The Married CEO and I

The Married CEO and I

ML James

5.0
Comment(s)
727
View
76
Chapters

Abandoned by her wicked stepmother and thrown out into the cold dark night with her newborn baby, Mara is hopeless and faces certain death... until a good Samaritan comes to rescue her. Leo is the handsome young billionaire that becomes Mara's savior. Against the wishes of his wife, he provides Mara and her baby everything they need. Eventually, fate brings Mara and Leo even closer together. As each day passes by, they find it harder and harder to deny the feelings they have for each other. But where will it all lead to? Can a married CEO fall in love with a young single mother?

The Married CEO and I Chapter 1 The Emergency

"Hush! Stop creating a scene. Aren't you ashamed, being pregnant at your age?", Rosa scolded in a series of harsh whispers as she hurried along beside the gurney on which Mara was being rushed off to the delivery room. But instead of keeping quiet, the girl only kept screaming in pain.

On a normal day, such a scolding from her stepmother was enough to silence her, but this time, she couldn't help it. She was in serious pain and her stepmother had kept her too long at home when it all started, more concerned with dumping curses on her than anything else. It was only when she found that the baby could actually be on its way that she called her husband who angrily instructed her to call an ambulance immediately.

Being childless and with absolutely no experience of pregnancy or childbirth, she had gone on to make things even more inconvenient for the 19-year old Mara. But now that they were here, she was relieved that it was out of her hands. Yet, her biggest worry was not for the girl's safe delivery but rather, the fear that her cries might attract everyone's attention to the "scandalous" situation.

"Please ma'am, you'll have to wait here," one of the nurses said to her, shutting her out as her colleagues rushed off with the still screaming Mara.

Rosa ground her teeth and clenched her fists in impotent rage, wishing she could strangle that little brat just to keep her quiet, but the girl was far away from her reach now, so she simply contented herself with sitting down in the waiting room, but not before scanning around with her eyes to see if anyone was staring at her. She didn't want to be seen as the mother of a pregnant teenager.

Luckily, no one seemed to take the slightest notice of her, so she sat down with a sigh and brought out her phone to listen to some music.

She was in this position, enjoying herself with her earbuds in both ears blaring out her favorite music, when she suddenly heard a man burst into the waiting room, his booming voice filling the area.

"Mara Johnson! Is she here? Where are the damn nurses?!"

Rosa immediately recognized her husband's voice and she quickly hid her phone with the speed of light and donned a mask of sadness and anxiety on her face.

"Oh honey, thank God you're here!", she wailed, tears in her eyes as she rushed up to meet her husband with wide open arms. But the burly man pushed her aside and then turned to face her again.

"Where is she? Is she being attended to? Why did you have to call me first before bringing her to the hospital, eh?! Answer me!", he roared, drawing the attention of everyone in the waiting area.

Left with no other resort, his wife promptly burst into tears. "Y... you don't know what I've been through for that girl since the moment we found out that she's pregnant," she sobbed, letting the tears fall freely. But her husband was not at all moved.

"Oh please, spare me your theatrics. Just tell me where the hell she is!", he barked at her, eyeing her with unspeakable disgust.

Still sobbing and sniffing loudly as if her heart was about to break, Rosa pointed wordlessly at the closed door. He got the message instantly and marched towards the door, ready to break it down if necessary. But he was stopped in his tracks by one of the nurses suddenly rushing out of the theater.

"How's she? Where is she? Is everything alright?", he blasted out the questions, grabbing the nurse by the arm as if he would lift her up and fling her away if she didn't give him the answer he wanted.

"Calm down, sir. Who..."

"Her father... I'm her father. Just tell me, how's she doing?"

"Take it easy, sir. Please let go of my arm. The baby's fine an..."

"Oh hang the baby," he cursed angrily. "Just fucking tell me about my daughter!"

"She needs blood and..."

"Well, here's mine. I'm her father. What are you waiting for?", he fumed, already rolling up his sleeve in record time.

"Then come with me."

Even before the nurse had finished the statement, he was already rushing off ahead of her.

*****

Rosa kept very quiet as she watched her husband keep up a steady but feverish marching pace right in front of her. Once in a while, he'd mutter threats and shake his fist at her with clenched teeth, promising to wring her neck if anything happened to his daughter. Rosa couldn't help but shudder. She didn't dare try to calm him down or he might just not bother waiting for any bad news before keeping his promise about wringing her neck.

