Contract marriage: My billionaire’s cure

I ran out of the store to talk to Marcus. I needed to know the reason for his behavior. I wouldn’t let him treat me like his punching bag anymore.

As I ran out, small rain drops started falling on my head. I look up to see the grey sky looming above me, as if the sky felt my sorrow.

“Marcus!”

I called out to him before he got into his car. Clara was already seated in the passenger seat looking at me with pity.

Marcus closed his door and strode towards me in an intimidating manner. I wanted to shrink away from him but I held my chin up.

The rain had started pouring down in torrents. We were both completely soaked by now. My coat was drenched, making it hard to stand straight with its heavy weight pulling me down.

“What’s wrong with you?” That was the only thing that I could utter as he got closer.

“There’s nothing wrong with me ” He spat angrily.

I had never felt such anger in my entire life.

“Really? One day you are friendly and the next day you are giving me a cold shudder as if I am disgusting” I ranted accusingly.

” I’m sorry if you misunderstood, but I was anything but friendly to you. And it’s true, you do disgust me ”

His words hurt me more than I thought they would. I stared at him hesitantly, thinking about what to say next.

“What-” He cut me off.

“You are just an annoyance in my quiet life. Since you came, my whole life turned upside down. All I can think about is how to make you go”

“You do realize that you are not the only one who was forced into this marriage right?”

I tried to keep my voice steady but on the inside I was howling with pain. It was true that we were nothing but a fake married couple. But even though it was fake, all I wanted from him was respect. Maybe to even become friends with him but I never thought my presence would disgust him. Judging by the way that yesterday went, I thought we were making progress and that he was finally opening up to me, but apparently not.

“Yes we were both forced, and don’t worry this marriage won’t last long. RJ has gotten a lot of help from Empire and soon your companies will be stable. And I made sure to pull some strings so that I can get away from you as quickly as possible” He said through gritted teeth, his fist clenching and unclenching in anger.

“So when do we get a divorce?” I asked, looking him straight in the eye.

“I will make sure to hand over the divorce papers to you within this year. So remember this marriage will only last for another year and after that you and I will never see each other again”

I nodded my head and looked at him. As I saw the disgust in his face my eyes started to well up with tears. Never in my life had I felt this ashamed, this weak.

I glimpsed a slightly pained look cross his face for a second before he composed himself once again. I quickly blinked my eyes to stop the tears from pouring down and making me even more embarrassed and ashamed than I already was.

“Fine, you and I will only stay together for a year. And I have no intention of living in the same house with a person who hates me. I will be moving out in the evening” I hissed through gritted teeth.

With that I went inside the store and saw Ally looking at me with sympathy. The scene we made had caught the attention of my staff but with a quick intimidating glare from me they all went back to their work.

Ally came running to me and gave me a big hug. She seemed to be crying as I felt her tears on my neck.

“Ally I’m soaked. Don’t ruin your clothes” I patted her shoulder gently.

“Oh baby” she cried holding me.

I leaned back and gave her a reassuring smile.

“I’m fine Ally”

“No you’re not. Even I couldn’t stop crying as he said those words. I can’t bear to see you like this Camilla. You deserve so much more” She sobbed harder, getting everyone’s attention again.

“Ally, let’s get out of here” I dragged her out of the store and in the direction of her car. We didn’t even bother with an umbrella as we ran to the car.

I got into the driver’s seat knowing that Ally couldn’t drive when she was having a mental breakdown.

“Camilla get away from him. He’s a jerk who doesn’t deserve someone like you. He’s a devil and I pray to God that he’ll never find someone who loves him in this lifetime. He doesn’t deserve it” Ally said while continuing to sob harder.

“Well there’s no point in cursing him Ally. It’s his life and someday he will find someone who he loves”

I felt my eyes brimming with tears as I replayed the words he said to me in my head.

I quickly closed my eyes with my hands so as to hide my face from Ally. But she saw me breaking down and quickly embraced me in a warm hug and I trembled in her hold unable to control my own body.

“What did I do Ally? What did I do for him to hate me so much?”

“You did nothing wrong Cam. It’s all him. Don’t cry again for a man like him” Ally cupped my face in her small hands and her nose reddened as she sniffled softly.

“Listen to me Cam. He shoved you away like you were nothing. It’s time you stand up to him and show him that you don’t care. It’s time we show him that his words don’t affect us”

I nodded my head.

“I’ll forget him Ally. We’ll only meet during business meetings for the next year. After that I never want to see him ever again” I promised myself to get away from him as fast as possible. I wouldn’t cling on to him again. I wouldn’t care if he was alright or not. I would do anything to forget him.

“Okay that’s my girl. Now let’s go to his house and pack your things. Where are you staying? You can stay with me as long as you want”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Thank you but I have a penthouse near my company. I’ll be staying there for a while”

“Are you going to tell your parents?”

Her words dawned upon me as if I had been struck by lightning. What do I tell my parents? They would feel horrible about this whole affair.

“No, they don’t need to know ”

“You know your parents are shit. They forced you in to this. They sold you ” Ally spat angrily.

“Hey don’t scold them. I know they did it but they did what they thought was best for me”

“Sometimes I really don’t understand you Camilla. You’re a hardworking, strong woman on the outside but on the inside you have a soft, fragile heart that warms up to everyone around you” She shook her head avoiding my eyes.

“I pity Marcus. He let go of the most precious thing he could ever have” Ally looked into my eyes trying to comfort me. I knew that she was sad of how Marcus treated me and I felt blessed to have a friend like her.

We drove off quietly to his house. I took some suitcases out and packed my bags with Ally helping me.

It was already evening and as I walked down the stairs with a suit case behind me I saw the front door opening and the man that I hoped to never see again came inside.

He looked at me with an unreadable emotion. Ally walked behind me dragging another suitcase but as soon as she saw Marcus her face darkened. She tugged at my arm and dragged me out of the door quickly.

I turned my head to look at Marcus only for Ally to pinch my arm and whisper into my ear.

“Don’t you dare”