A Contract Bride for Mr. Billionaire

Emma's POV The foreclosure notice burned a whole in my bag as I wiped down tables at Sweet Temptation. Seventy five thousand dollars. That was what stood between my family and homelessness. I had spent two years in this greasy diner, scraping tips. And now, this job was all I had and I could not lose it too. “Emma, Clarke wants you in his office. Now,” Aria voice sliced through my thoughts. “What’s this about?” I asked as I tossed the rag aside. “You'll see,” She said, her eyes glinting with mischief. *** “For the last time, Emma, what did you do?” Clarke, the restaurant manager asked. I rubbed the space between my brow, already tired of whatever this was. “Clarke, for the last time, I said I did nothing. I just concluded my shift now and you called me in here to accuse me. I don't even know what the accusation is about,” I said, growing impatient now. I had more important things to do than going back and forth with my boss. He turned to Aria, who was standing next to him, arms folded. “Aria, what did you say she did?” “I saw her take some money from the register while she was clocking out.” “You what?” I asked, completely taken aback. Clarke turned back to me, his face an evidence of his irritation, “Hey, keep your voice down. You had your chance to speak,” He looked at Aria again, with a smile that was inappropriate between a boss and his subordinate. Then I understood. Everything – the whispers I had ignorantly claimed were wrong – were all true. Aria was having an affair with Clarke. “When I saw her, I told her to return the money and I would lend her some if she needed money that bad. But she told me to keep my f*****g bucks to myself,” “That's a senseless lie. I don't even curse,” I said, “Aria, what is this you're saying? I haven't even seen you all day. Clarke, check the cameras,” “So you say you didn't take any money, huh? Let me see your bag then,” I tossed it on his table, confident that he wouldn't find anything. Yes, I was tight on money but I wasn't one to steal. Especially from Sweet Temptation, with their stringent anti-stealing policies. Aria smirked as Clarke pulled open the bag and folded hundred dollar bills fell out. My eyes widened in shock. “No, no…” I grabbed my bag. “I never took any money I swear…” “Look at you. A liar and a thief. A sloppy one at that,” Clark said while Aria gave me an evil grin that told me everything I needed to know. She had orchestrated all this. “I guess your services here are no longer needed,” Before I could even think, I found myself kneeling, my hands clasped together in a plea. I needed this job – it was my first job since coming out of college because apparently an art degree didn't mean much in a city like this. “Clarke, sir…” Before now, I never called Clarke ‘sir’ in the past. I didn't think he deserved it. But desperate times called for desperate measures, “... please, you can't do this…” He rubbed his temple, “Would you like to be escorted out by security then?” Even I knew there was no use begging. I made the hard decision to just count my losses and move on. “You'll regret this,” I said to Aria, who was smiling like she'd won a lottery. She leaned over and pulled Clarke into a kiss as I made my way out of the office. I didn't stop for a cab. What I needed was a walk. Maybe that would help me feel better. As I stepped out of the sliding doors, a figure bumped into me. “Watch where you're going, stupid,” I said before I could stop myself. I looked up to see a gorgeous man in a track suit, staring down at me like I was some little fly. “Rude much?” He said. I scoffed and continued on my way. By the time I arrived at the small cramped apartment I called home, I was boiling in anger – so much that I threw the fare at the cabbie – and slamming things. I found my childhood friend, Nala and my brother, David, locked in a kiss when I entered. They didn't notice me till I slammed the door hard. Nala practically jumped away from Robert, “It's not what you think!,” “Save it,” I said as I descended the three steps that I still couldn't decide their use in the living room. “That's the last of my problems now.” I was never in support of Nala and my brother being together. Because my brother was a jerk and was most likely to break her heart. Not to mention he was five years younger than her. But Nala wouldn't hear any of it. She followed me into the kitchen, her brow creased with worry, “What happened?” I grabbed a carton of milk from the fridge, my fingers tightening around it. “I lost my job. Aria framed me for stealing.” Nala gasped. “That b***h! How?” “Planted money in my bag. Clarke didn’t even check the cameras.” I poured the milk, “I’m screwed, Nala. That job was keeping us afloat.” David sauntered in, snatching my glass and gulping the milk down. “Good riddance. That place was a dump.” I glared at him. “Easy for you to say, David. Some of us don’t mooch off friends while dodging debt collectors.” “Speaking of debt, Emma. A guy from the bank came around today,” “And what did he want?” I asked, stalling. I knew it was about the seventy five thousand dollar debt we were neck deep in. And if the bank had started sending people to our house, it was only a matter of time before they took more measures in recovering the debt. “It's about the money, Emma,” David said, giving me a look that said ‘don’t play dumb with me,’ “He said we've only got two weeks and if we don't pay up, we'll lose the house,” I took the pack of milk and drank straight from it, willing it to be something stronger. “Does that know?” I asked. “Yeah. He was here when the man visited. He went out to find help,” I chuckled. That was the usual. “Right.” I placed the pack back in the fridge. “I'm going out tonight,” I said, heading to my room. Much to my displeasure, David followed. “To where?” “A date,” After a three year hiatus, I had decided to get back into the dating circle and just earlier this week, I found a match. We had arranged for a date tonight and I was not going to let this stop me. “Shouldn't that be the last of your problems right now, Emma?” I turned to him, “Yeah. And so should shoving your tongue down Nala’s mouth,” I said loud enough for the both of them to hear.