CHAPTER 1—Olivia

The hot water running out of the shower head reminds me of how late I am on my rent again, especially with my heat cut off in this cold season.

I enjoy every bit of it, knowing that this gym shower was the only place I could warm up before going back to my run-down apartment to freeze to death.

When I’m done, I wrap a loose towel around my chest and leave the bathroom stall. If I stay there any longer then someone will get suspicious that I’m the one always using all the hot water.

I get dried, putting my wet hair up into two braids. I pull on my basketball shorts and tank top, my sneakers going on next.

I’m about to leave when my phone rings. I look at the caller ID to see it’s my landlady. I decline it.

My fingers swipe across my phone to check if Jess had replied to my text, but there is still nothing, making me sigh. She was my best friend and my only hope of paying my rent before I’m thrown out.

Yes, this is the thousandth time I’ve asked her to lend me some money with a promise to pay back, but I hope this is the last. Her family is rich, but I’m not going to keep taking advantage of that and living off her. I’m going to find a job, and everything will be okay.

I sigh.

The gym is the only thing keeping me sane at this point. It is a good thing Jess had a free membership that I was able to use because she couldn’t hit the gym to save her life.

My phone rings again, and I know this time I cannot decline the call.

“Hello, Ms. Wang. I was not expecting your call” I say with a grimace. That is a lie. I push the gym doors open and step into the busy street, making sure not to bump into anyone.

“You have been declining my calls!” she yells, making me shriek and pull the phone away from my ear. When I put it back on, she’s yelling at me in Mandarin, so I say the only thing that comes to mind.

“I’ll have your money by the weekend. I promise. You know I always pay up,” I say with a sweet voice that sickens me.

“You always say this! Have it before midnight today or I’m throwing you out!” she yells something else in Mandarin again before hanging up on me.

Tonight?

She has to be joking.

It is literally impossible to have the money before then. I glance at my watch. I barely have fifteen hours before midnight. Does she expect me to rob a bank or something? Jess is still not answering my text. I just hope she’s alright.

Lost in thought, I bump into a wall, or a wall bumps into me… I’m not quite sure which. I rub my forehead to ease the pain from the contact, only to look up to see a pair of blue eyes staring at me.

Well, it’s not a wall but a guy.

The suit he wears hides some of his muscles but not quite all. I can still make out the hard planes of his shoulders and his strong arms.

“If you’re blind, the least you can do is apologize for bumping into other people,” he says, his strong jaw ticking with the same little patience I had.

“Excuse you!” I exclaim. “You bumped into me, so you should be the one apologizing. And I’m not blind!”

“Do you also not have manners? You’re yelling in the street and disturbing a whole lot of people.” He smirks at me, and I want to punch the living daylight outs of him. I am already having a bad day, and I really do not want to deal with this.

“I’m not dealing with this,” I say and take deep breaths to calm myself. I step to the side to go around him when he grabs my arm.

“You need to pick these up.” He gestures to the bunch of flyers scattered on the floor. “After all, you made me drop them.”

I scoff, unable to believe what he was saying. “You mean I should bend over and pick these for you?” I ask, putting emphasis on each word.

“Yes,” he answers simply, a small grin on his face like he’s enjoying our entire ordeal. Well, I’m not.

“Let go of me this instant,” I say, but he doesn’t make a move. If anything, his grip on me tightens and borders on becoming painful.

“Just do as I ask, and you’ll be on your way.” He removes his hand but doesn’t move away.

Why is he being so stubborn about this?

“Move.”

He doesn’t even seem to be bothered by the anger that is on my face or the deepness of my voice. “No,” he just says simply.

The corners of my mouth turn up in a tight smile. “I just need to pick it up?” I ask sweetly which takes him aback as he takes a step backward.

“Yes.”

I nod before bending down to grab the flyers. I slowly stand up, able to see the smile on his face. He probably thinks he won.

He stretches his hand to take them from me which leaves him unprotected and vulnerable to what I’m about to do next.

