Prologue
"You are already thirty five, when are you planning to get married?" Desmond Baldwin yelled at his grandson.
"Grandpa, take it easy. Remember the doctor said you are not to get angry for the sake of your health" a handsome brunette with stoic face, chiseled jaw, light gray eyes said aloofly. He was sitting with one leg crossed over the other, his fingers intertwined as he placed them on his knees, he was putting on a black suit with white shirt and a black pant, he stared at his grandparents indifferently.Desmond looked at his grandson and noticed that him being angry was not going to do the trick, he looked at his wife who was sitting beside him and they communicated with their eyes before he turned to look at his grandson again "little Ray, we are your grandparents and we care about you. Remember we raised you after your parents abandoned you and went to Australia all in the name of some stupid contract. We only want the best for you" he said with a gentle voice.Little Ray has been his nickname ever since he was a child, he had told his grandparents to stop calling him that but they refused, claiming he will always be their little boy and he could do nothing but put up with it as long as they don't call him that outside "grandpa, I know and I love you both for that, it is also the reason I'm doing everything I can to make you happy" Raymond replied in the same gentle voice.Hana Baldwin sighed "but you are not making us happy. We want you to get married, to have a family of your own. Don't you get it? You are already thirty five years old, when is it going to be, until you are a hundred?""Grandma no, I will get married soon. I just want to stand our family" Raymond answered."Stand our family? What stand our family? You are already managing four companies. Your parents are managing two in Australia, I have one in Canada. Your grandmother gave you her inheritance from her parents which is in France. The Baldwin Empire will soon be handed over to you, which other stand our family are you talking about?" Desmond bellowed."It's not enough" Raymond answered aloofly."Not enough?" Desmond choked "what other wealth do you want? To take all the money in the whole world?"Raymond looked thoughtful for a while and answered indifferently "if it is possible.""What?" His grandparents shouted but he only smiled."Grandpa, grandma imagine how amazing that will be should our family own all the money in the world?" Raymond smiled sheepishly.Hana and Desmond looked each other worriedly "I think we have no other option" she said to her husband.Desmond nodded "you are right" he looked at his grandson "since it's like that, your grandmother and I have something to tell you. We have decided that the Baldwin Empire will belong solely to you only when you are married."For the first time throughout the whole conversation, Raymond countenance changed "what are you saying grandfather?" He asked icily.Desmond raised an eyebrow, oh, something can really affect him? He thought before a sly smile graced his lips "yes, it can only be handed to you after one year of your marriage. Even if I die tomorrow, I will put it like that in my will, so you can keep on waiting till I'm dead in order to inherit it but as far as I know the law, a will is surely read according to how it was written.""You can't do that!" Raymond almost shouted."Yes I can and I just did. You may leave now" Desmond said aloofly and shooed him away.Raymond looked at his grandmother but she avoided his gaze and acted aloofly just like her husband. He looked at them and knew they just want to make things difficult for him, he had always wanted to own that company ever since he was a child, no matter the number of companies he owned, he still wants to be the CEO of the Baldwin Empire and now they are telling him he cannot be that unless he is married?Rymond stood up angrily and stormed out of the house, his grandparents looked at each other then and Hana looked worried but Desmond squeezed her hand "he will be fine, it's for his own good" he cooed.***A young girl jumped down the stairs in twos, she is average in height, slender and looked like a teenager but indeed she is twenty four years old, she has a long blonde hair that looks like a haystack, a baby face with an emerald green eyes, a sexy pink lips and a dazzling smile. She ran into the kitchen barefooted and hugged the older woman in the kitchen from behind "good morning aunt.""Oh my God, Felicity!" Katherine McCarthy gasped when her niece suddenly hugged her, she turned to face her and gasped yet again when she saw her hair "why didn't you brush your hair my darling?"The young girl called Felicity looked at her hair as if noticing the disarray for the first time and pouted "then aunt should help me."Katherine shook her head affectionately "what I'm I going to do with you?""Love me, care for me and never leave me" Felicity chanted like a six year old making Katherine to laugh heartily."Alright, alright, I will do just that. I have been doing it after all" she laughed "so now, why don't you go up and brush your teeth, take a shower, breakfast will be ready then so I will come up and comb your hair for you and while you eat, I will prepare for work, hmm?""You are going to work today?" Felicity pouted "but who is going to stay with me?""I will call Grace to come stay with you. She is your friend after all.""Grace is too busy for me this days.""Why?""She has a boyfriend" Felicity pouted."Oh, that's good" Katherine paused "then I will call nanny Mercy to stay with you, how about that?"Felicity looked thoughtful "okay, just come back early.""I will my darling, now shoo" she pushed her out of the kitchen and Felicity giggled before running up the stairs in twos again.Raymond called for his assistant immediately he got to work, anybody who saw him knew that he was angry and so no one tried to get in his way. A knock on the door startled him before he composed himself "come in."The door was pushed open and a young man entered, he has a sandy blonde hair and light blue eyes, he was carrying stack of documents and snappily walked to Raymond's desk and dropped them "you...you...you sent for me sir?" He asked nervously.Raymond stared at him coldly "Morris, why did it take you five minutes to get here?""Em...sir, I was still on my way to the office when I received your call, so I hurried up to meet you. I'm sorry if I kept you waiting.""Kept me waiting? Which assistant stays at home until his boss arrives at the officer before him?" Raymond bellowed."I'm so sorry sir but the company resumes by eight hundred, it's still seven fifty five sir. I didn't know you will be here early" Morris tried to defend himself.Raymond eyelashes lo
