Love Contract novel Chapter 5

Mary stood at the door of the CEO's office. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her hand to knock.

Her chest felt tight with tension as she waited for a response to her soft knock.

"Come in," a voice called out.

She exhaled and tried to calm her rapid heartbeat. Pushing open the door, she walked into the office.

"Mr. Lan, it's me," she said. He was seated behind his enormous desk. She hesitated, then walked up to him, smiling tentatively. "I'm so sorry about this morning. I —I thought you were blaming me for eating your breakfast," she said, blushing. She took out the steamed Chinese hamburgers she'd brought with her.

"So, well, I bought these Chinese hamburgers just now. They're still warm," she added, holding them out to William. "I eat these every morning, they're delicious. You haven't eaten yet, have you? Try these while they're still hot."

William scowled, staring at her with his dark, brooding eyes. He barely glanced at the food in her hand. In a disgusted tone, he said, "Chinese hamburgers? What are those? Did you think I'd like them? Do you think I'm the type of man who'll enjoy that kind of food?"

Mary bit her lip, then pasted a smile on her face. "Well... All right, then, what do you want to eat? If you don't want Chinese hamburgers, I'll go out and buy some other food for you."

"No, thanks," William replied dismissively. He waved a hand in her direction and said, "I have something else for you to do."

Mary narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What?" she asked. She wondered what he could have in store for her.

"We must announce our marriage. I've called a press conference for today, so I can tell the media about our marriage," William said. "In fact, I've already had the news posted on the company website."

"So soon?" Mary blurted out, unable to hold back a frown. No wonder there had been something strange about the way people looked at her earlier, when she entered the company offices.

William, the CEO, had just publicly announced his marriage to her. It was sensational news. 'Some will laugh and mock me, and some will be worried and suspicious, distrustful of my intentions, ' she thought.

"I don't like to delay things," said William shortly.

"Very well. I understand," said Mary, nodding. William gave her a long, thorough gaze, running his eyes up and down her body. She stood there self-consciously. He said, "Wait here for a moment. I'll call someone to help you get changed into more elegant clothes."

Elegant clothes? She looked down at her employee uniform, which consisted of a simple black suit. She thought this was elegant enough.

But she did not challenge him. Instead, she agreed to get changed.

William nodded brusquely, then bent down over his desk, ignoring her. He seemed to be busy checking some documents. For several minutes, as Mary stood silently in front of him, the only sound in the office was the scratch of William's pen across paper.

Fortunately, there was soon another knock on the door. The make-up artist, stylist, and dresser had arrived.

Mary felt slightly surprised, since she was not used to the convenience of having such people readily available to help her.

"Amelia, you know what to do," said William, giving Mary a brief glance. "I want elegance. Make her as beautiful as possible."

"Certainly, sir. Your wife will be stunning once we're done," Amelia assured him. She walked closer to Mary, studying her from all sides like she was a mannequin. Amelia was one of the most well-known makeup artists for the most important people in the company. Mary couldn't help but feel that William had considered her presence as an insult. Did Mary really need the best of the best in order to look presentable? Was her

appearance that hopeless?

Mary didn't let any of her thoughts show on her face, but she told herself, 'Relax, it can't be that bad. You used to be very popular, after all.'

Amelia and the others quickly escorted Mary to the nearby room.

Soon she was being peppered with a barrage of orders. "Okay, Mrs. Lan, please close your eyes."

"Mrs. Lan, open your mouth slightly, part your lips... yes, just like that."

"Hm, does this look good to you? Or how about this? Here, Mrs. Lan, put this on."

"Oh, Mrs. Lan, your underwear is simply not suitable. Take this, change into this."

"Mrs. Lan, please stay still, we'll work on your hair now."

Like a puppet, she followed every command, letting them lift her arms and tug at her hair and put make-up on her face. She felt as though she was a doll being poked and prodded on all sides. Every time they called her "Mrs. Lan," she felt a jolt of surprise at her new appellation. Meanwhile, in his office, William felt his stomach rumble and realized that he was actually hungry.

He picked up the phone, about to order someone to go out and buy him breakfast, but something on his desk caught his eye. He hesitated, then placed the phone down.

He reached for the wrapped meal Mary had left on his desk. He had to admit, it did smell good. His stomach rumbled again, and he unwrapped one of the burgers.