Chapter 1
On a biting winter’s eve, with raindrops tapping a rhythm against the pann, Jeanna Mayfield found herself at the threshold of a luxurious president af suite, enveloped in a crisp white bathrobe.
“Go on in and tend to Mr. Hen.” She was urged, a nudge propelling her forward.
The room was shrouded in a well of darkness, the only sound the heavy, labored breathing of a man in the bed, his form blending into the enveloping shadows.
Joanna’s heart thrummed a wild beat within her chest as she felt her way toward the bedside. With a shaky breath to quell her shame, she trembled slightly, her fingers fumbling with the knot of her bathrobe. It loosened, revealing her youthful curves.
As she leaned in to join him on the bed, a hand lunged from the gloom, capturing her wrist. She collapsed onto his chest with a startled cry.
“Who are you?” the man’s voice demanded, barely audible yet commanding, as his grip tightened around her waist.
Joanna’s heart fluttered with fear, her eyes brimming with the threat of tears. “I… I’m here to keep you company for the night,” she murmured.
Joanna was there to offer herself to a stranger, all to save Norbert Wesley, the man who had captured her heart from the moment she first saw him. From fifteen to eighteen, she had harbored a secret admiration for him.
After graduation, Norbert had built his empire from the ground up, but just as his business began to soar, a rival had set him up, leading to the looming threat of prison with the verdict due next month.
Joanna had been desperately seeking help, but she was met with nothing but closed doors.
In her darkest hour, someone slipped her an address. The man there, they said, was in his forties, not particularly attractive, and gravely ill, with his days numbered. What he craved most before his time ran out was the company of a woman.
Joanna knew nothing of the man’s true identity, all she had was the title those people used-“Mr. Ken.”
Achilling laugh escaped the man’s lips, sending a shiver down Joanna’s spine. “So, the gift they’ve sent… is you.”
Joanna was frozen with fear and anxiety. “Yes,” she whispered, “I am your gift.”
His body was burning like an interno, his hands searing a path on her skin wherever they touched. Suddenly, he let go, his whole attitude turning cold. “Get out,” he said, his tone strained with control. “I’m not going to sleep with you.”
Joanna, thinking he was displeased with her, got scared and started to cry. Tears rolled down her face as she begged, “I can’t go, sir. Please, don’t send
me away.”
Her hair fell like a veil, mostly concealing her chest, with a few strands teasing the man’s waist and abdomen. His breath hitched as he issued a harsh warning “Leave now, while you still can. Otherwise, I can’t promise what might happen-
Before he could finish, Joanna gathered her courage and, in a bold yet timid move, threw herself at him, capturing his thin lips in a kiss. “Sir, please let me stay,” she whispered against his mouth.
“You’ve got some guts, I’ll give you that. And you’re reckless too.” He paused, and then with a swit move, he pinned Joanna down. “Fine, have it your way.”
Joanna, young and new to all this, gripped the bedsheets in fear. Unexpectedly, he took her hand and guided it to his waist, his tone a smooth blend of calm and allure. “Tonight, I’m giving you permission to be bold. Hold on tight”
As her fingers grazed his rock–hard abs, she found it hard to reconcile with what she knew. Is he really that old? A forty–year–old, supposedly frail man with a body that’s so hard to resist?‘ she pondered, her thoughts racing.
Lost in her musings, she barely registered when the man made his move. He captured her lips in a kiss that stole her breath. Then, gently, his lips traced a
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Chapter 1
path down her neck, across her collarbone, and to her shoulder, pulling her further into the moment.
Feeling her shiver, the man paused. “You didn’t come
ngly, did you?” he asked.
Joanna, with Norbert weighing on her mind, gathered her resolve and accepted her situation as she closed her eyes. “Mr. Ken, I did,” the replied softly.
As soon as the words ofcaped her lips, he took her hands, pressing them against the pillow and weaving their fingers together with a strong, steady hold.
“You’re very clean. I appreciate that,” he murmured before leaning in to kiss her deeply again.
The night dragged on, a relentless trial. Joanna bit her lips so fiercely they bled, her silent tears dampening the sheets.
She’d always dreamed of her first time being a gentle moment on her wedding night, shared with the love of her life, not a harsh encounter with a man teetering on the edge of death.
As the first light of dawn began to break, she was led but of the room, her body sore from the man’s rough treatment, her skin marked with bruises that blossomed like rose petals against her flesh.
vered by a white sheet, even his face hidden from view.
Soon after, Joanna watched in horror as people carried out the man, his body completely covered by a
“Is he dead?” The words slipped from Joanna’s lips as her knees gave way. She sank to the floor, feeling like she’d fallen into a freezing void.
g through her mind. “How could this be? He was so full of life all night.
She couldn’t stop the thoughts racingt
“Mr. Ken just passed away. You did well last night. Go home and wait for your reward. The voice echoed down the cold hallway.
Joanna’s face turned pale. The man with whom she’d shared her first intimate experience was gone. Despite the early winter chill, a cold sweat broke out on her skin, and fear clenched her heart.
In a daze, Joanna stumbled her way back to her home, her mind whirling from the night’s events. The emotional and physical strain took its toll, and she fell seriously ill.
Two weeks later, looking pale and worn, Joanna stood at the prison gates. When she saw Norbert step out safely, she let out a breath. “Norbert, thank God you’re okay,” Joanna said as she embraced him, bears brimming in her eyes..
“Mr. Ken” had honored his promise–he had cleared Norbert’s name. But she was at a loss for how to tell Norbert that she had saved him with a night that brought her such disgrace.
Just then, a girl sprinted over, breathless. “Norbert, you need to get to the Anderson residence right away to see Susan. If you don’t go now, it might be too late,” she gasped.
young age, had been living
Joanna recognized the girt, it was Clara Larson, her cousin Susan Mayfield’s best friend. Susan, who had lost her parents at a yo with Joanna since then, and they had grown very close.
