From Transactions To Forever

"Diane, do you think I'm stupid for doing this?" Ella, the soon to be bride of billionaire Will Sanders, asked her best friend just when she was about to walk down the aisle.

"Definitely not! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I'm definitely rooting for you." Diane urged.

Ella braced herself up to say "I do" to a man she had met just a few weeks ago.

Did she think she was stupid? Yes. Was she scared of what she'd face in the marriage? Definitely, but she would do it anyway. Will Sanders needed a bride, and she definitely needed money, so they signed a contract that would make them fake their love for each other.

Working as a waitress since she turned eighteen was definitely not beneficial to her, and she would definitely use the money she'd earn from the contract to setup her own business. Just like she had always dreamt of.

She walked down the aisle, and met face to face with Will Sanders. She had never imagined that she would get married to a man in such crazy circumstances.

"Miss Ella. Do you take Master Will Sanders to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and to cherish, all the days of your life?" The priest said, his question jolting her back to reality.

She started off in a croaky voice; "Yes. Yes I do."

"Speak up, or are you hungry?" Will said to her, and the priest's hearing.

She cast him a deathly stare. That was a rude thing to say to her in the presence of the priest.

She however, did as he said. She cracked her throat and repeated; "Yes. Yes I do."

A light applause followed her response, and it was time to kiss the bride.

Will looked down at her arrogantly, and gestured for her to come closer.

She felt insulted, but part of the contract agreement was to not expect any form of emotional support or empathy from each other.

She took his hand and he pulled her in, and planted a light kiss on her lips. The crowd continued to cheer them on even when the kiss was over.

Ella's eyes met with the gaze of his mother. She knew that Mrs. Maria disliked her, and detested her entire existence as a human being, but she had to deal with the fact that she was tied to her son for life now.

Scratch that.

For a year now. Their contract would end in exactly one year.

She tried to smile at the woman but the sneer in Mrs. Maria's eyes made her retrieve her smile.

"It's not like I even like you too." She said in what should've been a whisper, but Will heard her.

He tugged at her arm, and spoke directly into her ears, "You have to deal with her one way or another. Don't just ruin this for both of us."

Yeah, like she would willingly ruin a contract that would pay her fifty million dollars monthly.

Fifty million multiplied by 12 months is about 600,000,000 dollars. She would tolerate his mother until she got her complete payment for a year, and bounce.

Six hundred million dollars was more than enough for her to start her own restaurant business.

Just when she couldn't wait to get home, wherever her new home was, a lady's voice could be heard from the entrance of the hall. All eyes turned towards the direction of where the voice came from.

"Let me in! I deserve to see him! You don't know who I am, I could make you lose your job in seconds!" The lady said, threatening the security that didn't want to let her in.

It was Tracy. Will's ex girlfriend, or friends with benefits that he kept on denying. He told Ella that he never had anything to do with Tracy, and that she was his mother's choice for him, although he made it clear that he could never get married to her.

However, he struck a deal with his mother to get a bride on his next birthday, and if he failed to do so, he would go ahead to marry Tracy.

Ella sighed when she saw her force her way through the security.

"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The security man said. She glared at him, her eye liner was coming off due to the fact that she was sweaty all over, and it looked like she had been crying.

"Let her be." Mrs. Maria instructed, and the security man did as she asked since she was Will's mother. "Come honey. Come stand by me."

Mrs. Maria loved Tracy so much, and felt she was a good match for her son because of her background. She was from a rich home just like the Sanders, and she would definitely not embarrass their family in any way possible. Ella on the other hand, was poor, and she could only afford to be in their presence if she was hired as a worker.

"You!" Tracy screamed, pointing directly at Ella, and moving to attack her.

"Don't do that, honey. Stand by me. Don't bring yourself down in front of this lowlife." Mrs. Maria said, holding her hand so that she wouldn't move.

Ella rolled her eyes at the both of them. Will stood still, watching the scene unfold with an unbothered expression on his face.

The guests stared in bewilderment at the whole situation. Some of them brought their phones out to record what was going on. Others pretended to be composed, but deep down they were eager to find out what was going on.

