Today is a happy day for Joana, she is going for a job interview, things haven't been going well in her life ever since she graduated from college but finally, things were going on track. She prays she gets the job, but one thing is for sure, she is confident about this one, it's going to change her life for sure.
She tied her coffee-brown hair into a ponytail, she curled her eyelashes to make her beautiful brown eyes more visible. She painted her full-heart plum lips with red lipstick. She stepped back to check herself in the mirror, cheekbones firm, straight nose, she smiled showing off her dimples.
"We are all set to go." She smiled at her reflection in the mirror. she went to her Waldrop and picked out a pair of black suit pants and a red shirt. She wore her clothes, she paired her dress with a pair of red stilettos and a black handbag.
She looked at her watch and was glad to have time on her side, she hurried out of the house and took a cab to her destination. She stood in front of the tall famous company owned by one well-known business tycoon. She took deep breaths to calm herself before finally going in.
Joana wore a straight face but deep down she was shivering and anxious. She stood before the lady at the front desk with a beautiful smile plastered on her face. She took her time to assess her facial characteristics. She had hazel eyes, a short nose and a beautiful heavy top lip.
"Hello?" The lady snapped. She has been trying to grab her attention but Joana didn't realize it because she was busy admiring her face.
"Sorry, I'm here for the Job interview." She flashed another smile to ease the tension in the air. This was not the first impression she had in mind. The lady must think she is a psycho or probably gay because of the way she was staring at her.
"I see.." the lady passed her a weird look before saying, "Take the elevator to the ninth floor, enter the room with a glass door." She instructed. Joana nodded and left after muttering a thank you. She was embarrassed, her cheeks were crimson red.
She entered the elevator and pressed the ninth floor just like the lady said. She arrived at the ninth floor, there were two offices. Both had glass doors but one was covered with a curtain, she wondered why the lady said she should enter the room with a glass door when both doors are made of glass.
She decided to go with the door without a curtain, she knocked on the door. She was told to come in, the voice sounded feminine. She went in, she tried not to drop her jaw when she saw who told her to come in.
She thought she heard a lady's voice but the person standing in front of her is no lady. She flashed the guy a warm smile, he chuckled and pointed at the empty seat in front of him. Joana sat and was waiting for the interview questions but nothing came, they were just staring at each other.
A few minutes later, the man answered a call and excused himself after the call. He left her all alone in the room, she was lost in her thoughts, 'is this some kind of test? Do they want to see if I'm patient enough?' she asked herself.
The door opened, and the man came back with a blue file. "Sorry for the wait Miss Anderson," The man apologized.
"It's fine Mr...." Joana paused so he would fill the gap she left in her sentence.
"Robert, Robert Forester." He smiled at her. Joana nodded she realized that Robert smiles a lot, maybe it was his technique to ease tension or to look friendly.
"This is no ordinary interview, please signed these documents and we will move forward." He gave her the document and a pen to sign. Joana was so excited about the interview, without reading the document, she signed it and gave it back to him.
"Great, we are done here. You can leave, we will contact you very soon." Robert said.
Joana was confused, her eyebrows creased in confusion. She wondered why they didn't ask her any questions or looked at her CV. 'What kind of job interview is this?' she wondered.
"Ok...ay" she replied in doubt. She left her file and left the company and went back home. Her mind was still in doubt, she began to question the outcome of the interview.
"I thought today was going to be a great day for me but I guess I was wrong. I had hopes, I thought it was going to come out great. I mean they practically called me for the interview, why would they call me if they were not thinking of hiring me? Why ask me to sign a stupid contract?" She slumped on her blue couch.
Her apartment was big but it was enough to contain her, she didn't have to TV. The room only had a dining table on the left side, close to the kitchen, and two couches. The walls were painted white, the floors had black tiles.
She went to the kitchen and grab herself a glass of water, and went back to the living room. "I'm so stupid, I signed a contract without reading the content." She kept on throwing insults at herself.
It has been two days of waiting for their suppose call but none came, she pouted and sulked. "What do I do? I'll be kicked out of this apartment very soon." She mumbled to herself.
She heard the doorbell ring, with a sad face, she pulled herself out of bed and carried herself to the front door. When she opened her door, the look on her face vanished, it was replaced with a look of shock.
"Who.. who are you and what do you want?" She asked. She looked at the men dressed in black coats, they were three of them. At first, she thought it was her landlord but she later remembered that he doesn't have bodyguards and can't afford the car standing in front of her driveway.
"We were sent to pick you up so you'll start work immediately." One of them said she looked at them scared.
'Is this some kind of prank or am I being kidnapped?" She asked herself. "Uhh, I think you have the wrong person. I'm not the person you are looking for." She tried to smile but failed terribly, her smile couldn't cover the fact that she was scared.
"I believe you are Miss Joana Anderson, and you signed this contract two days ago." He sent his hand behind and a paper was placed on his hand. He showed her the contract she had signed two days ago.
The contract was enough to send everything she was thinking behind her head, she excused herself and rushed back in to change her dress. She came back fully dressed for work, the car door was opened for her to get in.
