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From a spilled tray to a contract marriage. Autumn and Jaxon's lives gets intertwined by fate after a clumsy encounter in the bustling city of New York. As they navigated the fine line between pretense and genuine affection,a sinister plot threatened to expose their secrets, testing the strength of their love. Will they be able to withstand the trials that come their way? Or will they be affected by whatever the villains' intervention would cause?
The alarm rang loudly on the nightstand, its regular buzzing filling the tiny, darkly lighted room. Autumn White moaned and struggled to find the snooze button, but she ultimately succeeded. She blinked at the red numbers on the clock, which read 5:30 AM. For a waitress like her, it was much too early to be up so she decided to go back to sleep.
"Wake up Miss sleepy head. It's almost time for work. if you sleep any longer, we would get to work late," a voice said across the room.
Her best friend and roommate, Ruby, walked into the room hands akimbo but Autumn ignored her.
"Wake up now before I smack you Autumn," Ruby warned.
"Let me be, Ruby; it's just 5:30am. We still have a long time before work resumes," Autumn said as she rolled over to the other side of the bed still feeling sleepy.
"Uh...no, it's not; it's 7:30am. it says so clearly on your alarm clock," Ruby said.
Autumn, not believing her friend, turned to face the alarm clock on more time and saw it read 7:30am, which meant she had less than 30 minutes to get ready and be at work. Her eyes bulged out of their sockets as she jumped up from her bed.
"Why didn't you wake me earlier?" Autumn blamed her friend as she rushed into the bathroom to have her bath.
"Well I tried but you my friend was so deep in Wonderland that you refused to be woken," Ruby yelled back at her friend.
"I'll make us something to eat before we go to work," Ruby said, exiting the room.
Few minutes later, Autumn got out of the bathroom and immediately got dressed. She had always been known for coming to work early and she wasn't about to change that. Last night was the most stressful time at work; she went to bed pretty late after closing from work pretty late, which was why she found it hard to get up from bed on time.
She joined Ruby in the living room and they had breakfast together. As soon as they were done eating, they exited their home and made their way to the restaurant, Le Petit Bistro. Le Petit Bistro was a popular and charming eatery tucked between the sparkling skyscrapers of New York.
Autumn loved her job because it made her feel happy and satisfied. She carried out her duties with a smile on her face because she wanted the diners to feel happy and satisfied while having their meal. She had been working there for the past three years and had managed to impress the manager who took a liking to her.
Soon Ruby and Autumn got to their workplace and got ready to open for the day. Other employees joined them as time went on and by 10am, they were fully opened. Customers began to stream into the restaurant/diner that was famous for its delicious delicacies.
Meanwhile in a prestigious company not far from the diner, a Head Manager, Jaxon Wellington was having a discussion with his secretary. Jaxon was a tall, handsome young man, the heir to a great establishment, the Wellington Group, which contained a variety of businesses like hotels, airport, malls etc.
Although Jaxon was handsome and well to do, he was single but was always seen around with different ladies. his parents had pleaded with him to get married but he kept telling them that marriage was not his thing. The board of directors, who were bothered that his promiscuity would affect the business, urged him to find a wife but still he didn't bother doing so.
To him, being in a marriage felt like being in bondage where he wouldn't have freedom to do whatever he felt like doing. Also, he didn't think that being with one woman was a fun thing. His father, Marcus, who was still CEO, was scared to hand over the business to him so he threatened him to either get married or forfeit his right to take over the company.
"And that would be all," Jaxon finally said.
"Okay sir," the secretary replied.
"Do I have anything else on my schedule for today?"
"Yes sir, a get-together with your friends at the Le Petit Bistro by 9pm."
"That's outside of work hours; why did you add it in my schedule?"
"You asked me to, sir. You said you didn't want to forget as it was an important meeting," the scared secretary.
"Oh, that's true; thank you Sweety," Jaxon said to his secretary whose actually name was Sweety.
Sweety walked out of the office, leaving Jaxon to continue with his work. At the close of work, Jaxon went straight home to freshen up and take a rest before meeting with his friends that evening. At exactly 8:30pm, he left his house, casually dressed in a polo designer shirt, a pair of jeans, a pair of the latest Nike Air force sneakers, an expensive diamond chain and diamond Rolex watch. He didn't forget to put on his expensive Cologne.
In less than 30 minutes, he arrived at the restaurant and was led to a table where his friends were waiting for him. they were so excited to see each other as they exchanged pleasantries.
"This place looks nice and cozy," Jaxon said as he looked around the restaurant.
"Yeah, I chose this pace. This is where I took my wife to for our second year anniversary," Jacobi, one of Jaxon's friends said.
"I still cannot believe that you and Harry are married. And you, Kyle, an engaged man?" Jaxon said.