"Will say something! I need an explanation for crying out loud!" Tracy yelled, her eyes glistening with a mixture of rage and sadness.

Will didn't move a muscle on his face.

"You know he won't respond to you, let's just go." Mrs. Maria urged, but Tracy stood her ground.

"No! Leave me! I need an explanation from you, Will. Tell me...no tell the whole world why you chose to dump me for this cheap, and uneducated brat!" Tracy spat out.

Will gestured to one of the security guards to come. When he did, Will gave him an unexpected punch across his face. All the guests gasped, they couldn't hide their astonishment.

The security guard buried his face to the floor, probably waiting for another punch from his Master.

"What did I tell you about uninvited guests? Was her name on the guest list? Were you born a dummy, or you grew into one yourself?" Will's outburst amazed everyone in the room, especially Ella.

She had never seen or heard him talk to someone like that before, and it bothered her. He sounded so pompous and arrogant. So disrespectful.

"So now you beat up your security guard for letting your girlfriend into your wedding." Tracy said. The guests gasped again, a lot of them now really invested in this story. "After everything I've done for you. After all my efforts to keep you. After showing you what true love is. You dump me for this...this worthless ugly thing that calls herself a woman!"

Ella was not having anyone insult her, especially not on her own wedding day, "Watch your tongue, idiot!" She retorted, her statement shocking Mrs. Maria and Tracy.

"I can see that the beggar has a voice. How much did he offer to pay you? $500?" Tracy responded, stepping closer to where they stood.

"I think everyone here knows who the beggar is, and it's definitely not me. How can you boldly barge into our wedding, and claim to be his girlfriend when he never had anything to do with you." Tracy's guilty look urged her to continue, it meant that Will was actually right, "Yes, he told me about your little obsession with him. You claim to have class, but you're so shameless, and cheap. Begging a man to love you shows how much you don't love yourself. What is class without self love? Pathetic!"

Will was definitely taken aback by Ella's response to Tracy's mean remarks. She looked so innocent, but she had something in common with him. She had a sharp mouth. At least that was one bright side to their marriage.

"How dare you open your mouth to speak? You dare talk to me in that manner? You? A lowly waitress that survives on tips from customers?"

"I see that you know me even more than I do. You're a fan, and besides, it's better to survive on customers generous tips, you're clearly a goner without Will's love. You'd probably be dead by next week since you'd be so starved of the love and affection that you so desire." Ella responded back at her. The guests hummed in approval, because she was definitely winning Tracy at the fight.

Tracy was not going to let Ella beat her in that game, especially not after stealing Will away from her, even though he was never really hers.

"Swear on your life that you're not getting married to Will because of what you stand to benefit." Tracy said, her statement causing the whole atmosphere to become dead silent. "You're a gold digger, and we know your kind." Mrs. Maria hummed in agreement.

"That's enough!" Will's thunderous voice finally cut in, "throw her out, now!"

"You will do no such thing!" Mrs. Maria spoke up. "She is my guest, and she definitely wouldn't leave unless I leave."

"Good, now throw them both out!" Will ordered. The security men wasted no time in carrying out his orders. The guests were astonished that he could actually throw his own mother out of his wedding because she was doing too much.

"So you would chase your mother out because of this...this pauper?!" Mrs. Maria said, trying to hide the disgust she had for Ella.

"Enough! Get out!" Will repeated. He was vibrating now, and he looked really scary.

"Will, I think you're being too harsh. She's your mother." Ella said, trying to calm him down.

He gave her a deathly stare, "No one asked for your opinion, madam! Now face your wedding!"

Okay he was arrogant, and felt like he ruled the world. She found it utterly disgusting, but she humbly did as he asked. What did Tracy even see in him? Who would willingly want to be with a self proclaimed god for the rest of her life? Well it wasn't her concern anyway. She would mind the business that brought her, and steer clear of all their family issues.

She backed off, and watched as Mrs. Maria and Tracy were dragged out of the venue.

"You will pay for this! I will make your life a living hell, and you will dread the day you were born!" Mrs. Maria threatened, her voice becoming distant as she was dragged out of the venue.

Will adjusted his obviously expensive tuxedo. His expression changed in seconds from rage to no expression.

