Nodded

Synopsis “There is a very important clause Miss Heathrow.” The lawyer muttered as he pushed the file across the table, “I implore you to look at it very closely.” Annalise nodded, her mood tepid as she stared at the document right in front of her. It didn’t take a moment before those words finally seeped into her mind and heart, “Fall in love with him and lose everything??” She blurted out loud. *********** She only has one job. But if she falls in love she loses it all. It’s all very simple for Annalise Heathrow—Marry the elusive billionaire, Stephan Ashford, and have his child, protect his reputation and company, be his wife only on paper and nothing else. But when tides turn and Annalise sees a whole new side to her contract husband, will she choose her heart and lose the one thing dearest to her??

When I went to the hospital for a checkup to see if my fourth IVF attempt had succeeded, I saw Daniel Cooper, who was supposed to be on a business trip. He was carefully supporting a young, beautiful woman as they walked out of the obstetrics and gynecology department. Her belly was unmistakably round, and she looked like she was ready to give birth at any moment. Daniel froze for just a second before stepping in front of her, shielding her from me. He explained, "Abby, the Cooper family needs an heir to carry on the lineage. Once the baby is born, everything will go back to the way it was." I heard the certainty in his words. So I smiled, nodded, and quietly tucked my test results away as he stared at me in surprise. On the day she gave birth, I left the divorce papers on the kitchen table and walked out of his life for good.

My dad urgently requested that I bring Jeffrey back as he was rushed to the emergency room following a car accident. I nodded, holding back tears, but deep down, I knew Jeffrey harbored resentment toward me. He blamed me for his shattered relationship, my inherited wealth, and for coming between him and his first love. Nothing could deter him from pursuing her, not even me. "Evalyn, today is Melinda's birthday. Can you just be reasonable for once?" He spoke these words amidst the familiar sounds of laughter before abruptly ending the call. Moments later, my dad took his last breath, his eyes wide open in a final, stark gaze. As I fulfilled his last requests, organizing everything as he had instructed, I decided to let Jeffrey go. It was only then that he began to regret everything…

“Please don’t hurt me, I will do anything you want me to, I will not tell anyone anything. I swear on my life, I don’t want to die please” I pleaded, it was the least I could do in a situation like this. After all that I had seen, I knew I was nothing to him than just another body that he could drop dead. I closed my eyes hoping and praying that he would spare my life. “Anything?” I hear him say and I open my eyes immediately. Was he accepting my offer, was he going to spare my life. He was already standing in front of me, I had to tilt my head backwards a great deal to catch a glimpse of his face. “Yes anything” I nodded my head.

How much did my wife love me? To marry me, she proposed ninety-nine times. I was not moved until the hundredth. On our wedding day, I gave her ninety-nine make-up cards. We agreed that as long as all of them were not used up, I would stay with her. Five years into our marriage, she used one card every time she went out to be with her crush. When she reached the ninety-seventh card, she suddenly noticed that I had changed. I no longer begged for her to stay. When she lost control because of her adorable secretary, I asked her, “If you don't come back tonight, can I use a make-up card?” She paused for a moment and then softened, which was rare for her. “Okay.” I nodded and let her leave. She thought she still had many make-up cards. She didn't realize this was his last chance.

"You okay?" He asks her and she nodded but the look on her face stats she's scared. "I'm fine" She muttered. "Did they hurt you?" He asked. "No" "Look at me. Look at me Elsa!" He insisted and Elsa shivered. "Can I ask you?" "What?" He asked. "Can you please remind me how I meet you." Elsa said. "It all started at a party" He said. ___ Her name is Elsa, A nineteen years old naive girl. Beautiful with hazel eyes. She was being treated differently by her family members. What did she do? Getting raped wasn't her fault. Is that the reason she has to be treated so bad?! Everything changed, in just One day. Every day she ask herself, how on Earth did she get to meet the bad Mafia Boss! Can her life get anymore better?

Five years ago, Gary Cooper proposed to me 99 times just to marry me. Five years later, to cheer up the secretary he adored, he handed me 99 divorce papers. "Relax. I'm not actually divorcing you. I'm just humoring her. Just pretend like you always do. There's no need to sign." When Gary said it, he was even smiling. As for me, the heartbreak I once felt had long since faded. Now, there was barely a ripple left. I suddenly remembered what day it was and asked quietly, "Will you be home for dinner tonight?" He paused for a moment, then casually shook his head. "Probably not. Today's kind of special. I don't want her to get jealous." I nodded and watched him walk out the door. Then, I picked up a pen and carefully signed my name on the 99th divorce agreement.

“Do you want me to show you?” He asked. I nodded, too weak to answer. His strong arms lifted me off the ground and I wrapped my legs around his waist. I felt him drop me on my bed. His eyes had darkened with desire. I wanted him. I wanted him so bad. He dropped slow, teasing kisses on my neck, on my ears, nibbling on the lobe. I felt his hand creep under my shirt and I gasped. He wrapped the hand around my waist and pulled me closer. I moaned softly, digging my nails into his back. He suddenly withdrew from me. “Who's the whore now?” He asked and then proceeded to walk away, leaving me by myself on the bed **************************************** From being the unnoticed calculus nerd to having the full attention of the school's bad boy, the principal's son.

The day before the wedding, my fiancé James's childhood sweetheart had a severe depressive episode. Threatening to take her own life, she demanded the destruction of the wedding gown my grandmother had painstakingly made for me before her passing. To calm her down, James locked me in a room and stayed by her side, helping her cut the gown into shreds. Amid the mess, he spoke indifferently. "Be reasonable. It's just a wedding gown. Do you want to see her die?" Later, James's hot uncle approached me, asking me to carry on the family lineage. I nodded in agreement. But James, with reddened eyes, confronted me. "Are you really going to have his child? Have you completely given up on me?" Covering my slightly rounded belly, I replied, "Be reasonable. It's just a child. He’s your uncle. Do you want to see him with no heir to carry on the family name?”

In the third year of Lyra Hawthorne's engagement to Ryder Calloway, he found himself a beautiful grid girl named Nova Voss abroad. The day before Valentine's Day, he deliberately brought Nova to see Lyra and demanded to break off the engagement. "Nova and I share the same interests. A simp like you will never understand the thrill of racing." Lyra refused to accept it and asked, "Does it have to be today?" He laughed. "Do you need to check the calendar to call off an engagement?" She nodded and didn't argue any further. A month later, she entered the same race he did. What he didn't know was that she had understood the thrill of racing long before he ever did. Later, she got married on his birthday. With reddened eyes, he asked, "Does it have to be today?" She smiled as well. "Of course. You do need to pick an auspicious day for a wedding."