A Pleasure to Meet You...

Nathan:

It was past ten in the morning when Nathan Ford arrived at his company, entering his office through the private elevator. He sat down in his chair and found himself reflecting on what his grandmother had just asked of him -- what she herself had called "her final wish." Amber Ford, the great matriarch of the Ford family, was now in the terminal stages of cancer. Nathan felt powerless. Despite all his wealth, he couldn't save the life of the grandmother who had raised him as her own son.

Amber Ford hadn't just been a mother to Nathan -- she was an extraordinary woman. She had built the company from a small firm she inherited after her husband died of a sudden heart attack, leaving her with two small children: his aunt Lindsey and his father Paul, who were six and eight at the time. Amber ran the company and raised her children on her own. When she handed control to her eldest son right after he finished college and got married, it was already a major enterprise and one of the best in the country. But his father managed the company for only five years before a tragic accident took the lives of both his son and daughter-in-law. The only survivor was their three-year-old grandson, Nathan -- which forced Amber to return to the company. Her daughter lived a frivolous life and had no interest in the business, eventually marrying one of the executives, the company's vice president. But for Amber, only those who carried her blood could be president, so she took back the reins until her grandson was ready to assume control at twenty-two. For the past six years, Nathan had been president of Moore Corporation.

His thoughts were interrupted by his secretary calling to go over the day's schedule. He authorized her to come in.

"Good morning, Mr. Ford! You have two meetings this morning -- the first at ten-thirty with the governor, and the second at eleven-thirty with Hassan Construction. At two o'clock, Mr. Josh Carter's wedding."

"All right. You may go, Hillary. Prepare the conference room."

The secretary left, but just five minutes before the meeting, word came that Josh Carter's wedding had been canceled. Nathan scratched his head, wondering why -- Josh never missed an opportunity to praise his fiancee, saying she was perfect. But he pushed the thought aside and headed to his appointments.

After both meetings, he decided to go out for lunch at his favorite restaurant. As he was leaving the building, a scene near the parking lot entrance caught his attention. He saw Josh arguing with a woman, and after she gestured furiously and pointed her finger at him several times, he shoved her. She fell to the ground, clutching her ankle, and Josh simply turned his back and walked away, leaving her there with an expression of pain. Nathan was outraged by Josh's cowardice. He got out of his car and approached the beautiful woman.

"Are you all right?"

"No, but I will be."

"It looks like you twisted your ankle. It could be serious -- let me take you to the hospital."

The woman tried to protest, but he wouldn't hear it. He simply scooped her up in his arms, placed her in his car, and drove to the same hospital where his grandmother was being treated -- the best in the country.

"You're lucky it's just a sprain. It could have been much worse. I don't know how you women walk around in heels that high."

He said this pretending not to know what had really happened.

"If I'd just twisted my ankle in a stiletto, it would've hurt less. It was the heartbreak I got from that bastard ex-fiance of mine. But what's coming to him is all saved up -- I'm writing down every single reason to get my revenge, and his fall is going to be spectacular. His and that bitch of a mistress who's now his fiancee. The bastard swaps brides like he swaps clothes."

"You really are furious with him, aren't you?"

"How could I not be? I received proof of his cheating as a wedding gift at the exact moment I was getting dressed to go to the church and fulfill my greatest dream -- getting married in a white gown. I even had time to catch them in the act. And to top it all off, I got kicked out of my own house for ending the relationship. Then, on my way to a lawyer's office, I run into the jerk, who insults me and says I'll never find another fiance of his social standing and that I'm not on his level. But that's enough -- you must be bored with my story by now."

"No, go on. Just for today, I'll be the listener for your vent session."

The woman smiled, and Nathan found her smile beautiful.

"There's nothing more to say. The only thing I want right now is to find another fiance -- someone far better than him -- and rub it in his face that he's worthless. And to show that jealous bitch of an ex-best friend that I can do so much better than her."

A spark of hope lit up in Nathan's mind. This was the perfect chance to fulfill his grandmother's wish -- to marry a woman who wasn't after his money, but who wanted to get back at everyone who had humiliated her. It would be an exchange of favors: he would help her with her revenge, and she would help him grant his grandmother's dying wish.

"Well, you just found him. A pleasure to meet you -- Nathan Ford Moore, your fiance."

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