"Now where were we?" He asked, facing the priest who had just married them.

No one could respond, they all stared in astonishment. Ella was the most shocked, she looked over to where Diane sat, and she saw that she was also in awe of what had happened. Right there and then, Ella knew that she was likely in the worst situation ever.

The wedding ceremony came to an end quickly as everyone's attention was now divided.

Tracy had successfully wreaked havoc, and caused confusion in their wedding.

The guests were all invested in the gossip of what happened, so their attention was not focused on the couple anymore.

Ella was happy that they were done with the wedding, and she was sure that her new husband was happy about it too.

One thing was certain, they were both on the same page concerning what their so called marriage would look like. She was definitely not ready to spend the rest of her life in a family such as his.

The ride to the place that would be her new home was long due to the awkward silence between the two. Will was truly unbothered, and he didn't notice or even looked at her once. He may have even forgotten that he just got married.

Ella on the other hand, thought the silence was torture, and she occasionally looked at her new husband's face to see if he felt the same way too.

As usual, Will kept a straight face with no expression. He looked like he didn't give a fuss about her or whatever it was that was going through her mind. She decided to do the same, and rather think about what lay ahead of her in their marriage.

They got to King Street, and Ella could not hide the glitter in her eyes. She had never thought that she'd set foot in that place, ever. She had heard of King Street before, and she had seen pictures online, but she never believed that she would visit there, or even live there.

King Street was the most beautiful place to be in Springville. Only sophisticated people lived there. It was indeed a beautiful sight to behold.

Will caught her staring in awe, and he scoffed. "Close your mouth, Ella. It's just a place."

She hated whenever he opened his mouth to speak to her, because he would either say something condescending, mean or rude. It wasn't her fault that she was amazed, she had never been in a place as beautiful as that before. He should know that, and understand.

She ignored him, and harbored the growing resentment that she felt for him.

They took a turn to the right, and behold! They were faced with the most beautiful mansion in that district.

Maybe, just maybe, she had underestimated the Sanders riches a bit. She tried to hide her amazement at the mansion because of Will's previous comment.

They drove in, and he was the first to step down.

His butler came rushing to him, "Welcome Master Will."

Will didn't pay the man who was in his mid forties any attention. He spoke instead to the house keeper who was standing outside; "Get her luggage's from the trunk. It's really light because she doesn't own much stuff."

Again, Will had to be rude and arrogant when talking to or about her.

"Yes sir." The house keeper responded, following the Master's instructions immediately to avoid query.

Ella stood by the side of her car, her wedding flower still in her hand. The house keeper gestured to her to come in. The woman was smiling, and she looked a bit older than the butler.

Ella returned her smile, and went in; "You are welcome to the Sanders family, ma'am. Please make yourself comfortable, and don't hesitate to call me when you need something."

Ella found it strange that the woman who was clearly older than she was, referred to her as "ma'am."

"Please call me Ella, and not ma'am. Thank you." Ella responded, walking into the mansion.

The woman just smiled, she didn't respond to what Ella said, because she knew that she wasn't going to call the Masters wife by her first name.

"I'm going to need some help finding my way around this very big and complex home." Ella said, walking back to where the woman was trying to drag her bags in.

"Get in here, Ella!" Will ordered, and the woman curtsied even when Will was clearly not talking to her, and he couldn't even see her.

There was something about his presence and aura that commanded respect, or fear from his employees. They were so jittery and cautious whenever they heard or saw him.

"The Master is calling you, ma'am, and he definitely doesn't like to repeat himself. Please do as he instructs right away."

Ella rolled her eyes, and went in to know what the almighty Master wanted from her.

"I called you five seconds ago, and you didn't respond." Will said, standing up from the chair that he sat in. He was really tall and masculine.

Ella cleared her throat and tried to select her words so as not to be insulted by him again, "Uh, I'm here now, Master." She said sarcastically. He could hear the sarcasm in her voice, and it offended him.

"Shut up, and sit. I don't care about what you have to say. When I call you, you respond immediately." He ordered.

She arched her eyebrow, her eyes met with the housekeeper who was carrying her bags up the stairs now, and she wore an expression that said 'I told you so.'

