Chapter 36

36 Welcome back, My Ex

“Thank you for helping me. I’ll make my payment first then,” I said as I started heading towards the payment sign.

“That’s ok. I’ll handle it,” Adrian quickly said.

I felt the girl’s curious eyes on me, so I turned to smile down at her before shifting my attention back to Adrian.

“It’s ok. You’ve helped me enough. I should go now,” I said before walking out of the emergency room.

After providing my personal information to the hospital so that they could process my case and making the payment, I left the hospital to head to my original destination. While waiting for a cab in front of the hospital building, my eyes caught sight of the large metal sign of the hospital’s name. Amsworth General Hospital. It only took me a split of a second to connect the dots together. How come I didn’t realize it the first time that I heard his name? No wonder he looked familiar.

Adrian Amsworth, sole heir to the largest hospital and healthcare chain in this country and probably in all other developed nations as well. That completely explained the sportscar. I laughed a little to myself thinking that perhaps, I really should have let him take care of my medical bills. Turning around, I tilted my head and stared up the sky-high building of the hospital. That man owns this place as well as many others.

Perhaps a year earlier, I would have been interested in associating myself with him. Now, however, staying away from people like him might be better for my peace of mind. By the time I made it to the supermarket, I had completely forgotten why I wanted to come here.

...

**A few days later**

.....

I woke up in an unbelievably good mood after an amazing night of deep and undisturbed sleep. That was a very rare occurrence for me. I got out of bed and entered the living room where I could smell some coffee brewing, it must be Justin working his magic.

“Good morning...” I said sleepily as I sat down on a chair at the dining table.

Just like magic, a cup of coffee was placed in front of me. I smiled as I sniffed the aroma of the coffee before Justin sat down opposite to me.

“Morning sleepy head. A request came in for you early this morning,” Justin announced with a proud face.

“A request? From a client?” I asked to make sure that I had heard him correctly.

“Yes,” he confirmed.

“For me?” I asked again to make sure.

“Yes,” he replied with a firm nod.

Justin placed some papers on the table, and I knew that it must be the contract that clients submitted to his agency when they are requesting for a contract wife. I heard the sound of paper flipping as I watched Justin scan through the contract.

“I knew that you would attract many clients but I didn’t think that it’ll be this fast” Justin said, sounding impressed.

“That’s unexpected...” I said honestly.

“I gotta say, from my years of experience, I have never seen a condition quite like this one on a contract before...” Justin said with interest.

“What does it say?” I asked curiously.

Justin turned the contract paper my way before sliding it across the table towards me. I raised my eyebrows as I picked up the contract paper with the terms and requests from the client. All information had to be reviewed and agreed upon by both parties before we could start our contract relationship.

“Looking for someone who would absolutely not fall in love with the counter party. Special consideration will be given to candidates with reasons to dislike or hate the client,” I read the terms that Justin had highlighted on the paper.

“Weird right? I mean, asking you not to fall in love with him because that will complicate things for you both is quite normal. Not every guy or girl is buying this service because they’re looking for love but it’s like...another level entirely to be asking for someone who might hate him,” Justin explained.

“Yeah...well...” I muttered.

“It’s not part of the contract but the client did submit a request for you specifically,” Justin added as his eyes watched me intently.

“For me?” I asked again.

“Correct. Oh...the rate he is offering is crazy off the chart too. I suggest you read the contract and what he wants properly. You’ll be making some good progress on paying off that debt of yours if you take this job,” Justin advised.

“Who is the guy?” I asked, my hands flipping the contract to the first page where the client information is.

“The burning hot bachelor that everyone’s been trying to get their filthy paws on. The CEO of Renox, Brandon Byronhill!” Justin announced excitedly.

At the exact same moment, my eyes landed on the name and photo of the man in question. I gasped in shock and dropped the contract onto the table like it was made of burning hot metal. My heart jumped into my mouth, and I felt a wave of nausea.

“How much is he willing to pay?” I asked in a whisper.

“Ten times to normal rate. His representative said that he’s willing to push it up more if required. The man is loaded, I’m impressed but not surprised,” Justin replied with a squeal of delight.

I held a hand up in front of me to stop Justin from saying anymore. All of this was getting to be too much for me. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. My whole body shook before I threw my head back and roared in laughter. The exact man that dumped me all those years ago first gambled all he had just to have sex with me for one night and now he wants to employ me as his contract wife. Elephants will start flying tomorrow.

“What’s so funny? Sorry, I don’t quite follow...” Justin said as he stared at me in confusion.

“You remember the guy I dated in university, right?” I asked.

–To be continued...