JAMES'S POV

IT WAS Worse than I'd expected.

The anticipation of waiting for something you've always wanted all your adulthood.

Wasn't that one of the most intriguing things about life?

The fact that your journey is not made only from the good things that happened to you, but every single bit of the struggles as well that forged your soul's well-being.

One would look into my eyes and get drowned in how perfect it seemed from a far-off, almost like a picturesque art void of the struggles of life.

Take a closer look and still, and you'd find out that nothing about me was perfect after all.

Deeply buried in the core of my eyes was once a boy who crawled his way out of the dark, the soiled grave of struggles until prosperity.

I stared at the TV in the corner of the office hallway, hardly processing whatever the weather report lady was saying so convincingly through a lip that looked rather soft.

My throat tightened as I turned in my chair with countless thoughts running through my mind as voices from the offices and hallways drifted to my ears every time the swinging door opened and closed.

I watched as well-suited men and women trooped in and out, all wanting the same thing I was there for.

I could easily be one of the top business tycoons on Wall Street, but deals like this were what made me the billionaire I am today.

While everything that had to do with my life was built on piles of money, I’d always been able to say not everything was that balanced as well.

My life was like a myriad built from the mirage of everything you want to see.

A billionaire, Thirty-two and counting, yet no woman had touched me recently.

It was like saying —James Fraser, the most eligible bachelor in Salzburg, was boldly written over my charming face.

There was all sense with why I could have my pick of beautiful women with that, but that part of my life had been touched deeply enough for any attachment to last beyond sex and u meaningful pleasure.

Maybe I had become too cynical about my experiences in life, but trusting a woman enough to make a relationship was not something I was so keen on.

The receptionist walked toward where I was, her heels echoing against the wooden floor with each step she took.

“Mr. James Fraser.” She said my name with a charming effect to it. “The boss will see you now.”

Her look lingered on me a bit and I could guess she knew who I was.

Inhaling for courage, I nodded in her direction as I made my way into the office.

A warm rush of anxiety ran down my spine, lighting up my brown eyes and giving me a brooding expression as I made my way to the office.

It was all that was needed now, all I had to do was close the deal.

That shouldn't be hard considering most of the contracts were done anyway and what was needed was for me to impede my signature, which was the main reason why I was there and not my secretary.

**********

Leaning back, I rested a forearm on the table and focused my gaze on the man rolling a pen between his thumb and index finger.

The anger in me was glaring and was so strong that when I gulped it down, it burnt against my throat and chest.

I had been sitting there for close to thirty minutes listening to not even the man I had wanted to see but his deputy who had been whining away about how his boss was so keen on personal ethics.

“So are you telling me I can't sign this deal unless I am married?”

My eyes skimmed up an inch to find his face as he pretended to look bad and all please excuse disappointing me.

“I am sorry, Mr. Fraser, but it is just the ethics of the company.” He grimaced.

Wiping a hand across my mouth in an attempt to hide my amusement and pure disgust.

My gaze darkened, conveying I might just stand up and walk right out of the office, but something kept me down there on the chair.

This was a far-important deal and I needed to sort it out at that moment.

It seemed insane what they were asking for, but at the same time, I had no choice but to bend to their will.

“How long is the whole process?” I asked.

“You have a week and just that, or we give the deal to someone else.” He searched my face for an expression and could only find disappointment.

A flash of anger pulsed in my chest from everything and burned even hotter at the fact that I wasn't going to be celebrating the contract success today.

The annoying feeling rushed over me that after shaking his hands briefly, I had stormed out of the office, working on the knot of my tie as I made my way to my car parked outside.

Truth be told, it was a very difficult decision for me to make, and thinking about it made it more difficult.

I banged my fist against the steering wheel of the car in fury, thinking of how I was going to get myself out of the situation.

It burned.

Every bit of it, my lungs, my racing heart, my entirety.

Something had to wash this memory away.

I kept on replaying the words over and over again in my mind, a part of me was calling it all clouts, expecting that sooner or later, I would be called in again to adjust the terms of the contract.

Yet, I knew terms like this were hard to restructure, they asked for a wife … I had no choice but to give them one.

There was only one problem, how in the hell was I going to find a suitable woman in the whole of Salzburg in just one week?

The thought filled my mind as I drove out of the driveway.