Bride for Rent

"You are already thirty-five, when are you planning to get married?" Desmond Baldwin yelled at his grandson.

"Grandpa, take it easy. Remember the doctor said you are not to get angry for the sake of your health," a handsome brunette with a stoic face, chiseled jaw, and light gray eyes said aloofly. He was sitting with one leg crossed over the other, his fingers intertwined as he placed them on his knees. He was wearing a black suit with a white shirt and black pants, staring at his grandparents indifferently.

Desmond looked at his grandson and noticed that his anger was not going to do the trick. He looked at his wife, who was sitting beside him, and they communicated with their eyes before he turned to look at his grandson again. "Little Ray, we are your grandparents and we care about you. Remember we raised you after your parents abandoned you and went to Australia all in the name of some stupid contract. We only want the best for you," he said with a gentle voice.

Little Ray had been his nickname ever since he was a child. He had told his grandparents to stop calling him that, but they refused, claiming he would always be their little boy. He could do nothing but put up with it as long as they didn't call him that outside. "Grandpa, I know and I love you both for that. It is also the reason I'm doing everything I can to make you happy," Raymond replied in the same gentle voice.

Hana Baldwin sighed. "But you are not making us happy. We want you to get married, to have a family of your own. Don't you get it? You are already thirty-five years old. When is it going to be, until you are a hundred?"

"Grandma, no. I will get married soon. I just want to stand our family," Raymond answered.

"Stand our family? What stand our family? You are already managing four companies. Your parents are managing two in Australia, I have one in Canada. Your grandmother gave you her inheritance from her parents, which is in France. The Baldwin Empire will soon be handed over to you. What other stand our family are you talking about?" Desmond bellowed.

"It's not enough," Raymond answered aloofly.

"Not enough?" Desmond choked. "What other wealth do you want? To take all the money in the whole world?"

Raymond looked thoughtful for a while and answered indifferently, "If it is possible."

"What?" His grandparents shouted, but he only smiled.

"Grandpa, Grandma, imagine how amazing it would be if our family owned all the money in the world?" Raymond smiled sheepishly.

Hana and Desmond looked at each other worriedly. "I think we have no other option," she said to her husband.

Desmond nodded. "You are right." He looked at his grandson. "Since it's like that, your grandmother and I have something to tell you. We have decided that the Baldwin Empire will belong solely to you only when you are married."

For the first time throughout the whole conversation, Raymond's countenance changed. "What are you saying, Grandfather?" he asked icily.

Desmond raised an eyebrow. Oh, something can really affect him? he thought before a sly smile graced his lips. "Yes, it can only be handed to you after one year of your marriage. Even if I die tomorrow, I will put it like that in my will. So you can keep on waiting till I'm dead in order to inherit it, but as far as I know the law, a will is surely read according to how it was written."

"You can't do that!" Raymond almost shouted.

"Yes, I can and I just did. You may leave now," Desmond said aloofly and shooed him away.

Raymond looked at his grandmother, but she avoided his gaze and acted aloofly just like her husband. He looked at them and knew they just wanted to make things difficult for him. He had always wanted to own that company ever since he was a child. No matter the number of companies he owned, he still wanted to be the CEO of the Baldwin Empire, and now they were telling him he could not be that unless he was married?

Raymond stood up angrily and stormed out of the house. His grandparents looked at each other, then, and Hana looked worried, but Desmond squeezed her hand. "He will be fine, it's for his own good," he cooed.

***

A young girl jumped down the stairs in twos. She was average in height, slender, and looked like a teenager, but indeed she was twenty-four years old. She had long blonde hair that looked like a haystack, a baby face with emerald green eyes, sexy pink lips, and a dazzling smile. She ran into the kitchen barefooted and hugged the older woman in the kitchen from behind. "Good morning, Aunt."

"Oh my God, Felicity!" Katherine McCarthy gasped when her niece suddenly hugged her. She turned to face her and gasped yet again when she saw her hair. "Why didn't you brush your hair, my darling?"

The young girl called Felicity looked at her hair as if noticing the disarray for the first time and pouted. "Then Aunt should help me."

Katherine shook her head affectionately. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Love me, care for me, and never leave me," Felicity chanted like a six-year-old, making Katherine laugh heartily.

"Alright, alright, I will do just that. I have been doing it after all," she laughed. "So now, why don't you go up and brush your teeth, take a shower, breakfast will be ready then, so I will come up and comb your hair for you. While you eat, I will prepare for work, hmm?"

"You are going to work today?" Felicity pouted. "But who is going to stay with me?"

"I will call Grace to come stay with you. She is your friend, after all."

"Grace is too busy for me these days."

"Why?"

"She has a boyfriend," Felicity pouted.

"Oh, that's good," Katherine paused. "Then I will call Nanny Mercy to stay with you. How about that?"

Felicity looked thoughtful. "Okay, just come back early."

"I will, my darling. Now shoo," she pushed her out of the kitchen, and Felicity giggled before running up the stairs in twos again.