Billionaire's Replacement Wife.

"I need you to pretend as my wife," my eyes widened upon hearing those words from him.

He was serious, not even a tinge of sarcasm can be seen on his face.

"W-What?" I asked again, making sure if heard it right.

He leaned on the swivel chair and crossed his arms while staring at me, "I'm willing to pay you any amount, you name it."

I gulped as my mouth went agape, "P-Pay me, to pretend your wife? Why?"

"Yes, you know my wife is ... missing. For the pretending thing, you don't have to know the reason. I'll give any amount to you once you sign the contract of our agreement."He finally stood up and walked in my direction as seeing my hesitation.

"Based on the information that I got, you are a college student at Gosling University which is one of the schools that I own. And also, I heard that you are currently living with your grandmother who is now confined in the hospital."

I wrinkled my brows. How can he know such personal things about me?

"Miss Edwards, I know how badly you need this money. If I were you, I will do everything for my beloved grandmother and-

"All I need to do is to act as your missing wife, am I right?" I looked straight at him.

"Well, yes. You need to act like her, look exactly like her, take care of the kids, make them all believe that you are her."

I bit my lower lip. A moment of silence then I nodded, "O-Okay."

"Are you saying that you're already agreeing to pretend as my wife?" he was almost smiling, though it didn't reach his eyes. I gulped again while my hands were trembling.

Slowly, I opened my mouth as I looked at him, "W-We should have an agreement first."

His brows rose up, then he nodded, "I understand, so, what's the conditions?"

"You should give me half of the payment first, t-that is my first condition." I retorted. He nodded as approval and so I continue speaking, "No kissing between us, no touching, no mingling with my personal real life, and no-

"No sex." He suddenly said which made me look at him.

"D-Definitely no sex," I repeated.

"So, those things are your only conditions?" he asked me again.

I thought for a while then I looked at him, "And one more thing, no one in my friends or anyone who knows me should know about our agreement. We're only going to act like a couple in front of your family and in front of your children."

"I understand. Anything else?"

"How long will I be pretending?" I asked again, my voice was shaking. The man gazed at me with his deep ocean blue eyes that could melt someone if he tries to stare at them.

He suppressed a sigh before he spoke,

"Until I finally find my wife."

***

Paula's POV

I am Paula Edwards, a twenty-year-old girl who lives with my grandmother who is not really my grandmother. She just took me in and raised me after seeing me in front of a church back when I was still an infant.

I didn't get the chance to know who my real parents are, I don't know what they look like or why they decided to leave me there. I'm no longer interested in finding them anyway.

The current situation was that my beloved grandma was urgent for a surgery. She's my only family, I need the money.

I didn't really remember how I stepped out Mr. Farusco's office.

That night where I met him was a mistake, but it's hard to say if I should be lucky or grateful to meet him. In any case, this man was the only one who could save my grandmother when I was at my wit's end.

It was my only option. A fair deal.

*A week ago*

"What?! He already has a new girlfriend?! How dare him do that to you?! So, the real reason why he broke up with you was because he already found someone else?! That holly jerk!!" My bestie Cindy kept on yelling when I finally told her about what I saw that morning.

It was Sunday afternoon and I just called her to meet me at the coffee shop just so I could have someone to tell what I'm feeling.

"Cindy... am I really replaceable? Am I a bad person? Why is this happening to me? Why do people keep on running away from me? My parents, then my boyfriend. I begged him, but he only said that HE WAS HAPPY WITH ME."I know it makes me look weak and impotent, but I can't stop the tears from sliding down my cheeks.

"It's not your fault, okay? If someone left you, that dose not mean that you don't deserve them. That means that you deserve someone way better than them. That fucking Jake doesn't deserve someone like you."

I lowered my head. "I don't even know what to feel anymore."

"Do you want to have some cheer-ups? I know a place." Cindy suddenly said.

I looked at her with furrowed brows. "H-Huh?"

