/0/46140/coverbig.jpg?v=a34e11576663421ae9c175971177d30a)
Brought together by their needs, Alana and Alan entered a marriage contract that's to last for a year. Alana Boyce is an eighteen year old orphan that had lost everything and has to find a way to survive and oiut a roof over her head. Alan Winters is a twenty-three year old son of a billionaire and the next CEO of his father's company. When he was placed under a condition before he could take over his father's company, he entered a contract marriage with Alana who was in dire need of cash. Will they be able to abide by the rules of their contract and split up in a year as agreed? Will Alana be able to find her place in a world where power and greed is the order of the day? Will Alan be able to overcome his fear and build a great future and an even greater company?
Alana's POV
"Please, I don't have anywhere to go", I cried as the landlady threw my belongings that consisted of a knapsack and overnight bag onto the curb.
"Listen here kid, it's been four months since you gave me your last rent. I don't want to hear your sob story. Leave my house, so that people that can afford it can move in", she said to me harshly before closing the door in my face.
I tried calling Lacy for the billionth time that night to no avail. She lied to me for 6 months. I have been duped by someone I regarded as a friend and now I have nowhere to go.
I sat by the curb crying. What do I do from here on? Most importantly, where do I sleep tonight? I did not want to go back to sleeping in the restaurant where I work.
I carried my knapsack and overnight bag and started wandering aimlessly around the neighborhood.
Life has not been fair to me. I grew up in the orphanage before I was passed around foster homes. I'd been in 8 foster homes in 8 years. Things I can't even begin to recount have happened to me but I kept pushing with the hope that I'll be free once I turned 18.
I turned 18 seven months ago, and a month after, I met Lacy. Lacy was everything I did not have growing up- a friend, a sister, a confidante, she was my family.
I met her at the restaurant where I waitressed. She was a waitress too and we became friends very fast. She was sweet, caring and loving, everything I did not get growing up. Even though she was three years older than me, she treated me like we've been friends forever. I took to her and she let me sleep in her rented room since I was always sneaking back into the restaurant to sleep at night when everyone had left.
We got thrown out of the room a month later and we decided to get a cheap apartment together and split the bill. We've been living together for 5 months until I came home today from work to find my things outside and the landlady told me that we've been owing her for 4 months.
I paid my share of the bill to Lacy on time. I should have paid attention to her sudden change in behavior. She suddenly stopped coming to work and told me she got another job. She'd go out late at night and won't come back until early morning. I'd hear her talking on the phone quietly sometimes so I just thought she was going through a rough patch and would tell me when she's ready.
I guess I'd just go back to sleeping at my place of work. I cried harder as I thought about how I've trusted the wrong person and now I have to bear the consequences on my own.
I suddenly heard footsteps behind me and was reminded that I was a fragile, helpless girl walking the streets of Dallas alone at night. I hastened my footsteps but stopped abruptly when I realized I had no idea where I was.
I had been so engrossed in my thoughts, I had lost my sense of direction. Oh, God, I'm going to die.
I looked back and saw a hooded figure walking towards me, looking at me creepily and shudders ran down my spine. No, no, I can't go through this tonight. I can't go through this again.
My heart started beating rapidly and my flight or fight instinct kicked in. I ran as fast as my tiny leg and body could carry me but the load I had on me slowed me down.
Should I have thrown it? Then, I'd have been left with nothing in my pathetic life. I kept running but as my luck would have it, I tripped near a dark alleyway and the hooded figure caught up to me.
I tried to stand up to run again when I felt something hard connect with my jaw and I fell to the ground again. I tried to reign my tears in, neither did I make any noise which seems to infuriate the stranger further.
"You were trying to escape from me, b**ch? Who's going to save you now?", He laughed maniacally, his face so close to mine I could smell the alcohol on his breath.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Please, let me go. I'm begging you,sir, please let me go", I pleaded to him in a shaky voice hoping my body won't betray me by letting my tears spill down my cheeks.
