It's Not All Roses for Her Free Preview

At a high-speed train station in Atland, a woman in a white T-shirt and denim pants came out with a suitcase in hand.

Her flowing and wavy locks cascaded down her back. Beneath her sharp eyebrows were a pair of clear and bright almond-shaped eyes, a sharp nose, and petal-like lips. Her makeup-free face itself was beautiful enough for people to do a double-take on her.

"Miss Lawson, I presume? I am the driver of the Harmon Family."

Denise Lawson only nodded before she unthinkingly followed the driver into the car, her fatigue evident from every part of her body.

After the car left the station, the driver couldn't help but peek at the woman who had her eyes closed through the rearview mirror.

She was the Mr. Harmon's fiancée.

As for Alex Harmon, he was the president of the Harmon Corporation. At only 21 years old, he was resolute and competent while being a big fish in the business world.

Speaking of which, this all seemed like a joke. James Harmon, Alex's grandfather, had actually made a marriage contract for Alex many years ago, and yet the fiancée turned out to be a person who didn't come from an influential background. Instead, she had come from the countryside using the high-speed train.

Looking at Denise's innocent face, the driver unknowingly snorted at how it would be near impossible for Miss Cinderella here to marry into the wealthy family.

Right then, Denise slowly opened her eyes and looked at the unfamiliar city with a calm expression from the back seat.

They soon arrived at the Harmon Residence where the driver proceeded to help her with her luggage.

She had just taken a step into the house when a wealthy-looking woman stopped her and disgruntledly looked at her from head to toe.

"Madam Lyla," she called out, prompting Madam Lyla to reply, "I am coming, Mrs. Harmon."

Madam Lyla then pointed the nozzle of a bottle of disinfectant and sprayed it everywhere on Denise's body.

Mrs. Harmon, whose real name is Catherine Smith, then added, "Her shoes and hair too. Don't miss a spot."

When the pungent smell hit her nostrils, Denise covered her face with her hands and coldly asked, "Are you guys sick in the head?"

Catherine immediately blew her top when she heard that.

"As expected of someone from the boonies. How mannerless can you be to not even greet us? We are doing this because we are worried that you carry some kind of virus or bacteria. What are you going to do if it spreads to our family?"

The usual Denise would have turned around and walked away if she was in a pickle like this, but she didn't have that option now.

"You should probably spray some disinfectant in your stinky mouth as well then, Ma'am…"

Denise swiftly marched into the house after she said that.

"You!" Seeing Catherine angrily pointing at Denise's back, Madam Lyla immediately stepped forward and comforted Catherine.

There was also a woman of the same age as Denise in the house. The woman, who was also dressed in branded clothes, looked at Denise disdainfully.

"You are Alex's fiancée, Denise Lawson, aren't you?" Zoe Harmon scornfully looked at Denise's clothes from unidentifiable brands. "Tsk! Grandpa has really gotten to the age where his taste is unacceptable. I heard you took a train here. You should have said something before you came so that we could have gotten you a plane ticket. Oh right, I bet there is no airport in the boonies."

Denise only looked at Zoe like the latter was a fool.

Are all the members of the Harmon Family so arrogant? she wondered.

It was true that there was no airport where she was from, but James Harmon, also the grandfather of the family, had booked the entire train track in Atland for her. No one knew how it felt to have the whole train to herself.

If she had wanted it, James would have gotten a private plane to pick her up.

Not wanting to waste her energy explaining herself, Denise swiftly walked up the stairs.

After being ignored, Zoe's face turned pale with anger, and she quickly followed after Denise.

"Where is my room?" Denise asked the servant behind her.

However, Zoe interrupted before the servant could answer. "It's this one."

She opened the door and continued, "I bet you have never stayed in such a big and comfortable room before! You better cherish your days here. I am Alex's cousin, Zoe. It will do you good to get on my good side. Who knows if one day—"

Meanwhile, Denise had gone into the room and closed the door in Zoe's face before the latter could finish her words. The loud bang when the door closed only further infuriated Zoe.

"Ha! How dare a village girl act all pompous! Just what is wrong with Grandpa's choice?!"

"Miss Zoe…" The servant lowered her head as she mumbled, "This is Mr. Harmon's room!"

Zoe peered at the door.

"Don't be a big mouth. Alex despises it when others touch his stuff. We will just say that she is the one who insisted on staying in his room when the time comes."