He'd been restless and continually marching from one end of the room to the other since he returned minutes ago from donating the blood that Mara badly needed. All of a sudden, a nurse rushed out of the theater and hurried past him. Without thinking twice, he took off after her.

"Sir!"

He stopped and turned around to see who was calling. It was the doctor. With a muttered oath, he ran back again and nearly knocked down the doctor.

"H... how is she?", he demanded breathlessly.

"Take it easy, sir. Calm down. We have requested for blood and..."

"You need more blood? I'm ready." He was already rolling up his other sleeve when the doctor stopped him.

"Not yours, sir. I'm sorry, but yours was not a match."

Colin was thunderstruck. But he recovered himself immediately.

"What rubbish are you saying? But I'm her father!"

"I'm sorry, but you're not," the doctor replied calmly, even as Colin's hand began to tighten on his collar.

"Wait, wait... tell me something," Colin murmured, his shaking hand now tightly holding on to a handful of the doctor's coat. "Are you... are you talking about my blood or yours?"

"Calm down, sir..."

"Don't fucking tell me to calm down!", Colin roared, his entire frame shaking as he breathed like an injured bull, sweat pouring down his forehead and temples. But he hurriedly wiped the perspiration off his face and pulled the doctor closer. "Whose blood did you say was not a match, eh?"

"Yours, sir," the doctor answered calmly. He thought the man was going to faint or something worse, but instead, Colin slowly let go of his coat and looked wildly around him. Rosa flinched as her husband's roving eyes lighted on her. She'd seen him angry before, so many times, but she'd never seen him look like he looked now: like a trapped beast. She was already prepared to jump up and run for her dear life, but instead of coming at her, he simply dashed past and made for the exit like a man possessed by demons.

"Whew!", Rosa breathed in obvious relief. Her heart was still pounding, but she was glad and grateful to still be in one piece. As she worked on calming down her heart rate, her eyes encountered the doctor's and it quickly came into her mind to act her part. Immediately, she jumped up and rushed over to him with tears in her eyes.

"Doctor, please tell me. What's the problem with my darling? Is she okay? Why did my husband rush out so quickly? What happened? Please tell me, please!"

"You know what happened, madam," the doctor calmly replied and turned around and walked off, thinking he had just shamed the mother of the girl. If only he had turned around, he would have seen the smile that was slowly spreading over the face of Rosa!

Continue Reading

Other books by ML James

More

You'll also like

The Scars She Hid From The World

The Scars She Hid From The World

REGINA MCBRIDE
4.6

The heavy iron gates of the Wilderness Correction Camp groaned as they released me after three years of state-sponsored hell. I stood on the dirt road, clutching a plastic bag that held my entire life, waiting for the family that claimed they sent me there for "rehab." My brother, Brady, picked me up in a luxury SUV only to throw me out onto a deserted highway in the middle of a brewing storm. He told me I was a "public relations nightmare" and that the rain might finally wash the "stink" of the camp off me. He drove away, leaving me to limp miles through the mud on a snapped ankle. When I finally dragged myself to our family estate, my mother didn't offer a hug; she gasped in horror because my muddy clothes were ruining her Italian marble. They didn't give me my old room back. Instead, they banished me to a moldy gardener’s shack and hired a "babysitter" to make sure I didn't embarrass them further. My sister, Kaleigh, stood there in white cashmere, pretending to cry while clinging to her fiancé, Ambrose—the man who had once been mine. They all treated me like a volatile junkie, refusing to acknowledge that Kaleigh was the one who planted the drugs in my bag three years ago. They wanted to believe I was broken so they wouldn't have to feel guilty about the "wellness retreat" that was actually a torture chamber. I sat in the dark of that shed, feeling the cooling gel on the cigarette burns that covered my arms, and realized they had made a fatal mistake. They thought they had erased me, but I had returned with a roadmap of scars and a hidden satellite phone. At dinner, I didn't beg for their love. I simply rolled up my sleeves and showed them the price of their silence. As the wine spilled and the lies crumbled, I sent a single text to the only person I trusted: "I'm in. Let them simmer." The hunt was finally on.

