Marriage Of Convenience: Her Heart, His Obsession

"He arranged a family dinner for Friday, and he wants you there," Erin informed Roman.

"Ask him to reschedule the dinner. I have a meeting in Japan on Friday," Roman replied firmly.

"You'll need to reschedule that meeting," Erin insisted, his expression serious.

Roman shot him a sharp look.

"And why should I do that for a pointless dinner with the old man and his group of insatiable fools?" Roman questioned.

Erin sighed.

"Because if you miss it, he's going to arrange a marriage for you by the end of the week," he retorted.

"Does he really think a threat like that would unsettle me," Roman scoffed, a tinge of mockery in his tone.

"It should faze you," Erin stated with utmost seriousness.

"Remember, there's a marriage certificate with your signature on it," Eren reminded him.

Roman scoffed contemptuously.

"He wouldn't dare."

The chill in his voice was enough to send shivers down anyone's spine.

The marriage certificate was a component of the agreement he had struck with Mr Beaufort when he initially assumed control of the business.

It was ironic how something he had deemed insignificant back then could now be wielded against him.

"I believe it's a good chance to introduce Alana to him. It wouldn't hurt to spend a few hours with him and the rest of the family," Erin suggested, attempting to make him see the logic in it.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Roman eventually relented and agreed.

"Fine, Postponed my trip to Japan." He sighed. "This better be worth my time."

....

With her eyes fixed on her phone screen and her hand running through her slightly damp hair, Alana settled comfortably on the large couch.

Her gaze was locked on a specific photo of Roman that she had just come across on the web.

Driven by curiosity to learn more about Roman, she had decided to search for information about him on the internet.

To her surprise, she discovered that Roman was the current heir of the Beaufort empire.

Her family and the Beauforts had been friends for as long as she could remember.

She recalled her father mentioning that her grandfather and the founder of Beaufort, Mr. Beaufort, were best friends even before they both started their companies, which had now grown into billion-dollar empires.

From what she knew, Mr. Beaufort had only one son who was at least in his late forties.

So the question lingered in her mind: why was Roman the one in charge of running the family business instead of Mr. Beaufort's son?

And why isn't he answering the family name?

After trying to investigate for a bit, Alana decided to just give it up. The only thing she could find was that Roman was the of one of Mr Beauforts' distance relative.

It was all a mystery to Alana including how he took control of business at just the age of nineteen.

There were a few speculation online as to why Mr Beaufort did not entrust his only son, or any of his other two daughters with the family business.

But most of them were only speculation and nothing more, with any worthy facts, to back up the theory.

Alana rubbed her tired eyes as she scrolled through photos of Roman.

She paused on a particular photo of him, where he was dressed in a dark navy tuxedo with his perfectly groomed hair brushed back.

His appearance was so breathtakingly handsome that Alana couldn't help but linger on the photo.

Yawning softly, a tired tear slipped from her eye down her cheek, which she quickly wiped away.

She settled down comfortably, continuing to gaze at the photo with her weary eyes.

If only he had a nice personality, she was sure she would have fallen hard for him with those looks. But Roman was a psycho, from Alana's perspective and she hated arrogant men to her core.

Her eyelids fluttered slowly, and as fatigue overcame her, her phone slipped from her grasp until her eyes closed, succumbing to sleep.

The door opened, and Roman entered the room. His eyes scanned the bed and then the closed bathroom door before settling on Alana, fast asleep on the couch.

Approaching her, he observed her peaceful slumber, his gaze lingering on her pale face and slightly pink parted lips, then moving to her chest as it rose and fell with each breath.

His eyes involuntarily traveled down to her exposed white thighs, and he frowned, quickly averting his gaze.

He stepped away from her and exited the room. Shortly after, he returned with a blanket and approached the couch where Alana lay sleeping.

With gentle hands, he covered her with the blanket, his expression still retaining its firmness.

A knock sounded on the door, and Roman instructed the person to enter. A young woman dressed in a maid's uniform promptly entered the room.

"Good morning, Mr. Ashford," the woman greeted with a slight bow of respect.

Roman simply stared at her with a stoic expression, without reactioning to her greeting. He walked past her without a word, only stopping when he reached the door.

"Clean as quietly as possible. I don't want her waking up," he instructed sternly.

"Yes, sir," the woman nodded in response, and Roman left the room.

As soon as he was gone, the woman's gaze fixed on Alana's sleeping form.

Her eyes narrowed, a frown creasing her forehead.

One could easily discern the mix of rage and curiosity in the woman's intense gaze as she watched Alana.

....

Stirring slightly, Alana's eyes opened slowly.

As she sat up from the couch she had been lying on, she stretched and yawned softly.

Her gaze fell on the blanket draped over her with a puzzled expression.

She couldn't remember using a blanket, so how did it end up here?

Turning to her side, she noticed Roman sitting beside the bed, his gaze fixed intently on her, his hands resting on his thighs, his back slightly arched, and his fingers intertwined.

The sight of him instantly dispelled any lingering drowsiness in Alana's eyes.

She glanced at herself only to see that the bottom part of her gown had shifted upward, revealing her bare thighs. She immediately stood up, adjusted her dress properly, and then sat back down.

Alana did not need to glance at Roman again to know that he was still staring at her. It was impossible not to feel his hot gaze, considering how intense it was.

A suffocating silence filled the room as neither of them spoke for some time.

Tired of the silence and the intense stare, Alana glared questioningly at Roman.

Roman rose from his seated position and began to approach Alana, his strides gentle and steady, like a lion approaching its prey.

Alana watched as he moved towards her, a hint of curiosity in her brown eyes.

As he reached her, he leaned forward, causing his back to bend. Placing both hands on either side of her on the couch, he locked her in place, his eyes meeting hers as she raised her head to meet his gaze.

The tension in the room seemed to increase as their gazes met, each trying to decipher the intentions behind the other's eyes.

"At first, I thought you were intentionally trying to seduce me," he said, his voice tinged with a mixture of amusement and danger as he studied her eyes, as if searching for some answer in them. "But it looks like you're just a careless, silly girl."

"Seduce?" Alana blinked, her eyes reflecting her confusion at his words.

Feeling slightly disoriented by his words and their proximity, she didn't notice when he reached for her phone before swiftly pulling his hand back.

He stood straight and shove his left hands into his pocket, as he began to tap on the phone.

Alana glanced at the phone in his hand before looking around the couch where she searched for her phone.

She shot a glare at Roman when she realized that the phone in his hand belonged to her. Feeling slightly irritated, she was about to ask for her phone back when Roman spoke.

"Were you pleasuring yourself while staring at my pictures?" Roman inquired, his gaze moving from the phone to her face.

Shocked by his unexpected question, Alana's eyes widened, a gasp almost escaping her lips.

"H-how can you ask such an inappropriate question?" Alana stuttered, finding it hard to believe that he had just asked her such a vulgar question without the slightest of shame like he was talking about something very normal.

Roman arched an eyebrow at her expression.

"We're both adults," he stated, emphasizing a simple fact. "There's no need for shyness, Alana. I've seen many women do it before, so you wouldn't be the first."

Alana struggled to find words to respond, and with each word he spoke, she wished more fervently that the ground would simply open up and swallow her whole.

"Now I understand why I found you in that state when I walked in... Did you enjoy your orga–"

"No!" Alana screamed, anticipating what he was about to say next.

Roman furrowed his brow.

"No what? Did you enjoy it or not?" he pressed.

Alana shook her head vigorously.

"I wasn't pleasuring myself... I would never do something like that, especially not with an image of you in my head." she protested innocently, as if staunchly defending herself from a grave accusation.