Love Contract

Chapter 5 The Chinese Hamburger Event

Mary stood at the door of the CEO's office. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her hand to knock.

Her chest felt tight with tension as she waited for a response to her soft knock.

"Come in," a voice called out.

She exhaled and tried to calm her rapid heartbeat. Pushing open the door, she walked into the office.

"Mr. Lan, it's me," she said. He was seated behind his enormous desk. She hesitated, then walked up to him, smiling tentatively. "I'm so sorry about this morning. I —I thought you were blaming me for eating your breakfast," she said, blushing. She took out the steamed Chinese hamburgers she'd brought with her.

"So, well, I bought these Chinese hamburgers just now. They're still warm," she added, holding them out to William. "I eat these every morning, they're delicious. You haven't eaten yet, have you? Try these while they're still hot."

William scowled, staring at her with his dark, brooding eyes. He barely glanced at the food in her hand. In a disgusted tone, he said, "Chinese hamburgers? What are those? Did you think I'd like them? Do you think I'm the type of man who'll enjoy that kind of food?"

Mary bit her lip, then pasted a smile on her face. "Well... All right, then, what do you want to eat? If you don't want Chinese hamburgers, I'll go out and buy some other food for you."

"No, thanks," William replied dismissively. He waved a hand in her direction and said, "I have something else for you to do."

Mary narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What?" she asked. She wondered what he could have in store for her.

"We must announce our marriage. I've called a press conference for today, so I can tell the media about our marriage," William said. "In fact, I've already had the news posted on the company website."

"So soon?" Mary blurted out, unable to hold back a frown. No wonder there had been something strange about the way people looked at her earlier, when she entered the company offices.

William, the CEO, had just publicly announced his marriage to her. It was sensational news. 'Some will laugh and mock me, and some will be worried and suspicious, distrustful of my intentions, ' she thought.

"I don't like to delay things," said William shortly.

"Very well. I understand," said Mary, nodding. William gave her a long, thorough gaze, running his eyes up and down her body. She stood there self-consciously. He said, "Wait here for a moment. I'll call someone to help you get changed into more elegant clothes."

Elegant clothes? She looked down at her employee uniform, which consisted of a simple black suit. She thought this was elegant enough.

But she did not challenge him. Instead, she agreed to get changed.

William nodded brusquely, then bent down over his desk, ignoring her. He seemed to be busy checking some documents. For several minutes, as Mary stood silently in front of him, the only sound in the office was the scratch of William's pen across paper.

Fortunately, there was soon another knock on the door. The make-up artist, stylist, and dresser had arrived.

Mary felt slightly surprised, since she was not used to the convenience of having such people readily available to help her.

"Amelia, you know what to do," said William, giving Mary a brief glance. "I want elegance. Make her as beautiful as possible."

"Certainly, sir. Your wife will be stunning once we're done," Amelia assured him. She walked closer to Mary, studying her from all sides like she was a mannequin. Amelia was one of the most well- known makeup artists for the most important people in the company. Mary couldn't help but feel that William had considered her presence as an insult. Did Mary really need the best of the best in order to look presentable? Was her

appearance that hopeless?

Mary didn't let any of her thoughts show on her face, but she told herself, 'Relax, it can't be that bad. You used to be very popular, after all.'

Amelia and the others quickly escorted Mary to the nearby room.

Soon she was being peppered with a barrage of orders. "Okay, Mrs. Lan, please close your eyes."

"Mrs. Lan, open your mouth slightly, part your lips... yes, just like that."

"Hm, does this look good to you? Or how about this? Here, Mrs. Lan, put this on." ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

"Oh, Mrs. Lan, your underwear is simply not suitable. Take this, change into this."

"Mrs. Lan, please stay still, we'll work on your hair now."

Like a puppet, she followed every command, letting them lift her arms and tug at her hair and put make-up on her face. She felt as though she was a doll being poked and prodded on all sides. Every time they called her "Mrs. Lan," she felt a jolt of surprise at her new appellation. Meanwhile, in his office, William felt his stomach rumble and realized that he was actually hungry.

He picked up the phone, about to order someone to go out and buy him breakfast, but something on his desk caught his eye. He hesitated, then placed the phone down.