There was a playful glint in her eyes as she spoke.

Despite seeing the bathroom filled with some men's products, Denise didn't realize that this was someone else's room. She only thought that the Harmon Family had done this on purpose.

What a weird place, she mused.

But then again, this would only go on for three months. She and James had made a bet, where the marriage contract between her and Alex would be void if the two of them hadn't developed a relationship within three months.

After Denise took a bath and ate the dinner served by the servant, she finally fell asleep after a long and tiring day.

It was already 12AM when Alex returned home from a social engagement.

He was aware that Denise would come to the Harmon Residence today. In fact, James had asked him to pick Denise up, but he had declined on the grounds of being busy with work. He had zero interest in his fiancée, and he was sure that the engagement would be annulled sooner or later.

He took a shower and went to bed after he went into his bedroom.

It was probably because he had drank too much that he didn't realize there was a woman in the room until he lay down.

He was stunned for a second when he noticed her, even though he couldn't see her face clearly in the dark. To his further surprise, she suddenly rolled over and hugged him, mumbling, "Be good, Baby Bear. Stop messing around and go to sleep."

Alex was frozen in place at this point.

He couldn't help thinking how similar this woman's smell was to that person…

Probably having his senses clouded by the alcohol, he didn't do anything much other than lie down and sleep with her in his arms.

Unlike the other nights, Alex had a restful sleep that night.

He soon had a dream about what happened in the small and dark house 10 years ago. In his dream, the slender teenage girl was hugging onto him as she reassured him in that soft voice of hers. "Don't be afraid. I am super duper strong. I will protect you."

It even felt real when he found her in his dream.

When the next day came, Zoe, who had woken up early, was now standing in front of Alex's door. However, she hadn't heard the servants mention anything about Denise being chased out of Alex's room.

What is going on? Did Alex not come home last night? But his car is in the garage!

Surely they didn't spend the night together?

Unable to hold back her curiosity, Zoe knocked on the door and called out, "Alex, you have to get up now. Aunt Cathrine has prepared breakfast! And don't you have a morning meeting today?"

The duo sleeping soundly in the room were woken up at the same time. When Denise woke up, she felt as though someone was holding her as she was snuggled in a warm embrace.

The moment their eyes met, she was instantly wide awake as she sat up in bed, exclaiming, "Who are you?!"

Alex's eyes were equally dim.

"Denise Lawson?"

Denise could guess that this was her rumored fiancé Alex Harmon, but what was he doing in her bed?!

Before she got an explanation, the man continued, "You have already climbed into my bed on the first day you arrive. Ha! It seems like you are not as simple as I thought you may be."

Confused, she only gawked at him. What did he say? I climbed into his bed?

Is everyone in the Harmon Family delusional?

However, now that Denise thought about the male products that she saw yesterday in the room, it made sense that this was Alex's room, and Zoe had pulled a prank on her.

She got out of bed and informed him coldly, "First of all, I didn't climb into your bed. Zoe Harmon told me yesterday that this is my room. Mr. Harmon, I am not the least bit interested in you. Furthermore, I was already asleep last night. Didn't you notice that there was someone in your bed when you came back? How are you going to explain hugging me all night? Don't tell me you already have your eyes on me."

Alex's face only further fell after hearing her snarky remarks. He couldn't even refute when the memories of last night came to mind.

The sight of her gaze only made him more tongue-tied.

Denise's almond-shaped eyes really resembled hers.

Seeing this, Denise let out a smile.

"What is this? Why are you looking at me? Have you fallen for me?" she mocked.

When he came back to his senses, he warned in a clear voice, his expression dark, "Get out. You are not allowed to come into this room from now on."

Not wanting to stay a second longer herself, Denise grabbed her things and left.

This was only their first time meeting each other and yet, they had already disliked one another.

Zoe was still standing outside the door when she let out a startled expression upon seeing Denise come out of the room.

When Denise saw the other woman, she smilingly greeted, "Morning! Like you were hoping, your cousin held me in his arms the whole night. We are getting along just fine."

"You are lying." Zoe's face was ashen after she heard those words that she couldn't believe.

Logically speaking, Alex couldn't possibly fall for Denise.

However, the truth was as clear as day—Denise and Alex had slept together.

Denise smilingly left, leaving an infuriated Zoe behind. "You bumpkin from the boonies! I am telling you, I won't let you marry Alex!"

