YOU WILL BE MY WIFE.
Chapter 1
Clarice pov
"You will be my wife," Bruce, my boss, said in a cold voice, leaving no room for argument and making it clear that I had no choice. I stood frozen to the spot, unable to believe the words coming out of his mouth. I mean, I hardly even knew the man, and in just under two weeks, he tells me to be his wife. All I've heard about him are rumors, and they are certainly not what I'd call beautiful.
My mom has been suffering from glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a deadly brain cancer. After my dad died and his family abandoned us, it’s just been me and my mom. I usually juggle many jobs to pay for her medications, but after the recent increase in medicine prices, I had to find a better job.
I searched around and found an opening at a very large tech company: Quantum Nexus, one of the world’s top ten leading tech companies. I had heard a lot about them and what they do. I also knew they had a programming department, and I was sure I could get in—mostly because my dad was a tech wizard, and even after he passed, I kept that part of him alive inside me.
I prepared myself and made my way to the reception.
"Excuse me, but I’m looking to have a job here," I said confidently, my hands resting on the table.
"That’s wonderful, Miss. Do you have any special skills?" the receptionist asked, looking straight into my eyes as he pulled out a document.
"Well, I’m fairly good at programming and a very hard worker, sir," I said, hoping he wouldn’t ask anything more.
"Do you have any documents proving that?" he asked further, still smiling.
"Yes, I do," I replied, handing him my files.
He scanned through them thoroughly, and the more he read, the more his smile faded. I braced myself for rejection when a very handsome man with pure black hair and beautiful bluish eyes, dressed in a silk black suit, appeared behind me. He took the file from the receptionist and simply handed it back to me.
He stood so close to me that I felt a sharp current run down my spine. It had been a very long time since a man had gotten this close to me, and I didn’t know how to react. I took a deep breath, trying to control myself.
"Don’t bother checking," he told the receptionist. "If you want to work here, then be here by tomorrow." He said to me. "You will be shown your department, and you’ll begin tomorrow. Be as good as you say you are, or don’t bother showing your face here again."
He spoke coldly, not even glancing at me twice—no, not even once—before walking away, his guards trailing behind him. His cologne lingered in the air, and his strict voice kept me rooted to the spot for a while. I felt strange and confused, but I also felt a surge of happiness and excitement because, at last, I might be able to help my mom.
After filling in my details at the receptionist’s desk, I went home overjoyed. The next day, I resumed work as he had said. I didn’t see him, but I was given a tour of the company, shown where I should be and where I shouldn’t. It didn’t take long before I made many new friends.
"OH MY GOSH!" Some of the girls nearby screamed in excitement.
It quickly caught my attention, and when I looked to see what had them so excited, I saw him. He was even more handsome than I had first noticed, and his aura seemed to fill the entire room.
"Who’s that?" I asked Elena, one of my coworkers.
"That’s Bruce, girl—the coldest, most mysterious, richest, and handsomest man you will ever meet," Elena said, staring at him with wide eyes.
"Seems you’re a fan," I said sarcastically.
"Who wouldn’t be?" she replied excitedly. "Ever since his girlfriend left him for another man with more money, we’ve all been hoping he’d notice one of us. I mean, just look at him! He’s the perfect definition of a man."
"I really don’t get you all. He might be handsome, but he’s a cold man," I said, turning my attention back to my computer screen.
"Well, you can’t blame him for being that way," Elena said, her eyes softening as she looked at me. "His father left him and his mom for another woman, and now no one knows where he is. His mother died, and on the same day of her death, his girlfriend left him. Now, he has to run one of the world’s greatest companies. So if you ask me, I’d say he’s a strong and resilient man."
Elena praised him, but I couldn’t help but feel pity for him. As he walked past, he looked directly into my eyes, his expression unreadable, and I couldn’t help but stare back.
It didn’t take long before I was called into his office. The office where he declared, so casually, that I would be his wife.
"What?"
