Chapter 2: Where It Began

After all her years of simply studying and working relentlessly, Lillian was set to finally get things over and done with on her 'virginity problem'. She read a lot of stories of ONS (one-night stand) here so it shouldn't be too difficult.

It was then that Lillian met a man who introduced himself as Leo. He had the looks, the body, the appeal, a tempting low voice, and masculine scent that enticed her.

Lillian decided that if she was gonna get rid of her virginity anyway, then it was best to do it with someone who looked this appealing and pleasing to the eye. Especially when he was right in front of her and within reach.

Who cares about status and all that when it would only be for a night?

And so, after some drinks, she threw caution to the wind and they decided to go to a hotel together for you know what.

Lillian was sure they tried to do some things, but it was her first time to drink. Her mind was alert as usual, but she did not know her body was already more affected than she thought.

Not knowing her capacity, Lillian ended up drinking more than her body could handle, and fell asleep just a few minutes after they entered the hotel room.

Thus, they were not able to go all the way. But at least, she got to experience things she never did before.

In the morning, to her shock, Leo said he liked her and suddenly proposed to her. 

Lillian was at a loss for words for a few seconds and thought it was a prank. But Leo was serious so she thought about it and told him she needed more time. That they should date first to see if they truly liked each other, enough to get married. 

However, Leo was in a rush for some reason.

Lillian thought it was suspicious. When she made him talk, he admitted that he needed to get married as soon as possible due to family issues. 

Leo said he had to get married to get his inheritance from his grandmother's side, and ensure it was not stolen by some relatives, whom, he knew wanted to use it for dubious things.

Since Lillian refused to get married with the thought that their feelings were not serious at all yet, he then offered her a deal that made her eyes turn into dollar bills. 

It was a very tempting deal that she was not able to walk away from.

Lillian had basically used all her younger years for education, work, and the restless grind to reach where she was now. She worked several jobs at the same time and thrifted her budget all the time.

With the amount Leo offered her, she could get more investments and maybe, plot a retirement plan so she could finally stop working too hard every single day.

The entire world was in a recession, the inflation was crazy, and there were crises everywhere. The prices of all goods had risen so much, that even though Lillian had somehow managed through so much hard work, to be in the lower middle class, from formerly being too poor to afford proper food, her savings would be drained soon, if she did not keep grinding relentlessly like a crazed machine. And she had a huge family to support. She was a breadwinner.

Thus, Lillian took Leo's offer as an opportunity.

If she was to be damned after she died for accepting money like this, so be it. She was tired of pain and suffering, of always having to worry if she and her family would survive this recession.

Lillian rather envied those who could refuse an amount like this. For her, it was like throwing away food already on the table in these difficult times.

Her? She would not. Call her a b*tch, a money grubber, a gold digger, or whatever. Lillian did not care anymore. To her, this was a relief. This was something that could possibly end her suffering.

With practicality in mind and to finally shut up those who had been gossiping about her and insisting she get married, Lillian agreed.

The business trip in Las Vegas was two months long and Lillian closed the deal within a month.

Since their business partners decided to test things out first and speak with her again in case there were problems, Lillian had to keep staying in Vegas, but was mostly free for a month.

This one month with mostly no work to do for her main corporate job, was a first for Lillian. She could not do her other part time work in another country, so she had nothing else to do either.

Thus, most of it was spent with Leo on dates and preparing for their wedding in Las Vegas.

They spent the mornings on tours and dates. For the late nights, they mostly slept together in Leo's suite, but they still did not go all the way.

When Leo learned she had no experience with men, he refused to go all the way with her until their wedding night. But they did do other couple things as preparation so Lillian still gained a lot of experience.

She finally tried going to dates and tours with a man and taking pictures here and there or simply enjoying some free time together. They also did some naughty stuff at night which she previously only read about.

All of her experiences here was like a dream that her business trip had gifted her.

After getting to know Leo for a month, she married him for convenience, the money, the blooming romance, the thrill, and his looks. 

As for him, Leo paid her to marry him to get his inheritance from his grandmother's side. Leo did say he liked her, but she knew it was the superficial one since they just met. He did not seem like the type to fall in love at first sight either.

Lillian as well. She knew she would never fall in love at first sight. She always took too long to fall in love after all.

Attraction at first sight, yes, she would agree to this since it had happened to her several times like she did with Leo. 

Lillian was attracted to Leo at first sight, but it was not yet love.

After a month, hmm... she hadn't tried falling in love just one month after meeting the person either. Or did she?

Still, whatever it was, her experiences in Vegas were valuable firsts for her.

But no matter how nice the dream was, everyone wakes up eventually. And so did she, when Leo left in a hurry the morning after their wedding.