Will She Agree?

Chapter 12

Mark woke up early and walked to Zuzzy's door. He had studied her schedule by heart, and he knew that she had to go to work soon. So he would like to ask her for breakfast before he would drop her at the hospital.

He had to convince her to marry him because she was his only hope. He paused briefly at that thought; 'Only hope.' It sounded so grave. It also seemed as though he was only using her purely because he needed something from her.

But he knew that was not the whole truth. Because for some reason, after having been observing her in the past few months, he had grown to become genuinely interested in Zuzzy Shi.

He wanted to get to know her more. He wished to get close to her. And he genuinely wanted to protect and help her get back everything that had been taken away from her. But it would be easier to do that if they were married. As his wife, she would gain full access to everything that he owned.

'But do I really need to marry her?' he contemplated. The fact was, he could still provide her with everything she would need, even without marriage. But knowing how high her ego was, he highly doubted that Zuzzy would accept any help just like that, especially if it came from him. No, he knew she definitely wouldn't take it. If she hadn't even asked the Robs for help when she knew and trusted them more than him, why would she accept his aid?

She wasn't someone who would want anything for free. This was why Mark came up with the idea of offering her a contract. An agreement where both parties would benefit. This way, she would at least consider it. He was sure that she would take the offer with some convincing.

But her reaction last night worried him. She wasn't mad, as he had expected. If she had been irate, then at least she acknowledged his seriousness about the offer. But instead, she laughed at and mocked him. She took it as a joke! So he had to convince her, somehow, to accept the offer.

Mark abruptly rubbed his face with his palms.

"So, do I really need to marry her?" he muttered. But no matter how many times he would ask himself that question, his answer was still a 'YES.' Because he needed her.

'Because your body needs her?' his inner self snarled. He paused when he was about to press Zuzzy's doorbell, and instead of ringing it, he walked back to his own apartment.

"Richard… Am I selfish?" he murmured as he sat on the couch in his living room. Of all people, of all women, why did it have to be Zuzzy Shi?

Mark laughed scornfully at his awkward fate. Because surprisingly, his little buddy was only reacting to Zuzzy

. At first, he thought his weird disorder had been miraculously cured, so he tried to date other women after Richard's funeral. But to his disappointment, it was still the same. He even went beyond kissing just to make sure. But nothing. The little guy down there was still as unresponsive as it had always been toward those women.

He looked at his little buddy and let out a long sigh. "What's wrong with you?" he chided his own manhood. If he could, he wanted to strangle and punch it for giving him such a hard time. But that would be suicide. He released another sigh.

Unexplainably, his stupid little Mark had only been reacting actively whenever he was with Zuzzy.

He knew it was unfair to her, but…

'What's unfair? You will help her! You'll also take good care of her in the process!' his inner self retorted.

He stayed like that for a few more minutes, as he contemplated whether or not he should proceed with this plan.

Then he thought about the excuse that he used as to why he wanted to marry her. It was a standard one, in which his father had been pressuring him to get married, and he believed Zuzzy was the best candidate for it. He chuckled at his lack of creativity.

After a long deep sigh, Mark stood up…

Zuzzy kept knitting her eyebrows as she reviewed the adjustments that she made on some of the clauses of the contract. She had thoroughly thought about it last night.

She hated it. She hated the fact that Mark Lee was manipulating her like this.

"Why would he even bother to this extent?" she scoffed. She knew there must be more to this offer than he let on. She did not buy his explanation about how she was the safest candidate to be his wife since he knew that she would not take advantage of him. Her gut feeling told her that was not the real reason.

Moreover, she found one particular clause about the marriage ridiculous, in which they would have to do the usual and customary duties of marriage. This meant that she, as the wife, would also have to perform her spousal task.

"Perform the duty of a wife? What the heck is that supposed to mean?" She struck the sentence from the clause. He should be more clear and specific about what he meant because the wording of the term was just too vague.

She had decided to accept Mark's offer and would marry him only on paper. Only for his name and power. She would be willing to perform some of the wife's duties, as he requested, but only for show. Especially in the presence of Mark's father. But definitely not that duty, in particular, where she had to give him his conjugal rights as a husband, in which sexual intercourse is due.

Her face crumpled. Just the thought of it made her shiver in distress. No, she would never do that...

"Richard …" she whispered helplessly. Almost every night was still the same. That accident kept replaying in her dreams. Richard's smiling face, his eyes that were full of love, and his last whisper of, "I Love You." She could not forget that. And she hadn't been able to move on.

Richard was the only man in her life, and no one could ever replace him. Her heart was locked, and Richard was the only one with its key. She only had one goal right now. It was for her to have a comeback as Zuzzy Shi. She would then punish everyone who was involved in the death of her grandfather and the robbing of their family assets.