CONTRACT GO WRONG: THE CEO'S TEMPTING BRIDE

Gina's heart pounded wildly against her chest, as she waited for the maid to finish styling her hair. Sitting across the mirror, the beautiful makeover did not help to conceal the sadness reflecting on her face.

She pressed her lips together as she fought the urge to bit them, trying to suppress the sobs that were attempting to escape. She doesn't want her father to think that he was making a bad decision, even if she knew that he was feeling guilty, she doesn't want to add more to his pain.

Her father had tried so hard, bring her up alone and doing everything he could to make her happy, she would jump at any opportunity to repay him dearly even if it was going into a loveless marriage with a man she had never met before.

She shut her eyes tightly as her vision was about to turn blur with tears again, which she fears might start falling any moment.

"There you go ma'am, everything is all done." The young maid finished styling her hair and gave her a bright smile through the mirror. "Never seen a more perfect bride," She added cheerfully.

Gina opened her eyes at the maid's comment and gave her reflection another glance. "Thank you Amy." She smiled half-heartedly and the maid helped her up from the chair, careful not to step on her long wedding dress.

"Believe me ma'am, I'm very sure that young master is going to love this dress on you, he specifically sent it over and his assistant said that he picked it himself. Awn I never thought he could be so romantic, you are really lucky ma'am."

The maid continued chattering as they got out of the room toward the stairs. Gina's face held a small smile as she listened to the excited maid.

Apart from her father, everyone in the mansion had thought that she was going to marry her ex-boyfriend, who had returned from overseas after so many years.

All the servants who had adored her so much were very enthusiastic that she was finally going to be with her love after so many years of waiting.

A sad chuckle escaped her lips, which was dimmed by the servants happy chatters and all of them approached her as she got down the stairs.

The servants offered words of congratulations and even though they found it funny that the young master didn't want to hold an extravagant wedding, all in all, their lovely young miss was finally going to be happy.

"Gina, you ready?" Her fathers voice sounded from the huge door and Gina's head snapped up after taking a bouquet from one of the maids who had said that it was her gift to her.

"Yes, Dad." She nodded with a half smile as he reached her side and the servants who had gathered around her bid her goodbye and went back to their duties.

"Uhmm." Mr. Carlson fought for words but finally nodded with a sigh. "I'm so sorry Gina." He dropped his head.

Gina shook her head and held his arm. "It's alright Dad, you don't have to feel bad... I would do more than this if I had to." She stopped in her words and also dropped her head, not wanting to see the guilt in his eyes.

Mr. Carlson patted her head and smiled sadly. He wasn't only worried for the fact that he was giving out his daughter to a stranger, as the only way to save his business. But he was also worried about how his daughter's life was going to be as the guy's ruthlessness was well know across the business world and if he hadn't fallen into his trap a few days ago, he wouldn't have come to this hard decision.

"Let's go," he said, and they walked out of the huge door toward the car where a driver was already waiting with the door opened.

Her father released her and Gina looked between him and the black limousine, a stark contrast to her white wedding dress. "I'll miss you Dad." She gave him a hug.

"Me too dear... me too." Mr. Carlson patted her back and pulled away. "I'll visit you."

Gina nodded and got inside the car. The driver closed the door and walked toward the middle aged man before handing him an envelope. "This is from the young Master, everything is ready and you can have your company back. He also said that the new company's ownership will be put under your name."

With that said, the driver got inside the black limousine and drove out of the mansion.

Mr. Carlson gripped on the envelope as his gaze followed the car which has disappeared. After the gates closed, he looked down and opened it. And just as the driver who he knew was one of the guy's bodyguards had said, all the documents seized by the authorities were inside.

"I'm so sorry Gina," he muttered, with dropped shoulders, still standing at the same spot. "I'm very sorry Emma." He called out to his dead wife.

It was a long ride as the car approached the far end of the city. Gina had initially thought that the driver was going to take her directly to the magistrate but after driving past the city's center almost half an hour ago, she had let the thought slide.

