larger than her size — certainly Aaron's, she figured — with nothing underneath, not even a pair of shorts.

Montserrat pushed open the door to her friend's private spa room and stepped inside.“Look who the cat dragged out... Montserrat!” Angela screamed, throwing off the fluffy white robe and running in her direction. “I thought you would bail on us... As always.”“Not always.” Montserrat gently nudged Angela on the shoulder. “Mrs. Harrington and Ms. Perfect.”“Pleaseee, don't you dare call me that.” Camille removed the cucumber from her eye, raising her index finger at Montserrat.Sabrina, another of her friends, chimed in, “She's been waiting all morning to tell you she's officially a married woman. Don't ruin this for her.”Angela gasped dramatically. “Exactly! Do you know how hard it is to become a respectable married woman around here?”Montserrat rolled her eyes. “Respectable? You?”“See?” Angela pointed at her. “This is exactly why we missed you.”“We should run this again,” Camille said, removing the cucumber from her other eye. “Guys, I'm married!”All four of them burst out laugh

Aaron stood in the foyer, waiting for Montserrat to come downstairs. He was dressed for the evening's event, a black suit fitted neatly over a crisp white shirt. His family was hosting one of their largest charity fundraisers of the year, which meant half of the city's most influential people would be there.His phone was pressed to his ear as he paced across the foyer.“Rebecca, I'm sorry, okay? I won't repeat myself again.” He exhaled sharply, then quickly caught himself and lowered his voice. “I'm sorry.”“Did you just—”“Again, I'm sorry, but you're pushing this. I'm doing all that I can to please my father. I already told you this and explained it to you.”“And I refuse to understand! Why does he have to influence your decision about marriage? No one does this in this day and age,” Rebecca snapped.Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose.“That is a discussion for middle-class families, not us. We were born with a silver spoon in our mouths our whole lives.”“Not you getting cocky a

Rebecca marched forward and leaned so only Montserrat could hear, "Count yourself lucky I didn't make a scene tonight, maybe everyone should know how fake you two are,"She scoffed, about to leave when Montserrat grabbed her by the arm."What the hell are you doing?" Rebecca asked as the grip on her hand tightened, glaring at Montserrat. "You are asking for trouble.""You said I should count myself lucky... I would like that you do your worst, take it to hell," Montserrat's voice was cold, drained of every emotion."I'm sure you don't want that!" Rebecca yelled, yanking her hand back to her side, eyes burning with anger. "There will be another time, just not tonight."Aaron quickly rushed to them, standing in between the women. "Let's not escalate the issue,""What is there not to escalate?" Montserrat faced him, "Mhm?"Aaron opened his mouth, then he sighed, "Could you leave, we will speak about this later," he said to Rebecca.Rebecca huffed in frustration before turning to exit."W