Pact Of Destiny: My Secret Zillionaire Husband

Early in the morning, Katherine Morgan was startled when she opened her eyes to find a handsome face inches away from her own.

Overcome with panic, her first instinct was to check under the quilt. To her relief, she saw that she was still neatly dressed.

She cautiously looked back at the man sleeping next to her, feeling a mix of confusion, embarrassment, and regret.

Head throbbing, she struggled to recall what had happened last night.

Yesterday, her parents had asked her to have a conversation with her boyfriend, Darrell Clark, about wedding preparations. Little did she expect to stumble in on him fooling around with her cousin.

Katherine felt angry and disgusted at the same time. She broke up with him on the spot and fled to a bar, hell-bent on drowning her sorrows in liquor. She ended up getting drunk and going to a hotel room with a stranger.

The silver lining out of all of this was at least she didn't make any irreparable mistakes, judging from her fully-clothed body.

However, in order to avoid confronting the stranger in her bed, Katherine quietly lifted the quilt, ready to slip away before the man could wake up.

Unexpectedly, before she could even get out of bed, the door to the hotel room was opened from the outside.

An elegant old lady strode in with a cold expression.

Katherine was startled, but she could only duck her head and try to run away.

However, the old lady blocked the only exit. Standing by the door, she looked at Katherine with a frown.

That was when Katherine saw the old lady's face clearly. Recognizing her, she subconsciously blurted, "Mrs. James?"

Lainey James was stunned at first, but when she took a closer look at Katherine, she felt enlightened. Yes, this was the young girl from before.

At the age of five, Katherine had been accidentally separated from her family and ended up in an orphanage. Lainey had worked as a volunteer in that very orphanage, and that was where the two met. She had grown fond of the sensible, kind girl back then.

Later, Katherine was reunited with her family and was taken home, and that was the last Lainey heard of her. She didn't expect that they would cross paths again after so many years, let alone here, in this hotel room.

"Katherine, is that you? You're all grown up!" Lainey's cold expression softened. But then her voice took on a tone of worry. "Are you okay? Did this brat...?"

As she spoke, she turned to glare at the man in the bed.

Katherine also looked over and found that the man had woken up.

He was looking at her intently, like a beast staring at its prey with hungry, greedy eyes.

Katherine's heart skipped a beat. She quickly looked away and hastily tried to explain herself. "Mrs. James, don't worry. Nothing-"

Before she could finish, Lainey took her hand and patted it, as though to comfort her. "Don't worry, my dear. I'll make sure you're taken care of!" Lainey had been worrying non-stop about the fact that her grandson, Esteban James, was still single. Thus, when she caught Esteban with a girl who just so happened to be an old friend of hers, she decided to play matchmaker.

Lainey wore a kind smile on her face when she talked to Katherine, but when she addressed Esteban, any trace of warmth vanished into thin air. "Esteban James, look at what you've done! You're shameless enough to make your grandmother worry about you every day, and now, you even dared to hurt a good girl like Katherine. You were raised better!"

After scolding her grandson, Lainey assumed a more business-like tone as she spoke out her true purpose.

"Now that things have come to this point, you must take responsibility. You two should get married as soon as possible, lest her reputation be tarnished."

At the mention of marriage, both Katherine and Esteban turned pale.

"Grandma!" Esteban protested. But before he could say anything more, Lainey cut him off abruptly.

"You have no right to object, you hear me? You're a man, and you should take responsibility for your actions. As long as Katherine's willing, you two should get married."

Lainey was always quite the domineering woman, and Esteban couldn't do anything to refuse her. Moreover, he couldn't explain this situation clearly. At a loss, he could only turn his head slightly to shoot Katherine a warning look.

Feeling the man's oppressive gaze, Katherine felt caught between a rock and a hard place.

It turned out that this stranger was Lainey's grandson. What a coincidence!

Thinking about how her parents kept hounding her to settle down and get married, Katherine took another look at the man in bed. Lainey's grandson wasn't bad-looking, and he looked more reliable than most men. Besides, if she really did marry him, Lainey would undoubtedly protect her.

Mulling over this, Katherine gritted her teeth and made up her mind. "I'll listen to you, Mrs. James."

