Sentenced to Marriage by MadlainQ

Two hours had passed since I sat on the sofa in the reception hall of Golden Estate Investments. The red-head sitting by her desk kept flashing me displeased glances. She must have found my presence uniquely bothersome, to say the least. I didn’t care. I was on my mission, and I wasn’t going to back off… although I was tired, and my growling stomach reminded me that my last meal was twelve hours ago, and that meal was coffee.

I quickly decided to temporarily fill my stomach with water. I grabbed one of the bottles prepared for the guests, standing on the table, even though the receptionist didn’t bother to ask if I wanted something to drink. I clicked my tongue, looking at her before taking a sip of water. I could see her jaw clench. I knew that she found me annoying, but I couldn’t understand why she looked so nervous. As I began to observe her more closely, I registered her glimpsing at the door at the end of the corridor, and realized something else… Every corridor was empty, as if there was either no one inside the company or they were all hiding inside their offices. I must admit that it looked peculiar. Could it be that every single employee was out of the office? No, the mean red-head wouldn’t look so anxious if that was the case.

After a few more minutes, I noticed her restlessly shifting in her seat. I chuckled inwardly as I understood why. Human physiology could truly be a bitch. Suddenly, she jumped to her feet and looked at me.

She cleared her throat. “I’ll be right back,” she tossed, rushing from her desk to the lady’s room around the corner.

I smirked when she passed me by with her thighs glued together. Well, she deserved decent diarrhea for her unprofessional behavior. With her slam shutting the toilet door, my curiosity started to itch. I glanced at the security cameras stupidly pointed at the area where I sat. A wicked grin formed on my lips as I realized that ninety percent of the space behind the reception desk had been made a blind spot. As much as I knew that it was wrong… and illegal, I was bored to death, and I was dying to take an eensy-weensy glance at the redhead’s computer. Besides, there was a tiny chance I could get an advantage in the negotiations if I found a useful piece of information.

I sneaked my way behind her desk, and, a second later, I was staring at her screen. I wasn’t going to dig deep. If I was lucky, I would find out how they wanted to renovate our building. I rolled my eyes, realizing that the computer wasn’t even password protected. I went through some documents, but I couldn’t see anything related to our case. I was going to walk away from the computer when I suddenly saw a barely noticeable icon on the taskbar. I recognized this pesky worm right away…

I leaned back, letting a mischievous chuckle escape my throat. I had dealt with this little one before. It was a form of extremely specialized spyware. I was sincerely shocked that their security was weak enough to let it mess with their system. Nonetheless, the problem wasn’t mine to solve, and as I heard the sound of a flushing toilet, I knew it was time to get back to my seat on the sofa and act innocent. Should I tell someone that their company’s sensitive information might have been stolen? Perhaps I should. The problem was, how was I going to explain how I knew that?! Claiming that I “accidentally” checked the receptionist’s screen and taskbar didn’t sound convincing…

The redhead came back with relief painted on her entire face. She glanced at me suspiciously and then sighed as she got back behind her desk. Did she think I would steal something while she was absent? Like what? That sofa? If she wasn’t that hostile, waiting for someone I could talk to would have been so much easier.

still holding their breaths. All those employees wore elegant suits, making me the only weirdo wearing a shite top shirt and a pair of jeans. The only plus was that the top nicely underlined my curves. I stood up, preparing to attack the one whom I assumed was the boss. It was

uncontrollably, pushing my heels

were desperate to read his emotionless face. This time, it was a black suit embracing his magnificent body. His stride was confident and elegant. He seemed to be paying utmost attention to those who tried to impress him. Nonetheless, his expression stayed unmoved. Unknowingly, I stepped aside and leaned against the wall to let them pass me by, strangely overwhelmed by Lan’s presence. Well, he wouldn’t pay any attention to me anyway…

set his eyes on me,

Cora?” His deep voice caressed my

a hot-blooded predator. I felt as if he emanated force that pierced me to that wall, but I wasn’t going to submit to

building where we were renting our workshop spot, giving us an unfair eviction notice just because

sending me a cold stare. “Do you find buying a building an unfair transaction?” he asked

always been rent-stabilized.” My words came out sounding much less confident than when I put the sentence in my

all of his humanity aside. I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed the change; everyone took a subtle step away from him and me. “If you have any issues, you should solve them with

my eyes locked on Lan. “The conditions proposed in our new contract with your company are absurd. You cannot expect us to pay ten thousand dollars a month for renting a filthy basement that we renovated ourselves using our funds

his face before he turned his eyes

Aren and me. “I’m not certain

have bought lots of tenement houses from the 1950s recently. And you are planning to turn them all into hotels, am I correct?” I

you don’t know what she