The day's work had gotten poor Jane was tired as she sat on one of the chairs a customer had sat on earlier before leaving the restaurant. She wiped the beads of sweat that were now forming on her forehead and exhaled heavily. She was punished for her so-called offense of not being in the shop for four days.
The workers were told to stay at home while she was assigned to serve all customers that came to the shop. She lifted her beautiful rounded face that had its parts in the right proportion, her well-shaped lips, nose, eyes, and eyebrows were outstanding. If not because of her current situation, she would have been a good model.She stood up and dropped the dirty napkin in its place before removing the apron she tied around her and hanging it on the wall. She switched off the lights and picked up her tattered bag before making her way out of the restaurant. She locked the door and walked on the lane beside the street, deep in thought when the aggressive nature of someone grabbing her bag brought her back to life. She twirled and her first instinct was to give the person a blow which she landed perfectly. The person stumbled backward before regaining his stand.He smiled roguishly at her and gently rubbed where he was hit earlier by Jane. Jane took a step backward when she realized who she had hit, she looked scared just by the person's appearance.Caleb was one of the notorious criminals in the neighborhood. He was arrested for stealing, attempted rape, and killing but for some reasons best known to the cops, he was always released. Jane had been avoiding him ever since the man asked her out, she didn't want any trouble in her life and Caleb appeared to be one.She started walking in a haste but was pulled back by Caleb whose silly smile had now turned to a grin. " Where do you think you are going? " He asked. " Please, let go of me. I need to... " " Calm down, Jane. Do I look like a monster? Just follow me, and I will take very good care of you. I will pay your brother's hospital bills, I will make sure you live a healthy life. Consider all these while I am still being nice. " He pulled her along with him but Jane tried to free herself from his grasp, pleading to him. " Caleb please, let me go, I... " " You heard the lady right when she said you should let go of her, did you not? " A man's cold voice sounded behind her and Caleb released her from his grip.He looked at the man standing in front of him and he moved closer to him. " And who are you? " Caleb asked but was pushed a bit by the stranger. " Stay back. You have bad breath. " He said and Caleb's face burned with anger. " If you don't want any trouble for your life then slowly back away when I am being nice to you. " The stranger said with a tone of warning.Caleb moved closer and gritted his teeth. " You look like a rich dude but don't you dare try me... "He received a punch from the stranger. " Holy f*ck! " Caleb cursed out loud as his lips started bleeding. Jane gasped and quickly hid behind the man. Caleb glared at both of them but he didn't say anything else, instead, he walked away from them after giving Jane a death signal. " Sorry, miss. My boss wanted me to help you so do you need the assistance? Where are you going to? " The stranger asked with a smile, seeing his present look no one would have imagined that he acted tough just a few minutes ago.Jane didn't want to stay a minute for the dear of Caleb returning to her. " Of course. Please drop me at the City's hospital but may I know your name? " Jane asked. " My name is Bert. Please come with me, Miss... " He left the gap for her to fill in. " Jane. " She replied quickly. " Of course, Miss Jane. Come with me. " He led her into a black car perhaps a Jeep. He opened the door for her and she entered but she felt the chilly aura that welcomed her inside the car. She turned to face the man beside her and she was struck by the man's gorgeousness, his look had it all in. He was seated like a god whose mission was to assign work to his servants.His face and every part of him was glorious in her eyes that Jane couldn't even take her eyes off him until the man raised his head to look at her and she quickly averted her gaze."Thank you very much, Mr Ryan. We really do appreciate your involvement in this and we promise to do this job very well. " The head of the directors appreciated and shook hands with the man whose cold expression didn't change from the beginning of the meeting to the end. Ryan Allen was one of the most richest men in country B and in every other countries. He was in charge of many businesses, hotels, boutiques, importing and exporting. He was a thirty year old man who was mainly into business and nothing more. His life was kept private and he hardly made his presence known to anyone around. Everywhere he went to, he possessed a very strong aura in the business and underworld, even though he had no hand in what was going on there, yet his name was still feared. Nothing much was known about him, his life, if he was married or not were kept very secretive. The only thing known about him was that, he was the first grandson of the Ryan family. He spoke less and had an intimidating vib
" Will you keep calm and stop fidgeting like the coward you are? " The man's cold voice pierced through her eardrums and she raised her head only to meet with his beautiful eyes. Even though he looked cold, to her ears, his voice sounded bewitching. How could a man have such a deep yet mesmerizing voice? It was Jane's first time of admiring a man this much. She gulped nervously and looked away. ' Did he just refer to me as a coward? ' She thought and the sudden boldness came on her as she turned towards the man whose attention was now back to what he was doing. " Excuse me mister, did you just call me a coward? " Jane asked and Allen raised his head from the file that he was reading. He turned his head to look at the girl who once had her wings dipped into cold water speak back to him. He looked quite amazed within. " Are you going to beat me? " He asked. " What makes you think that I won't be able to? " Jane retorted. " The episode of where a young man was pul