Later on, Joanna crossed paths with Norbert, who was two years ahead of her in school and in the same class as Susan. People often saw Susan and him as a match made in heaven.
But Susan had confided in Joanna that she didn’t have feelings for Norbert. Instead, she always nudged Joanna to listen to her heart and go after him.
“What’s happened to Susan? Why is she at the Anderson residence?” Joanna asked.
The Anderson family had once approached the Mayfield family with a proposal for a marriage alliance. With their wealth and influence, the Andersons could have brought significant advantages to the Mayfields.
But Joanna’s heart was set on Norbert. She had even gone on a longer strike to stand her ground against her father in the end, the whole thing had
blown over.
Chapter 1
“Joanna, really? You’m asking me this?” Clara shot her a glare. “I veryone in Tarrendale’s heard i be a marriage of convenience, it should have been you tying the knot with him.”
in Andersons” playboy heir. If there was going to
She then turned to Norbert, her voice urgent. “Norbert, Susan actually stepped up to marry into the Anderson family to help you out, tak place.”
At Clara’s worth, the blood drained from Joanna’s face. “That can’t be true. I’m the one who saved Norbert,” the protested.
Clara scoffed. “Come on, Joanna You’re so scheming. The Andersons are a powerhouse. They offered to get forbert out of trouble if you joined their Esmily. You turned them down, but then you planted the idea in Susan’s head”
Clara’s gaze turned accusatory. “We’ve not blind You wanted Susan to step in for you. Now she’s the one who’s made the sacrifice for Norbert, and you’re trying to play the hero. How can you stoop so low?”
As the accusations, hung in the air, Norbert’s gaze dropped to Joanna, his usually warm eyes now clouded with a hint of fury tight, “is there something you’d like to explain?”
Joanna’s heart plummeted as she attempted to defend hersell “Norbert, it’s not what you think. I did s
extent of her sacrifice.
“Joanna,” he said,
you. .” She faltered, unable to voice the
Clara wasn’t buying it. “While you were locked up, Joanna was hiding out at home. How on earth could she have saved you? Are you just going to keep believing her stories, or are you going to see Susan before it’s too late?”
Pausing, Clara’s voice wavered with the weight of her emotions. “The Andersons have it that Fraser Anderson, the man Susan’s marrying, is ill. He needs Susan to accompany him abroad for treatment right after their wedding”
Norbert wasted no time in making his decision and strode away swiftly.
“Norbert, wait!” Joanna cried out, her hand reaching out towards him in a futile bid to halt his departure. But he dismissed her with a sharp motion that took her by surprise. The force of his rejection sent Joanna sprawling to the floor.
“Faking a fall, how pathetic,” Clara remarked with a sneer, following Norbert’s lead. As she stepped over Joanna, who lay sprawled on the ground, Clara deliberately pressed her heel into the back of Joanna’s hand.
dup. The combination of the sickness and the brutal treatment was too much for Joanna. As she watched Norbert’s retreating figure, her eyes welled s blurring her vision until the world around her dissolved into darkness and she surrendered to the embrace of unconsciousness.
Joanna’s eyes blinked open and met with the sterile smell of a hospital room. Before she could take in her surroundings, something hit her face. She
she whispered. looked up to see Norbert standing by the bedside. “Norbert
“Joanna, we got our marriage license. You should be thrilled,” he said, his voice cold, without a hint of warmth.
Joanna’s hands shook as she reached for the paper. It was real–a marriage license, something she had dreamed of Tears brimmed in her eyes.
“Norbert, you’ve found out…”
“she murmured, thinking he knew about her sacrifice and instead of rejecting her for it, he had decided to marry her.
But then, Norbert’s lip curled into a sneer. “Yeah, I’ve found out. I’ve found out just how truly disgusting you are”
“Norbert…” Joanna gasped, her heart shattering at the venom in his tone.
“Don’t use my name,” he bit out, his usually charming features twisted with revulsion. “Joanna, I can forgive you for not trying to save me. But what you did to Susan, forcing her into this mamage and then stealing her credit, that’s unforgivable.”
“I didn’t do that,”
t do that,” Joanna protested, clutching the marriage license tighter, her head shaking in whement denial.
“Joanna, I’ve been seeing Susan for a while now. She didn’t want to hurt you, so she asked the to keep it quiet. I was going to propose t revealed
to her,” he
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Chapter 1
The confusion that had clouded Joanna’s mind before was nothing compared to the abyss of despair she felt now. Tears welled up in her eyes as the stared at him. “But Susan told me she doesn’t have feelings for you,” she said.
Norbert shook his head. “That’s just because she cares about you. She didn’t want to hurt you. And there’s something else you should know Fraser Anderson has HIV That’s why they’re looking to marry a Mayfield.”
The room seemed to spin around Joanna, her mind going blank. It wasn’t until she spotted the marriage license that she found herusic ” then why are you marrying me?” she asked.
Norbert’s face, usually so calm, was now twisted with hatred. Towe Susan for life, but you… you ruined hers. She was in tears, begging me to marry you, and I just couldn’t say no.”
He leaned closer, his hand pressing down on her stomach through the blanket “Besides, if I don’t marry you, what happens to the child you’re carrying?
“Wh–what?” Joanna’s face lost all its color.
“It’s absurd how Susan always thought you were in love with me. Is this your version of love–hooking up with another man while I was in prison?” hurled something at Joanna,
Joanna’s body tensed as her gaze fell to the object that had landed on the blanket. It was a pregnancy report. The words blurred before her eyes, but she could make out the truth she hadn’t known yet–she was pregnant,
