Chapter One

"Elijah, come here this very minute." Elijah groaned deeply before turning his head to face the source of the voice. He already knew who the voice belonged to, but he turned to look at the person's face anyway. 

Elijah was wiping down the table used by previous customers who just left the bar, when Mark, the head waiter, called his name. He swiped the table he was cleaning one more time, grabbed the napkin, and walked towards Mark. 

He was fully aware that Mark hated him, but he didn't care. He couldn't really blame the guy. Deep down Elijah knew that he would probably despise this part of him as well because this version of him was careless and had a terrible fashion sense. He had never received any employee award at the bar, the place he worked, but that was the least of his concerns. 

He walked up to Mark and stood in front of him. He clasped his hands and bowed his head as a form of respect. "Sir, you called me," Elijah said. 

Mark grumbled as he took in Elijah's appearance. His uniform was not neat and it appeared rumpled. His bow tie was crooked, and he had a five o'clock shadow on his face. Mark reached out and aggressively straightened Elijah's bow tie, then he leaned back to take another look at him, a disgusted expression on his face. 

"Take this service cart to the CEO suite. I know how irresponsible you can be, but if you know what is good for you, you had better be careful with these foods and beverages. I must not get any complaints from the higher-ups." 

"Okay, sir." 

Mark turned to go and moved forward a few meters before unexpectedly halting. He turned to look at Elijah, who was still standing in the same spot he had left him, with the service cart untouched. He raised his hand and ran it through his hair. "What the hell are you still standing there for? Is the cart going to push itself?" 

Immediately, Elijah scrambled to grasp the service cart by the handle and turned its wheels toward the direction of the CEO suite. Mark shook his head, face-palming himself. "What a sore loser." 

Elijah had heard him loud and clear. But in exchange, he grinned to himself. Anyone else might have been angered or saddened by Mark's behavior and comment, but Elijah was no ordinary guy. He was living a fake life. The unusual kind. Elijah was from a wealthy home, but he pretended to be poor and pathetic.  

Three years ago, he made a deal with his grandfather, to become the son-in-law of a rich family who had no respect for him. In return, he would become the chairman and CEO of one of the parent companies owned by his grandfather. 

During those three years of marriage, he had lived a life of humiliation, but his wife had somewhat made things easier for him. He smiled slightly as he thought of his wife, Bianca. It wasn't that he and his wife were in a loving marriage, in fact, she rarely spoke to him, not to even talk about having sex. Yet, whenever her family found any cause to insult and embarrass him, she never joined them or said any bad words to him. 

Elijah felt grateful for Bianca's weird support, and her pure heart. He chuckled at the scenario that was playing in his head, of how he was going to have a conversation with Bianca when he got home, revealing the shocking truth. Yesterday marked the end of the three-year bet, and it was finally time to come clean. He was going to tell her the truth about himself. He was going to take her under his wing and also support her family's business to expand because he realized that was one of Bianca's major struggles. She desperately wanted business partnerships, and now he was going to give it to her on a platter. 

Elijah whistled as he moved closer to the CEO suite. He opened the doors and pushed the cart inside while strolling behind it. He stepped inside the luxurious business-social meeting room and looked up. What Elijah saw were the naked bodies of men and women in various shapes and colors. 

He pushed the cart further into the room but stopped dead in his tracks, disbelief written all over his face. He was familiar with this type of social gathering in which people willingly sold their bodies in exchange for business collaborations. But what stopped him and made his eyes widen was the sight of a familiar face among the naked bodies.