Contract Marriage: The CEO Craves Me Obsessively

Outside the CEO's office, Stella Hayes clutched an ultrasound report, too nervous to knock. She had grown up with very little. Her mother was critically ill and racking up medical bills by the day, while her father had abandoned them for another woman. Not long ago, she and Adrian Prescott had gotten drunk and spent the night together without protection. Now she was pregnant. Whatever she ultimately decided to do, he deserved to know. Everyone in the executive office had gone to lunch. Only after the floor was empty had she dared to come speak to him. She glanced down at the report again. The conclusion at the bottom was unmistakable: early intrauterine pregnancy, viable embryo, over 6 weeks. She drew a long breath and slowly let it out as memories of that reckless night a month ago surfaced. She had accompanied Adrian to a business dinner, then taken him back to his hotel. As she turned to leave, he pulled her into his warm embrace. They were both drunk, caught up in the moment, and neither made much effort to stop what happened next. The night had been good for both of them, but afterward, neither said a word about it. It wasn't until Stella missed her period and went in for testing that she learned she was pregnant. 'Adrian has the right to know,' she told herself. And she needed to hear what he thought. Gathering her courage, she knocked. A deep voice came from inside. "Come in." Adrian glanced up as she entered. "It's lunch break. What is it?" Stella met his gaze. With his chiseled features and striking good looks, he was the kind of man who commanded a room without trying. She pressed her lips together, set the report on his desk, and slid it toward him. "Mr. Prescott, you should see this..." Her hesitation puzzled him. He picked up the report, skimmed it, and frowned. "This is yours?" The question slipped out before he could stop it. "Yes." Her voice barely carried. "Last month, after that dinner with Orion Group's CEO, in the hotel room, we..." She couldn't bring herself to finish. Adrian remembered that night. He hadn't been so drunk as to black out. The alcohol had lowered his guard, and when he saw Stella's figure from behind, his hazy mind had mistaken her for Eleanor Foster... The memory stirred something in him. Between the alcohol and Stella's resemblance to the woman he had never gotten over, his self-control had deserted him. The office was so quiet that only the low hum of the air conditioner remained. Adrian held the thin ultrasound report between his fingers, his gaze drifting despite himself to Stella's wrist and the tension along her collarbone. The warmth of her body against his that night came rushing back. His throat worked as his eyes settled on her lowered lashes, faintly flushed at the tips. He knew he had lost control only because he had mistaken her for someone else. Yet with the faint scent of gardenias lingering around her, an unfamiliar tenderness tugged at him. The heat in his stare made Stella tense from head to toe. She drew her shoulders in and twisted the hem of her blouse between her fingers, her heart pounding hard enough to c***k her ribs. She couldn't make herself look up, afraid he might see the secret flutter of feeling beneath her panic. The longer he stared at the report in silence, the tighter the knot in Stella's belly became. "Mr. Prescott, you know I don't sleep around. That night with you was my first time." Her voice dropped on the last two words. She risked a glance at him, then continued, "I'm not asking you for anything. I just thought you had the right to know. And... I honestly don't know what to do." Silence stretched between them before Adrian set the report down. "We'll talk somewhere private after work. For now, go get lunch." He pushed the paper back across the desk. "Okay. After work, then." Stella nodded. Without looking at her, Adrian gave a curt nod in return. Stella quietly exhaled and turned toward the door. Distracted, she failed to notice someone entering and walked straight into the person. The report slipped from Stella's hand and fluttered to the floor. She looked up to find Adrian's mother standing in front of her. "Mrs. Prescott, I'm so sorry." Vivian Prescott was in her 50s, elegant without being intimidating, and warm. She smiled. "Don't worry about it." Then her gaze dropped to the report on her shoe. Stella saw it too. Her heart lurched, and she bent to retrieve it, but Vivian was faster. Vivian read the report, then stared at her. "Ms. Hayes, is this yours? Oh, there's your name." Heat rushed into Stella's face. Mortified, she managed a quiet, "Yes." Across the room, Adrian looked over. His unreadable gaze met his mother's. Vivian looked from Stella to her son, the pieces clicking into place. Excitement lit her face. "Wait! Is Adrian the father?" Stella hadn't expected Vivian to look so thrilled. She had no idea what to say, so she kept her mouth shut. Adrian rose and came toward them. "You can go, Stella." Relief flooded her, and she immediately turned to leave. Vivian caught Stella by the wrist and steered her deeper into the office. "I knew it. Now sit down, both of you, and tell me exactly what happened." Adrian's expression darkened, but Stella made herself speak. "Mrs. Prescott, Adrian and I... neither of us planned on getting married." "Not getting married?" Vivian wheeled on her son. "You got her pregnant, and you thought you could just walk away? What kind of man does that?" She leaned over and smacked his shoulder. Watching her boss get scolded by his mother, Stella lowered her head and covered her face. The cringe was unbearable. After a moment's thought, Vivian checked the time and stood. "Come on. Let's have lunch first. When the City Hall reopens this afternoon, you two are getting married." "What?" Stella's eyes went wide. "Mrs. Prescott, I... We can't just..." "It's settled. Period." Vivian took Stella's hand and patted it gently. "I know what you're dealing with at home. Once you and Adrian are married, I'll take care of your mother's medical bills. You won't have to worry about them anymore." Stella had never had much. Her father, Robert, cheated on her mother, Patricia, when Stella was in high school, then divorced her and left. They had struggled on alone, but Patricia worked relentlessly to put Stella through college. Only 2 years after Stella started working, Patricia was struck by a mysterious illness that left her unconscious and confined to a hospital bed, with the bills mounting every day. If marrying Adrian meant she could afford the care her mother needed, how could she say no? She couldn't lose Patricia. With that thought, Stella avoided Adrian's gaze and nodded firmly at Vivian. Vivian let out a relieved breath and settled the matter on the spot. They would file the marriage paperwork that afternoon. A weight settled over Stella's heart as her gaze drifted to Adrian's hard profile. A contract marriage in exchange for a chance to save her mother, and somehow, the course of her entire life had been decided in a few sentences.