The CEO's Contract Bride

Chapter One: The CEO Who Refused to Die

The sharp scent of antiseptic lingered in the air as nurses and doctors hurried through the brightly lit hallways of St. Matthew Medical Center.

It was six o'clock in the morning. Most people were beginning their day. For Olivia Carter, it was the end of another exhausting twelve-hour night shift. She leaned against the nurses' station, rubbing her tired eyes as she finished updating a patient's chart. "Long night?"

Her best friend and fellow nurse, Mia Sullivan, placed two cups of coffee on the desk. Olivia smiled gratefully. "The longest, Mia laughed. "You've said that every shift this week." "Because it's true."

Olivia stretched her sore shoulders.

"I can't wait to get home." "What are your plans?" "Sleep." "And after that?"

Olivia sighed, "Visit my grandmother." Mia's smile softened.

"How is she?" Olivia's expression dimmed. "The doctors say she needs heart surgery soon." Mia frowned. "I'm sorry."

"The surgery costs almost three hundred thousand dollars." Olivia forced a smile, "I'll figure something out." She always did.

Since losing both parents five years ago, Olivia had carried the weight of her family on her shoulders. Every extra shift., Every sleepless night, Every sacrifice. It was all for the woman who had raised her, her grandmother.

Before Mia could reply, the loudspeaker echoed through the hospital. "Code Red! Trauma Team to Emergency Entrance! Code Red!"

The peaceful atmosphere vanished instantly.

Doctors sprinted toward the emergency department. Nurses grabbed gloves and medical equipment. Olivia tossed her untouched coffee into the trash, "Looks like I'm not going home yet."

Outside...

Rain poured heavily over the city. An ambulance sped into the emergency bay with its sirens screaming. The back doors flew open. "We've got a critical patient!" Two paramedics jumped out, the man on the stretcher wore a black tailored suit now soaked with blood.

Glass fragments clung to his clothes. Blood streamed from a deep cut above his temple. "He was involved in a high-speed collision," one paramedic explained while pushing the stretcher inside. "Severe blood loss, "Possible internal injuries, "Pulse is weak." Olivia immediately moved beside the stretcher. "Blood pressure?" "Eighty over fifty."

"Oxygen?"n"Eighty-three percent."

She looked at the unconscious man. Even covered in blood...He looked striking, strong jaw, dark hair. Perfectly tailored clothes worth more than Olivia earned in a year.

Whoever he was, he clearly wasn't ordinary. "Trauma Room One!" she ordered. The emergency room became a whirlwind of movement, Monitors beeped rapidly, Medical instruments clattered.

Doctors shouted instructions. "IV line, "Oxygen mask, "Prepare emergency surgery!" Olivia checked his pupils. Slow reaction is not good.

She pressed gauze firmly against the bleeding wound. "Come on, you can make it."

Suddenly...

The man's hand shot upward. His fingers wrapped tightly around Olivia's wrist, His eyes slowly opened. Dark gray, Cold. Piercing.

For a brief second, their eyes met, He looked directly at her, then everything went black again. His grip loosened. The heart monitor let out a terrifying sound.

BEEEEEEEEEP!

The straight green line froze everyone. "No pulse!" a doctor shouted. "He's in cardiac arrest!" Olivia's heart raced. She climbed onto the stool beside the bed, "I'll start compressions, Her hands locked together. She pressed down rhythmically."One,""Two, "Three, Sweat trickled down her forehead. Nothing.

The monitor remained flat. The attending physician looked grim. "Charge the defibrillator." A nurse prepared the paddles. "two hundred joules." The doctor placed them on the patient's chest. "Clear!"

His body jerked violently. Everyone stared at the monitor. Nothing. Still flat. Again. "Charge!" "Clear!"

The second electric shock echoed through the room. Still nothing.

One young intern quietly whispered,

"We're losing him, Olivia ignored him. She continued CPR, Her arms burned from exhaustion, Her breathing grew heavier,But she refused to stop.

She leaned closer to the unconscious man. "I don't know who you are, but if you're still fighting I'm not giving up on you."Another compression, Another, Another.

Then Beep. A tiny wave appeared. The room fell silent. Another beep, a stronger heartbeat followed. The monitor finally displayed a steady rhythm. "We've got him!" Cheers erupted.nSomeone actually clapped.

The doctor smiled in relief. "Prepare the operating room!" "Move!"

As surgeons rushed the patient away.

Olivia finally stepped back, only then did she realize her hands were trembling. She removed her bloodstained gloves. A silver watch had fallen from the patient's wrist during the chaos. She picked it up carefully. On the back was an engraving. A.K.

Before she could wonder who he was, several luxury SUVs screeched to a halt outside the hospital. More than twenty bodyguards entered at once, patients and visitors quickly stepped aside.

A distinguished man in his forties hurried toward the nurses' station. He looked pale. "Where is Mr. Kingsley?"

Olivia answered calmly, "He's in surgery." The man closed his eyes in relief. "Thank God He turned toward Olivia. "Were you the nurse who performed CPR?" "Yes."

Without warning, he bowed deeply. Every nurse in the hallway gasped. "Thank you." Olivia looked confused, "You don't need to bow, "I was just doing my job." The man's voice shook, "You don't understand." "If Mr. Adrian Kingsley died today the entire Kingsley Group would have collapsed." Olivia frowned. "Who's Adrian Kingsley?"

The hallway became strangely quiet. The man stared at her in disbelief, "You really don't know?"

She slowly shook her head. He smiled faintly,"then allow me to introduce him." "The man whose life you saved" is the youngest billionaire CEO in the country." Olivia froze. A billionaire?

Before she could process those words, the operating room doors suddenly opened. A surgeon stepped out. His expression was unreadable. Everyone held their breath. "Doctor, "Is he alive?"

The surgeon slowly removed his mask. "He survived the surgery, but whether he wakes up depends on the next twenty-four hours."

Olivia looked toward the intensive care unit. For reasons she couldn't explain, she felt strangely relieved.

Little did she know, saving Adrian Kingsley was the beginning of a journey that would change both their lives forever.