Alex happened to walk out of the room right after she said that.

Zoe immediately cowered when she saw him. "Alex," she squeaked.

She finally stopped playing around when she saw how gloomy and furious his face was.

…

Denise told the servant to lead her to her room, where she went to unpack her things.

Catherine, Zoe and Alex were already sitting around the dining table by the time she went downstairs for breakfast.

Catherine was the first one to speak in a provocative tone. "Not coming down for breakfast on top of waking up late? You really think you are the Young Mistress of the Harmon Family, aren't you?"

Denise only glanced at Catherine as she replied lightly, "But I am not a servant of the Harmon Family either."

The only place they would only get her to make breakfast was in their dreams!

Alex didn't utter a word from the beginning, but Denise could tell that he didn't like her a lot.

The meal turned out rather unpleasant as everyone was irritated at someone. After breakfast, Catherine passed Denise a card.

"There is five thousand in the card. Before you go to the company, buy some decent clothes. I am telling you, you better stay put in the company and don't cause trouble for Alex."

In order to make the relationship between Alex and Denise better, James had suggested Denise work at the company and be Alex's secretary. Yoseph Lawson, Denise's grandfather, had also agreed without hesitation without giving Denise room to object. Having no other choice, she convinced herself she would be able to make it through three months here.

But five thousand… Just who did Catherine think she was looking down on?! Denise only replied in a prickly voice, "Thank you, Mrs. Harmon, but no thanks."

It was only natural that the Harmons didn't know what the brands of Denise's clothes were because they were all custom-made by someone for her. Not wanting to spend her energy arguing with them about it, she went upstairs to change her outfit.

Her phone rang as soon as she went upstairs. It was a transfer of 50 million, and there was a balance on the bank card with countless zeros.

She then received a message from her grandfather.

'My dear girl, take care of yourself. Just buy anything you want to eat or buy. And remember to tell Grampa if anyone bullies you.'

With the corner of her lips curled upward, she replied, 'Grampa, the Harmons are all bullies. It is no fun here.'

Yoseph's reply came fairly quickly.

'How rare that there is someone who would bully you. Not bad at all. Alright, Grampa is off to fish.'

Speechless after seeing his message, Denise changed into a professional suit and left the Harmon Residence. She only realized Alex was in the car after she got in through the door the driver opened for her.

"Didn't you say you don't have the slightest interest in me? Why are you going to work at the Harmon Corporation as my secretary?" the man said in a mellow voice with a trace of irony.

Denise only indifferently glanced at him. "I promised my grandfather I would try to get along with you for three months. We will terminate the marriage contract when the time is up."

He scoffed at that. "Are you not worried you would fall for me within the period? I hope you don't insist on staying at the Harmon Residence then."

Denise laughed when she heard that.

"So the rumored aloof Mr. Harmon is actually a man with overflowing confidence! I can assure you that I won't fall for you even after three years. I will never fall in love with you."

To Denise, all Alex had to offer was his good looks.

His face quickly fell after she said that.

Never?

"Remember your words today, Denise Lawson."

He only thought she was playing push-and-pull with her. There was no reason for her to come to the Harmon Residence if she didn't like him.

Putting on her professional, fake smile, she cheered, "Sure, Mr. Harmon. Don't worry! We won't see each other again in three months. By the way, let's pretend we don't know each other when we get to the company so that we can avoid unnecessary misunderstandings."

Alex didn't say anything after that.

However, despite her efforts, there were already rumors spreading in the outside world that Alex was promised to someone, and his fiancée was from the countryside.

The employees at the Harmon Corporation were currently in a heated discussion.

"Have you heard? Mr. Harmon's fiancée will be working as a secretary here!"

"Isn't she supposed to be hard to look at? And she is from the countryside! Can someone who graduated from a random university even understand work documents?"

"Haha! Putting that aside, the bigger concern is whether or not she even knows how to use a computer!"

…

It was until Denise and Alex walked into the company together that everyone's eyes were glued in their direction.

"Look, look! Who is that woman behind the President? She is so beautiful and elegant!"

"Woah, her amazing legs are so thin and straight! I approve!"

"Could she be the President's fiancée?"

"How is that possible? Nope, I am sure she is not!"