Ella shifted her gaze from the woman, and sat opposite him as he had instructed.

"Why are you so far away? Come closer." He said, gesturing to the chair very close to him.

She awkwardly stood up, and walked over, counting each step as she moved.

Will was staring straight at her, and she didn't understand what he was doing. He was making her really uncomfortable.

"About this...marriage," he began, when she finally sat besides him, "Do well to keep it a secret for as long as you live. If it gets out, you're going to be in some real trouble," his voice sounded threatening, and he definitely meant every word. "Follow the housekeeper. Your room is upstairs opposite mine."

She stood up without saying anything, and did as he instructed. He liked to control, and rule, and that was exactly how she was going to deal with him, and avoid any of his troubles or mean remarks.

Thankfully, they would sleep in separate bedrooms, and they wouldn't have to share the same space.

A thought came to her mind. If he was trying to fool his mother, and Tracy into thinking that he was in a real marriage with her, didn't sleeping in separate rooms seem unlikely for couples who were newly married?

She didn't think so much about it. She liked it. She would rather pluck her hair out and chew them than pick the option of sleeping in the same room with his rude ass.

She got to the room where she had seen the housekeeper enter. The woman was arranging her things in the walk in closet.

The room was massive, but she didn't expect less anyway, the mansion itself was big enough.

"You can leave now, ma'am. I'll take care of my stuff myself." Ella said to the housekeeper when she walked in.

The woman's expression changed to a worried, and dissatisfied one. Why? Ella didn't know, and she didn't care until the woman spoke up.

"Ma'am," the housekeeper began, faking a smile that looked disturbing, "I call you ma'am, you don't call me ma'am. You call me housekeeper or Angela."

Ella gave her the same look the housekeeper gave her when she had told her the same thing outside the mansion. She was really petty.

"Please leave my room, ma'am." Ella replied, smiling awkwardly at the woman also.

The woman furrowed her brows, and then gave an awkward smile back. She stood up from the floor where she sat and left.

Ella heaved a huge sigh. She needed to freshen up and rest. She had a very long day, and she was exhausted.

Her phone rang. It was Diane, and she picked up without wasting time.

"Hi baby girl." She said immediately she received the phone call.

"Hi Elle. I mean hi Mrs. Will Sanders." Diane greeted back teasingly, and they both laughed.

"You're going to put me in some trouble, young lady. What's up?" Ella asked, walking over to the door that lead to the outside balcony in her bedroom.

"Diane, you would not believe where I'm standing right now." She said excitedly. The house was huge, and massive, and luxurious. She was enjoying everything except for Will, and his family problems.

"Where? Where?" Diane asked, eager to share in her friend's excitement.

"I am standing on the most beautiful balcony I have ever seen, I mean I can literally see the whole of King Street from here, and it's a very beautiful view!" Ella said.

"Wow!" Diane exclaimed, "when can I come check it out?"

"I don't know. I'll have to ask Mr. Billionaire if I could bring friends over." Ella explained.

"You're right, Elle. Anyway, it seems you haven't seen the trending news." Diane said, counting her words like she was scared of what Ella's response would be.

"The news? No, I haven't. What's trending?" Ella asked, clueless about whatever it was Diane was driving at.

"Well, you are trending, and it's not entirely for a good reason..." Diane said, breaking the news to her.

"I don't get it, Diane. Why would I be trending for a bad reason?" Ella asked, worry evident in her tone.

"I'll just let you check it out yourself, Elle. Just call me when you do." Diane said, and hung up immediately.

All her life, Ella had never trended for anything at all. Right from high school, she was the target for bullies, and she was always made fun of because she was shy. She developed a tough skin from there, and tried her best to stay out of public matters.

She tried to wrap her head around why she would even be trending, but she couldn't place the puzzle pieces together.

Well, there was only one way to find out. She would check online.

Still in her wedding dress that was not so convenient, she walked back into the room, and sat on her bed.

She connected her phone to the internet, and opened Photogram. Immediately, she saw herself in her wedding ceremony with Will. "Owner of Photogram finally off the street. He has tied the knot with a woman that no one knows."

