Arrange Marriage To A Billionaire

Was I wrong ?

Evelyn's P.O.V

Kiara's nails continued to pierce my skin. Landon quickly hurled Kiara and pushed her away from me. She took the position to pounce on me again but Landon stood as a barrier between her and I.

"Kiara ! If you try to hurt Evelyn ever again I'll make sure that you'll regret it !" warned Landon. I quickly gulped some air. I grabbed the edge of Landon's table to keep myself in balance. With my other hand, I touched my neck and grimaced as the bruises stung immediately.

"Landon !" Kiara's features softened as she looked desperately at Landon and tears filled her eyes. "Why are you doing this to me ? I loved you and I still love you a lot. What is it that I lack ? What does she have that I don't have in me ? Answer me Landon !" She pleaded. She looked terrible. Her eyes were puffy and red. She had absolutely no make up on. She didn't look like the aristocrat Kiara that I knew at all.

"This is the last f*****g time you're coming to my office like this, Kiara. Do you understand me ?" Landon raised his voice. I felt goosebumps all over my body. My body became tense. His tone was dangerous and threatening. "Out ! Now !" Landon scowled at Kiara and seethed. Tears continuously ran down her cheeks as she stared at Landon with disbelief and fear.

"Landon, baby." She walked slowly towards Landon and tried to take his hands into hers but Landon snatched his hands away from hers. She trembled and pressed her lips together. "Landon. I'm sorry. I won't do it again, I promise. But you can't do this to me. You can't marry her, baby !"

"Who the hell are you to tell me what I should do and what I should not ? Huh ? Get the f**k out of my office. I never want to see your face here or anywhere near me, Evelyn or my family ! Have I made myself clear ?" The energy in the room became too much for me to take it. I wanted to go away. Away from this office and away from Landon. This felt like a really bad sign.

"Landon, please give me another cha--"

"Are you going by yourself or should I call the security and make them throw you out of my office ?"

Kiara wiped her tears and made a weak attempt to straighten herself and stifle her tears. She marched quickly to the door, her head bent down but before she opened the door and slammed it, she glanced at Landon and uttered "Evelyn will never be able to make you happy like I do. As soon as she will know the real you she will leave you and hate you for the rest of her life. But you won't have to worry because I will be there for you. Like always."

My heart could burst anytime. I felt unsure of every decision I took. Could I back out from tying the knot with him now ? I hated being in this situation. Kiara's words made me sick to my stomach. I felt even more uncomfortable. God ! How I wished the ground would swallow me right now !

Landon was so cruel to Kiara. And although Kiara was my rival and I never liked her, seeing her being ill-treated by Landon made me pity her a lot. After all, she loved Landon and I was being unwanted third party in their relationship.

Now it was only Landon and I in the room. Alone. Not that he would hurt me physically or anything like that but he had the power to make your soul tremble from a mile away. The recent clash between him and Kiara served as the perfect example. 

Landon opened a drawer at one side of his table and retrieved a first aid box. "Come here," he said. He sat on his plush white couch and gazed at me. I did not wanna go near him. I was nervous. He was very unpredictable. I did not want to be disrespected like Kiara. I did not want to be here anymore. What was I doing here in the first place ? Oh right ! I was here to discuss the ways in which he could screw my life legally.

Was there really no other option to save my children ? Did I really checked all the options I had fully ?

Ian could help me ! Of course he could ! But how ? I couldn't possibly ask him that we run the orphanage in partnership, he had just stabilize his father's business. I could not put him into such a financial strain. The most he could do was to be become a sponsor but that would not be sufficient to run the orphanage, not even for the rest of the year. Moreover, this would not have much effect on the juries' final decision. I felt like I was in a circle. Every single time I came to the same conclusion ! Landon's proposal stood as the only reliable and strong option that I had. How come that this proposal was so right yet so wrong in so many different ways ? Should I be even thinking about myself here when my children's future were at stake ?

I sat beside him on the couch and he opened the first aid box on the small table. He took a piece of cotton and dampened it with an antiseptic solution. He sat a little closer and leaned in towards me. As soon as the piece of cotton made contact with the bruises, I flinched and clenched my fists. Landon came closer and blew a little air on my neck. He was way too close to me. 

"Why are you so pale ?"  Landon observed me.

"I---I--I don't know," I muttered. I couldn't find words to speak. I put a strand of hair behind my ear because I began feeling conscious as Landon was so close and staring at me. I couldn't meet his eyes and my hands became sweaty.

"Look at me Evelyn," spoke Landon. I hated it whenever someone said that. That dialogue has always been used in situations where it was impossible to perform it.

I couldn't dare to match the level of his eyes. His hand lifted my chin and stayed there strongly. I tried to look away but Landon's gaze was something you couldn't ignore.