Thanks to Lainey's urging, Katherine and Esteban ended up getting their marriage certificate in half an hour later.

"Satisfied?" Esteban asked Lainey gloomily. Obviously, he was unhappy with this forced marriage.

Lainey glared at her grandson indignantly and said, "You're lucky you married such a wonderful girl!"

Only then did reality start to sink in on Katherine. She raised her head and try to get a closer look at her new husband.

The man in front of her was wearing a black suit, looking smart and professional. He had an angular face and fine facial features, and he was about six feet and three inches tall. All in all, he gave off an aloof, oppressive aura.

Perhaps it was because Katherine kept staring at him that Esteban suddenly turned around and locked eyes with her.

The second his gaze met hers, Katherine looked away in a panic, feeling like a child that was caught in the act.

Witnessing this small interaction, Lainey felt even more satisfied with this marriage.

Just as she was about to properly introduce the two to each other, Katherine's phone rang.

Katherine glanced at the caller ID, and when she saw that it was her grandmother calling, her face fell. She didn't even take a moment to excuse herself and hurried off to answer the phone.

"Where on earth have you been? You think you're so high and mighty now, do you? How dare you stay out all night? Come home right this instant!"

The second the call connected, Myla Morgan kept cursing her from the other end of the line. Then, without even giving Katherine a chance to get a word in edgewise, she hung up the phone.

Katherine couldn't help but sigh when the beeping tone rang in her ear. Putting her phone away, she trotted back towards Lainey with an apologetic look, saying, "Mrs. James, something urgent came up with my family, so I have to go back first."

"Okay, you go ahead. Let Esteban know if you need any help."

Lainey didn't make things difficult for her, only asking the two to exchange phone numbers before parting ways.

After apologizing repeatedly, Katherine hailed a taxi and left.

Esteban sneered in disdain as soon as the taxi pulled away.

"You're so reckless, Grandma. How could you just force me to marry some random woman? Aren't you worried she'll get us into trouble?"

Lainey clicked her tongue disapprovingly. "She isn't just some random woman; she used to live in the orphanage where I worked as a volunteer. She was always sensible and obedient, and I just know that she hasn't changed. I also know that she'll make a great wife, and you'll definitely fall in love with her sooner or later."

"No way," Esteban scoffed. "I'm giving this marriage a year. If we have no feelings for each other by then, I'll divorce her."

Lainey rolled her eyes. She didn't take his words seriously and was confident that she had made the right call. "Fine, but you'll need to live with her this year."

Esteban's expression darkened, a hint of displeasure flashing in his eyes.

Just then, a thought suddenly occurred to Lainey. She rubbed the spot between her brows and said with regret, "I'm so old that I completely forgot to ask you to take Katherine home. She looked pretty shaken when she answered that phone call just now. You'd better follow her home in case she needs help."

It was the last thing Esteban wanted, but Lainey was a persistent old woman. He had no choice but to obey, gleaning Katherine's home address from the marriage application forms they just filled out.

--

As soon as Katherine stepped foot inside the living room, a cup was thrown at her.

She was startled but managed to duck her head in time to dodge it.

"Kneel down, you ungrateful child!"

Sitting in the center of the sofa in the living room, Myla glared at Katherine with hostility.

Next to her sat a tall, thin man with a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. He was none other than Darrell, Katherine's ex-boyfriend whom she had caught having an affair with her cousin just the day before.

Seeing him here, Katherine immediately understood why Myla was so angry.

"I did nothing wrong. Why am I the one who's being punished?" She strode into the living room and surveyed them calmly.

"Just look at Katherine! She was out all night, and she reeks of alcohol. She must've fooled around with another man. Now, she won't even listen to you!" Darrell opened his mouth and threw Katherine under the bus, pretending to be aggrieved.

Myla was already annoyed by Katherine's so-called insolence, and since Darrell was adding fuel to the flames, she was now infuriated.

"Did they not teach you any morals at that damned orphanage? You're unruly, just like your father. I'm ashamed to call you my granddaughter!"

"Fooling around? No morals? You're ashamed of me?"

With a sneer, Katherine echoed their words in an incredulous tone. Swallowing her anger, she took out her phone, found the video she had taken from the previous day, and tapped "play."

