CHAPTER 1

ANNALYN 

"Looks like someone tried to kill her, do you know who?"

I blinked to the sound of voices and the steady beep of a monitor nearby. When I finally opened my eyes, I saw two men talking and another deep, cold voice reached my ears.

"No, I don't."

I shut my eyes again, feeling a pain in my head. My head was banging aside from the pain from my forehead.

"Call the police….her last location." That was the last muffle word I heard before a face showed up above me.

I turned slightly to face the most intense pair of grey eyes ever and it had my blood pumping rapidly, my heart stuttering.

He was the kind of man who turned heads without even trying. He didn't have a smile on his face nor a frown. His face looked plain unreadable, yet goddamn attractive.

His gaze held a familiarity I couldn't place with those piercing eyes and I wondered if we knew each other.

"Hey, are you okay?" His question jerked me back to life and I realized something wasn't right.

I darted my eyes away from his and glanced around.

There was a strip attached to my veins. White walls and the smell of antiseptic whiffed past my nostril and it hits me.

I'm in a hospital.

Wait, what happened?

I tried to sit upright but I fell back on the bed with a wince leaving my lips. Instinctively, he grabbed my hands and helped me sit up slowly just as I notice there was another man beside me in a white lab coat with a stethoscope hanging lazily around his neck, confirming my suspicions of being in a hospital.

Still, I asked, my voice barely in a whisper. "Where am I?"

The two of them exchanged a knowing look before the stranger asked. "Will you please check her?"

The doctor nodded and began to examine my heartbeat with the stethoscope. While he was examining me, I kept staring at the stranger, wondering who he was, what happened to me and why he was there with me.

And suddenly, it dawned on me.

"Don't you remember anything? What happened?" The man inquired with curiosity as soon as the doctor moved back.

When I didn't say a word, he turned to the doctor squarely. "She is fine. The Benzodiazepines in her system have been flushed out but she needs to be placed on bed rest for the rest of the day to check if she's finally out of danger."

Benzodiazepines? What the hell?!

I watched the man nod his head at the doctor who walked out after a few more instructions.

"What does he mean by that? Was…was I drugged?" I was deeply scared of the possibility of that. "What the hell happened?"

He stretched a phone at me and I see it was mine. Broken beyond damage. When I held the phone in front of me, my appearance showed on the screen and I saw the small bandage on my forehead.

Panic seized my chest as another pain shot through me instantly.

"You were in a car accident," the stranger sat next to me after dragging a chair closer to my bed. "And it turned out you were drugged."

"What?" I exclaimed in disbelief, my eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Your car brake was tampered with so it failed but I was lucky to be passing by when I saw your car almost off the cliff," he completed and my heart darted forward again in fright.

Did I just go through a near-death experience?

My heart was pounding so hard, I could hear the sound, as I process it all.

I always have the boys check my car before heading to work. How could my car brake fail and none of them figured that out before I left home?

"Is there anyone who would want you dead?" The next question that rolled off his lips made me gasp loudly and I stared at him in silence.

If I was asked this question a day or two days ago, I would have said a loud no. But now I was not sure I was confident enough to say no one wanted me dead.

Warren and I were supposed to be married in two weeks. But this morning, I found him having sex with my step-sister, Sophia.

Sophie left immediately. I caught them and Warren wouldn't say a word to me despite my confrontation. When I realized he wasn't remorseful about his act, I left his place and hurried back home, hoping to see Sophie.

Sophie wasn't home by the time I got home. Then I decided to leave for work. I knew I was going to lose my mind trying to figure out what went wrong if I stayed back at home.

Now I remembered becoming drowsy immediately after taking a drink of the coffee I saw in the living room.

I was thirsty and that was the only thing I took before jumping back into the car and driving off.

That was the last thing I remembered.

"I can help you if you want to. Just tell me whatever it us you remember," the man insisted, making me spare him another quick glance.

Is he a police officer or what?

I was desperate, hence the hurt. Warren and I needed to be married for me to inherit my father's company. That was his only legacy and if I didn't get married in the next two weeks, I would lose it all to Sophie and her mother.

Warren knew all of this because I was honest with him from the start. I thought we were both on the same boat_not getting married meant losing something we both valued.

Now that I think of it, Warren doesn't need me to get his company. What he needed was just a woman and Sophie could be that woman. Sophie, on the other hand, needed to get me out of the picture to get both Warren and the company.

"Were you coming from home?" The stranger asked me again, jerking me put of my reverie.

Slowly, I shook my head. 

"Oh, where were you coming from?"

I didn't reply and I didn't look away from his intense gaze.

The fact that Sophie and Warren were the last people I saw was enough evidence. Those two were the only people who would want me dead, including my step-mother.

I was so worried about our wedding plans getting ruined that I was willing to take him back if only he would apologize to me.

But now, he could go to hell for all I care.

Apparently, not only does he not want me anymore but he also wanted me dead.

However, I knew I had to look for an alternative way not to lose my inheritance. That was the only thing that remained of my father. That was his legacy and I would protect it with everything I have.

All I needed to do right now was to get married? But to who?

Warren was the only man I had ever been with and we've been together for two years.

"Hey," the stranger waved a hand in my face. "If you don't feel comfortable with me, I could call the police instead." He brought out his phone, looking up at me for approval.

But my mind was elsewhere. 

I was staring at him, from his messy but styled hair to his broad-shoulder built like a brick wall, to his piercing eyes, chiseled jawlines, down to the white shirt hugging his muscled body and finally his shiny black shoe.

He looked like a gym instructor or an investigator.

So I nodded my head in approval. He would do.

"OK, let's call the police then," I hear him muttered, taking my nodding for an approval to call the police.

"No!' I grabbed his hands to stop him from dialing the number, my hands melting into his large hands.

"No?"

"No," I repeated loudly. "I want something else."

He furrowed his brows in confusion before asking. "What do you want?"

"Marry me!" I blurted out quickly with my heart pounding, my body trembling with the excitement of marrying a total stranger to get what I needed.

To get back at Warren and Sophie and most importantly, to get my inheritance.

"What?!" He exclaimed loudly in disbelief.

I nodded intermittently, more convinced of my impulsive decision. "Will you marry me?"