Her palms were clammy as she gripped tightly to the bouquet, her thoughts wandering to whatever awaited her.

Apart from his name, Gina was as ignorant as her best friend, who kept pestering her about what her groom looked like. Being the only friend she has had since high school, Gina had confided in Dina who had thought that this idea was not a bad one, as it might help her forget her asshole ex-boyfriend.

"Rich men are the trend nowadays, who knew if you might fall for him at first sight?... Hehe, just go for it my dear friend, but don't forget to send me a lot of red packets"

She shook her head at her best friend's words, knowing that the girl who wouldn't mind blurting out whatever comes to her mind, only have her best interests at heart.

Her attention turned to the window, and she noticed that the car was now in a silent neighborhood, and no house could be sighted.

Tall trees lined up at each side of the road, and various colorful flowers which had fallen from them, carpeted the ground, dancing now and then with the autumn wind.

There was a long row of flower trees and Gina couldn't help the air of anxiety that escaped her lips. Was this like some kind of horror movie where a young girl gets sold and had to live together with some beast in the heart of a forest?

Her grip tightened once more on the bouquet, and her widened eyes darted rapidly across each window. 'Calm down Gina, your father would never have that kind of shady deal'

Her heartbeats turned to normal, as a reassuring voice rang in her head. She couldn't help but reprimand her thoughts which kept running wildly at the smallest things. Even though she had tried so many times to suppress that habit, she would sometimes find herself jumping at the slightest of things.

The driver who was at the front kept stealing glances at her through the rearview mirror. And when he noticed her eyes widened and darted around then shut tightly, his brows drew together. He drew the partition and quickly gained his stance, his expression stoic as ever as the car drove out of the forest and up the mountains.

When the partition was drawn, Gina couldn't see where they were going from the front mirror, and she shut her eyes once more, and a few moments later, she opened them and realized they were out of the forest, which brightened her facial expressions a little.

The huge villa was located at the peak of the mountain, and the big city could be sighted from afar.

The enormous metal gate was wide opened and the long car made its way inside before coming to a stop.

A middle-aged man stood in front of the big door, and when the limousine came to a stop, he rushed toward it and opened the back door.

Gina came out of the car, her eyes wandering around the vast place and what first caught her attention was the huge water fountain which had the sculpture of a mermaid. Her eyes narrowed on it, and the middle-aged man broke her out of her fantasy.

"This way please madam, the lawyers are already here and awaiting your arrival, we wouldn't want to keep them waiting, would we?" He said with a chuckle and Gina smiled back softly.

She followed him toward the huge door, but couldn't wait but glance back at the water fountain again.

"Oh, sorry for not introducing myself. My name is Donald, I am the butler of this home. I took care of the young master and his little sister since they were little. You can call me butler Donald, as everyone does."

Gina was lost again, and she couldn't register the words of the middle-aged man, and the only thing that caught her ears was that he was the butler.

Her gaze did not stop wandering until they got inside the door for she has never seen this kind of sight, even in movies. Even though she was an heiress herself and had lived in a mansion, it couldn't be the least bit compared to this magnanimous site. And she wondered why such treasure was hidden away from the city.

After passing so many hallways, they reached a spacious living room, and among the many couches, three old men were sitting separately each on a couch. They were dressed in black suits and from the looks of it, Gina had made out that they were the lawyers.

But where was her groom?

Anxiety rose in her stomach and she gulped. Hoping he wasn't one of them.

The old men, on sighting the beautiful young bride, sprang up from the chairs and gave her friendly smiles, deepening the fine lines of wrinkles on their faces.

The butler moved forward and so did Gina, her heart beating rapidly.

The men greeted her and she sat across them, after finding her voice and managing a reply.

"Now, let's get to work," said one of the men as they also sat down, while the butler stood quietly behind the nervous bride.

The old man took out papers from the briefcase which was already opened on the glass table. Each of them had a paper in hand as they busily arranged some while conversing among themselves now and then.

