Husband With Benefits

Click! Click! Click!

The pitch sound of a spoon hitting on a glass reverberated through the room, drawing everyone's attention to a stunning and elegant young woman in her early twenties holding a cup. Her wavy almond hair hung loosely behind her neck whilst her features were delicate and enchanting. Every pore in her body exuded an air that set her different from anyone else in the room.

It was none other than the Young Heiress of the Gonzalez family, Lenora Paige.

She flashed a charming grin melting practically every man's heart standing in the hall, "Everyone, sorry to disturb your lovely evening but I've got an important announcement to make."

She didn't seem shocked when she noticed her grandfather's death gaze as her eyes swept the gathering. Nor the fact that her dearest older brother was calling for security to remove her from the stage. Humph!

They care about reputation, don't they? She will destroy precisely what they value.

"I'm going to make this toast to my grandfather over there and my gorgeous family because the Gonzalez family will be welcoming another member in nine months," she said as she raised her glass.

Everyone froze in bewilderment. What?

As she stroked her stomach, Lenora smirked. “I'm expecting a baby.”

To say everyone was shocked would be an understatement. Was the young Heiress carrying a baby? Out of wedlock?

They were so surprised that they didn't react for a moment, not until someone clapped once and again... Before everyone joined in. “Congrats Lenora!”

“Congrats!”

Some even went to congratulate the old master who in turn glared at them.

Despite the fact that everyone had a different viewpoint, due to Gonzalez, nobody dared to express it.

The socialites could only applaud and pull out their phones to take records of the event.

She turned to face the entrance and said, "That isn't all... meet my fiancee and the father of my kid, Preston!" Suddenly, an unsightly man emerged and strode towards her with a hideous grin on his face.

“Wifey!”

For a minute, no one moved, everyone stared at the man, dumbstruck like they couldn't believe their eyes. Naturally, everyone was anticipating seeing a magnificent Young Master, one whose reputation is on par with the Gonzalez heiress, but that wasn't it.

Instead, it was a man with dirty clothes that were ripped, not to mention his face! How ugly he looked... Because the stench emanating from him made them so sick, they covered their noses. It appeared as though he had showered in a puddle of rat faeces.

“Hubby! Why didn't you do as I instructed and wash up? But it's okay, I still adore you no matter how you appear.”

Everyone almost vomited blood when she grabbed his dirty face in her small hands and placed a kiss on his nose.

“I love you too, Wifey.”

And... that was when Old Master Gonzalez, her grandfather lost it. “Lenora Paige Gonzalez!”

FLASHBACK...

“Nora? Help me, please...”

Late at night, Lenora was working at the office when her cousin Lucinda called. She paused when she heard Lucy's nervous, trembling tone, even though she and Lucy have never gotten along. “What is it?”

“I— I can't talk now Nora... I... You need to help me.” she whispered. “Find me quickly.” After providing the address, Lucy hung up.

Lenora scowled as she attempted to call her back but was unsuccessful. She debated whether or not to go because she is aware of her cousin's personality. In the end, she sighed and stood up grabbing her bags.

The Gonzalez family may have been a bunch of cats and rats on the inside, but they were always serious about one thing: their reputation. And as a formidable family in the state, they always have to maintain a good facade to the media.

Lenora merely went there for two purposes: first, to thwart any plans Lucy might be hatching up. Their grandfather will be arriving the next day and if Lucy is truly in trouble, she'd tell everyone Nora didn't come when she called for help.

And two, if she save Lucy from whatever was happening, she'd become the hero in face of the media. Of course, Lenora hated all of it! She detested their family's obsession with competitiveness, but what can she do? Nothing! She has learnt the hard way that playing along is the best thing to do.

“The driver opened the backseat and said, "Young Miss."

After getting in the automobile, Lenora quickly reached her destination.

She hurried into the hotel room while grabbing her phone to make a call, but when it didn't connect after numerous attempts, she was compelled to enter.

As it was already late, only a few people were seen. Lenora arrived at the room and knocked on the door but got no response. However, she could hear muffled noise inside. Fearing that Lucy might truly be in danger, she pushed the door open sighing when it wasn't locked.

The room was pitch black when she entered. She entered slowly after grabbing a pepper spray from her bag when an overwhelming sense of dread washed over her. "Lucy? Are you there?”

She walked deeper into the room and put on her flashlight as the muffled noise resounded. However, Instead of seeing a tied Lucy, or something, she was shocked to see a radio sitting on the bed.

What the...?

Right then, a click from the door behind her caused her to instantly freeze. With her heart thumping, she called again, “Lucy?”

Her voice was met with silence. Feeling like she wasn't the only one in the room, she gripped the pepper spray, whirled and was going to spray whoever that was when white powdery stuff was tossed onto her face.

Shocked, she inhaled and immediately regretted doing so because her vision became blurry instantly. The spray she was holding fell from her hand. Fear gripped her when a blurry figure came forward to hug her body as she stumbled. Then she was being lifted off the floor.

No!

She screamed in her head wanting to fight but she suddenly couldn't move her body.

“I'm sorry.” Though she didn't see the person's face, she heard a male's voice loud and clear just before she lost consciousness.

The following morning, Lenora was roused by the ringing of her phone. She stretched out her hands to pick it up carelessly, believing she was back at home. However, after some time of futile fumbling, she groaned and opened her eyes in frustration.

And that was when she remembered.

She jumped out of bed and soon saw her entire life fall apart. Seeing she was naked under the blanket, her heart literally stopped for a minute; her eyes, flew to her phone the next minute as it dawned on her.

Oh. Shit.

Cursing at herself, she dived toward her phone with a panicked expression. The fact that she caught the sight of blood on the bed made her feel worse than she already did. Damn it! She fell for Lucy's plan which wouldn't end well.

As she walked toward her bag, Lenora frowned when she didn't feel any discomfort between her legs making her blink. She simultaneously bent down to glance between her legs even if its a weird thing to do but she couldn't help but wonder...

Shouldn't I feel sore or anything if something happened last night? But then again, how will she explain the blood stains on the bed?

It can't be that the faceless man orchestrated the whole thing to make it appear as though they slept together just so he could take photos, can it?

A shrill call from her phone snapped her out of it which caused her to reach for her bags. She quickly saw dozens of messages from her family and coworkers, as well as hundreds of other m