The Billionaire's Contracted Cinderella

Chapter 9

Harper’s POV

I watch the headlines on the T.V, it made my blood boil.

“Edmund Fox to announce his in a Grand Party.”

The frustration that had been simmering beneath the surface bubbled over as I paced back and forth in my elegantly decorated bedroom. How could Edmund do this to me? How could he choose that girl. What was her name again, Ella. Yeah, right, a mere delivery girl, over me? The sting of rejection burned deep within me, igniting a fierce determination to put an end to their impending marriage.

I had always believed that Edmund and I were destined for each other. Our families had been intertwined for generations, and it was only natural that we would continue the legacy by uniting in marriage. But now, all those dreams seemed to be crumbling at the hands of a woman who didn’t belong in our world.

As I looked out of the window, my mind raced with schemes and plans to disrupt their union. I couldn’t let Ella, with her ordinary background and lack of pedigree, waltz into our lives and claim what was rightfully mine. I was determined to show Edmund that he had made a grave mistake in choosing her over me.

I knew I had to be subtle in my actions, ensuring that my intentions remained hidden from both Edmund and Ella. My reputation as a poised and elegant socialite would serve me well as I concocted my plan. After all, who would suspect that behind my refined exterior lay a mind teeming with strategy and ambition?

With a sense of purpose, I started my mission to unravel their relationship. First, I began to gather information about Ella, digging into her past, searching for any weaknesses that I could exploit. I wanted to find something that would make Edmund doubt his choice, something that would show him that Ella wasn’t the perfect woman he thought she was.

As I delved deeper into my research, I discovered Ella’s financial struggles. Debt had been a constant shadow in her life, and it was an Achilles’ heel that I could exploit. I smiled to myself as I formulated a plan that would use her financial vulnerabilities to my advantage.

Edmund didn’t know that he was in for a battle he never saw coming. I was ready to use every weapon in my arsenal to ensure that their marriage never saw the light of day. Ella may have been an unexpected adversary, but I was a force to be reckoned with, and I was prepared to do whatever it took to emerge victorious.

Sitting at my desk, I felt a mix of determination and unease. I had a plan to spoil Ella’s reputation and break her connection with Edmund, but deep down, doubts gnawed at me.

I met with the loan sharks who were after Ella due to her debt. I offered them money to threaten her, hoping to make her fear her past and pull away from Edmund. They agreed, and I felt a twisted satisfaction, thinking I was avenging my rejection by Edmund.

Edmund was mine and mine only, I would never let anyone take him away from me, especially not a mere delivery girl. I’m going to wait for the right time to drop this bomb that’ll destroy Ella’s life and Edmund will come back to me.

Ella’s POV

I stared at the screen of my phone, the words of the headline blurring before my eyes. “Edmund Fox to Announce His Wedding at Grand Party.” It felt like a cruel joke, a surreal twist of fate that I couldn’t wrap my head around. How could this be happening? How could Edmund, the person who had turned my life upside down, be the one I was supposed to marry?

Disbelief and anger churned within me, a storm of emotions that I struggled to contain. The resentment I felt towards Edmund hadn’t faded; if anything, it had grown stronger. It felt like he had manipulated me into this situation, a pawn in his elaborate game to defy his father’s wishes. And now, he was using our story for a grand announcement, as if we were characters in a carefully scripted play.

The thought of standing beside him, smiling for the cameras, as we pretended to be a happy couple made my stomach churn. The idea of being part of this charade, of letting Edmund dictate the narrative of my life, was infuriating. I had become a mere accessory in his pursuit of inheritance, a tool to manipulate his father’s expectations.

I clutched my phone tightly, a surge of resentment burning within me. How dare he? How dare he use me like this? I had my own dreams, my own aspirations, and they had been overshadowed by his selfish agenda. The anger I felt was a stark contrast to the fairy tale image that the news article painted.

As I read through the details of the lavish party, each sentence stoked the fire of my frustration. The thought of being paraded around like a prize, as if our relationship had any depth beyond his ulterior motives, was infuriating. It was as if my identity had been erased, replaced by a role that Edmund had assigned to me without my consent.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, attempting to quell the storm of emotions that threatened to consume me. I couldn’t let Edmund’s actions define me. I couldn’t allow his manipulation to shape the course of my life. The resentment I felt towards him was valid, but I needed to find a way to take control of the narrative.

I close my eyes and I couldn’t help but find myself drawn back to memories of a past that had left me wounded and broken. Mark.

Mark, the person who had once been my everything, now existed as a painful scar etched into my heart. Our relationship had been filled with dreams of a future together, plans that had once ignited my hopes. We used to talk about our wedding day, our eyes lighting up as we imagined every detail, from the flowers to the vows we’d exchange.

The pain of the revelation that he ran away with his High School sweetheart, hit me like a tidal wave. The dreams we had nurtured had shattered, the promises we had made rendered empty. The future I had been so sure of was suddenly uncertain, and the person I had trusted with my heart had left it in pieces.

What made it worse was that Mark had left me in debt. The financial struggles that followed his departure were a cruel reminder of the love I had lost and the damage it had inflicted. The burden of that debt weighed heavily on me, a constant reminder of the heartbreak and betrayal that had marked the end of our relationship.

As I sat there, memories of Mark intertwining with the harsh reality of the present, I felt a deep ache within me. And now, faced with the prospect of a future with Edmund, a man I had little connection to and even less trust in, the contrast between the past and the present was a painful reminder of how life could change in an instant.