Married by Scandal, Bound by Contract

I'M NOT THAT KIND OF WOMAN

ELARA’S POV

Neither of us move while the question still hangs in the air, unanswered.

I find my voice first. “I should be asking you that!” My voice comes out more smooth and steady than I expect. Good.

I hold the sheet tight around my body and sit up straight at the edge of the bed. My heart is beating so fast against my chest that I am dizzy.

He looks at me for a few seconds without speaking. His eyes move from my face to the sheet wrapped around my body and then back to my face again, his expression darker now.

“This is my hotel suite, so I will ask again. Who are you and how did you get in here?”

“I don’t know!” I snap at him, getting irritated already. I steady my shaky hands. “I had dinner with my family last night and then I felt dizzy and the next thing I remember is waking up here!”

He narrows his eyes at me like he is trying to detect if I am lying.

“You expect me to believe that?” he asks.

“Yes!” I angrily replied. “Because that is exactly what happened!”

He suddenly stands up from the bed. I quickly turn my face away when I realize he is also not fully dressed. My face becomes hot immediately.

He walks past me calmly like nothing is wrong and picks up his shirt from the floor. He wears it slowly, button by button, with an unreadable expression.

“I have seen many tricks like this before,” he says while buttoning his shirt. “of women trying to enter my room to create scandals in order to get money.”

I turn to look at him in shock. “What?!” I say loudly. “You think I planned this?!”

He looks at me directly. “Didn’t you?” he asks.

Anger rushes through my body. “I don’t even know your name!” I shout. “What makes you think I would plan something like this?!”

He does not respond. He just walks to the table, pours himself a glass of water, and drinks it.

His calmness makes me even angrier. “You think every woman wants your money?” I say, my voice shaking with anger. I have never been so humiliated like this.

He places the glass down and finally looks at me again. “Most of them do,” he says calmly.

Wow! I don’t want to even believe what I am hearing.

“I was set up!” I point at myself. “Someone brought me here and obviously took off my clothes! They left me in this room and you stand there accusing me?!”

He crosses his arms and leans against the table, still looking at me like he is trying to solve a puzzle. “Then explain why you are in my bed.”

“I just told you I don’t know!” I shout.

We just stare at each other angrily. At this point, if a pin drops, it'll be heard because of the thick silence between us.

He picks up his phone abruptly and dials a number.

“Ethan,” he says when the person picks up. “Come to my suite. Now.”

He ends the call without waiting for a reply.

I stand there, still holding the sheet, feeling embarrassed, angry, and confused at the same time.

A few minutes later, there is a knock on the door.

“Come in,” the man says.

The door opens and another man walks in wearing a suit. He looks professional and calm. I notice the surprise in his eyes when he sees me standing there wrapped in a bedsheet.

“Sir,” he says politely and nods.

“This situation,” the man beside me tilts his head toward me, “needs to be handled immediately.”

The assistant nods once, looks at me again briefly before looking back at his boss.

“Understood Sir,” he says. The man then turns to me. “I don’t have time for drama Ma'am. Whether this was your plan or not, I don’t care. We will end this here.”

I frown, not understanding what he means.

The boss glances at his assistant. “Transfer money to her, a large amount that is enough to make her keep silent about last night.”

For a few seconds, I still did not understand what he said. Until…it hits me. Wait, he wants to pay me like I am some… some…

His assistant takes out a tablet and asks me politely. “Miss, please give me your account details.”

I stare at both of them like I cannot believe what is happening. “You think this is about money?”

“Everything is about money,” he replies without looking at me.

I've had enough, really! Before I even realize what I am doing, I walk up to him and… SLAP!

It resounds across the room. My hand stings because of the force but I do not care neither do I regret anything.

The boss and his assistant are in shock.

My chest rises and falls in short pace as I breathe heavily while daring him with my eyes to blurt more rubbish.

My audacity needs to be studied. I mentally give myself a high five.

“I am not that kind of woman!” My eyes are already full of tears but my voice is strong. “You think you can just throw money at me and I will disappear? You think I sold myself to you?!”

His face turns dark, still, he does not touch me.

I continue speaking in anger and humiliation. “I don’t know who you are, and I don’t care how rich you are, but not every woman in this world is desperate for your money!” I stress the words properly for emphasis.

They are both quiet.

“Keep your money, I don’t want it.” I say.

I turn around and march towards the door, still clasping the sheet around my chest.

“Wait,” his assistant stops me.

I do not stop. I open the door and walk out without looking back.

I managed to get some clothes from the hotel staff and change.

I replay the incident of the past few minutes in my head. It feels like I'm having a nightmare.

I leave the hotel building and face the direction of home. I can wait to get home and think about everything. The moment I step outside…click, click, click, camera flashes hit me from all corners.

“Miss! Miss! Look here!” At once, I'm surrounded.

“Are you the woman who spent the night with him?!”

“Are you getting married to him?!”

“Miss Whitmore! Is it true you are marrying the mysterious billionaire?!”

My brain shut down. How did they know I was here? How do they know my name? My heart jumped to my stomach. The camera flashes keep going off and reporters keep shouting questions at me. I cover my face with my palm and fight my way through the crowd.

This is definitely not an accident. Again, it is a planned work and there are only two people that come to mind; Miranda and Chloe.

I wave down a taxi. Tears slip out of my eyes as I get into it and shut the door hastily. I take out my phone to see a lot of messages and news notifications. I click on the news notification.

The headline reads: "MYSTERIOUS BILLIONAIRE SPENDS THE NIGHT WITH AN UNKNOWN WOMAN—MARRIAGE RUMORS BEGIN."

The phone slips from my hand as I blank out into space.

My life… is about to change for the unknown.