His contracted wife

His offer

Rachel almost fainted on the spot seeing how handsome he was.

In her 22 years of living Rachel never had a so-called boyfriend because of her father who always made her live in poverty.

She had trouble studying and finding a job all thanks to him. After he started his own business and founded his own company she thought things would get well only for them to go back to the same place again.

And now, the rumored devil is sitting in front of her eyes, living and breathing in the same air as her.

He examined her from head to toe and became puzzled.

“I never saw your face before.” He added, crossing his arms.

“Who are you?”.

Rachel took a moment to gather her thoughts and took a few deep breaths before she looked up at the CEO with her head held high.

She fixed her posture and replied, “I’m Rachel Hopkinson. I work in the sales department.”

“Sales?” his eyebrows raised in suspicion.

“Why are you here? I had no meeting with your department today.”

Her eyes narrowed on him.

“I’m not here on behalf of my department. I’m here to request you something personally.”

His face became serious.

“Go on.” He responds coldly.

Rachel took a deep breath, and replied, “I need a big loan to be approved.”

“What amount?” he asked, staring at her with boredom.

Rachel takes a second to respond, “10 million.”

His eyes widened in a split second as his jaw dropped turning to Rachel.

“10 million?”.

“What is your salary again?”.

“Uh….$30k a month.” She addressed, lowering her eyes down at her hands.

“$30k a month, and you are asking for a loan of 10 million.” He continued.

“Are you,” she looked up at him.

He looked in disbelief. “Joking with me or something?”.

She nods in disapproval.

“I’m not joking. I do need those 10 million.” She urged desperately.

“Why do you even need that amount?” he retorted as if mocking her or something.

She went silent, lining up the words carefully in her head before actually saying it out loud.

He clicked his tongue in response.

“Didn’t you listen to what I asked just now?” he yelled, slapping the table aggressively.

She became startled and looked at him quite nervously.

“Uh….I…well…”.

She started to explain her situation, and he was listening to it with quiet interest.

“So….” She clenched her palms tightly, feeling nervous for no reason at all.

“I need the money. Or else we will lose our home and everything.” She pleaded, bowing her head.

“Please approve the loan. It’ll be a big help to me and my dad.”

He was about to respond right away, but then he ran some calculations in his head.

He looked at Rachel and thought about something.

Rachel was ready to cry her heart out if he didn’t agree to it.

“It didn’t work after all?”.

“I wasn’t able to save our home, Mom.”

“I’m sorry.”

The corner of his lips curled upwards into a smile, as he looked up.

“Very well.”

“I’ll give you the 10 million.”

Rachel looked up at him as soon as he said that.

Her face lit up with hope.

“Really?”.

He nodded with a smile. “Really.”

Rachel almost broke out in tears but she somehow held herself together.

“I can’t be more than grateful. Thank you-“.

“But, I have a condition.” He added, playing with a pen in his hands.

Rachel became dumbfounded.

“Condition?” she repeated.

“Yes.”

He got up from his seat and walked over to her side.

She backed away in response only to face her back against the door.

He stood a few feet away from her body.

As he placed his hands in his pockets, he lifted his head with a smile.

“You have to marry me, Rachel.” He remarks, with a stoic expression.

“And, in return, I’ll pay off your dad’s debt completely.”

“How does that sound?” he adds with a smirk.

Rachel becomes puzzled.

Her eyes widened in shock as she stared at her boss with an astonished expression.

“M-marry, you?” she repeated, “Did I hear that right?”.

He nods. “Yes, marry me.”

She looked into his eyes and became even more puzzled than ever. But, he didn’t seem to lie. His eyes were telling the truth.

“S-sir, are you joking with me?” she stuttered, pretending to laugh it off.

“Why would you want to marry me out of all the people out there?”.

“I am-“.

He pressed a finger onto her lips, to stop her from talking.

“I am the one who wants to marry you so that entirely depends on me why I want to marry you in the first place. Got it?”.

She nodded.

His eyes narrowed. “You see…I also have something that I want to have.”

“You also want money, and I also want something. We both can help each other, and that’s for our benefit.”

“Do you understand it now?”.

She nodded, removing his finger from her lips.

“And what do you want out of marriage?”.

He smiled. “Property, money, and this company and its rights, and everything that my family owns.”

“It’s not in my name actually, so I want to make sure it’s in my name.”

Rachel lowered her eyes, trying to connect the dots.

When she finally caught up with him, her eyes widened in shock.

“So, that’s why you want to pay me the $10 million without letting me pay it back, by marrying you?”.

He nods. “You catch on quick. I love that.”

Rachel clenched her fists out of frustration.

“Now, I also have to marry because of Dad’s mistake? And to whom? The boss of my company.”

She was getting lost in her thoughts, so he snapped his fingers to draw her attention.

“Hey, did you even listen to me?”.

“I’m saying something.”

She turned to him and kept her eyes lowered.

“Well….”.

“Can you give me some time to think over it?”. she pleaded.

“All of this is too overwhelming for me to understand.”

He pulled away from her, and stood a few feet away, placing his hands in his pockets.

“Sure, why not?”.

“You have a whole day to think about it. You can let me know your decision by tomorrow.”

“Is that fine with you?”.

“Only a day?” she asked, raising her eyes. Her face had become saddened.

“Why? Isn’t that enough?” he replied with a puzzled face.

“I’m giving you 24 hours to make up your mind. I think that’s more than enough time to make a small decision like this.”

“It’s just a simple marriage, nothing much.”

“Simple?”.

“Anyway, you are wasting my time now.” he retorted, staring down at his watch.

“I have a meeting to attend after this. You can take your leave now.”

“I’ll keep you updated over the mail and everything. Talk to you tomorrow.”

“You can give me a call after making up your mind. I’ll meet up with you.”

“Now, leave.”

Rachel gave a nod and walked out of there without looking back behind her.

She stopped near the lift but didn’t enter it.

Her phone rang, drawing her attention.

She picked up the call but it fell from her hands.

She got down to pick it up but the call ended before that.

She picked it up and stood still, without checking who called.

Her whole world changed in a matter of seconds.

She took the stairs and was dragging her feet without knowing.

Her phone rang again, and she picked up without checking.“Hello?”.

“Rachel, it’s me, Dad.”

Her eyes widened as she blinked for a second.

“Dad? Why are you calling at office hours?”.

“Yeah, I know you are in the office. That’s why I’m calling in the first place.”

“Did you talk with the boss yet?”.

She went silent, as she gripped the phone tightly.

She opened her mouth, about to talk.

But stopped, and bites her lips out of frustration.

She heaved a sigh and replied, “Dad, I talked with the boss about the loan. I’ll tell you about it after reaching home.”

“Is that a yes or no?”.

“I’ll tell you about it after reaching home only.”

“Please, don’t ask me anything else for now.”

“I’m hanging up. Bye.”

She heaved a sigh and stared into the blank wall.

“How will things get any worse than this?”.