The Richmonds are a wealthy family with a long ancestry of wealth flowing from generation to generation. Melanie inherited the Richmonds' estate alongside the conglomerate with her father's passing.Ā Still young and not very experienced in handling such a great company and disposal to such an amount of money, Melanie faces several problems because of this. Her greedy uncles seek to steal the company from her, believing they should be the ones to inherit the company that their brother built from scratch. They devise many tricks to get her to fail and fumble.Ā Aside from the battle she faces regarding the company and leeching family members, she also has to face the battles of the heart. She is in love with Chris Joe, a multimillionaire who is in charge of a fast-rising tech company, very skilled in managing businesses and making profits. They have loved each other for years, but his parents disapprove of her.Ā Chris is also madly in love with her but holds his parents in high regard and does not want to offend them. He navigates his life and relationship with three women but discovers his heart belongs to his high school sweetheart, Melanie, and nothing can come between them. To get close to her again, Chris offers to enter into a contract marriage with Melanie to oversee her business for a year until she is strong enough to hold it on her own.Ā She agrees, and Chris and Melanie get married. Chris tries to connect with Melanie, who is still mad at him for being indecisive about her.Ā Through the course of their marriage, old feelings are rekindled again. But their marriage is not without problems,Ā as Chris's family still hates and looks down on Melanie. It doesn't help that Sasha, Chris's obsessive ex, won't give up on winning him back. Melanie also finds out an horrible secret about Chris's family that threatens to destroy everything they ever worked for.
Chapter 1 Chris's POV
I walked into my office with my briefcase and with vast strides. All my employees moved forward to greet and welcome me, all eyes looking up at me with awe and admiration. I was used to it, so their attention did not bother me. The women all tried to get my attention one way or the other as I passed by them. Some adjusted their pose. Some bent their bodies to reveal their cleavage, and some secretly rolled their skirts to show their laps.
Others were bold and came up to me with some excuse about their work and then, in the end, would not say anything tangible. They had just wanted to be close to me. I could not blame them, though; I was rich and handsome.
The men, on the other hand, tried to suck up to me for their gains, yet I could tell they hated me and were jealous of my quick success and the fact that so many women at the office had fallen for me.
My P.A., Rogers awaited me when I arrived at my office. He collected my suitcase and then said to me as I entered the office,
"A man had been here even before I arrived this morning. He has since been waiting for you. He said he wanted to see you for an important reason. He was here before but left the waiting lounge to get some things. He promised to be back as soon as possible. Should I send him away, or do you want me to make an appointment for him with you?"
"No, send him in as soon as he returns," I reply, walking into my office and sitting on my chair to begin work. I worked for a while before getting up and walking to the glass windows of the highest building in the city.
I stared out the window of my office, sipping my coffee slowly. I had just completed the last of my work and was free.
I could see the whole city from where I stood. My office was on the skyscraper's top floor and surrounded by glass windows and doors. If I went very close to the window, I could look down and see people hurrying about like ants, rushing to work, riding in old rickety cars, trying to beat the traffic. This sight always made me chuckle. Those people I looked at daily were hopeless, people who worked their whole lives for a small pension. Some just wanted to work and save up for their kids' college, a decent retirement home, or to spend some stupid vacation on an island. 'Silly dreams,' I thought.
I hated how content they were with their lives, jobs, and families. My parents had always yelled into my ears how I must never settle for less. They told me that nothing was better than money in this world. Not even love came close. They told me how they had grown up as poor people and had become rich at all costs.
So when love stood in the way of my success, I knew which one to let go of love. I let go of love and stayed with money.
I had done the right thing, hadn't I? Yet, I did not know why I felt so empty inside. Money could not fill the void I had inside, from losing the love of my life because of the love of it.
Still, I believe choosing the business and my parents' wishes were the best things I ever did.
I continued watching the ordinary people running around the streets from my office.
I sneered.
These people were not even ready to change anything. If asked about their lives, they would say they were content and happy. They enjoyed doing the same thing every day, the routine they had developed after years and years of boredom.
I always wonder why anybody would be content with anything and why some people do not even try for more. I had met some, and what they would say is:
"Chris dear, money and status are not all there is in life; what matters is that you are happy. Haven't you ever wondered what it is like to fall in love?"
Fall in love? I know what it feels like to fall so deep in love you believe you will always be together with that particular person. I also know how much it hurts when that special person leaves you and how your life will never remain the same.
I picked a framed picture of my ex-fiancee, the woman I was still in love with, Melanie. I looked at it and sighed with regret. If only he could turn the wheels of time.
The man who had come to see me entered a few minutes later. We shook hands.
As soon as we withdrew our hands from each other, I felt a strange vibration in his hand. But I did not take it seriously.
The man told me he was there to discuss a business proposal with me.
"Really? I thought you said you needed to see me," I said.
Why didn't the man just let my assistant know, and then they would go through the standard procedure? Does he think he could just come to my office and throw his wishes at my face?
"I don't understand why you didn't go through the usual procedure, Sir. You can't just come here and tell me you have a proposal for me. I'm not that accessible. Whatever you think you might be, you must..."
Other books by Peggy Nichols
More