"Trust me, Paula. I'm sure you'll be able to forget about that asshole."

"But Cindy-

"Let's go!"

A hour latter, after Cindy dressed me with a skinny-fitting halter short dress that could barely be called a cloth, we were already inside a bar full of yelling and dancing people.

I was a little embarrassed by the sight. Some were making out in the middle of the dance floor and some were crying. Maybe they got dumped too.

Smoke was wafting through the air and it smelled like beer and something weird. The upbeat music prevented us from hearing what people were saying so we had to whisper in each other's ears just to be able to say what we wanted to say to each other.

Cindy walked towards a bar counter and sat on a stool. "Sit here beside me, Paula."

I sat beside her and looked around us. The bartender was busy juggling the three bottles in his hand and the other ones were making colorful drinks I am not familiar with. "Is this how this place looks every single night? I mean, are they always this loud?" I asked Cindy which made her laugh.

"You really are an innocent woman, Paula. Well, yeah. They are always like this every night. People often go here to forget their problems; they go here to feel happiness even for a small amount of time. Some even go here to meet someone new, just like what you need now, they go here to move on."

"Cindy... Don't you think grandma would look for me?"

"Of course, she won't and besides, I already made an excuse. I told her that I asked you to sleep over in our house." she winked.

I just shook my head while smiling. "You're really good at things like this."

"Of course, I am the expert! Hahaha!"

We laughed although it was still noisy. People are getting more hyped whenever the DJ is starting a new song.

"One long island iced tea and one zombie please." said Cindy which made my eyes widen.

"Z-Zombie? Did you say zombie?!"

Cindy laughed. "Silly, it's a name of a cocktail. That's actually my favorite."

"O-Oh. That's a weird name though."

"Right, everything's weird here anyway. Paula, tonight, let's forget about all our problems and just enjoy, okay? You can shout and cry, you can curse or talk shit about your stupid ex, no one's going to judge you here because we all went here to express it out." Cindy said with a long face.

I've never seen her this serious before.

I nodded with a smile. "I understand, Cindy. Thank you for taking me here."

"Here's your zombie and one Long Island Iced Tea. Please enjoy beautiful young ladies!" said the bartender, as he handed us our drinks.

"Thanks!"

Cindy handed me the other drink that looks exactly like iced tea. "That's for you, Paula."

"Thank You."

Looking at the weird drink in my hand, I took a sip. Not bad. I don't know what magic this liquid will do, but Jake already has someone. I know I will have no choice but to try to forget about him.

"You know, Cindy, I don't think Jake loved me truly. We used to talk about our dreams. I said just want to graduate and be a professor, I want to build a huge library for my grandmother, and I said I want to be a good wife to him."It was only a few days ago, but yesterday Jake was with another girl and told her he didn't know me.

"That would be a life to be envied. Did you two argued? I remember just few days ago in the Mrs. Jones's class when he running around the hallway while yelling PAULA EDWARDS IS SO BEAUTIFUL! I LOVE YOU! If he doesn't love you, he wouldn't be that crazy."Cindy rested one hand on her cheek and cocked her head at me.

"I thought so too. But it was all a lie to me. Even in his dreams there was never me. He said his dream is to become a famous football player. He also want to become a celebrity that everyone loves. He want to buy everything that he want, he want people to look up at him... An egotistical selfish bastard, isn't he?" I said, while tears running down my face.

Cindy patted my shoulders. "Maybe he did love you but changed his mind. Maybe he got bored and decided to find someone new."

"He got bored? Am I lame? Why would he get bored?"

"No, Paula. Maybe that dude wasn't really looking for someone who's gonna stay with him forever. Maybe he just needed someone so that he would be entertained. Boys are sometimes like that, you know."

"But he told me that he loves me, he always tells me that."

"Well, we don't know if he meant it."

I drank some more liquor and it continues burning my throat. It tasted so bitter; it tasted sweet, tragic... it tasted sadness...