Gina couldn't understand anything they were speaking about. She felt the butler's presence behind her and calmed down a little.

Silence engulfed the room, and the only sound was the flipping of papers. The three men nodded to themselves and one of them took out a pen and handed it to her.

"You can read through the contract now miss, the young master had requested that before you could sign the marriage certificate."

'Huh?' Gina's brows knitted together and her head flipped back to the butler who was staring back at her calmly.

Apart from Butler Donald, only the lawyers knew about the contract which the young master had brought up at the last minute.

Gina's eyes lit up and she grabbed the contract from the old man's hand, completely forgetting her anxiety.

A contract?. She knew what it means. And if she wasn't mistaken, this marriage was not going to be a real one.

But why a contract marriage?. She couldn't mind, and without bordering to read through the contents, she took the pen and signed it.

If it wasn't a real marriage, then her father's mind would finally be at ease when he finds out. And she wouldn't be caged to a strange man forever.

Butler Donald, who had noticed the change in the girl's demeanor sighed.

After putting down the contract, Gina signed the marriage certificate and handed everything back.

The butler walked forward, secured everything in a suitcase, and left for the stairs.

The lawyers did not linger, and after finishing their jobs, they bid the bride goodbye and walked out the door.

Gina's eyes surveyed the vast room, her expression was now calm, unlike the anxiety she has been feeling for the past few days after the news was broke to her.

The huge chandelier above the ceiling shone the room brightly. Everything looks new, including the furniture, and she wondered if anyone had lived here before.

Hearing sounds of footsteps, her gaze darted to the stairs and she spotted the butler coming toward her.

"Young master will be back any moment" The butler stopped in front of her, glanced down at his wristwatch, and said, "Please allow me to show you to your room young miss."

"Oh... Okay," Gina stood up and followed him upstairs. They passed by many paintings on the way, and Gina couldn't help but marvel at the site of the paintings.

Although the designs were simple, constituting mostly flowers, and nature, she could tell that they were so expensive. 'What else could not be expensive in this place?'

She chided inside, and let her gaze fall on the butler's back who had been silent all along. She wondered if any other servants were living in the mansion apart from him and the driver who looked more like a bodyguard.

Just as she was about to strike up a conversation, he suddenly paused.

The butler pointed to the right wing and said, "This is the way to your room, and that way is to the young master's room. But I doubt if he would be using it from now." He gave her a knowing look and Gina blushed.

"I'll take my leave now." The butler bowed and left.

Gina glanced at the left wing where the man had pointed at and looked back at the right wing where her supposed room was.

She walked toward her room, and after walking up a few more stairs, she finally stopped at a door.

Pushing it open, she entered inside and gasped. The room should be three times bigger than the one she had back in the mansion. And it seems like everything had already been prepared for her because when her gaze landed on the mirror, all the cosmetics and everything she would need was arranged on the table.

She stared down at her beautiful wedding gown and chuckled, feeling herself as a joke. Thinking back to the contract earlier, she wondered if the wedding gown was to delude her father.

She walked toward the large floor-to-ceiling window and watched the beautiful lights of the city, as the night had already fallen.

Dropping the bouquet on the bedside table, she walked toward the door which she made out to be the bathroom, and stripped out of the wedding gown.

After taking her bath. She came out in her bathrobe and walked toward the closet.

'Huh?' Gina was shocked to find out that the closet was only filled with men's clothing.

She rummaged through the closet, and apart from the pile of suits which were all dark in color, she couldn't locate even a shirt.

Gina rushed out of the closet after searching for a long time, and she glanced at the cosmetics again. "This is weird." Her frown deepened.

What if the butler was mistaken and had pointed her to the wrong room? Everything was supposed to be arranged for her right?

She sauntered toward the door, still in her bathrobe. Just then, the door opened, and she stumbled onto a very tall figure. Her forehead hit his chest, and she let out a yelp.