Chapter 17
Layla shuddered in horror, she had heard this story before. But she didn't expect that the Schneider family would find out too. Women from poor families or single women who have the ambition to become rich by dating and marrying rich men have always been easy targets for trafficking and abuse.
She was one of those women and now here she was, trapped in a mansion owned by a rich man. But what made her a little luckier than the previous victims was that the rich man who hired her was a young man with a face so beautiful that it almost didn't look real.
"I think my story scared you,"
"Has Lucien ever hired other women before?"
"Never, you could say you were the first. My brother was never interested in a romantic life, you could say he was still a virgin."
"Really? You've got to be kidding me!"
"Hahaha...men like him are too difficult to understand and approach. Instead of trying hard to get his attention, women seem to prefer me, Keith or Jacob."
"What about Gavin, Levi and Aiden?"
"Gavin once had a girlfriend, but their relationship ended and Levi loved a woman, but his love was one-sided. As for Aiden, he will date women without having a romantic relationship."
"Is that so? So Lucien is quite unique, huh?"
"How? Are you starting to be interested in him now?" Lucas tries to corner Layla about her feelings. However, Layla felt that she had no romantic feelings for Lucien at all, especially after what she had done with Keith this afternoon in her room. She wasn't sure that her relationship with Lucien would develop further.
"I'm sure Lucien doesn't have any feelings for me either. He doesn't seem to have any intentions either, that's why I don't want to expect anything from him. He just thinks of me as a slave because he has given a lot of money to my husband. What can be expected from the relationship transactional like that?"
"You're a very realistic woman, I like that. Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with improving your relationship with her. Instead of being a slave, maybe you could be his friend."
"His friend? Me?"
"Even though he never said it, I know he felt a little lonely. Never been close to a woman and had a romantic relationship with a woman. He wanted to try to do it by renting you for three months."
"You mean, I'm an experimental material, right?"
"Maybe! He wants to learn to have a relationship with a woman by renting you for three months."
"I think that's ridiculous, why doesn't he just get a real girlfriend and-"
"He has been matched with a woman."
"What?"
"Arranged marriage, you must understand that as the eldest son and main heir to the family business, Lucien must marry a woman who is equal to him in all aspects. Position, power and influence."
"So it's an arranged marriage, huh? Why doesn't he just study with his future wife?"
"I don't know, Lucien is very closed and he doesn't show any interest in that woman. He just follows the plot that is in front of his eyes and you are part of the plot that has been created."
"I understand, he wants to learn to get to know and relate to a woman before finally marrying the woman he has an arranged marriage with, isn't that right? Because he's not the type of man who cheaply approaches women, he decided to hire a woman, so he can learn how to have a partner and how to treat a woman. But if I can judge so far, he's a bit lame."
"Hahaha..."
"He's too strict, serious and boring. He's also too controlling and a perfectionist. I think it will be very difficult for his wife in the future to face a strange and old-fashioned man like him."
"But he's very rich and handsome, you know-"
"That's the problem, because he's so rich and handsome, women will be with him just for that reason. Not because they really love him."
"Aren't all women like that?"
"All women?"
"Women want men to fulfill their ambitions and expectations. A handsome and rich man, who can resist? Not everyone needs love in their life." Lucas said.
Layla was stunned, she felt that what Lucas said was true. Not everyone needs love in their life, it makes it seem like she is looking at herself.
She grew up as an outcast girl when her selfish parents decided to entrust her to someone else, so they could live their own new lives without her presence. For years she waited for them to pick her up and take her home. But the long wait ended in vain.
Not only did they never come to pick her up, the fact that she was left alone and had no one to lean on forced her to throw away all her dreams and hopes about love. True love will never exist and the only thing she can do to survive this harsh life is to be beautiful and earn more money.
"You're right, not everyone needs love and true love never existed in the first place. Men want power and satisfaction from a woman and women want money and luxury. I think it's worth it, don't you think?" Layla smiled sadly. She didn't want to be a hypocrite by saying something that was inconsistent with her actions.
The only reason she married John was so she could enjoy luxury and pleasure. From the start she didn't want love from him, but when she stood on the auction stage, she felt so broken that she forgot the fact that she wasn't loved from the start and for the first time she felt so hurt.
Layla left, she wanted to immediately return to her room and rest after spending the whole day quite draining her energy and thoughts.
"You want to sleep now?"
"Yeah, thanks for chatting with me. Honestly, I feel happy because it's like I have a place to talk now. That's if you don't mind."
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