Folding all my fingers in, I throw a punch directly in his face, the loud crunch I hear next gives me a deadly satisfaction as his expression turns into one of agony.

I laugh.

Hard.

“Next time, don’t mess with every girl you see,” I say, patting myself on the back as he cradles his nose in his palm.

Despite the pain, he manages a smile. “If anything, you’re hardly a girl”

I’m about to throw another punch when someone holds my arm from behind. I turn to see another human wall in a suit behind me.

“I’m not sure what is going on, but I apologize for his behavior,” the new guy says, his voice calming and making me drop my fist to my side. If only Mr. Asshole here was just as nice.

“Did you just call me Mr. Asshole?” he exclaims, grunting from pain.

Did I say that out loud?

I put my hand on my hip. “And what if I did?” I don’t even give him a chance to reply because a text pops up on my phone and it has me screaming in terror.

Oh no! My interview!

I look between the two guys unsure of what to say, so I just run as fast as my legs can go. I have just two minutes to get to my interview, and I can’t afford to be late. If only that wall of a man didn’t bump into me.

When I push open the door to the cafe, the place is already empty, and I can tell that I’m more than late for the interview. I walk straight to the counter where a girl about my age is sitting with her headphones on.

“Hello, I’m here for the interview.” I fiddle with my fingers.

She pops the gum she’s chewing before raising her eyes to me like I’m an annoying kid that she wants to get rid of. “They finished like an hour ago. Don’t know why you even bothered showing up.”

I suck in a deep breath. “I can’t even see the manager? Surely there’s something that can be done for me.”

She doesn’t even answer, just keeps chewing her gum like no one is speaking to her. I look at the little office beside the counter where I’d first met the manager and she offered me a job. If only I were early, I would have gotten that job.

Everything was going well until wall man showed up.

I’m fuming.

And if I ever see him again, he’s dead meat.

I don’t even realize I’m still holding unto the flyer until I’m standing outside the cafe as I tried to hail a taxi.

The colorful fonts grab my attention, and soon, I’m reading it all through. By the time I’m done, I’m laughing like a maniac.

Wife for hire? Definitely something someone as arrogant as him could pull off. Why is he looking for a wife anyway?

What am I even asking? He goes around bumping into girls and demanding they apologize instead—who would want to be with someone like that? Besides, all men were so not worth the trouble.

I’m about to discard the flyer when something huge catches my eye. That can’t be… $20,000? That’s a lot of money. Even a half of it would solve all my problems this minute and even more.

I go through the instructions on the flyer with rapt attention this time, and it says that a lady is needed to pretend to be his wife for just three months, and they would be paid handsomely with $20,000 as just the starting price, and conditions are negotiable.

This has to be a dream.

How can he possibly give out this huge amount of money, and what does he even need a wife for? This is getting interesting.

My phone dings, and I check it to see it’s a message from the bank and not Jess. This was turning into a sticky situation real quick. Why is she not answering my calls?

It is just me and my debt in this entire city. I have no family, and the one friend I have has most likely abandoned me to my fate. Maybe this is the end for me. I’ll move out and live under a bridge and maybe get a rich woman to fall in love with me.

This is totally not going to work.

As I go over my predicament in my head, the flyer I have in my hand got even more attractive. There is no harm in trying it. Being someone’s wife doesn’t seem that big of a job. I wasn’t even attracted to men, so it’s perfect.

No stress for an entire twenty grand.

No! I can’t do this. But I have no other choice. Without Jess’s help, I am down for good this time.

I sigh.

I check the address on the flyer. There’s an interview in…five minutes? I might have missed the cafe interview, but I couldn’t miss this one. It’s my ticket out of hell.

With the last penny in my purse, I hail a cab. It better be worth it because this is all the money that I have.

The cab stops in front of an expensive looking restaurant, and I have to double check if it’s really the address.

It is. I stand outside the glass door and take a couple deep breaths before pushing it open. Here goes nothing.