"Darrell, if there's anyone here who's been fooling around, it's you. I didn't want to talk about this, but you're so shameless that you even tried to turn my own grandmother against me. I guess I have no choice but to prove I'm innocent."

As the video played, erotic gasps and moans could be heard. Even if one wasn't watching the video, they could easily imagine how passionate the sex was.

Darrell's face fell in an instant. "Katherine Morgan! What the hell are you doing? How dare you play such a thing before your grandma?"

Myla was over sixty years old and was very strait-laced. How could she bear such a thing? She immediately grabbed the thing nearest her-a cushion on the sofa-and hurled it at Katherine as hard as she could.

"You little-! How dare you play such a thing in front of me? Is this how your father raised you? The saying is true-the apple doesn't fall far from the tree! Your mother brought nothing but burdens with her when she married into our family, and she even died early. Then your useless stepmother came into the picture, but she's only given birth to a girl. Worse yet, she's sick and needs treatment in another city. What a hassle! And you! Do you think you can do whatever you want now that your parents aren't around?"

The cushion hit Katherine, but it was soft and didn't hurt. What did hurt, however, was the fact that her grandma was so disgusted and ashamed of her.

Myla had always been partial to her elder son's family, and all his kids were the apple of her eye.

Katherine was also Myla's granddaughter, but the latter treated her differently from her other grandkids.

Katherine had long gotten used to such treatment, but she had to draw a line somewhere. It was her cousin, Isabel Morgan, who hooked up with her boyfriend, but Myla scolded her for being the shameless one. Even worse, Myla had dragged her parents into the argument, cursing them as she did.

Why?

Katherine didn't want to put up with this bullshit anymore, so she pointed at Darrell and said sharply, "Don't drag my parents into this. The shameless ones are Isabel and Darrell, not me. They're the ones who slept together behind my back!"

Hearing this, Myla was stunned. She frowned and eyed Darrell suspiciously. "What is going on?"

Darrell panicked and averted his gaze, not knowing how to answer.

Isabel had been watching this farce from upstairs. Noticing that things weren't going according to plan, she rushed downstairs and quickly grabbed Katherine's phone. When she saw herself in the video, all the color drained from her face.

Biting her lip, she quickly came up with an excuse. "Grandma, it's obvious that Katherine superimposed my face onto this woman's. Maybe she used AI or something. The point is, she's just trying to frame me and Darrell. I always listen to you, Grandma, and I know that any girl with sense would have some self-respect. I would never steal someone else's boyfriend. But Katherine's dragging my name through the mud, ruining the reputation of the whole Morgan family."

As she spoke, Isabel managed to squeeze out a few tears, playing the role of a victim to a tee. When she reached up to wipe her tears, she secretly winked at Darrell.

Darrell nodded imperceptibly to show that he understood. Isabel continued, "Moreover, Darrell and I used to be a loving couple. But Katherine interfered in our relationship and stole Darrell from me. But she still wasn't satisfied. Now, look at what she's done-she's even fooled around with another man. Grandma, please help me."

Isabel sobbed even harder.

Darrell chimed in, "Yes. Katherine cheated on me first!"

Myla was always partial to Isabel. After hearing this, she felt even more disgusted with Katherine. She couldn't help but curse, "Why are you so vicious? I can't believe my own grandchild would be so heartless!"

"Me? Vicious?" Katherine smiled bitterly. She was so disappointed in her so-called family.

"Then I guess I'll just post this video online. Whether it's AI or not, I'll leave it to the experts to decide."

Isabel's expression darkened. She held Myla's hand and said piteously, "Grandma, it's not that I'm scared. It's just that, if we release the video, the reputation of our family will be ruined."

Isabel knew how to push Myla's buttons. All throughout this woman's life, what she cared about most was the Morgan family's good name. Naturally, she refused to let anyone damage their reputation.

She glared at Katherine and said icily, "I'm afraid you've forgotten your last name. How dare you make such a proposal? It's okay that you don't care about your own dignity, but to drag the Morgan family's name with you is just cruel. What exactly do you want?"

"I want-"

But before Katherine could get another word out, Myla cut her off abruptly. "Shut up! This matter is over. Don't you dare mention it again."

As soon as she finished speaking, a towering figure appeared at the doorway to the living room.

"Did I come at the wrong time?"