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CHAPTER ONE

Leilani gave her parents a warm hug one more time before she bade them goodbye with her husband, Gustin by her side, smiling at her family.

They headed to his sleek black sedan car, and hopped inside the car. Leilani had a sincere and a forced smile on her face as Gustin drove out of the compound.

The moment they stepped out, the forced smile on Leilani's face vanished as an uncomfortable silence broke out on their way home.

Leilani grasps onto her black purse nervously as no one wants to invade into anyone's privacy, silence still surrounding the atmosphere in the car.

As the silence continued, Leilani faced the window letting out a soft sigh. Gustin cleared his throat, cutting the silence off.

"Are you okay, Leilani?" He asked. Her eyes almost bulge out of the socket because the Gustin she knew and has lived with doesn't care about her.

Why was he asking if she was fine?Why is he trying to act as if he cares about her when she knows he's just doing it out of responsibility, and could it be out of pity or a sudden concern.

Was she looking miserable? Leilani tongue swept through her lower lip as she pretended to play along with him.

She cleared her throat, "I'm fine," wondering if she should go deeper or just leave the conversation light because this is one of the rare moments in their marriage.

"How was work?" Gustin asked, giving her a brief look before facing front.

"Okay, I guess" She responded, and he had a faint smile on his face.

"Okay," The car went into another round of silence. "Umm, yeah" Leilani said. What did she expect, silence has become a neighbor and a third party in their party so it's something she's used to.

Leilani, has been in a loveless contract marriage with Gustin for four years. Their marriage was something Leilani thinks was done out of desperation. She needs financial assistance to save her family from eternal loss, and he needs a wife by his side which led the union to be a mere arrangement.

They didn't talk to each other till they reached home. She was glad she got home quickly, and as soon as the car halted in the garage, Leilani hastily left the car as if she was being pursued by a ghost, eager to escape the suffocating silence that is always ensuing whenever she's around him.

Leilani hurried upstairs to her room. They had their own room, and for four years, they had lived together as strangers sharing a house, they were more like neighbors than couples, each of them living their own life under the same house.

As soon as she got upstairs, she shredded her formal dress to a more casual and comfortable cloth. As she changed, her phone rang, and seeing the name on the phone screen, it brought a smile on her face.

"Ella," She called, with a hint of happiness in her voice.

"My beautiful married sister. Have you reached home?"

"Yeah yeah, and I'm in my room," Leilani responded, as she wore an oversized shirt on the black singlet she wore.

"And where's our man, Gustin? Don't tell me you guys have gone separate ways as soon as you reach home,"

"Ella, what do you expect? He doesn't love me, and he gives me this cold attitude, making me nervous that I could have high blood pressure," She stated

"But you love him, why don't you try making things work out between you too, and stop coexisting like strangers in the house"

Leilani took her lower lip in, her elder sister, Ella doesn't know that she's in a contract marriage with Gustin and what will be her reaction if she finds out.

Yes, she loves Gustin. Initially she had thought an arrogant man, his aloofness made her skin crawl but spending months, and attending events with him, she began to notice his kind and gentle soul that he only showed out to people which could tell they are sincere.

How he plays with kids if they go out to the orphanage home for general cleaning with his employees and she wouldn't lie, that was the only time she would see his sincere caring attitude to her, and others.

She finds herself drawn to him but still she hides her feelings. She believes he doesn't love but he loves someone else, she was just a void to fill up the empty space until the person came back.

Gustin has accomplished a lot of things crowning himself as the youngest billionaire in London, and she could help but feel proud at his accomplishments.

Wishing their contract marriage could be a real one build on love than a mere contract

"Leilani, are you still there," Ella's sharp voice rang in Leilani's ear as she slowly nodded as if her sister could see her.

"He loves someone else so why try making things work out between us. It's obvious I'm not the one he loves," Her contract marriage with him would be coming to an end next year, and everyone would go their separate ways.

"And why do you think so? What if he starts cheating on you? You know his family are pestering you to bear him a child too," The word 'cheating' crossed her mind, and she shoved it off immediately.

Gustin would have some respect for this marriage but I have been with him for a good long four years, no intimacy.

The thought of him having a woman warming his bed, and satisfying him was terrifying to Leilani.

"He-He-wouldn't" She stuttered. "Ella, I need to go and make lunch for him,"

"We will talk later. If he does anything funny, don't hesitate to hit me up" She said and I smiled.

"Yes, little mom," The call ended.

Leilani let out a deep breath as she made her ways downstairs, the silence in the living room made her know that Gustin has left the house.

She glanced at the window, and saw that his car was not parked there. He has really gone to work.

Leilani sat on the couch, and watched some movies for minutes to pass by before going to the kitchen to make Gustin lunch.

Funny enough, they rarely talk to each other but he eats her meal every day. And Leilani has made it her duty to cook his meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

She began to prepare some meal with dessert remembering he barely ate his meal at her parent's house, and began to wonder if the food was bad.

Her mom is a great cook, and right now she owns one of the best restaurants in London, bringing up new recipes.

She packed the meal into a lunch box and was about to zip the boxes up when she heard the sound of a doorbell. Her heart skipped a beat wondering who it could be, Ella wouldn't possibly come to her house without giving her a hint first, and not even after they had a long talk, and Gustin rarely had guests over.

She made her way to the door, and peered through the peephole. Her legs wobbled seeing the person standing on her porch with a smug smile. The least person she was expecting to see.

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