"I have a proposal for you..... a marriage proposal" Adrian stated and Ashleigh could not hide her shock. "I'm sorry? Could you repeat what you said?" she questioned, staring at him like he had two heads. "I am asking you to marry me" Ashleigh Hartman lived a rather ordinary life working as a cleaner at Tixton company in order to save up for school but an unsettling event brings her out to the CEO, Adrian Cagliari. Adrian proposes a marriage contract for six months with Ashleigh Hartman and she has no other choice to accept.... how will the next six months go?
"Hey dream girl! your break is over. Time to get back to work" a loud voice sounded through the small break room, waking the lady who slept on the couch up.
She groaned as she realized that her little sleep session had come to an end, and the next time she will be sleeping in is at home late at night. Standing up, she rushed to wipe the beads of sweat on her forehead and pulled out a comb from her bag on the couch. She then proceeded to remove the sanitary hair net and re-comb her hair.
Pulling her hair into a firm bun, she reached for a box containing new hair nets and wore one. She walked up to the mirror and looked over her light green uniform, ensuring she was not out of place, she walked out to meet the owner of the voice who called her. She walked to the middle-aged woman who sat at the desk; the woman had a firm face that looked like she won't tolerate nonsense.
"Miss Ashleigh Hartman, once again you have overslept" the woman said, giving her a judging look. Ashleigh ran up to grab her hands.
"Ma'am Smith, I'm so sorry. I will take note next time" she apologized sweetly, placing her head on her shoulders. Mrs Smith raised her head and grabbed her nose in a teasing manner.
"Hmm, how many next times have you noted now? If I'm not your aunt, you would be back to the streets" she said, making Ashleigh pout.
"Now go, you have been assigned to the fourth floor. Go and start cleaning early enough so you can close" Mrs Smith said as she removed her hands from her shoulder and pushed her to leave. The girl stood up begrudgingly and walked out of the break room with a sigh, after the door closed Mrs Smith stared at the door as she pondered.
Ashleigh entered the elevator to the fourth floor and was on to the supply room to get some equipment for cleaning. She scrolled through her social media account as she waited, looking at her friend's account; she stared at the picture of her friend at a dreamy location with the caption 'vacation 'underneath. Placing her phone back to her pocket, a mocking smile came on her lips. She could only see from a distance but could not experience that splendid lifestyle, she could barely afford to put food on her table at the moment. The elevator dinged open and she walked to the supply room, entering the room she looked to see the three girls who made her dread.
"Hey look who it is..... dream girl has finally decided to wake up from her sleep" Tyra, a dark skinned girl spoke up as she walked to Ashleigh. Glancing at her hands on the doorknob, she pulled her in and closed the door, and signalled to the other girl to lock the door. Ashleigh struggled with Tyra's grip as she saw they looked the door, Tyra instead pushed her to kneel on the floor and the girls held her down by her hands.
"Little miss out of this world, why haven't we been seeing you around?" Tyra asked, Ashleigh refused to speak. The other girl grabbed her face roughly and lifted it to face her.
"Insolent girl, don't you know you're to look up and speak" she shouted in her ear, making Ashleigh cringe from the sound.
"What happened again tyra" she managed to force out, the force which they exerted on her jaw made it difficult for her to talk. Tyra's eyes narrowed angrily and she gave her a slap.
"I don't know dream girl, you just annoy me" she replied mockingly and Ashleigh rolled her eyes. Since she had started working here last two months, Tyra and her cronies has always been on her neck; making her work experience hell.
It was bad enough that she had to start working at such an early age, she went through hell because of Tyra's antics. Tyra had a problem with her apparently for being favoured by Mrs Smith which she did not know was her aunt, Mr Clark, their supervisor.
She knew the contract supervisor looked at her with sympathy on the day of the interview when she pleaded for this job and chose to give it to her, she had no other relationship with the man. They insisted that she had a special relationship which the contract supervisor, which makes her gain favour. She usually just pleads for a while and takes on their share of cleaning, but today Ashleigh was not in the mood to do any of that.
"What do you get from beating me up? No matter what you do to me, it won't still change the fact that I have no relationship with Mr. Clark. And I will not be leaving this job as well" she grunted out.
Ashleigh and Mr Clark barely knew each other, but since Tyra saw them have a brief conversation she's been hell best exposing Ashleigh for the whore she is. Tyra looked at her in disdain, wondering what to do to make her break her pretty facade, she smiled in satisfaction as she saw her that the slap left a mark on her face.
"You see pretty bitches like you annoy me. You don't get it do you? I will continue to torture you until you decide to resign. Or better still, you have to admit to me that you have a relationship with Mr Clark and I'll record it to let everyone know what a cheap girl you are" Tyra said in a condescending tone, but Ashleigh was still unmoving. Tyra signalled the girls holding her down and they nodded in response. They immediately lifted her up and dragged her to the back of the supply room.
"Wait, what are you doing Tyra?" Ashleigh asked frantically, struggling to free herself from their grasp but it was too tight. Tyra only walked ahead without saying a thing and this made her tremble in fear for the first time.
