Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 44860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
He had known this could happen. This being her caught off guard by the sheer perfection that was Olivio Cannizzaro, and so he had wanted Chelsea to be prepared, just as any girl needed to be, if they were to wake up one day from a three-year coma and find themselves married to someone like him.
Note to self: thank Edgar for his concern.
But even though she now appreciated how well-meaning he had been, she also couldn't say her decision to come here "blind" was something she had any regrets over.
Because the truth was, it so easily could've been the opposite. Instead of a billionaire, she could've been married to someone who was drowning in debt. Instead of someone who looked like he had stepped out of the front cover of a men's fashion magazine, it could've been someone whose equally beautiful face was front and center of a Most Wanted poster.
Even with every precaution Edgar had taken to choose a husband for her, people changed all the time, and it was because of that she had been just as adamant.
I don't want to look him up, she had told her godfather. Because if she had, and the man she was married to wasn't what she was hoping for, what then?
Chelsea had never really believed in God, but miraculously waking up from a coma after three years had opened her eyes and heart to His existence.
From the moment she woke up, she had known she was different. She was new. Born again.
And since then, it was how she had done her best to live. She read the Bible to know and trust Him more, and the more she knew Him, the more she realized how much He loved her. The more time she spent with Him, the more she wanted to obey Him and as such, when Edgar told her what he had done to protect her inheritance—-
What God had joined together, no man shall put asunder.
Chelsea had insisted on meeting her husband face to face. She hadn't wanted to give herself any chance to back out, hadn't wanted to let the world tempt her into compromising just to play it "safe".
God's plans were always the best, even if they didn't seem to make sense at first, and because she also believed there was no such thing as coincidence when one had faith...
It was why Chelsea knew she had to at least try. If Olivio Cannizzaro rejected her outright, and he asked for a divorce or an annulment, that would be it. The Bible also had that covered.
But if he did not...
Gulp.
For this man to still be staring at her—-
Either he couldn't believe how horrible she looked...or it was something else.
Something that went along the lines of him also considering making a go of their marriage?
Gulp.
Chelsea's heart felt as if it was about to leap out of her chest any moment. They were passing the eighth floor now, and she could still feel the burning weight of his gaze, and oh, it was just getting harder and harder not to steal a look.
Don't peek, don't peek, don't, oh, I give up I'm peeking!
But just as she lifted her head, the elevator opened its doors at the tenth floor, and Edgar stepped sideways as two men in conversation and a woman joined them.
Chelsea's eyes met the mirrored wall instead of Olivio's face, and what she caught there—-just a flash, barely a second before he redirected his attention to the closing doors—-was him looking at the place where her braid had come undone at the nape of her neck.
Her hand flew up before she could stop it, fingers finding the loose strand and tucking it back.
She didn't see his jaw tighten. But Edgar, standing between them, did.
The elevator doors opened again at the eleventh, and more people stepped in. Chelsea started feeling nervous as the space compressed.
If this continued...then what?
The same thought, unbeknownst to Chelsea, was running through Olivio's mind. And at first, he simply intended to stay where he was. But when he saw one of the men shifting slightly toward her, Olivio found himself moving, and the next thing he knew, he had placed himself between Chelsea and the man, which had the secondary effect of positioning her behind him and against the mirrored wall.
What the hell am I doing?
Olivio tensed as more people came in, the space tightening again and again, bodies rearranging with the wordless efficiency of people who rode elevators in expensive buildings.
Chelsea herself was struggling to put some distance between her and Olivio, trying at first to make herself smaller as her shoulder blades pressed against the mirrored wall while she held her quilted case in front of her like a shield.
Oh please, let this be it!
If more people came in after this, there was nothing else she could do, and she just didn't want to risk Olivio thinking she was coming on to him or anything.