Typical. So she was going to be broke shamed by Will, and also the people that use his app. How wonderful.

She checked the comments, and that was when she realized what Diane meant.

"What hole did she crawl out from?" "She looks horrible, and definitely not up to his standard at all." "What's with billionaires and picking the worst people to get married to?" "She's in it for the money. Clearly a gold digger."

She kept on scrolling through the comments, looking for at least one positive comment from the 13,000 comments under the post, but she found none. The comments even got worse as she continued to scroll. Those people were horrible.

At first the comments didn't get to her, but as she thought deeply about what the public had to say about her, tears began welling in her eyes.

She didn't drop her phone. She held on to it, and sobbed lightly.

She had thought that getting married to Will Sanders would be the easiest job she had ever done. She totally forgot about his status, and how it'd affect her.

Right there and then, she knew that she was in for the longest one year of her life.

Ella picked up her phone to call Diane back.

The phone didn't ring twice before Diane picked it up. She had been waiting for her call back.

"Elle." Diane called out when Ella didn't say anything.

She didn't respond, and Diane became more worried.

"Elle." She called out again, please say something."

Diane was answered by Ella's sniffing. She was crying.

"Don't do that, Elle. Don't cry. They don't deserve your tears." Diane said. A wave of guilt washed over her because she actually talked Ella into accepting the contract from Will. "I didn't know it would lead to this, Elle. I know how much you like to be low key, I didn't think your marriage to him would put you directly under the spotlight."

Ella couldn't respond, she sobbed freely now, and Diane could hear her wailing. It broke her heart.

"I feel bad because I talked you into this, Elle. I'm so sorry." Diane apologized. She really felt bad for her best friend, and she could only imagine how she felt about everything. They say experience was the best teacher, and Diane had never experienced such to put herself in Ella's shoes.

Ella managed to speak through her tears. Her voice was shaky, and not entirely clear.

"It's not your fault , Diane. I don't blame you at all. You were just looking out for me." Ella replied.

Diane still didn't feel convinced, and Ella's words certainly didn't take the guilt away.

Initially when Will brought the proposal to get into a contracted marriage with him, Ella had bluntly refused. He kept on coming, and Diane had been the one to convince her to take it. She felt that it was a huge upgrade for her friend, and even herself. What would Ella lose from pretending to be married to a billionaire who offered to pay for her services? None of them had thought about the negative effects the marriage would cause. They had both not seen it coming.

"I'm fine, Diane. Really. I was just overwhelmed, and it kind of sparked some old memories from my childhood." Ella explained better to Diane when she realized that Diane wasn't convinced.

"I know what to do. I'll handle it like I did in high school. I would ignore, and remove myself from anything that has to do with the public."

That was a good idea, and it would definitely work. Letting things on social media die down was better than reacting or responding.

Diane supported her friend's decision, and she would always support her in anything that she wanted to do.

She made sure to console Ella until she was fully convinced that she was okay. She cut the call, and promised to call her often to check up on her.

Ella wiped her eyes, and sniffed in. The tears in her eyes were threatening to break free again, but she wouldn't let it.

She got up from her bed, and moved to unzip her dress. However, she was cut short in the motion by a deep masculine voice that scared her.

"Shoot! You scared me! What are you even doing there?" Ella yelled. It was Will, and the pain she was feeling turned into anger that she didn't know when she lashed out at Will like that.

Will didn't respond. However, his expression changed when she spoke to him in that manner. It was rude, and disrespectful. He wasn't having her speak to him that way.

He shut the door that she left wide open while she sobbed and spoke to Diane.

"Firstly," he spoke up, moving towards the bed where she stood, "you don't ever raise your voice at me. Ever." His voice was low, but it commanded respect and submission. She found herself feeling jittery, just like how the housekeeper had felt earlier. It was rubbing off on her, and she disliked it.

"Why were you talking to your so called best friend with the door wide opened? Are you trying to rat us out?" He asked, his voice becoming louder as he continued.

"I-I-I didn't know the door was wide open. I forgot to shut it." She replied, her head slightly bowed as she spoke. She tried to act natural, and speak to him like she would on a normal day, but she found herself unable to do so. She hated how is presence made her knees wobble, and she hated how she couldn't meet his gaze.

