Falling In Love With My Contact Husband

Chapter 1

I sighed looking out of the window , the streets were crowded with people moving about, cars honking at one another. I was supposed to be getting ready to go out to a dinner party but I couldn’t get myself to get up from my seat by the window and get ready . I could see a couple walking with their hands entwined with bright smiles on their faces , a group of teenage girls coming out from the grocery store across my studio apartment giggling amongst themselves looking so carefree and I wished I could be carefree like them without a care in the world and particularly without a dinner party to attend tonight where I had to keep up appearances.

The loud ringing of my phone snapped me out of my daydream, I reluctantly got up from my position by the window.

“ Hope you’re ready because I’m on my way to your place right now “ , Alicia said as soon as I answered the phone .

Alicia Roberts who preferred to be called “Licia” was my cousin, younger than me by two years but liked to act like she was older. She was coming to pick me up so that we could attend the dinner party together, it seemed we were going to be late as I wasn’t even ready yet .

“ A very lovely evening to you Miss Alicia, how are you doing this lovely day ? “ , I replied with the most solemn voice I could muster .

“ Very funny my darling , I have a feeling that you aren’t ready so I’ll give you an extra fifteen minutes before I start pounding on your door” Alicia said .

“ You are no fun you know , I’ll be ready before you get here “ I replied.

She hung up without saying goodbye, I quickly dropped my phone and hurried into the bathroom to start getting ready .

I spritzed cologne on my pulse points, took a last look at my appearance just my doorbell rang . I was dressed in an ankle length, fitted black gown with a slit running from my thighs down . It had full sleeves with a high neck and the highlight of it was that it was backless exposing my back and stopping above my waist, I paired it with black strappy heels with a matching black clutch. My makeup was flawless and natural looking, I wasn’t a fan of loud makeup and my hair was packed in a low bun at the back of the my head . I looked good and put together without going over the top which was what I was going for . I hurried out grabbing my coat and keys before Alicia started pounding on my door , I hope I didn’t forget anything in my rush to leave .

“ You look very beautiful this evening , you’ll turn a lot of heads at the party “ , Alicia said while looking at me appreciatively .

“ You look gorgeous as well , only you can pull off these color combinations” I said complimenting her as well .

Alicia was a big fan of bright colors and it was very evident in the way she dressed up. Today she was a yellow, sleeveless that was fitted at the bodice but flared from the waist and stopped just above her ankle with an emerald green colored shoes with a matching purse . Her makeup was beautiful with a bright red lipstick gracing her lips , her which was at chin length was bobbed giving her a perfect finish.

“Thank you so much my love , we have to leave now if we want to arrive on time and make an early escape without getting into the general’s bad side “ , she replied laughing.

“ I totally agree , let’s get a move on it “ I replied while locking my door and heading towards the elevator behind Alicia.

“ Welcome Miss Lillian and Miss Alicia “ , Max the butler greeted us while taking our coats .

“Thank you Max , has any family member arrived ? “ , Alicia asked.

“ Yes ma’am , Mr. Christopher and his mother arrived a few minutes ago “ he replied.

I inwardly cringed at the mention of my step-brother and his mother , those two knew what buttons to press to get a reaction from me . I hope my grandfather invited enough guests to act as a buffer between us .

“ Thank you Max “ , I replied this time.

“ You can do this, I’ll be right beside you” Alicia said while squeezing my hands .

“ Well, well , well, if it isn’t the empress and her loyal subject “ ,

I didn’t need to turn around to know that it was Christopher speaking, he had always been a bully right from childhood and not much had changed since then . If I could say so myself, he had gotten worse , always ready with a snide comment or two .

“ It seems the empire’s guards needs to be fired for letting a nonentity into the presence of the empress” Alicia replied with a smirk on her face .

I struggled not to burst into laughter, Alicia always had my back and was always ready to defend me and throw back snide comments to him .

“ I can see that she’s still fighting to your battles for you as always. You could have gone ahead to study law instead of wasting grandpa’s money studying culinary or whatever it is you claim to have studied, uh Alicia ?”, Christopher replied walking away .

“ I’ve worked up an appetite exchanging words with that fool, let’s go see what Olivia prepared” , Alicia replied dragging me towards the dining room .

Walking into the dining room, my grandfather Lucas Domino was seated at the head of the table with a glass of bourbon in front of him. He was wearing a black suit , his head full of white hair and his walking stick right beside him. Joan , Christopher’s mother was seated to his right hand dressed in a purple gown that was a size or most likely two sizes smaller than her with her face fully made up with red lipstick brightly coated on her lips.

“ Good evening Sir , Ma’am “ , Alicia and I greeted in unison .

My grandfather replied with a nod of his head while Joan waved her hands at us, I inwardly rolled my eyes. I couldn’t wait for this dinner to be over so I could go back to the comfort of my home .

I could hear voices coming from the front door , I guessed it was probably some of the guests that my grandfather had invited. Once a month he organized a dinner to host both family members and his business associates, everyone had to be in attendance or receive a query from him .

The voices drew close to the dining room, one of them sounded familiar but I couldn’t figure out where I had heard it.

My grandfather got up just as soon as the door opened to reveal the guest , the smile on my face froze as soon as I saw who walked in .

I couldn’t believe it , what were the odds that my grandfather’s guest would turn out to be him of all people.

I could only hope that he didn’t remember me else this dinner could turn out to be a disaster. I quickly used the side door to exit the dining room into the hallway, almost bumping into Alicia who quickly grabbed me to prevent me from falling.

“ You look like you’ve seen a ghost , are you okay ? “ she asked with concern written all over her face .

“ It’s … it’s … it’s him, how did he get here ? “ , I asked stammering anxiously.