The car started, but instead of them taking her to the company, she was taken to...
Instead of her being taken to the company, she was taken to a mansion. The gate was opened by a gateman, the car was opened for her. Joana was sceptical about this, she didn't know what was happening, but since they have the contract she signed, she had to trust them, it was a stupid thing to do but what can she do? Even if her life was in danger, she is already here and there's no way she would be able to run away when she is already in the lion's den.
She was ushered into the house, she took her time to examine the living room, the entire living room was painted white, there were four white sofas in the living room, and brown wool carpet lay on the floor. The windows were big and made of glass, there were blue side chairs at the end of every sofa and two at the ends of a glass table standing in the middle of the room. The house was warm, she realized that there was a fireplace.
"Miss Anderson please follow me," one of the guys from earlier said, she followed him. They climb up the staircase, he took her to the room, it looked like an office, she was offered a seat and was instructed to wait there.
She didn't understand what was happening but decided to follow their instructions. She was scared but at the same time excited. After sitting there for almost forty-five minutes, the door opened, revealing someone she didn't expect to see here, it was...
The famous business tycoon Ace Mayor. Ace Mayor is a young billionaire, he is famous. How did she know about this? Because he is a well-known man, always on the news, the only son of the Mayor family.
She stood up immediately, "Good morning sir," she bowed her head and waited for him to order her to raise her head and sit down. Ace took the seat opposite hers, and without a word, he pointed at the seat in front of him. She sat down, she didn't know what to say or do, and at one point, she forgot to breathe.
She knew that the company she applied to was his but she wasn't expecting to see him so soon, so she applied to work in the digital research department.
"Mr Anderson, I was informed by my PA that you've already signed the contract, I hope it is clear what your job description is about?" Ace asked.
"I don't understand sir Mayor but I applied to be part of the digital research department but I wasn't questioned, I was given a contract to sign which I did and I was ordered to go home and that I'll be called but I didn't receive any call not until today and instead of a call I was picked up by your men, I don't understand what this is all about. Am I working here or at the company?" She asked.
Ace frowned, his jaw clenched. Joana became frightened, she didn't know what she had done to make him this angry, her heart was pounding in her chest, and the look on her face caused her to lower her head. She fidgeted with her fingers.
"What kind of a human being signs a contract without reading it?" He roared. Joana gulped, she grabbed the hem of her dress.
"I..I.." she was too scared to talk, her head couldn't form a proper sentence.
"The contract you signed stated that you are going to be my wife for a short period of one to two years until I fully become the CEO of the company and after that, the both of us have to separate. You are not supposed to look me in the eyes, answer me when I call you, act like my wife when we are in public especially when we are before my family." He summarized what was in the contract to her.
Joana's jaw dropped, she didn't know what she signed. Her eyes popped out, "Wa..wa..wait, I thought, I..what?" She had a lot of ques Joana to ask
"I can't give my consent to this, and I can't agree to that!" she protested, her voice partly raised. She didn't intend to yell at him, but the shock was overwhelming.
"There's nothing you can do now. You've already signed the contract, making you my wife. And with that contract, you're bound to me," he retorted, his tone and words cutting through her. Joanna's tears fell freely now, her nose red and runny.
"Please, I never wanted this. All I wanted was a job in your company, not to become your wife," she pleaded.
Fed up with her tears, Ace abruptly stood up.
"The maid will guide you to your room. Tomorrow, we will be meeting my parents, and you have to play the role of my wife according to the terms of the contract. If you fail to do so, you'll be facing charges for breaching the contract. And don't try to make it seem like I forced you to sign it. You were perfectly capable of making decisions at the time. It's not my fault that you're incapable of comprehending things," he snapped, he left after saying those words.
Joana cried hard in the office, she fell from the chair, and the pain she felt from the fall didn't match the one she felt in her heart. Just like she thought, the job interview changed her life but not for the best, it shattered her to pieces.
"What do I do? If I run away I'll face charges, I didn't sign the contract under duress, I am so stupid.' she gave herself slaps across the face.
A maid came in, she looked like she was in her fifties, and she was old enough to be her mother. She helped her to her feet and cleaned her tears. "I may not know what you two talked about but you shouldn't cry like this, it's not the end of the world, it's going to be alright." The maid said, she hugged her and stroked her hair.
She was able to calm her down, she took her to the room. She is supposed to share the same room with Ace, the maid took her to the bathroom to clean herself.
"Take a bath, it's going to help you, I'll pick you something free to wear. Don't worry, Ace has already filled the Waldrop with clothes for you." She said.
Joana nodded, she mustered the courage to smile but it was not bright enough to cover the sadness she felt inside. After taking a bath, she wore the dress the maid had picked for her.
"Where is he?" Joana asked if she is referring to Ace.
"Ace has assembled all the maids, he wants to talk to them, let's go down he has requested for you to be there." The maid replied.
"I didn't even introduce myself to you, I'm Joana." She smiled, this time it was bright.
"I'm Martha, I've been taking care of Ace since he was five, I'm like his second mother." She gathered Joana's hair and tied it into a loose ponytail.
"Thank you." She mumbled.
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