Virginia's POV
The silk of my dress brushed against my skin as I went down the staircase. I could hear laughter and chatter from the living room below. When I met with my parents downstairs, it was like a thousand curious eyes followed me everywhere. It wasn't the kind of attention a girl craved; it was a suffocating.
They saw Virginia Moore, the towns Pristine Lily, untouched and admired.
The pretty girl with the "Virgin gift," as the people called it, was about to become a commodity. Not for sale, exactly, but something similar to it. My parents, struggling to keep their heads above water financially, had signed a contract – me, the unwilling product. Gideon Thorne, the billionaire CEO of Thorne Industries, was the buyer.
Gideon Thorne needed a façade, a picture-perfect girlfriend to polish his image. And I, Virginia Moore, with my untouched reputation and doll looks, fit the bill perfectly.
The terms? A month as his contract girlfriend, with the possibility of an extension – marriage, even – if things worked out.
My parents, desperate to secure a future for their only daughter since things weren't working out at home, signed on the dotted line. A hefty sum landed in their accounts, enough to finally breathe easy, and I was packaged and shipped off to Mr. Thorne's world of high society in the city.
The chauffeur dropped me at the foot of a mansion, the exterior was a sight to behold talk more of the interior. Then, a young woman in a uniform, her face filled with polite indifference, led me past endless rooms adorned with priceless art and plush furniture. Finally, she stopped in front of a massive door.
"This will be your room, Miss Moore," the maid said.
My brow furrowed. Shouldn't we be sharing a room? Weren't we… playing the part of a couple? I was hesitant but before I could voice my question, the maid turned and left, with the click of her heels echoing down the hallway.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the door. The room was breathtaking – a luxurious haven with a four-poster bed, a balcony overlooking the pool, and a bathroom bigger than my entire childhood bedroom.
Moments later, Gideon entered smiling faintly. He seemed… different here, away from the prying eyes of the business world. His shoulders were relaxed and his gaze was warm and inviting.
"This is your sanctuary, Virginia," he said, gesturing towards my bed space. "I hope you like it."
"It's… beautiful," I stammered. "But… I… I thought we'd be sharing a room. You know, as… a couple?"
This whole contract girlfriend thing felt ridiculous when he looked at me like that. He crossed the distance between us, his presence made me shiver. He stopped a respectful distance away, with his gaze holding mine.
"Virginia," he began. "You are a rare treasure, a precious work of art. And frankly, the last thing I want is to… desecrate you so soon. You know, many girls your age throw themselves at men, but here you are, my pristine Lily, untouched and admired."
Desecrate? Was that the right word? Yet, something in his tone, in the way his eyes lingered on my face, sent a shiver down my spine. Was this part of the contract? Or was there something more going on here, something I wasn't quite ready to understand?
"I…" I stammered, completely confused. This was all happening too fast. One minute I was a small-town girl, the next, I was living in a mansion, with a confusingly charming billionaire who wouldn't touch me as my (fake) boyfriend.
He chuckled again. "Don't worry, Virginia," he said, reaching out and gently tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "We have plenty of time to… explore the finer points of our arrangement."
The first few days in the mansion was filled with unpacking, exploring the mansion, and getting used to the constant presence of watchful staff.
Gideon, though mostly absent during the day, would appear for dinner each evening, a picture of a charm in a tailored suit. He was everything the contract described – successful, intelligent, and surprisingly kind.
One evening, as we talked over dessert, I finally asked a question that had been on my mind. "Gideon," I began, setting down my fork, "do you… ever plan to… touch me?"
He looked up from his plate, his gaze met mine. "Virginia," he began, "things are a little… complicated right now."
"Complicated?"
He leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his hair. "Another CEO, a rival of mine in business, has learned about a rumor."
"What rumor?" I asked.
He hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Well, several female employees of mine whom I believe hate my guts, decided to spread lies about me being a woman beater and a sexually abusive boss."
My jaw dropped. "Woman beater? But their claims are wrong, right?"
He nodded. "Precisely. This rival of mine agreed to help those women and together, they all wanna sue me. The court case is in two weeks."
"A court case? What does that have to do with… us?"
He took a deep breath. "You have everything to do with it. For God sakes you're a fucking virgin, untouched and admired. When people see me with a girl like you, they see a man with self-control, a man of fucking honor!"
What? What the fuck was wrong with this man?
"I'm gonna win this case with you by my side. And when I win it, Virginia," he said with his voice dropped to a whisper, "if I prove my innocence, then you… you become my prize."
I didn't understand, and it was evident on my face.
"I'm gonna take your purity as my prize. I'm gonna fuck you hard till you loose the ability to walk."
His words hit me hard. Prize? Was this entire charade just a wager? A part of me felt insulted, used in a game I didn't fully understand.
"What if you lose?" I whispered.
His smile was humorless. "Then, Virginia," he said. "Then, this whole charade becomes a very expensive mistake."
With that, he rose from his chair, leaving me alone at the table with a head full of questions and a pounding heart. Two weeks. Two weeks to determine the outcome of a game I didn't even know I was playing.