"You know what, Cindy? Let's just forget about that asshole and get drunk as long as we want."

I wiped my tears away as I drank more liquor.

"Oh, Paula..."

I filled my stomach with liquor until I no longer taste the bitterness. I could only taste the happiness, the excitement, and the will to be happy and spend the night without worrying about anything.

Cindy suddenly stood up and grabbed me by the hand as he dragged me towards the dance floor where people were dancing crazily, as if there's no tomorrow. "Come on, Paula. Let's dance the night away! Let's spend this night the way we want and forget about the bullshits that happened!"

At first, I was hesitant, but then we just shoved our way through the dancing crowd and stopped when we finally found our spot. The DJ suddenly played Miley Cyrus's song called 'Party In the USA' and we started moving our bodies in sync.

I rarely dance, but that night was different. It felt like my own body controlled me and all I did was dance as if I'm a pro. I was twirling my body around, moving it while flipping my hair back and forth. I could see the people around us dancing crazily, too.

Then the DJ suddenly changed the song and shifted to a slow, erotic one. As if my body knew the song, it automatically moved according to the beat. I started moving my hips while putting my hands above my head. I didn't know how I do that but I loved it.

Then a man caught my attention.

He was standing near the bar counter while looking at my direction. He was holding a glass of whiskey in his right hand while his left hand was inside the pocket of his jeans. Our eyes were locked to each other as I continue dancing seductively.

He wasn't able to get a hold of himself anymore, so he put his glass on the counter and started walking towards me. I continue moving while staring at him, waiting for him to finally approach me.

My whole body trembled as soon as he got to stand in front of me. I couldn't see his face clearly because the lights suddenly dimmed but all I know was he's so tall that he was already towering over me. "Melissa..." he suddenly mumbled.

"I'm not Melissa, my name's Paula." I replied without stopping myself from dancing. He was just staring at me while I was just dancing as if I was seducing him.

Then suddenly, he grabbed my waist and pulled me close to him. "I missed you so much, Melissa." He whispered before finally claiming my lips.

He bent back my head across his arm and kissed me, his hungry mouth parted my lips, sending rough tremors along my nerves while giving me the feeling of desire that I don't think I have ever felt before.

I tried to push him away, but he was so strong he was able to conquer me without exerting much effort.

"Can you go with me?" he asked when he finally moved a way from me. He was staring straight into my eyes while caressing my cheeks. I could already feel the heat that his touch caused to my body.

I nodded unconsciously.

I saw him smile as he put his arm around my waist, then we started walking away from the crowd. As soon as we stepped inside the elevator in a hotel where he took me, he started kissing me again while pressing my body to the cold wall of the elevator. He pinned both of my hands above my head as he continues crashing his lips onto mine.

I kissed him back, I opened my mouth to let his tongue slide inside it and I tasted the whiskey that he was drinking when I saw him a while ago. The taste of the whiskey and the warmth of his mouth brought an unfamiliar feeling to me. It was hot... in that instant I became his slave.

He lifted me up in his arms without breaking from the passionate kiss. I put my legs around his waist while my arms were around his shoulders.

As soon as the elevator went open, he walked towards a room just across it and opened the door using the key that the woman gave him from the reception hall. He didn't put me down until he was able to close the door and lay me down on the soft mattress.

The man crawled on top of me and started kissing me again. I put my hands around his shoulders as I kissed him back. "I love you so much, Melissa.." He kept on mumbling while claiming my mouth. His lips suddenly traveled down my neck, nibbling and sucking it while his right hand moved down to my breast.

I got surprised as I felt his hand caressing my right boob, I tried to push him away but he pinned my hands above my head again. "It's alright, honey... Just trust me..."

His voice seemed to have a certain power I couldn't resist, and I gave up my last thoughts of resistance and responded to his moving, rocking and slamming in time with him.

In a trance it seemed like an experience and madness I had never had before.