The black Jeep drove into a big compound and soon parked beside the other cars. Bert rushed out and opened the car's door for his boss whose face had turned rigid to come out and he shut the door as Allen walked in, in his icy manner. Bert, in the full mood for gossip, turned to the man beside him who had removed his suit and had it wrapped around his arm. " What do you think happened earlier? Do you think the boss knows her? " He asked eagerly. " What made you formed those questions out of your tiny brain? " The man asked back in a nonchalant manner. " Xander, since I have been working for the boss, he hardly renders assistance to anyone, his behavior is as cold as his legendary face and stature. " Bert replied while Xander shook his head at the man's talkativeness. " I have no idea what you are saying and I hope that you keep that unsealed lips of yours sealed before you get your mouth disengaged from your head. " Xander warned. " Hehe, how is that possible? " Be
Jane stepped out of the ward and closed the door gently. Just as she stepped out, she heard the conversation of someone and she hid behind the wall when she heard the phrase ' money '. The man talking smirked when he saw the shadow behind and continued talking. " Old Madam needs to find a wife for her grandson…of course, I mean she will be getting married to a rich guy, what do you expect? As long as she is elegant and of good behaviour, not from a wealthy family and we'll disciplined then she is good for old Madam. The deadline is tomorrow morning, bye. " The conversation ended and Jane had various thoughts going through her mind. ' Marriage? Money? ' She looked at the ward that she came out from and towards the man who had his back turned to her. " Excuse me sir? " She came out of her hiding spot and the man secretly smiled before turning around. He looked like he was in his early fifties and he had a suit on. ' Who wears a suit this late in the evening? ' " How
Jane got back into the hospital and sat on the bench provided on the hallway. She tore the envelope open and brought out the single file in it. The file contained the contract and nothing more than that. ' Didn't he say everything I needed to know is in this envelope? This just contains only the man's name, his age, his field of study yet no picture. Oh, there are a few hobbies of his here. ' She thought inwardly. ' Name: Ryan Allen. Age: 30 years. Field of Study: Business Major. ' Was this the man she was to sign a contract with? She looked below the paper and saw the already written signature and validity of the contract. " Just two years? Not that long. ' She felt a little bit lifted but then she came down again. Getting married to a stranger wasn't her choice or plan. Jane was more or less the fairy tale type who believed in true love. A charming prince who would one day come to her and ask her hand in marriage even take her away to the fairy home just like
Jane arrived at the address given to her alongside the contract the next morning. She was shocked at how big the building was and also how massive the security was. ' This must be a big house, no, a big house isn't the right word, mansion it is. ' She snapped her fingers. The security man on the post opened the gate after asking a lot of questions. She walked in still in shock at how rich these people were and she began to wonder if coming to this place was a mistake. She was a nobody and she felt like the odd one out and trash. She traced the lane and then ended right at the entrance of the mansion. The security man stationed at the entrance opened the door since they were already informed about her coming. " Good morning, I am here to meet Mister Paul. " She told the maid that she saw. " Right this way, ma'am. " The maid led her in and she was more than shocked, if there was any word to describe that feeling at that moment then it would have been great. The inside was beautifu
Jane was in a cab, her spirit was already lifted after discussing with Old Madam Ryan. The woman was nice to her and she was good as well. When she offered to help her pay the money, it was like a heavy burden was lifted off her shoulder. Ever since this problem started, it seemed the world abandoned her. If their parents were alive, then all these...all these problems would have been solved. It wasn't that her parents were wealthy but the burden would have lessened. " Ma'am, we have arrived. " The driver announced. " Thank you very much. " She paid her fare and quickly got out of the car, trying to fold the scarf tied loosely around her neck as she rushed into the hospital. The first person she saw fortunately was Joy and she called her earnestly. "Joy...Joy."Joy paused in her walk when she heard someone calling her as if the world was about to collapse. Jane got closer to her and pulled her along to the doctor's office, this made Joy very anxious about what was happening to the
Jane paced in front of the theatre anxiously. It had been nine hours since the surgery started and it was already nine pm. How long was this going to take? Forever? Well, no matter how long it took, she was ready to wait. Joy had already gone home because of her husband and children so she was the only one left to be restless. After waiting for what seemed to be eternity, she finally saw the surgeons walk out of the theatre with a tired look. She tried to prep but the door was closed again. One of the surgeons who saw her behavior stopped in front of her. " Calm down, Miss, everything is fine now because the surgery was successful but for now, you need to be patient so they can finish cleaning him up. " It felt like a huge burden was finally lifted off her shoulders. She smiled happily at the man who nodded and left so he could go and rest. " Yes. It's finally over. " She would not feel any desperation any longer, she was going to be happy for the rest of her days, so she thought.