She realized that he was enjoying how his presence made her act, and she hated him for putting her in such condescending position.

"Hmm..." he replied, still looking down at her as she tried to fix her gaze on him, but failed severally. "I see you've been crying. What's that about?" He asked in a way that triggered Ella.

Her head shot up, and she looked directly at him while she spoke up, pointing at him; "Why are you acting like you don't know what's going on in your app? Why do you pretend to not know how I am being dragged online for not being up to your standards, and for being a gold digger?"

Will's brows furrowed, although he didn't move from where he stood. She was doing it again. Talking to him like he was one of her clique of friends, and bloody colleagues. He was her boss for crying out loud, and she had to be taught to respect that fact. He knew the right response to give her that would hurt her to her bones.

"They aren't wrong anyway. We're definitely not on the same class, and you are here because of how handsomely you will be paid. Why does the truth hurt you so much?"

His words stung her more than all the mean comments she had read. She thought she was helping him? She thought they were helping each other?

"I'm only trying to help your life by being with you, because you don't want to get married to Tracy. You can't make me feel bad for helping you." She replied defensively.

Will chuckled. She was going to be a tough one for sure, but he would definitely cut the wings that she thought she had grown.

"Help indeed. If you were just helping like you said, why don't you do this for free? And if we were just helping each other like you also said, why aren't you paying me as well? Be realistic, I don't think you're so dumb to realize that I am doing you a huge favor, and not the other way around. This is the only business deal I've ever done in my entire life that puts me on a loss."

His response kept getting worse as he spoke. She had to deal with trolls online, and one offline? She began to rethink her decision of marrying him. He definitely didn't give her any respect at all, even when she was in her most vulnerable state. He was mean.

"You signed up for it," he continued, "you should've known that you'd face such and even more. Besides I'm paying you so much for it."

More? Did she just here him say more? More what exactly? Insults? Drags?

When Will proposed a 600 million contract to her she thought that he was being too generous because he had more than enough, but now that she was in the marriage, she realized that she was going to go through more than what she'd expected, and that was just the first day!

She couldn't bring herself to hide her tears anymore. They burst out freely, and Will held a disgusted look.

"Make sure you keep our secret safe. Handle all your problems as you see fit, but make sure you don't let our secret out. You will regret it." He threatened, and made to leave.

"I'm going to see Diane. Don't expect me back tonight." She replied, ignoring everything that he had said. Being with Diane would definitely help her go through what she was going through.

Will chuckled lightly. She really didn't understand what being married to him entailed.

"Being married to me now means that you are answerable to me, considering the fact that I am the head of this household. You have to come to me, and ask for permission to go out. You have to make me see reasons with you. I have to understand why you need to leave the house, and if I do understand, and grant you permission, I'll give you a timeframe for you to be back. You cannot sleep outside when you're married."

She gave him a deathly stare. Was he really going to impose all of that on her? What did he want from her? How could she be locked in until he granted her permission? She was an adult for crying out loud, and they weren't truly married. Or did she exchange her freedom for the money as well? She just stared at him as her mind went blank for a moment.

"Stop staring at me, and ask me nicely." Will continued when she wouldn't stop staring at him.

She really needed to go see Diane, and if nicely asking for his permission would fulfill that, she definitely would do it.

She wiped her tears, cleared her throat, and began, "Can I please go see Diane?"

"For what reason?" He asked.

She rolled her eyes. He saw her do that, and asked her to start again.

"Can I please go see Diane?" She asked again.

"For what reason?" He also asked again.

"I need to talk to her."

"About what?"

"This whole issue."

"What issue? You have to convince me unless you choose to stay back." Will threatened.

"Whatever." She said finally, and turned away from him.

Will felt insulted, but he would show her who was really in charge.

He left the room, and gave strict instructions to the security guard to not let her go out without his permission.

Ella undressed, and went into the shower to freshen up.

Will may be the owner and head of his gigantic mansion, but she would definitely find her way out of there to see Diane.

She got out in no time. Dressed up, and was all ready to leave the mansion.