Contracted Bride

Chapter 5

"Then be my bride" Charles started indifferently as he rested his back on the chair, his eyes not leaving Ella's shocked ones

"Excuse me, what ?!" she exclaimed in shock, as she tried to make sense of what she had heard

“Will you be my wife,just for three years”He said staring at her and raised three fingers

Sir, sir “she stammered

"You need to pay off your debt, I need a wife, of course, our marriage is only going to be on paper. And you will just have to pretend to be my wife" he explained

"Like a contract marriage?" She asked after processing his words

"You are not too dumb then. It is a win-win situation for you, I get to pay your debt and you get to be my wife. Just the title alone can get you a lot of things" he boasted arrogantly, with a smirk pasted in his face.

"I checked you don't have a boyfriend or anyone that would get heartbroken or get in your way, and you are doing this for your mother," he said raising his eyebrows

Ella sat still for several seconds, weighing the pros and cons of getting into such an agreement with him.

Will I be married to him for three years of my life? A marriage without love?

Can I do it?

Is it worth it?

Her mother's smiling face flashed through her mind and she sighed

'Of course, it is worth it. Anything is worth it as long as she wakes up again '

Noticing her hesitation, Charles massaged his temple impatiently "Of course, it won't be forever, you just have to be my pretend wife for three years and our deal is off" he added

"Fine, I will be your pretend wife" she agreed, discarding all her second thoughts

'I have nothing to lose except a few years, that could have been wasted toiling to pay back a debt that keeps increasing ' she reassured herself

"Good. Glad we are finally on the same page" he started and called in Leonardo

"Have the lawyer prepare a marriage contract and everything she'd be needing for my house. You have until the end of the day to get everything ready" he ordered and dismissed him

"Am I going to be staying with you?" she asked in bewilderment

"Where else would you be staying as my wife?" he asked with a raised brow and an amused smile at her discomfort

"We are not married yet, I mean is there a need to move in so quickly?"

"You will be signing the contract tomorrow and we will go register our marriage the day after, you should get used to living with me from now"

"Okay" she mumbled, feeling excited that she hadn't been rejected, she could finally rest easy after so many years.

"I must warn you, you can't fall in love with me, you can have everything you want for the three years you are going to be with me as my wife, I will help you attain success in your career, in whatever you choose to do, you are free to use my name however you want and you will get compensation after the divorce, but you can't fall in love with me" he warned in a serious voice

'I wouldn't want to either, I just want to get myself out of the debts I owe ' she thought to herself

"You can include it in the clause of the contract, I promise not to fall in love with you"

✨✨✨✨

"You did what?" Annabelle asked, after listening to Ella's explanation of how her meeting with the popular CEO went

"I agreed of course, to an extent it was a harmless transaction, I get to be his pretend wife while he pays my debts" She shrugged feeling lighter than she ever felt in five years of her mother's sickness

Charles had agreed for her to go back home to get her things sorted out while telling her he would pick her up after his work hours

"I don't see anything bad about it, I heard those big men ask for ridiculous prices for their favours and she only gets off at being a CEO's pretend wife? Come that's not bad at all" Benita chipped in as she munched on an apple

"But… are you sure this is alright? What if he asks you to do other things? I mean I'm only looking out for you, babe" Annabelle replied sceptically

"Don't worry, he promised I get to remove anything I don't want from the contract and add anything I feel is important too, I don't see anything bad about this" Ella explained casually, she reached out to pick some grapes from the fruit basket, before popping it in her mouth with a smile.

It's been so long since she had felt less pressured about her life and her mother, even though she doesn't know what awaits her as a pretend wife, she promised herself she would let herself be happy and enjoy the little break life gave her.

"So now that you don't have to think about the debts, what do you plan to do next? There is no way, he would allow his wife, pretend or not, to work at convenience stores or do some small jobs" Benita asked

"I don't know, I haven't thought about it "

"How about asking him for a position in his company, he can afford it and it will help him keep up for face" Benita advised

"No, definitely not! I can't do that, he already did so much for me. I can't ask him for a position in his company!"

" Yeah, I'm in support of that. That would be asking for a mile after taking an inch. She already benefited the most from the deal, I suggest you complete your schooling and get a job with your own merits, that's more respectable. Plus our Alma mater is now offering online classes for students who put their studies on hold" Annabelle explained, making Benita roll her eyes

"You two are boring. You do know he won't ask you to be his wife if he is not in a tight spot right? You are just doing him a favour as much as he is doing you a favour"