Love Contract

"Playing hard to get? Ha ha!"

"Let go of me!" Selah kicked the man hard.

"Why are you pretending to be so virginal when you work in a damned place like this? C'mon! Don't tell me you're only here to sell alcohol!" The man leaned forward and sneered at Selah. "Tell me, how much is it for one night? Ha ha..."

As soon as the man finished speaking, his friends laughed along with him.

Barry watched the scene unfold with a hazy look in his eyes. He scoffed and drank the last of the wine in his glass. The entire scene was uninteresting for him, and he intended to go after paying the bill. "Come on, give me a kiss!" The intoxicated man moved closer to Selah's face.

Selah struggled to move away from the man, and her fury was evident on her face. She grabbed the tray in her hands and slammed it onto the man's head. As she hit him with the tray, she cursed, "I'll beat you to death!" "Ow!" The man didn't expect Selah to fight back. He screamed as he covered his head. Blood oozed onto his fingers.

Selah took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. Her eyes widened when she saw the blood. She only wanted to teach him a lesson! Why was he bleeding so much?

"How dare you hit him?"

Before Selah could react, she was slapped hard on the face and fell backward.

Barry was about to leave when a woman suddenly fell into his arms.

Selah closed her eyes tightly and braced herself for the fall. Instead of hitting the cold, hard floor, she felt a firm chest against her and the smell of tobacco. After realizing that someone had saved her from falling, Selah quickly mumbled, "Thank you..." She looked up to take a look at her savior and met a pair of familiar eyes. "Mr. Gu?"

"Yes?" Barry frowned. The woman in front of him was wearing heavy makeup. He stared at her for a long time before he recognized her and said, "Selah, is that you?"

"..."

"How come it's you again? Shit! Why are you here? What are you doing here?" Barry was furious. "Who the hell are you, brat? I advise you not to meddle in other people's business!" The drunk man's friends came over and roughly pushed Barry.

"Mr. Gu..." Selah grabbed his sleeve and clung to him as if her life depended on it. "Help me, please!"

Barry couldn't decide if he was being kind, or if he just needed a way to vent out his anger. He suddenly began to fight the men who bullied Selah. After that, he took Selah to a room upstairs. "Swoosh..." Selah slumped in the corner of the room, gasping for air. There was too much going on!

"Selah, don't you think you should explain to me what you're doing here?" Barry drank a glass of water, and then he looked at Selah with his hands on his hips. "Why are you dressed like that? Do you sell wine here? Tell me the truth!"

"I..." Selah's heart pounded as she fidgeted with her hands. "I'm working here. I need money..." she stammered.

"You came here just because you need money?" Barry yelled, "Do you know it's against the company's rules? Do you know how much reputation damage it will bring to the company if you are recognized? After filming the current movie, you may terminate your contract with us."

Selah's heart sank at his words. GM Universing Studios had much better benefits compared to its competitors. They also had a high threshold for hiring employees. If she left the company, she would have no future.

"Mr. Gu, please!" Selah rushed forward and grabbed his arm. She sobbed and begged, "I really like acting. I wouldn't do it again! Please, Mr. Gu. Please give me one more chance!"

Barry frowned in distaste. Selah almost knelt on the ground, which made him pity her. He was repulsed by her shamelessness. How could she hold his hand so casually? However, he felt a strong desire surge inside him when their hands touched.

Barry felt dizzy. Was it because he had drunk too much wine?

He didn't say another word, which made Selah more frantic. She begged him in desperation, "Mr. Gu, please forgive me! Please! Don't let me go..."

"You..." Barry's head was spinning. His eyes were fixated on Selah's mouth and he couldn't hear a word she was saying.

"Mr. Gu, are you okay?" He looked like he was in a daze, and he couldn't stand steadily. "Mr. Gu, what's wrong with you?"

"Why him? Why don't you want me?" All of a sudden, Barry grabbed Selah and roughly pressed her against the bed. "I'm better than him! Why?" Several images flashed in Selah's mind. On the filming set, she saw Mary hugging William. Was William the man Barry was referring to?

As Selah was lost in her thoughts, Barry took this opportunity to pin her hands by her head, leaving her with no way to escape.

"You're drunk! Please let go of me! You have the wrong person!" Selah was stunned and couldn't move. She could only scream at him and hope that he could come back to his senses.

