Bride Under Contract (Wed into a Billionaire’s World #1)

Prologue

PROLOGUE

‘I DON ’ T THINK this is going to work...’ Grace Andrews was not talking about the faded crimson shorts she held in her hand, nor the washed-out tops that lay spread on her bed.

‘They’re all going to get ruined anyway.’ Her friend and flatmate Violet peered at the ‘essential items’ list. ‘You can buy new stuff after the jungle...’ She paused then, and must have seen the anxiety darting in friend’s green eyes. ‘You’re not talking about the clothes, though, are you?’

As tatty as they were, no.

Grace stood in her dressing gown, her long brown curls wrapped in a towel, her flight just a matter of hours away. There was every reason not to go.

‘I should be looking for a new job. It’s hardly fair on you, me working from home.’

‘It makes no difference to me.’ Violet shrugged. ‘I’m at the library all day...’ She glanced up. ‘Though you are working ridiculous hours.’

‘I’m used to working at night,’ Grace said.

It wasn’t a lie. Data entry might not sound exciting, but it had proved to be a lifeline and meant she’d been able to arrange her hours to suit as her mother’s health deteriorated. But, yes, it wasn’t the best pay, and certainly it wasn’t going to be enough to support her mother long-term.

Grace picked up the backpack she’d been half-heartedly packing and, clearing a space on the bed, took a seat. ‘It’s not just that.’

Two years ago Grace had booked and paid for a month’s vacation to Malaysia, starting with a five-day river trip through the Borneo jungle. It was the most unlikely of locations for Grace, who’d never been further than a school trip to France. Only it wasn’t just the sale price that had caught her attention. The stunning wildlife, as well as the luxurious river-edge villas, had enticed, but the remoteness of the jungle, along with being off-grid for a little while, had truly appealed.

The purchase had been made prior to her mum’s dementia diagnosis. At the time Grace hadn’t known what was wrong—just that things had changed with her mother around the time she’d turned nineteen. Eventually things had become so dire that she’d given up teacher training college and moved back home from the flat she had shared with Violet.

The holiday had been something to cling to...

She’d been purchasing hope, Grace now realised. Some sort of assurance that things would surely get better...

Only they hadn’t.

Violet had been with her throughout.

They had been friends since infant school. Grace, the new girl at school after her parents’ break-up, had hidden shyly behind long dark curls. She’d been in awe of the popular Violet, with her bright sunny nature that matched her golden hair. But one playtime she’d seen Violet being teased about her father being in prison.

Grace had pushed her own awkwardness aside and stepped in. ‘Leave her alone!’

‘What’s it to you?’ The lead bully had sneered.

‘She’s my friend,’ Grace had said, taking Violet’s hand.

And, apart from one regrettable incident just before her mum had been diagnosed, friends they had remained.

It had been Violet who had held Grace’s hand when she’d made the heartbreaking decision to sell the family house and place her mother in a care home. And it was Violet she now shared a flat with once more, and who sat beside her on the bed and did her best to reassure Grace.

‘You need this holiday—you’ve been dealing with this for...’

‘Years,’ Grace nodded.

She’d never really had time to look back and examine it.

The diagnosis had been hard, but the years prior had been their own separate version of hell.

‘Maggie thinks it’s a good idea if you don’t visit for a while...’

Maggie, the care home’s manager, had been firm, telling Grace her month’s absence would give her mother the best chance to settle in.

There was a sick feeling in Grace’s stomach when she thought of her mother sitting alone in the care home, waiting for her to come.

‘I just don’t want Mum to think she’s been forgotten.’

Grace knew that feeling rather too well.

Looking out of the window...waiting for her dad’s car. Running for the post on her birthday... Sometimes there had been a car, and he’d taken her to the fair, or to a park, but more often than not he’d failed to show up.

Finally, and without explanation, he’d stopped all contact.

‘Look, I know I can’t visit her...’ Violet’s voice trailed off.

Neither she nor Grace wanted to raise the incident that had caused their friendship to waver, when—before her diagnosis—Grace’s mum had accused Violet of theft.

To this day Grace regretted her response. For a short while it had been easier to doubt her friend than accept how unwell her mother was.

‘Violet...’ Grace wanted to apologise properly, but Violet perhaps sensed it, because she hurriedly spoke over her.

‘I promise to keep an eye. The care home’s just opposite the library... I can check in with the staff... Anyway,’ Violet persisted, ‘you have to go. There might be some gorgeous...’ She paused and gave a little grimace. ‘Well, perhaps not a wildlife nerd, but once the jungle part’s over and you hit the islands...’

‘Believe me, romance isn’t on my mind.’

‘Who said anything about romance?’ Violet nudged her. ‘One hot night would do me. It might give me something to dream about while I’m filing the late returns.’

Though Grace laughed, she knew that for all Violet’s teasing it was a bit of a front.

They were both wary of men...albeit for different reasons.

Still, lately Violet seemed more ready to shake all that off, whereas Grace felt...

She took a moment, trying to work out how she felt.

Stuck?

No, that didn’t quite fit—after all she was going on holiday and her world was opening up again. The years between nineteen and twenty-five had vanished in a blur of struggling to work and care for her mum...

Lost.

It was more than that...

Grace might be sharing a flat with Violet again, but she felt so very different now than she had before.

Adrift.

Yes, that was more how she felt—adrift. As if she’d lost sight of the person she’d once been, while conversely being anchored.

She hadn’t told Violet everything—possibly because she didn’t want to burden her, or because she just wasn’t ready for another person to know the truth. Violet thought things were fine now, but Grace knew the money wasn’t going to last and could practically see the overwhelming responsibility to provide looming. Her mother was only in her fifties.

‘Don’t throw this holiday away,’ Violet said gently.

Grace nodded, knowing better than her friend that she might never get another chance—at least not for a very long time.

A little serenity might be required!

For now, her mother was safe.

Violet’s pep talk had worked and, with her mind almost made up, Grace glanced at the time. ‘I’m going to take her in a cake and say goodbye...’

‘Are you sure?’

The doubt in her friend’s voice told Grace that Violet didn’t think it was such a good idea.

‘Won’t that just confuse her even more?’

‘I honestly don’t know,’ Grace admitted.

What she did know was that even if her mum didn’t always understand, for Grace it felt important to tell her mother she loved her and to say goodbye properly.

Her father had never afforded her the same courtesy.