Nigel walked up to Elvira and patted her back lightly to help her breathe. Her coughing gradually stopped. For a moment, Elvira felt that the man in front of her was very warm when they were alone, like a different person.

His thoughtfulness made her wary. She took one step back and said, "Stop!

I’ve never agreed to marry you. Please heed the boundaries."

Nigel had expected that she would say that. He picked up a file from the coffee table and handed it to her. "Have a look. Then we’ll talk."

His tone allowed no objection. Elvira opened the file and started reading.

A contract?

A contract marriage?

A sham marriage?

Those words popped into her eyes and made her very uncomfortable.

She wanted love. And she believed she could find her true love through her own effort. Why would she step into a marriage without love that was doomed to end?

It wasn’t fair! This so-called marriage would do her no good at all.

But if she did marry this man, he would get a beautiful wife. But one day when he was tired of her, he would dump her any time. She wouldn't want that.

The more she read, the angrier she got. She threw the agreement on the coffee table furiously before she finished reading it, too mad to go on. She yelled at Nigel, pointing at him, "Who do you think you are?

You think you can marry whoever you want and dump them whenever you like?

What do you take me for?

I’m not—"

Before she could finish, Nigel pulled her into his arms and kissed her on the lips.

She is too loud, he thought.

If he married her, he would have to put up with it.

But what else could he do? Elvira was the first girl he liked.

He was 28 years old. This was his first kiss. If she ever dared betray him, she would learn her lesson the hard way.

Elvira gaped. Before she could even struggle, her first kiss was gone.

She had thought of a load of words to curse him, but all of them disappeared when his lips pressed against hers.

Ferguson's jaw dropped when he saw this. He couldn’t believe it. The eldest son of the He family was really in love.

He took out his phone and took a picture of the two who were still kissing. Then he sent the picture to someone else and hoped it would reassure that person.

One minute later, Elvira finally could breathe. In the end, she bit Nigel’s tongue hard.

"Aargh!" he screamed and was forced to step away from her.

He wasn’t angry, though. Instead, he smiled. He had thought the girl would be a lamb. It turned out she was defiant like a wolf. He liked it.

"You!

How could you!"

Elvira bellowed, blushing with embarrassment. Tears welled up in her eyes. "You said it was a contract marriage. How could you..."

She was sure she wanted to reject him. But somehow, she stuttered. She couldn’t even finish her sentence.

More weirdly, she felt excited. Her heart was fluttering. What was happening to her? Did Nigel just cast a spell on her?

Nigel’s heart ached when he noticed the tears in her eyes. At this moment, Elvira reminded him of another girl. She was so much like her in some ways. He almost mistook Elvira for her.

"And..." she hesitated, "I won’t—"

"If you dare finish that sentence, I’ll make another move on you and it won't be only a kiss."

She had intended to say, "I won't marry you," but Nigel’s threat stopped her right there. He grabbed her hand and started to stride outside.

Elvira was petite. She found it hard to keep up with his pace. She felt as if she was being hurled all the way.

When Nigel walked by Ferguson, he said coldly, "Go." Ferguson was trying to figure out what was going on, but upon hearing his boss’ order, he followed after him immediately.

The agreement was left on the coffee table in the hall. None of the three remembered to take it with them.

Bernice saw it and dashed over to snatch it. She held it tightly and stalked into her office.

She had been smacked by Ferguson because of Elvira. As the leader of the crew, she couldn’t just suck it silently. She had to find an excuse to teach Elvira a lesson. Otherwise, how was she supposed to earn respect from the team?

Elvira was taken into Nigel’s car. She kept grumbling, "I won’t marry you." When Nigel got into the car too and looked her in the eye, she finally quieted down.

She didn’t want the man to take advantage of her again. Once was enough.

"You don’t want to marry me?

Who do you want to marry then? The son of the owner of East Bay Group?

Do you think he is good enough for you?

Or were you saying that just because you didn’t like that kiss?" Nigel grinned.

"Um..." Elvira was taken aback by his words. She gnawed at her lower lip, and her tongue stirred in her mouth, as if she was savoring his last question. Why couldn't this guy be a little discreet? Besides, Ferguson was with them. He could hear everything.

Of course, she didn’t want to marry that lecher of East Bay Group. But that didn’t mean she would marry Nigel.

While Elvira was deep in thought, her phone rang. It was an unknown number.

The number was special. Obviously, its owner was rich and powerful. None of her friends was like that. It had to be a stranger. So she hung up directly and continued to talk to Nigel.

She was a human being. How could she marry him just because he said so?

Her whole life would be affected.

"You’re not my type," Elvira went on. But just then, her phone rang again. Annoyed, she picked it up and said, trying to keep her temper in check, "I’m sorry I’m busy now. Call you back later."

"Huh! You are busy?"

a man said frivolously. "Your mom was right. Your voice is indeed sexy.

I’d like to talk with you. Or do you prefer to meet me in person?"

Elvira frowned in confusion. What does he mean?

Talk?

Meet?

Could it be that...

Fury was building inside her. She shouted into her phone, "I don't need a boyfriend. I’m not going to die alone! Tell her to back off!"

"Tsk tsk tsk!"

Nigel twitched his lips in disapproval. The man at the other end of the line wasn’t going to give up easily, though. He was saying something rude and arrogant. Nigel snatched her phone and said to the man, "I’m Nigel He. Stop harassing my fiancée!"

Hearing his name, the man shut up at once and hung up quickly.