"Mary, I can't wait any longer." Barry's eyes darkened, "I'll make you mine tonight... I love you..."

"No, please, no!" Selah's face paled in fear. Dark lines from her makeup streamed down her face as she sobbed.

"Don't refuse me!" Barry snarled.

Selah was terrified. It seemed like the nightmare that happened to her seven years ago would happen again. She didn't have the time to stare at Barry. All she did was push him away to get out of the bed, but Barry pulled her back down.

"Stop running away from me!" Barry gripped Selah's waist tightly.

"Ow!" Tears streamed down Selah's face, drenching the pillow below her.

Her mind was in a jumble, but she could still think of one thing as the disaster happened to her.

Barry Gu was a wealthy man! She needed money to cure Ray's illness. Could she make a deal with Barry Gu after tonight?

The next day, Barry woke up at the crack of dawn.

The events of the previous night flashed through his mind like a movie.

"Hmm..." Selah mumbled softly when she felt Barry wake up.

"Selah? It was you?" Barry exclaimed with undistinguished shock and fury in his voice.

Selah immediately woke up when she heard his voice. Her face paled when she saw Barry, "Mr. Gu..."

"Damn it!" Barry cursed. He didn't know if he was cursing himself or Selah.

"Mr. Gu, I..."

"Shut up! Shut up!" Barry interrupted.

Selah flinched at his words. When she remembered the events from last night, she was at a loss for words.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Barry's phone suddenly rang, breaking the tense silence between the two. He immediately took out his phone and answered in an impatient tone, "Hello? Who is it?"

Selah felt embarrassed as she waited for him to finish speaking on the phone. She remained silent and looked over the pile of clothes on the ground. She awkwardly picked them up and put them on. "What? Who kidnapped them? When?" Selah was shocked by Barry's exclamation. "I'll be right there!" Barry ended the call in a hurry. When he turned towards Selah, he saw her getting dressed. He frowned and began to put on his own clothes.

"Mr. Gu." Selah hesitated and lowered her head. "I..."

"About what happened last night..." Regret was heavy in Barry's tone.

"I know. I won't tell anyone," Selah promised.

"Alright," Barry nodded curtly. 'I'll go to the hospital to see Alick and Elissa first. And then I'll deal with this woman,' he decided in his mind.

Before Selah left, she hesitated and made a decision. She was still worried about how to pay for Ray's operation. She looked firmly at Barry and said, "I have one condition."

Her words instantly caught his attention. Barry raised a brow at her. Selah braced herself and gathered the courage to speak up. "You can't terminate my contract with GM Universing Studios! And, Mr. Gu, give me money. I want money! Otherwise, I will tell Manager Lu about last night!" she said fearlessly.

"You..." 'Barry was livid and stood up at once. He stared at Selah and his feelings of sympathy towards her quickly turned into disgust. He scoffed at her and said with a sarcastic smile, "Okay, okay. You want money, right?"

"Yes," Selah nodded and clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palm.

"I'll transfer the money to your account tomorrow! You'd better behave yourself in the future. If I hear any gossip about us, you should know that you will live miserably for the rest of your life."

Bang!

Barry slammed the door and left the room without another word.

Selah fell back into bed and began to sob uncontrollably.

Ray's condition wasn't getting any better. At the start of the year, he had lost his sight. The doctor informed her that if they didn't operate soon, his brain would be permanently damaged! Ray was a good child, and she was his mother! No matter how shameless she felt, she had to do whatever it took to cure him! She cried until she had no strength left in her body. She didn't know how long she stayed in that position. After collecting herself, she staggered downstairs to change her clothes.

"Selah! You injured a customer's head last night and made a mess in the club! Give me all the money you earned last night! You're fired!"

Fired? She couldn't care less. Selah didn't want to stay in this place for another second. When the club owner reached out to take her money, she held it tightly in her hands.

Fortunately for her, Barry was a man of his word. Fie transferred one hundred thousand dollars to Selah's account the next day.

Selah smiled when she looked at the number. She didn't expect herself to be worth so much money!

Selah felt like her life had hit rock bottom again, even worse than it had been seven years ago. Back then, she was drugged before sleeping with a stranger, but this time, she did it out of her own free will. She became the kind of woman she despised the most. What Selah didn't know was how lucky she was to come across Barry again. Just as the old saying went, "Every cloud has a silver lining."