Ashleigh knew they were mischievous but she did not think it would be to this extent. They finally dragged her to the back of the supply room and tied her hands to the shelves that stood there with her back facing them, they then brought out a wooden stick and gave it to Tyra. Tyra laughed loudly as she turned to face Ashleigh and ran her hands on her face. She look at her the features trembling in fear and smiled wickedly.
"You see.... today's the ultimatum. You will have to do what we say today or face the consequences" she explained calmly.
"I have told you countless times Tyra, I have no other place to apply for a job right now. I cannot afford to leave this place" Ashleigh tried pleading again, going on deaf ears to Tyra. She just stood up, walked to her back and held the stick up.
"Well, since you said this is the only option you have for now and you're not willing to confess your relationship with Mr Clark, you'll naturally have to bear the consequences" she concluded, raising the stick up to swing but was stopped by a cold voice.
"What is going on here"
After three secretive years of marriage, Eliana never met her enigmatic husband until she was served with divorce papers and learned of his extravagant pursuit of another. She snapped back to reality and secured a divorce. Thereafter, Eliana unveiled her various personas: an esteemed doctor, legendary secret agent, master hacker, celebrated designer, adept race car driver, and distinguished scientist. As her diverse talents became known, her ex-husband was consumed by remorse. Desperately, he pleaded, "Eliana, give me another chance! All my properties, even my life, are yours."
In order to fulfill her grandfather's last wish, Stella entered into a hasty marriage with an ordinary man she had never met before. However, even after becoming husband and wife on paper, they each led separate lives, barely crossing paths. A year later, Stella returned to Seamarsh City, hoping to finally meet her mysterious husband. To her astonishment, he sent her a text message, unexpectedly pleading for a divorce without ever having met her in person. Gritting her teeth, Stella replied, "So be it. Let’s get a divorce!" Following that, Stella made a bold move and joined the Prosperity Group, where she became a public relations officer that worked directly for the company’s CEO, Matthew. The handsome and enigmatic CEO was already bound in matrimony, and was known to be unwaveringly devoted to his wife in private. Unbeknownst to Stella, her mysterious husband was actually her boss, in his alternate identity! Determined to focus on her career, Stella deliberately kept her distance from the CEO, although she couldn't help but notice his deliberate attempts to get close to her. As time went on, her elusive husband had a change of heart. He suddenly refused to proceed with the divorce. When would his alternate identity be uncovered? Amidst a tumultuous blend of deception and profound love, what destiny awaited them?
"Lucien, let's get a divorce," I said in a peremptory tone that was long overdue, the most decisive farewell to this absurd marriage. We had been married for exactly three years-three years that, for me, were filled with nothing but endless loneliness and torment. For three years, the husband who should have stood by my side through every storm, Lucien Sullivan, had completely disappeared from my life as if he had never existed. He vanished without a trace, leaving me alone to endure this empty, desolate marriage. Today, I finally received his message: "I'm back. Come pick me up at the airport." When I read his words, my heart leapt with joy, and I raced to the airport, thinking that he finally understood my love and was coming back to me. But his cruelty was far worse than I could have ever imagined-he was accompanied by a pregnant woman, and that woman was Carla, my closest and most trusted friend. In that moment, all of my previous excitement, all my hope, and all of our shared laughter and tears turned into the sharpest of daggers, stabbing into my heart and leaving me gasping for air. Now, all I want is to escape from this place that has left me so broken-to lick my wounds in solitude. Even if these wounds will remain with me for the rest of my life, I refuse to have anything to do with him ever again. He should know that it was his own hand that trampled our love underfoot, that his coldness and betrayal created this irreparable situation. But when he heard those words, he desperately clung to this broken, crumbling marriage, unwilling to let it end-almost as though doing so could rewind time and return everything to how it used to be. "Aurora, come back. I regret everything!" Regret? Those simple words stirred no emotion in me-only endless sadness and fury. My heart let out a frantic, desperate scream: It's too late for any of this!
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."
"Sign the divorce papers and get out!" Leanna got married to pay a debt, but she was betrayed by her husband and shunned by her in-laws. Seeing that her efforts were in vain, she agreed to divorce and claimed her half of the properties. With her purse plump from the settlement, Leanna enjoyed her newfound freedom. The constant harassment from her ex's mistress never fazed her. She took back her identities as top hacker, champion racer, medical professor, and renowned jewelry designer. Then someone discovered her secret. Matthew smiled. "Will you have me as your next husband?"
Amelia's boyfriend and her half-blood sister were about to get married! So she went to the bar and got drunk. She vaguely remembered she had bumped into a handsome man... The next morning, she woke up and found herself have a one-night stand with a stranger. They parted away at the hotel without giving names. However, when she went to the company, she found her new boss was the man she slept with last night! She hid from his eyes on the meeting, and pretended she didn't know him. Yet when she went to a blind date her father arranged for her after work, the man was her new boss who she picked up at a bar and had a one-night stand with! "Woman, you're mine, in the past, for now, and in the future."