He sent another slap to my left cheek and the impact made me hit my head on the concrete. I did not need to touch it to know that I was bleeding.
"It's too late to beg now, b**ch. You're going to get what you deserve", he said as he pulled me by my hair into the dark alleyway.
What I deserve? Why should I deserve what he's about to do to me? Why am I so unlucky? These were my thoughts as I screamed and begged him to let me go but he continued to drag me by my hair.
He pulled me up on my feet and held my hands above my head while he groped me, invoking feelings and memories I'd like to forget forever. I wasn't thinking when I raised my leg and kicked him where the sun doesn't shine. He released his grip on me and that gave me the opportunity to run again.
I had not gone far when I was yanked back by my hair and slammed against the wall. I saw stars with how hard I hit my head against the wall.
I closed my eyes, expecting him to hit me again when I heard a loud noise. I opened my eyes as fast as I closed them and saw the guy in the hoodie being beaten into a pulp by another man. I covered my eyes and ears and tried to block out the noise.
When I could not hear any more noises, I opened my eyes to see the strange man squatting a safe distance from me. I tried to take in his features but I could not because of the dark alleyway.
"Are you okay, Miss?" He asked me and that was what brought me out of my trance. I bolted out of the alleyway to get my belongings that I dropped when I fell.
Then I ran like my life depended on it because it obviously did.
Due to the plight of her family, Phoebe had no choice but to embark on the path of selling herself. In an accident, she had a tangled night with Alexander. Everything began to derail, and even if she fled to the ends of the earth, she would still be found by him and entangled... *** Phoebe screamed in frustration, "What do you want from me?" What was this supposed to be? He raised an eyebrow wickedly. "What do I want? You'll find out soon enough." With that, he hoisted her up and carried her back into the office. The door slammed shut with a kick, and he cleared the desk with a sweep of his arm before laying her down on it, his body pinning hers in place, completely trapping her in his grasp. Every cell in his body was telling him he wanted her. He wanted to claim her again. This time, there would be no escape for her-he wouldn't let her slip away. Never again. If he had suffered for five years, then this woman wouldn't get off easily either!
As a simple assistant, messaging the CEO in the dead of night to request shares of adult films was a bold move. Bethany, unsurprisingly, didn't receive any films. However, the CEO responded that, while he had no films to share, he could offer a live demonstration. After a night filled with passion, Bethany was certain she'd lose her job. But instead, her boss proposed, "Marry me. Please consider it." "Mr. Bates, you're kidding me, right?"
After two years of marriage, Sadie was finally pregnant. Filled with hope and joy, she was blindsided when Noah asked for a divorce. During a failed attempt on her life, Sadie found herself lying in a pool of blood, desperately calling Noah to ask him to save her and the baby. But her calls went unanswered. Shattered by his betrayal, she left the country. Time passed, and Sadie was about to be wed for a second time. Noah appeared in a frenzy and fell to his knees. "How dare you marry someone else after bearing my child?"
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."
Sawyer, the world's top arms dealer, stunned everyone by falling for Maren—the worthless girl no one respected. People scoffed. Why chase a useless pretty face? But when powerful elites began gathering around her, jaws dropped. "She's not even married to him yet—already cashing in on his power?" they assumed. Curious eyes dug into Maren's past... only to find she was a scientific genius, a world-renowned medical expert, and heiress to a mafia empire. Later, Sawyer posted online. "My wife treats me like the enemy. Any advice?"
She was a world-renowned divine doctor, the CEO of a publicly traded company, the most formidable female mercenary, and a top-tier tech genius. Marissa, a titan with a plethora of secret identities, had hidden her true stature to marry a seemingly impoverished young man. However, on the eve of their wedding, her fiance, who was actually the lost heir to a wealthy dynasty, called off the engagement and subjected her to degradation and mockery. Upon the revelation of her concealed identities, her ex-fiance was left stunned and desperately pleaded for her forgiveness. Standing protectively before Marissa, an incredibly influential and fearsome magnate declared, "This is my wife. Who would dare try to claim her?"