Contract Marriage; Fated Love

Benny Jones felt she had been given a death sentence. She didn’t mean it that way. She wanted him close to her and he was pushing her away.

She wrapped her arms around him and held him close to herself.

“No, Noah! I love you and don’t want to loose you.”

She couldn’t lose her position as Mrs. Harper after she has come this far. She had made a mistake. She wouldn’t have come asking him about it today. Noah stared at her with his usual cold and expressionless face.

“You were complaining just now…”

“That’s because I want you to stay closer to me and not push me away. Our wedding is in a few days.”

“Don’t force yourself if you don’t want to stay. I don’t want to lead you into a loveless marriage with me because I have a responsibility to fulfil. I know I said I will marry you, but now, I have thought about it carefully. I don’t feel the same way I felt with you five years ago. The close feeling of love and attraction has vanished. It…”

“That’s because you didn’t even give me a chance. Sleep with me, I am offering myself to you. I love you Noah, please, don’t break up with me now.”

She opened her zip and took off her clothes, exposing her shoulders but Noah stopped her.

“No, don’t. I won’t disrespect you by getting intimate with you when we aren’t married yet. I don’t love you anymore and I don’t want to make you unhappy after marriage.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

Whatever it is, house, car, money, anything you want for compensation, I will give it to you. I will give you nothing less than you deserve.”

Benny went down on her knees and wept her heart out. Everything she had done for so many months was just to become Mrs Harper and the opportunity has crumbled before her eyes.

Noah looked at her as the tears ran down her face in torrents. Did she really love him that much?

He reached out and touched her exposed shoulders. Benny stopped breathing. Has he finally fallen for her feminine charms and now wants to take her to bed? She would be more than glad to oblige.

He was holding her closely but he felt nothing at all, no emotions. He only needed to set his eyes on Emily and his heart would beat faster.

“I will let you keep the ring. It’s the only one in the world but I will let you keep it. I will still await your feedback on what you want as compensation.”

Benny was disappointed. Noah helped her cover her bare shoulders with her dress as he continued talking,

“Anything, I will give it to you, but we can’t get married. Until then, you can leave. I have something to finish up.”

Benny felt as if the weight of the whole world was on her. From that minute, her dream of becoming the wife of President Noah melted into the air.

“Noah, can you at least give me a hug please? One last time.”

“I’m busy and giving you a hug will make you misunderstand things.”

As she walked out of his office and out of his life as well, his heart felt lighter.

Noah and his father sat in the sitting room watching the news. They had become closer after the accident and Noah never spoke of his sister again.

“Dad, how about you go on a vacation?”

“Vacation? Where?”

“Anywhere you like. You should take a break and enjoy nature.”

“That sounds great. Do you want to do something shady? This is the first time you are asking me to go on a vacation and it’s fishy.”

Father and son laughed.

“No. I don’t do shady deals dad. I just want you to enjoy your days. The country is good, but travelling is better. It helps you live longer.”

“Are you coming?”

“Ahh. No way. Dad, you know I am working on a project and it’s almost completed. I have put a lot of time and effort into foreseeing the progress myself. I can’t back off now and hand it over to an assistant. I will join you as soon as everything is settled.”

“It better be quick. You need a vacation too, even more than I do. You’ve been working too hard even when you can just delegate these duties.”

“I want it done to suit me, that’s why I am taking full responsibility.”

Noah entered his room in his father’s house. He looked at a photograph on his table. The picture was over twenty years old. He dusted it and smiled at it. He traced the happy faces on the picture and his smile broadened. It was him, Jessy and Mabel, holding themselves and smiling. Mabel travelled for a surgery three months after the picture was taken and they mourned her a month later. Since then, he had kept that picture with him.

He had lost Mabel and Jessy as well. Jessy no longer crossed his part carelessly after what happened the last time. He was more careful now although he was waiting for the right time to strike. He had seen that Noah was a changed person and would not hesitate to put him in his place if he tried anything funny. It was no longer the Noah who overlooked all his wrongs back then.

Noah personally drove his father to the airport. The old man chose to go by the public airways and not his private jet. Noah let him do as he wished. He hugged his father for the first time in many years and they even took a picture together. He bade his father goodbye and drove back home.

On his way back, he checked his phone to be certain that his instructions were properly carried out. He ordered that no news about him and his fiancée should be seen anywhere. He wanted to quietly cut things off without public knowledge.

Now, he was no longer engaged. He was back to bachelorhood and the only one in his mind was Emily Grant.