Contract marriage: My billionaire’s cure

Marcus drove us back to Brooklyn as fast as we could. I got off the car to see my entire building on fire, all the way from the ground floor to the very top, smoke rising up to the clouds, darkening the sky above us.

A large crowd had gathered around the building as the firefighters tried to diminish the blazing fire which was engulfing the entire city.

I saw a few of my staff outside, crying and hugging each other for comfort. It was a weekend and thankfully none of my staff were hurt.

“Ma’am” Anna came running, tears streaming down her eyes.

“What happened? ” I asked in disbelief.

” We don’t know ma’am but the police said this was not an accident. Ma’am who did this? Why? ” I hugged her as she choked on her own sobs.

My employees came running as they saw me. My head started aching as they repeatedly ask me the same question.

“What do we do now?”

I had no idea what we were supposed to. I had many staff members and there were no buildings available in Brooklyn that were capable of containing that many people. Our new designs for the upcoming contest were all burning in the fire.

My head started throbbing in pain and soon my legs gave out, dragging me to the ground.

Suddenly I felt strong hands on my back holding me steadily, telling me everything would be all right.

I glanced at Marcus and saw him looking at me with worry. He ran his thumb along my cheek and tucked a piece of loose hair behind my ear.

Craving for his comfort, I quickly jumped up and wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders.

I buried my face in his chest and he tensed up. But then I felt him slowly wrap his arms around me.

He kept his chin on my head and caressed my hair while patting my back with his other hand. Then he helped me stand up and took me to back to the car.

I saw him talking with some police officers and the media was all around him, trying to get answers.

For the first time I felt relieved that I married him. He was someone who could take care of me when I was at my worst.

Even though he himself was struggling, he was strong and responsible. I felt relieved that I didn’t have to bear this all by myself. I felt relieved that I had someone to lean on.

He soon came inside the car and looked at me with sympathy.

“We’ll think of something okay?” He patted my cheek and I nodded, already thankful for his presence here.

Grief welled up within me as I looked at my hard work burning into ashes. The costumes we had been preparing for months were all gone. Now we have to start over and work restlessly.

Our rivals will look down upon us, share holders will lose faith in us. With one weakness, we would fall down.

“I will invest in your company so that your stocks won’t fall”

He tried reassuring me but I shook my head. It was my problem and I had to overcome it by myself. I didn’t want to drag him to something I couldn’t handle.

Marcus opened his mouth to say something but closed it as my phone rang. I looked at it to see Sarah calling me.

“Ma’am the share holders are not confident enough that we would win the contest. Most of them are now pulling out their shares. If they keep on doing this we will be facing bankruptcy” Sarah stifled her cries as she spoke.

Before I could speak, my phone was snatched from my hand.

“Sarah don’t worry. My company will do something. We are now a joint cooperation. I’m not going to let you fall”

With that he ended the call and drove us back to his house.

I went inside and saw Madeline giving me a sympathetic smile. I quickly ran up the stairs and hugged her.

I was happy that she had finally arrived. I missed her so much and her mere presence relieved me.

Marcus soon went upstairs and I saw him calling several people while pacing back and forth, impatiently.

It wasn’t going to be easy for me to rise back up. Being one of the youngest female billionaires in the world was hard.

The business world is full of sexists and they are constantly seeking for a chance to bring me down.

Marcus worked the rest of the evening in his office upstairs and I spent the day talking to the stubborn people of RJ who were not willing to help me.

After dinner I went back to my room and snuggled under the sheets, looking for warmth.

As my eyelids started to close I saw a familiar figure standing outside my door. I blinked several times to clear my vision and saw Marcus standing at the door, looking down.

His face was contorted, as if he was having an argument with himself.

I slowly lifted my sheets, inviting him to bed with me.

I didn’t even know what I was doing but all I knew was that I wanted him near me, his strong arms wrapped around me telling me that I wasn’t alone.

His eyes sparkled in contentment as he saw my gesture.

He quickly slid under the sheets and pressed me closer to him. Our faces were only inches apart, our foreheads almost touching as his warm breath fanned my cheeks.

My lips curled into a small smile and I wrapped my arms around his torso and leaned my head against his chest.

We were always there for each other during hard times. Whenever I saw him I got mixed emotions. I couldn’t even comprehend what I was feeling.

I felt hurt when he walked away but I felt happy when he came near.

Were we only comfort buddies?

For some reason unbeknownst to me, I wished we were something more.

But I knew better, he would never have feelings for me. In the end, I would be the one to get hurt if I couldn’t control my feelings.

I looked up and his eyes lingered on mine for a long time before he started playing with my hair. Curling and uncurling it between his fingers.

He murmured something quietly but before I could ask what it was, sleep dragged me under.

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I woke up to an empty bed.

Marcus was not in bed with me and it felt as if he had left a long time ago. My mood suddenly soured and I laid on my bed for several minutes, thinking about what could have gone wrong.

Did I do something wrong?

Why are we always one steps forward and then two steps backward?

My phone rang and I was too heartbroken to pick it up.

It rang again annoyingly and I groaned loudly before stretching my hand to pick it up.

It was Sarah and I was not in the mood for more bad news.

“What?” I said sleepily.

“We are SAVED!” I pulled the phone away from my ear as Sarah screamed happily.

“What?”

“Mr. Anderson bought half of our shares and now you are co-owners”

“What?”

“Uhh you are so annoying” I could literally sense her eye roll through the phone.

“Since Mr. Anderson joined in all the share holders stopped pulling their shares. To be exact more people bought shares. They seemed to be happy that a strong guy like Mr. Anderson joined the business. It made them feel safer about their money”

Sexist.

I felt relieved that Marcus had helped me but slightly angry that he didn’t tell me. We were definitely going to have a talk.

“So what do we do now? We still have no place”

“Oh we have rented a building for half of our staff. The rest will be scattered between RJ and our Manhattan branch temporarily”

“What would I do without you!” I exhaled a loud breath in relief.

“Yep. Now lazy daisy, get your ass off the bed and get dressed to meet your loving husband.”

“Why would I meet Marcus? And he probably hates me cause he left early in the morning today”

“Uh how naive can you be? He left in the morning to have a meeting with RJ and our main share holders. He called me and told me that he didn’t want to make you worry early in the morning”

“You are lying” I laughed out loud.

“No I’m not hahaha” she laughed back sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes even though she couldn’t see it.

“So why are we going to him? Let’s go to the building where we will be working for the time being”

“Who said you were going to go? I said the building is for half of our employees, not you or me” she said with a voice laced with irritation.

“What?-Hey! Aren’t I the boss here?” I asked in frustration.

“Well you and Mr. Anderson. And since you are co-owners, you will be working with him in his office”

“What?”

” And I will get to see Steve ” she mumbled to herself.

“What?”

“Oh c’mon. Get dressed Ma’am. Let’s go!”