The Placeholder Bride's Secret Billionaire Revenge

The Placeholder Bride's Secret Billionaire Revenge

Luo Ye
5.0

For two years, I was the invisible force behind tech billionaire Kieran Douglas, convinced that our "private" romance was his way of protecting us from the tabloid spotlight. I managed his mergers, warmed his bed, and waited for a future that didn't exist. The illusion shattered at 6:00 AM when a Page Six alert debuted Kieran’s "real" romance with socialite Aspen Schneider. Before I could even process the betrayal, Kieran sent me a cold, professional text: "Order flowers for Aspen. Pink peonies. Her favorite." When I tried to walk away, my own mother called me a disgrace and threatened to lock my inheritance forever unless I married a sixty-year-old businessman to save her failing estate. At a high-society gala that same night, Aspen intentionally crushed my burned hand in front of the cameras, while Kieran stood by and dismissed me as a "mediocre assistant" who had overstayed her welcome. I stood in the cold New York rain, drenched in champagne and humiliation, realizing that every sacrifice I made for Kieran was a joke. I was a ghost in a penthouse that was never mine, discarded the moment his "soulmate" returned. To the world, I was just a placeholder whose time had run out. But Kieran forgot one thing: my father’s multi-million dollar trust fund unlocks the moment I legally marry. I didn't need love; I needed a signature and a shield. I walked into a discreet law firm and signed a marriage contract with a man I believed was the city’s most notorious, scandal-ridden playboy. I thought I was marrying a degenerate "beard" to buy my freedom and secure my revenge. I didn't realize the man who signed that paper wasn't a playboy at all, but Gaston Collins—the most powerful and dangerous man on Wall Street—and he had no intention of letting our fake marriage stay fake.

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book
The Married CEO and I The Married CEO and I ML James Billionaires
“Abandoned by her wicked stepmother and thrown out into the cold dark night with her newborn baby, Mara is hopeless and faces certain death... until a good Samaritan comes to rescue her. Leo is the handsome young billionaire that becomes Mara's savior. Against the wishes of his wife, he provides Mara and her baby everything they need. Eventually, fate brings Mara and Leo even closer together. As each day passes by, they find it harder and harder to deny the feelings they have for each other. But where will it all lead to? Can a married CEO fall in love with a young single mother?”
1

Chapter 1 The Emergency

04/07/2022

2

Chapter 2 Stranded

04/07/2022

3

Chapter 3 Not So Welcome

04/07/2022

4

Chapter 4 To A New Home

04/07/2022

5

Chapter 5 Why Do They All Speak In One Voice

04/07/2022

6

Chapter 6 The Conspiracy

04/07/2022

7

Chapter 7 Seeking Help

04/07/2022

8

Chapter 8 The Final Stroke of the Axe

04/07/2022

9

Chapter 9 Her Guest

04/07/2022

10

Chapter 10 Encountering His Wife

04/07/2022

11

Chapter 11 A Non-existent Nobody

08/07/2022

12

Chapter 12 What's Going On In His Mind

08/07/2022

13

Chapter 13 How Could

08/07/2022

14

Chapter 14 The Nightmare

08/07/2022

15

Chapter 15 The Two Most Important Males In Her Life

08/07/2022

16

Chapter 16 Confronting the Enemy

08/07/2022

17

Chapter 17 When Will They Admit Their Feelings For Each Other

15/07/2022

18

Chapter 18 Who Gave Her Such Audacity

15/07/2022

19

Chapter 19 Her Mission Begins

15/07/2022

20

Chapter 20 Sweet and Wet Dreams

10/02/2024

21

Chapter 21 Dashed Hopes

10/02/2024

22

Chapter 22 The Revelation

10/02/2024

23

Chapter 23 She Needs To Be As Convincing As Possible

10/02/2024

24

Chapter 24 The Questioning

10/02/2024

25

Chapter 25 Her Own Leo

10/02/2024

26

Chapter 26 Keep Watching

10/02/2024

27

Chapter 27 Mara's Anger and Indifference

10/02/2024

28

Chapter 28 Leo's Anger Or Indifference

10/02/2024

29

Chapter 29 What Do You Want Here

10/02/2024

30

Chapter 30 Reconciliation

10/02/2024

31

Chapter 31 The Rules

10/02/2024

32

Chapter 32 Play It By Ear

10/02/2024

33

Chapter 33 Lucky Day for Angela

10/02/2024

34

Chapter 34 I Refer to You As My Boyfriend

10/02/2024

35

Chapter 35 The Sudden Expedition

10/02/2024

36

Chapter 36 Where Is Your Girlfriend

10/02/2024

37

Chapter 37 You Know What I Want

10/02/2024

38

Chapter 38 Harassment Galore

10/02/2024

39

Chapter 39 The Confrontation

10/02/2024

40

Chapter 40 Another Confrontation

10/02/2024