"Are you afraid of me ? Because if you are, you have no reason to," whispered Landon. For a moment, our eyes met but I couldn't bear the intensity of whatever connection there was between us, so I looked away. And as the asshole that he was, he continued to press the piece of cotton with antiseptic to my bruises. My skin was crying and begging for this cruelty to stop but he didn't stop and neither I could muster the courage to tell him.

"It's done," he said and closed the lid of the first aid box. Finally ! "Do you have a scarf ?" asked Landon.

"No. Why ?"

He smirked and said nothing. He got up to place the first aid box back into his drawer and I seized the opportunity to remove my phone from my pocket and had a look at my bruises. And they looked more like hickeys than bruises ! They were purplish red if that was even a color ! I was horrified. This was why Landon was asking if I had a scarf ! Instantly I had a flash of the things the media would have written if they saw these bruises which were more like the twin sisters of hickeys on my neck. Disgusting !

Oh my god ! I didn't even have anything to cover them up. Damn you, Kiara ! Unintentionally you had add up to the mountain of problems that I already had.

Luckily, I realized that I could hide them with my long tresses. Thank God ! 

I sectioned my hair in a way that would look both stylish and that would cover my bruises up at the same time.

Landon came back and sat on the couch beside me again. But this time he had some documents in his hand which reminded me the fight that we had when he first gave the marriage contract. I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself down. That feeling of nausea and restlessness was coming back with full force. I could feel my tummy rumbling and I shifted uncomfortably on the sofa. Subconsciously, I started playing with my hair again.

"There are be many rules in this marriage that has been created and that will be created in the future. And I want you to understand that these rules have paramount importance and are in our both interests. If you will play by these rules, you won't face much difficulty in achieving what you want to achieve through this marriage. But there are some rules that I want to tell you now. They will be also present along with the other rules that both you and I will have to follow on paper as well." 

"Okay," I muttered. 

"The first rule is that no one else should know about this contract marriage. It is only between you and me. No matter what, you should not break this rule. We can lose everything if you anyone has an idea about our contract." I nodded. Of course I understood the importance of this rule. None of my close ones would support my decision even though no one has a better way to secure the future of all my babies.

"The second rule is loyalty. You and I will have to be loyal towards each other till the end of this marriage." I could not believe what Landon was saying. That he would remain faithful to me. Everyone knew how he liked to change his girlfriends from time to time. Now he was talking about living with me for a year and being faithful. I didn't want to take his word for that and instead of arguing with him, I nodded my head again.

"The third rule--" Landon's phone started to ring. When he removed his phone to see who was calling him, I saw Nathan's name appear on the screen. He took the call and just said that he would call him later and that he was busy at the moment before he ended the call.

"You can talk to him, if you want. I can wait." I offered.

"No it's fine. Nathan never has anything important to say. He can wait."

"But he said he has been trying to talk to you about something important. You should give him a call maybe." Something was definitely wrong in my head.  Why was even I arguing with him ? Why was I interfering ?

Landon frowned. "How do you know that ?"

"Nathan called me yesterday morning to ask how I was doing and while we were talking he said that he really needed to talk to you before he flies out of the States today for a week and that he really messed up. This may be more probably why he was calling you today." Stop it Evelyn. Landon did not need all this information and yet my mouth was talking.

He bobbed his head up and down and let out a huff. Then he did something on his mobile phone before putting it back in his pocket. He took the documents he was holding and walked toward the door on his right. When he opened the door, I was able to have a good look of what the inside looked like. It was a freaking bedroom ! I never knew any business who has a bedroom in his office. Weird.

He went inside with the documents and returned empty handed a few seconds later. He straighten his coat and said: "We're going to have lunch in a restaurant now. Come on." He forwarded his hand toward me to take. I looked at him questionably. He just said that he needed to talk about some important rules just a moment ago. As if he had read my mind, Landon "We can go on the rules even after the marriage. We won't have any issue as long as we are playing to be the perfect couple. Come on. Lets go."

I grabbed his hand and he gently pulled me. I got a good sniff of Landon's perfume when I stood up. Man ! Landon smelled like heaven. The scent was not overwhelming but it was perfectly balanced and seemed to have all the right ingredients in it. I wanted to bury my nose in his clothes.

We left the office hand in hand, attracting all types of gazes from Landon's staff. I hoped no one saw my bruises right now. I might even need to request Landon if he could stop at a shop for me to buy a scarf or something. Since it was cold, no one would really notice the scarf.

Landon opened the door of his car for me and I sat inside and checked my hair again in the rear-view mirror. The latter sat beside me behind the wheels and started the engine.

While Landon and I were leaving the premises of his office, I saw some paparazzi clicking our pictures and I did a silent prayer they do not follow us or try to analyze our pictures too much.