"Yes, marriage is good. you should join the team instead of gallivanting about with different ladies. you could catch STDs or whatever," Harry said.
"I don't just sleep with any woman, Harry. I do my findings first," Jaxon replied with a smirk on his face.
Before anyone else at their table could say another word, Jaxon suddenly yelled.
"WHAT THE FUC...?"
The woman advanced on her in fury. "Shut up! I know exactly who you are. The conniving slut who seduced my fiancé Luke for his money!" Samantha's eyes widened in shock. Before she could respond, the enraged stranger drew back her hand and slapped Samantha hard across the face. "Luke was mine until you came along!" she shrieked. "You fake, social climbing bimbo!" Samantha's head was still reeling from the slap when two security guards rushed in and restrained the woman. She thrashed in their grip.
6 years ago, Lydia suffered a brutal betrayal orchestrated by her own husband and step-sister, who drugged her and framed her. In a twist of fate, she ended up having a one-night stand with a stranger. Don't even remember what he looked like. Later, in the throes of death, she discovered the truth about her mother's death all those years ago. In the blink of an eye, she lost everything. 6 years later, Lydia returned with her genius son, vowing to exact revenge on all her enemies! Little did she know, she encountered an incredibly familiar man at the airport! *** The man was briskly pushing open the door to the restroom, heading to the urinal. Even with such a mundane action, he did it with unparalleled elegance and grace. Lydia, following him in a daze, saw his fierce lower body and suddenly snapped back to reality. She let out a high-pitched scream, instinctively covering her eyes with her hands, her cheeks flushed, and stood there stiffly, unsure of what to do. Lambert furrowed his brows slightly but remained calm as he continued to relieve himself. The sound of water hitting the urinal made Lydia's face even redder. She angrily shouted, "You pervert!" Little did Lydia know that Lambert, seeing her in this state, had a flicker of recognition in his eyes. Memories from many years ago flashed through his mind, and his heart couldn't help but stir. It was her!
Belinda thought after divorce, they would part ways for good - he could live his life on his own terms, while she could indulge in the rest of hers. However, fate had other plans in store. "My darling, I was wrong. Would you please come back to me?" The man, whom she once loved deeply, lowered his once proud head humbly. "I beg you to return to me." Belinda coldly pushed away the bouquet of flowers he had offered her and coolly replied, "It's too late. The bridge has been burned, and the ashes have long since scattered to the wind!"
Rachel used to think that her devotion would win Brian over one day, but she was proven wrong when his true love returned. Rachel had endured it all—from standing alone at the altar to dragging herself to the hospital for an emergency treatment. Everyone thought she was crazy to give up so much of herself for someone who didn’t return her feelings. But when Brian received news of Rachel’s terminal illness and realized she didn’t have long to live, he completely broke down. "I forbid you to die!" Rachel just smiled. She no longer needed him. "I will finally be free."
Janet was adopted when she was a kid -- a dream come true for orphans. However, her life was anything but happy. Her adoptive mother taunted and bullied her all her life. Janet got the love and affection of a parent from the old maid who raised her. Unfortunately, the old woman fell ill, and Janet had to marry a worthless man in place of her parents' biological daughter to meet the maid's medical expenses. Could this be a Cinderella's tale? But the man was far from a prince, except for his handsome appearance. Ethan was the illegitimate son of a wealthy family who lived a reckless life and barely made ends meet. He got married to fulfill his mother's last wish. However, on his wedding night, he had an inkling that his wife was different from what he had heard about her. Fate had united the two people with deep secrets. Was Ethan truly the man we thought he was? Surprisingly, he bore an uncanny resemblance to the impenetrable wealthiest man in the city. Would he find out that Janet married him in place of her sister? Would their marriage be a romantic tale or an utter disaster? Read on to unravel Janet and Ethan's journey.
Madisyn was stunned to discover that she was not her parents' biological child. Due to the real daughter's scheming, she was kicked out and became a laughingstock. Thought to be born to peasants, Madisyn was shocked to find that her real father was the richest man in the city, and her brothers were renowned figures in their respective fields. They showered her with love, only to learn that Madisyn had a thriving business of her own. "Stop pestering me!" said her ex-boyfriend. "My heart only belongs to Jenna." "How dare you think that my woman has feelings for you?" claimed a mysterious bigwig.
The whispers said that out of bitter jealousy, Hadley shoved Eric's beloved down the stairs, robbing the unborn child of life. To avenge, Eric forced Hadley abroad and completely cut her off. Years later, she reemerged, and they felt like strangers. When they met again, she was the nightclub's star, with men ready to pay fortunes just to glimpse her elusive performance. Unable to contain himself, Eric blocked her path, asking, "Is this truly how you earn a living now? Why not come back to me?" Hadley's lips curved faintly. "If you’re eager to see me, you’d better join the queue, darling."