He reached for the wrapped meal Mary had left on his desk. He had to admit, it did smell good. His stomach rumbled again, and he unwrapped one of the burgers.

He took a tentative bite. Well, it was not bad. He took a second bite, bigger this time. What was this thing called? A Chinese hamburger?

Soon, William had finished the entire burger.

It was really quite delicious. He licked his lips with satisfaction, then picked up the second burger and started eating again. When he had finished it, he ruefully thought it was a pity Mary hadn't bought more burgers for him.

Back in the lounge, Amelia and the others stepped back from Mary, finally finished working on her.

"Mrs. Lan, we're done! You can look now." Mary couldn't help but laugh. After spending close to an hour sitting still while they fixed her up, it felt as though she had been chained and Amelia had announced that she was free.

"Look, Mrs. Lan, you are so beautiful. Mr. Lan has impeccable taste, as usual." Amelia looked at Mary with genuine admiration.

Mary smiled at her and turned to look in the mirror.

Her black hair fell in thick, lustrous waves over her shoulders. Her eyes looked larger, bright and mysterious, framed by long lashes that swept over her high, glowing cheekbones. Her skin was smooth and flawless. She wore a vermilion dress that enhanced her coloring, and her overall appearance exuded charm and vivaciousness.

Unconsciously, Mary let out a soft gasp, for she had never seen herself like this before. It was true —she was beautiful.

"No wonder our CEO got married so quickly," said Peter, the dresser, with a laugh. "Mrs. Lan, you're absolutely gorgeous."

"Thank you," said Mary shyly.

"All right, all right," said Amelia briskly, giving Mary a final, approving once-over. "Let's go back to the office and show Mr. Lan our work." Amelia led the others back to the CEO's office. As soon as she had knocked, she entered without waiting for an answer.

William lifted his head from the paperwork on his desk when he heard the doorknob turning. Amelia entered, grinning, and pulled Mary to stand in front of her.

A tall, lovely woman gazed at him with shy eyes. He raised an eyebrow, speechless. She looked stunning.

"Well, what do you think? Have we done what you asked?" said Amelia, already sure of the answer.

"Amelia, you are a miracle worker," said William, standing up from the chair. He came closer to Mary, struggling to hide his amazement at the change in her. "You must have used magic, because she actually looks like a woman this way. Thank you."

"You're welcome," said Amelia. She beckoned to her companions. "We'll go now and leave you two alone."

"All right," William nodded absently, still busy looking at every inch of Mary.

As soon as the others were gone, she immediately covered her chest with her hands, flushing. Inwardly she was annoyed with him, and silently berated him for his careless words. 'What do you

mean, I look like a woman this way? I've always been a woman, ' she thought.

"Well, let's go," said William, straightening his own tie. He started walking towards the door.

"Where?" Mary asked.

"The press conference."

"What?" she asked, unable to hide her surprise. Her eyes widened. "Am I going with you?" William felt a stab of anger at her words, and he had to check the urge to shake her. Through clenched teeth, he said, "Why did you think I had you dressed up like this? For myself?"

"Fine," Mary said quickly, seeing how irritated he was. She didn't want to provoke him any further.

She glanced towards the desk, then frowned.

"Wait. Where are the two hamburgers?" she asked.

William cleared his throat. "I threw them away," he said gruffly.

"Why did you do that?" Mary demanded. She placed her hands on her hips, glaring at him. "I don't care if you threw away your hamburger, but the other one was for me. It was supposed to be my breakfast. I haven't eaten anything yet.

'So, only one of those burgers was for me!' William thought. "How much is the company paying you? Is it a small amount?" William asked, sounding irritable and unhappy. "It's just a Chinese hamburger."

Mary turned her back to him, pursing her lips. 'I don't care, it was my breakfast, ' she thought, but said nothing.

"Well," said William after a moment, glancing at his watch. "It's getting late. We have to go to the press conference now, and you can eat breakfast as soon as it's done." "Okay," Mary said neutrally.

She took a breath, calming her temper, then stepped forward and placed her delicate hand on William's arm.

For a moment, William was astonished, then he grinned. 'Mary, you really impress me sometimes, ' he thought. She could be very professional when it was necessary.

Side by side, the two of them walked out of the office, to publicly announce the beginning of their married life.