Sentenced to Marriage by MadlainQ

Putting on a show Aren Lan looked absolutely striking in a navy blue suit and a black shirt and tie. I wouldn’t miss the way his perfectly tailored jacket emphasized his broad shoulders, nor how the well defined curves of his biceps pressured the fabric with each slight bend of his arm. Why did this arrogant douche have to look so mouth-watering? He made my mind go blank again! I should ignore him, walk past him, say that he confused me with someone else… anything aside from greeting him! Instead, I was now standing before him like a schoolgirl in front of a teacher while trying to find a logical way to explain my sudden brain malfunction. “I didn’t know you were working in my hotel,” he said, his eyes carefully scanning my tight uniform.

A wave of heat rushed through me. Of course, he owned the hotel! He owned nearly half of Manhattan, and with my luck, I should have assumed from the beginning that the Blue Crystal Hotel was his. Nonetheless, I proved to be stupid enough to never consider checking who owns that hotel before planning to do something illegal there. I should have been more careful. Now I needed to find a way out of this situation, and the best solution was to tell the truth… partially… kind of.

“I’m just here as a replacement to help my sick friend. I came here to complete one simple task for her, and now I’m leaving,” I explained, struggling to keep my voice calm. “Oh.” He raised his brows and narrowed his eyes a second later. “What’s your friend’s name?” Was he checking to see if I was telling the truth? Seriously?! Why did he instantly find my presence in his hotel suspicious?! Well, fortunately, memorizing the name of the bribed employee was the first thing I did preparing for “operation revenge.” I replied confidently, “Her name is Holly Griffin.” “I see,” he smirked, lowering his gaze to my chest. “If it were to happen one more time, tell her to get you a bigger size of the uniform. This one draws attention a little too much…” My mouth opened, but my mind was unable to produce any intelligent reply to his words. My embarrassment mixed with rising anger. I wanted to slap him, but at the same time, I wanted to become invisible. Yes, I was aware that I was slightly too curvy for that uniform, but it wasn’t like I could choose the damn size! It took me a few seconds to reboot my system before I could produce a comprehensible sentence instead of a cavewoman’s roar. “I guess you’ve got your time enjoying the view, then I’ll be on my way,” I hissed, walking past him.

He grabbed my hand, stopping me before I stepped into the revolving door. His grip was gentle, his thumb stroking the skin on my wrist. Shivers rushed through me, making me throb. I exhaled, forcing myself to pretend I was composed. I turned my eyes on him, putting all the nonchalance I could into my gaze. He chuckled. “It’s always a pleasure to see you, Ms. Bell,” he said as his fingertips slid from my wrists through the length of my palm until he released me from touch.

I gasped and squeezed my thighs, more than aware of my increased humidity. This time my

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brain demanded a serious recovery, leaving me with no other choice but to act like an idioti stretched my lips into a thin smile, preventing myself from making any sound that would compromise me more than I already was, and dashed through the door

to remember which way I should go I began to wonder if my common sense was allergic to anything Lan related because I found my intelligence degraded below 00 IQ each time this man came around. To make it worse, everything about him

blank for a minute or two. If Liam hadn’t shown up and led me to the car, I would probably have stood there looking like a lunatic for much longer

the exit when I texted you.” “I.. met the hotel’s owner,” I answered, nervously smiling. “Oh my God!” he exclaimed, grabbing my hands. “Were you

“I’ve met this person before, so he was just curious. I told him that

his chest and leaned against the car’s seat. “Thank God…

wasn’t terrified

“I’m just glad that you’re OK and that

I assured him with

heart kept pounding and my emotions swirled within me. I was hot-tempered, and I often let my feelings get the best of me, but I knew I could rely on my abilities. If Liam wanted to expose his

“Fine, Cora… Now you may add hacking into a hotel security system to your list of illegal activities,” I said before getting my hands on the whole security footage of that day. I had to make it look like the cameras were malfunctioning. I had

Putting on a show

walking through the first floor’s corridor, I sighed in relief. My anxious mind could finally

the slide show while comfortably sitting on my couch in the living room, but Liam begged me to witness the drama with him at the hotel. I tried to tell him that it was an unnecessary risk, but he ended up dropping to his knees and begging me to come with him. He claimed that his revenge would mean nothing if we both hadn’t witnessed

there and ordered coffee expensive enough to be made of gold, I started to feel like a killer returning to the crime scene. As a crime novel lover, I knew that it was one of the dunhbest things to do next to telling your cellmate where you had hidden the body… Yet, I sighed and smiled, watching Liam excitedly shift in his seat. I wanted to support him. I wanted to give him some closure, even if his way of coping was

for Liam’s private investigator, who got him the information about where and when this party would occur, we’d probably only realize what had happened after it was over. Even the hotel staff acted as if they were absolutely unbothered by the numerous guests in their highly expensive evening dresses… I wondered, was it because it looked like any other evening event happening

corridor leading from the main entrance to the ballroom. The guests were surrounded and followed by tight security. At the ballroom’s entrance, they and their invitations were carefully checked, making the

his head away from the group of guests on