Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Prologue

Chadwick McElroy. He is the CEO of the Wine&Vibe company. He has good looks; tall, tanned, and handsome. He has a cold personality, like an ice prince. Above all, he is a successful businessman who owns countless buildings and cars. Chadwick is the perfect character for every male lead in romance books.

I agree with that.

On the other side, there is me. My name is Adira Hale. I am the CEO of Crimson Meadow Company. I have a gorgeous face, sexy body, firm, and sly personality, and people gave me the name of the leader of all time. I am more on the domineering side than being submissive. If I will be a character in a romance book, then I am not a female. Surely not. I can’t take the villain character too because I know that I am not that bad at all. There’s a b*tchy side of me, but not enough to call me evil.

Then, I can be an extra; someone who will laugh at the cheesy characters who promised eternal love when the truth is there is no eternity because we all die in the end.

Anyway, this is the story of Chadwick and I who got married for business convenience. About the genre? I am not sure yet. Usually, when there is a man and a woman, it should be romance. I think that is better than a thriller, when we must kill each other in the process.

I don’t know the reason why Chadwick agreed to the arranged marriage between us. But in my case, I have clear reasons why I agreed to marry the handsome CEO.

First, the marriage between us will help the two companies.

The Wine&Vibe and Crimson Meadow decided to start a project for a better cause. This is to cover the tax evasion scandal that was linked to both companies. Although the scandal isn’t true, it made a huge impact on sales and stocks. That is why, both of the chairmen talked to each other and thought of a project to fix the image of the companies. To make it less suspicious, they wanted I and Chadwick to get married. And then, since we are a married couple, starting a project with the two brands will look natural.

Second, I wanted to get pregnant and be a mother.

I am turning 32 this year. Surely, it will be hard for me to bear a child if I reached 35 and above. Being a mother is a long-time dream of mine. However, I won’t reach that goal without a man. Because I became the CEO of my father’s company at a young age, I was too busy to work, and I had no time to date. Besides, I just don’t fall in love with any man out there. It is simple as that. I am not a lesbian, bisexual, or asexual. It was too hard for me to fall in love and imagine myself saying ‘I love you’ to anyone. So, I gave up marrying someone I love and just wished to raise a cute child with me.

And third?

There is no third reason, nor fourth, fifth, or sixth.

I don’t expect much in this marriage anyway or dream of slowly falling in love with someone I didn’t get along well with in the beginning.

Just like how others survived in this kind of relationship, it is all about living with a stranger inside the same house, eating, pooping, sleeping, having s*x together, and raising a child who will soon inherit our money. That’s the life of conglomerate rich people who married for business.

I have nothing against living with my handsome husband, eating with him, losing my v*rginity for him, and raising our child. However, I think Chadwick will be against the two conditions of married life.

Before our marriage, I researched my husband’s past life. It will be a problem if he’s a psycho or he’s doing dr*gs. Fortunately, his records are clean. Except for his love history. During my secret investigation, I found out that my husband was once rejected by his first love.

He met his first love during their high school days. He became friends with the woman and another man. Then, he fell in love… with the woman, of course. However, he was rejected by the woman because she loves the other friend.

Just retelling this story to myself made me a bit dizzy.

To make it short, it was a love triangle, and he is the loser.

The plot twist is that Chadwick is still in love with that woman until now, and they are still good friends. Because of that, there is no doubt why Chadwick left me alone when we were on our honeymoon.

It is too obvious that there’s no chance for me to achieve my dream to be a mom. However, I am Adira Hale.

Giving up is not in my vocabulary.

Just like I’ve said before, I don’t want to be the female lead of this crazy romance story. My role is to stand beside my husband while his eyes are on another woman. But I won’t care.

If a husband does not give affection to his wife, the woman should not beg for his love. That is what I believe. Therefore, if my goal is to be pregnant, the only thing is forcing him to sleep with me.

What’s wrong with that?

It is not a crime since we’re married anyway.

No. I remembered that there is a legal offense for forcing your husband to have s*x.

So, instead of forcing him, I will use my beauty and sexy body to lure him.

Love is not what I need. It is his body that I want to achieve my dream.

This is the start of a long plan to seduce my husband: The broken-hearted CEO with a messy love triangle in the past.