A Contract Marriage With My Boss

Carrie seemed to be in the amusement park with Lucas. Sarah heard laughter beside her. Carrie raised her voice from the noise, "Yes, hey Sarah, what's the matter?"

"I want to talk with you about something. Are you free today?" Sarah also raised her voice for Carrie to be able to hear her better.

"What's the matter? Did something happen between you and Charles?" Carrie asked.

Unsure what to say, Sarah was stuttering for a while until she finally answered, "Well... yes somewhat... I feel it's too complicated to explain on the phone, so I wanted to talk to you in person if possible." "Alas..." Carrie sighed. Sarah wasn't sure if that sign was because Carrie was frustrated with Charles or with Sarah herself, but then Carrie added, "Why are you guys having so many problems? I told you that you two should try to communicate and understand each other, or else how can you maintain your marriage?"

"This time, it's not just a matter of understanding, but a matter of principle," Sarah replied firmly.

"Well. We can meet at three o'clock in the afternoon at the same park, ok? Carrie agreed.

Sarah nodded her head, "Ok. Have a good time, and I'll see you at the park!"

Carrie laughed as she was hanging up the phone as she was playing with Lucas.

Although they agreed to meet at three o'clock in the afternoon, Sarah left her home much earlier to look around for a job. She had majored in International Economics and Trade, but since she had studied at a university that was not very well known, it proved hard for her to find a job matching her skills.

What's more, since a few years had passed since she graduated and she had worked as a secretary, she had started to forget some of the things she had learned at her university. Sarah decided she didn't want to be a secretary anymore, she wanted a job where she would have better potential and the possibility to climb her career ladder to eventually match Charles on a professional level. If she could close the professional gap between herself and Charles, he would have no excuse for not caring for their future children.

Thinking about it further, Sarah encouraged herself not to accept to be a housewife, but a professional career-oriented woman. She had to do it for her kids. She clenched her fist in determination, attracting the other bypassers' attention.

She felt a little awkward and hurried to leave. She walked into a shopping mall and looked around, and she noticed a beautiful shirt for a man showcased in one of the more expensive shops. She stopped to look at it for a while, thinking how beautiful it would look on Charles.

She wasn't angry at Charles anymore, even though she couldn't accept his principles. She wanted to ask Carrie for help on how to find some solutions to persuade Charles with her way of thinking. This shirt was a perfect way to show her love for Charles. She was sure that it really suited him and that he would like it. Also, she had never bought clothes for Charles before, so it was a nice gesture from her.

She walked into the store and asked the sales associate to get the shirt to her. Looking at it for a while, she liked it more and more and asked the sales associate to pack one in Charles's size. When she heard the price, she felt shocked because this shirt was about 3000 dollars. Unwilling to pay that much with her own money since that was nearly half of her salary, she kept thinking for a while if she actually wanted to buy it at that price.

The associate saw her hesitating, so she continued talking to her about the quality and design of the shirt and how elegant it would look when worn.

Finally, Sarah remembered the credit card Charles had given her when they first got married, saying that she could use it as she wished. Up till now, she had never used it because she hardly ever bought things herself as most of their daily necessities was taken care of by the house help, plus the clothes, bags, and shoes that Charles occasionally bought for her were all she needed.

After thinking for a while, she gave that card to pay for the shirt, still thinking about the extravagant price.

After finishing the transaction, Sarah took the bag with the shirt to walk out happily, thinking to herself. "Three thousand dollars! Look how well I treat you!" Although it had initially been his money, she spent it on him the day after their big fight. She felt herself being very kind.

Feeling happy, she looked around the mall and suddenly froze, completely stunned after looking at one girl. That girl, who was carrying a suitcase in her hand and smiling happily, came walking right towards her but hadn't seen her yet.

Emma, that girl was Emma!

At first, Sarah thought that her vision was blurred because it was impossible for Emma to be here. Wasn't Emma supposed to be in Australia? Why was she here?

Sarah stared at Emma for a while until Emma suddenly noticed the same shop Sarah was in. She quickly turned her back to Emma and looked through a big mirror in the shop to confirm that, in fact, that girl was Emma herself.

Sarah panicked and hurriedly ran into the fitting room.

Emma hadn't seen her but had noticed the shop. She walked right in and pointed at the same shirt Sarah just bought and asked the sales associate to show it to her.

Sarah peered at Emma from the fitting room. Emma seemed very happy and asked the girl to ring the shirt for her without hesitating.

Emma didn't seem surprised at the price, and her actions were entirely different from Sarah's. It showed that she belonged to a wealthy family and was used to spending money without hesitating, unlike Sarah who had always had to be careful with her spending.