Contract Marriage; Fated Love

Noah, as the owner of the supermarket, had come for one of his rare inspections at the supermarket. He came down from his office upstairs and spotted three happy people in the mall. He recognised them and strode towards them.

This was the second time he was seeing Liam around Emily. Was she his mother?

“Good morning Mister Noah!” Liam greeted in excitement. Gu Yanxi stared at him rudely.

There were three initially, but now, two. Where went the other person? He was sure no one left that section of the mall.

“What do you want here?”

Noah looked at her, still amazed at her guts. No one dared to speak to him like that and go scot free.

“Where is the third person who was here?”

“What third person? Why do you enjoy troubling me? Don’t bother us anymore. Let’s go Liam.”

She pulled the confused Liam away. Liam turned and waved at Noah who was too shocked to wave back.

She walked out on him too! There was something about that girl he couldn’t understand. He looked around carefully and there was no sign of Emily. He shrugged and walked off.

Drenched in sweat despite the air-conditioning in the mall, Emily peeped from where she hid. She was nearly caught just now. When she confirmed that he was out of sight, she sneaked out of her hiding place and ran out of the mall.

Gu Yanxi and Emily were preparing to go out when Liam came in.

“Mummy, where are you both going?”

“We are going somewhere very important. You will stay with your nanny.”

“But mummy, you said you will take me out today.”

“I’m sorry sweetheart. I will do that tomorrow.”

“Mummy! What about you, Aunty Yanxi, can’t I follow you?”

“Liam, listen to your mummy. We are not going to a fun place. I promise, tomorrow, I will personally take you out.”

“Then I will go with Mister Noah. He promised to show me around whenever he’s free.”

“No, when we return, we will take you out tomorrow and that’s final.”

Liam’s face changed and tears ran down his face.

“I don’t want to stay alone. It isn’t fun.”

“President Noah is seldom free. You don’t have to always disturb him.”

This made Emily realise that her son was getting very interested in Noah. She knew she had to prevent that relationship if she didn’t want Noah to know she was his mother.

“President Noah is getting married next month!”

The next thing that happened was that everyone took out their phones to check the latest news. It was true! There was a picture of him and Benny Jones and the wedding date was disclosed as well.

The employees at Blackwood Towers weren’t left out. The news had gotten to them too and it became a topic for gossip.

“She must be very lucky. I envy her.”

“I do too. She will be the powerful Mrs Harper that a lot of girls wanted to be.”

“Including that slimy assistant of his.”

“She will be very mad right now. She went everywhere with him and he ditched her. So funny.”

“She must have believed she had made it to the top.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Poor her. She was so close to the president that I even got jealous. She’s just a new employee and he gave her that great privilege. I worked so hard to be there but my hard work amounted to nothing. It’s…”

One of the employees cleared his throat and the person who was talking kept quiet immediately. They all went back to work and pretended to be very serious and engrossed in their work. It was Emily who had entered. She heard what they said but she didn’t let it bother her. That was cheap gossip and nothing they said was true. She wasn’t interested in the President. She pretended that she heard nothing, discharged her duties there and went off.

Benny beamed with smiles as she read the news. Everyone now knows who she is! She felt very proud to be in that enviable position. She will be well respected now. She imagined what her rivals, like Tessy and her group would say if they heard the news. She was excited to be in a higher position than others. She would pay Noah a visit and make sure she stays closer to him at all times. She had successfully gotten to the last stage and she would do nothing to jeopardize it.

It has been a week since Noah made Emily his assistant. His new project was in progress and was going well. He was very satisfied to have Emily as his assistant. He was pleased with her work and wished he met her sooner!

He had just closed for the day when Benny called. She wanted to go on a date with him at a public restaurant. He accepted unwillingly.

She dressed in her best dinner gown and came downstairs to meet him in the car. She sat very close to him and placed her hands on his chest, tracing invisible lines on it. He raised her head gently and leaned it on the chair.

“Noah, what is the matter? Why did…”

“Just sit still for now. Lean on the chair.”

Benny ate with the most brilliant and beautiful smile on her face. Finally, she was in a restaurant with President Noah! She turned the ring on her finger and smiled all the more.

Two tables away from them, he spotted a familiar figure, Emily. She was smiling and laughing hysterically with a young man. The man fed some food to her and her smile increased. He pulled her closer and kissed her cheek.

To his surprise, he felt his heart ache at that.

Emily and Davis were eating and hosting, oblivious of his presence. Nothing else mattered to them but each other.

Noah returned his attention to his food and tried not to let what he saw bother him. Yet, he saw everything they did and nothing escaped his notice. His heart still ached and he got angry whenever he saw them laugh or get too close. What was wrong with him?