Billionaire's contract wife

Chapter One Clara Bennett was having the worst day of her life. First, her alarm had failed to ring. Then she missed her bus. Then someone spilled coffee on the only decent blouse she owned. And now she was standing in the middle of a luxury hotel lobby, staring at a man who had just walked into her. Literally. His shoulder hit hers. The papers in her hands flew everywhere. "Oh my goodness!" Clara immediately dropped to her knees, gathering them. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." The man didn't answer. Clara looked up. And froze. He was tall. Impossibly handsome. His black suit looked expensive enough to pay her rent for a year, and his expression was so cold that she suddenly remembered every embarrassing thing she had ever done in her life. He looked down at her. Then at the papers scattered around his shoes. "You should watch where you're going." Clara's mouth fell open. "I'm sorry?" "You heard me." She slowly stood. "Well, you weren't exactly watching where you were going either." The man's eyebrow lifted. Nobody had ever spoken to him like that. Especially not a woman who had just crashed into him. Clara picked up the last paper and held it against her chest. "And you could say sorry too." His expression remained unreadable. "Sorry." She blinked. "Was that difficult?" A strange silence followed. Then, unexpectedly, the corner of his mouth moved. Almost a smile. Almost. "You talk too much." "And you're rude." "I've been called worse." "I believe it." Clara turned to leave. Then she heard him say, "Miss..." She stopped. He picked up one of her papers. "Clara Bennett?" Her stomach dropped. "How do you know my name?" He looked at the document. "Your name is written here." "Oh." She reached for it quickly. "Right." He handed it over. Their fingers briefly touched. Clara pulled her hand back. "Thank you." She walked away without looking back. She had no idea that the man she had just insulted was Adrian Laurent. The billionaire whose photograph appeared on the covers of business magazines. The CEO whose company controlled billions of dollars in investments across the world. And, most importantly... The man she would soon be asked to marry. --- Adrian watched her disappear through the hotel doors. "Who was that?" his assistant asked. Adrian looked at him. "You know her?" "No, sir." Adrian glanced down at the document still in his hand. It wasn't one of Clara's papers. It was his own appointment card. Somehow, she'd picked it up when their papers collided. He stared at her name again. Clara Bennett. Something about it felt familiar. "Find out who she is." His assistant nodded. "Yes, sir." Adrian turned toward the elevator. He had come to the hotel for a business meeting worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He hadn't expected to meet a woman who would walk away from him without even asking who he was. For some reason... He couldn't stop thinking about her. --- Across the street, Clara entered a small café and finally allowed herself to breathe. She placed her papers on the table. "That man was unbelievable." She opened her bag. Then stopped. Her wallet was missing. Her phone was missing. And then she remembered the stranger. "Oh no." She looked through the café window toward the hotel. She had left her belongings with him. Clara grabbed her bag and ran back outside. She didn't know that at that exact moment, Adrian was stepping into his car. And on the seat beside him was Clara's wallet. Inside it was a photograph. A photograph that would soon make Adrian realize something shocking. The woman he'd just met... Was connected to the one person he had sworn never to forgive. End of Chapter One