Katherine walked back to her desk with her heart in her throat, what did she just hear? The boss grandparents refused to hand over the family company to him unless he is married? And what is his solution? He wants to fake a marriage and lead his grandparents under the nose?Katherine shuddered, all these rich families and their problems. She sat on her desk and switched on her computer when a thought suddenly hit her, oh myGod! The boss is not a fool, it's a must he knew she was eavesdropping on his discussion but he just let her go? Did he really do that?Oh God, please help her, please save her job for her, what if the boss decides to put her off her duty? What is she going to do? How will she and little Felicity cope? This job is their only source of money. Oh heaven, she hope the boss will really let her go this time, just why did you eavesdrop on his discussion Katherine? She chided herself, just pray he let's you go this time.She put in her password and logged into h
Katherine got home looking lost, how is she going to go about this? What will she tell her niece? How is she going to put it so that it won't sound like she is giving her away for ten million and a promotion? But come to think of it, she really is isn't she? Katherine heaved a sigh and turned off her car engine, she grabbed her handbag on the passenger's seat and got out of the car.She walked into the house to see Felicity sleeping on the couch, she looked so innocent and naïve, her honey gold hair sprawled all over the couch and her face, Katherine chuckled and made a move to walk closer to her when she heard a sound coming from the kitchen, she changed her direction and walked to the kitchen instead only to see nanny Mercy cooking Hamburger "I wasn't expecting to still meet you since I run a little late today."Nanny Mercy looked up from what she was doing and smiled "I can't bear to leave her alone.""Thank you" Katherine returned the smile "sometimes I don't know how w
Katherine was at lost for words but decided to open up to her "I overheard his discussion with his assistant. His grandparents refused to hand over their family's business to him unless he is married, so he wants to rent a bride for a year which is the duration his grandparents gave him that his marriage will last before he becomes the owner of the Baldwin Empire. As a punishment to me for eavesdropping on his discussion, he decided to make Felicity his rented bride" she shuddered as she mentioned Felicity as a rented bride."My, my, that's a whole lot to take in.""Exactly!""Hmm, so what are you going to do now? You can't say no to a man like that and what's worse, he is your boss.""That's it Mercy, that's why I'm confuse" Katherine buried her face in her palms."But why would he choose to fool his grandparents like that?""I don't know. I guess he just doesn't want to get married for real.""So, his plan is to divorce Felicity immediacy after owning the comp
Six days later, Katherine walked into Felicity room at night, she had been thinking all those days concerning what both Mercy and Raymond said, Mercy was right in what she said and Raymond's deadline was tomorrow, so she really have to talk to Felicity this night if not, she doesn't even know what her boss will do.Felicity was flipping through the pages of a picture book when her door opened, she looked up and a charming smile graced her lips when she saw her aunt "why aren't you sleeping aunty Katy?""Oh my dear, I should be asking you that too" Katherine chuckled and walked closer to her bed, Felicity made a space for her to sit beside her on the bed which Katherine gladly took, she caressed her face with a sweet smile on her lips "you look so beautiful, just like your mother. I have always believed that her beauty was one of the things that charmed my brother to her."Felicity giggled "aunty, whenever you talk about how beautiful I am, you want to ask me for somet
"Why do I need to wear all these?" Felicity asked with a frown as she stared at the gown and high heels that her aunt brought into her room.Katherine sighed "again with this Felicity? I thought I told you that your husband to be is coming to see you today.""But do I need to wear all these before I will meet him?""Sweetie, you need to look good and charming for him okay? Now enough of this, he will be here any minute now and I still need to style your hair which God help me, takes a lot of time."Felicity pouted but she still let Katherine dress her in the beautiful long navy blue gown. She sat on her dressing table and Katherine helped her to brush her honey gold hair in a neat ponytail. The door was opened and Mercy popped out her head "he is here" she said."Now upsy daisy" Katherine helped her up after helping her put on her high heels. Felicity legs wobbled and she had to grab Katherine's hand to steady herself "come on my dear, just as we have been practicing.
Felicity nodded and Katherine helped her down the stairs. Raymond looked behind him when he heard footsteps, he froze when he saw the beautiful honey gold hair girl who was coming down the stairs with Katherine behind her and was holding her hand like she was keeping her from falling? His brows creased as he wondered why that would be a thing until he noticed how the young girl was walking. A strong force to laugh popped up in his throat and he had to fight to keep himself from laughing.Morris heard the soft sound almost like a stifling laughter coming from his boss, he looked at him from the corner of his eyes and saw how his boss was really trying to keep himself from laughing, wondering what could be the reason, he looked at the approaching women and immediately picked out why his boss was trying really hard not to laugh and he found himself in the same situation.Katherine smiled to them "welcome to my home sir, assistant Morris" she helped Felicity sit down and sat besid
Raymond took Felicity to one of the most famous amusement park in New York. Felicity gasped at the beauty of it and ran around like the child she was, she wanted to ride everything ridable and kept pointing at anyone she see, Raymond and Morris followed behind, acting like her body guards. They first registered for her to ride the Ferries Wheel, she got in happily but when she saw that neither Raymond nor Morris got in too, her eyes teared up."What is she doing?" Raymond asked with a frown."I think she is about to cry sir" Morris answered."Why?" Raymond frowned "wasn't she happy about this a while ago? Does she suddenly want to change her ride?""I don't think that is the problem sir.""Then what is it? Be out with it.""I think she wants us to ride with her" Morris answered carefully.Raymond looked at him unbelievably "I should get into that? When I was a child I didn't even ride it and you want me to ride it now?""It's what the lady wants sir."Raym