Everyone was making guesses about Denise's identity. They thought she was a business partner at first, but when Alex and Denise parted ways to report to the secretary department, word spread throughout the whole company.

The gorgeous and womanly woman who came with Alex was the rumored Denise.

Amazed, everyone could only wonder if the countryside's environment had contributed to her perfection.

After she went to the human resource department to go through the formalities, the four people in the secretary department were fervently discussing her.

"Denise Lawson is so beautiful! She is even prettier than Mildred Xavier."

A hint of disdain flashed across the head of the secretary department, Selina Summers' eyes. "What is the use of being beautiful? How is a bumpkin from the countryside worthy of Mr. Harmon?"

Denise happened to hear this when she came back, and her eyes held a hint of mockery when she asked in a clear voice, "Does my not being worthy of him mean you are worthy of him?"

Selina's face immediately froze. Even though she had turned around, she didn't dare to refute Denise's words. After all, Denise was the big boss' fiancée.

"Mr. Harmon said that you are a member of the secretary department, and you have to be treated fairly. This is an advertisement that the Harmon Corporation is going to shoot today. You will be responsible for it."

Denise only sneered before she left with the documents.

The four women huddled together again then.

"Selina, was that the advertisement that Michael Brown will be starring in? Won't Denise mess it up?!"

A gleam appeared in Selina's eyes despite that. Michael Brown was a popular celebrity who was young, had quite the temper, and loved to nitpick. He was someone that no one could stand. In fact, Selina hoped that Denise would mess up the shooting on her first day of work.

As Denise glanced at the shooting schedule, she raised her eyebrows slightly when she saw the somewhat-familiar name. Michael Brown?

At this moment in Alex's office, an assistant informed the man, "Mr. Harmon, Miss Summers handed over Michael Brown's shooting today to Miss Lawson. Should we change it to someone else?"

Michael's older brother and Alex had been friends since childhood. It was a known fact that Michael had a nasty temper. With his attitude, Alex could imagine how badly working with Michael would torment Denise.

Alex came to a pause at first, but when he recalled what Denise said to him this morning, he uttered, "There's no need."

He was more than happy to see Denise being tormented.

As the advertisement shooting location was at the company, Denise and other people involved went downstairs to welcome Michael.

A black Bentley soon arrived at the company, and Michael came down from it with sunglasses on, his aura unruly and indulgent. At just the age of 19, he already had tens of millions of fans.

Denise stepped forward to greet him. "Hello, Mr. Brown. I am Denise Lawson, the person in charge of this shooting."

Michael, however, didn't listen to what she was saying at all as he went on complaining, "It is so hot and yet, you are not holding an umbrella for me! Is the shooting scene ready? And go get me a cup of coffee. The one in the city center—"

Before he could finish speaking, he was startled when he unintentionally glanced at her face.

"Holy f*ck, Nissie! Am I dreaming?!"

He took off his sunglasses and revealed a face still filled with disbelief.

Excited, he threw his arms around her.

"Nissie? You are here? The person in charge? Shouldn't you be traveling around the world or lying on a five-meter-long bed?"

Hearing that, she smiled and patted him on the head. "Pup, long time no see. By the way, what did you say you wanted to drink?"

"Nothing! I didn't say anything! What do you want, Nissie? I will go get it for you."

The crowd around there were astounded by their interaction.

Michael hugging Denise, Denise patting Michael's head, and Michael wanting to get Denise a drink?

Was this even the tyrannical Mr. Brown they knew?!

Was it because she was Alex's fiancée that Michael was acting this way? That didn't seem quite right. After all, Michael was also haughty in front of Alex.

The truth was that Denise and Michael had been friends for two years now.

Back when Micahel was only 17, he was abducted when he went to the countryside, which was coincidentally near Denise's place, for a shooting, and had unexpectedly been rescued by Denise.

All Michael could think when Denise had appeared back then and unhesitantly defeated the kidnapper was how cool she looked.

He was even more surprised when he followed her home and saw the courtyard that was bigger than a football field.

All in all, Denise was the awesomest person to him!

The shooting went on as smooth as butter after Michael and Denise walked into the Harmon Corporation.

When he complained about the outfit being ugly, he stopped when she told him that it looked nice.

And when he started nitpicking, he would zip his mouth with just a look from her.

Michael was so obedient because he was afraid she would beat him up if he acted up.

The shoot that was estimated to be five-hours long ended up coming to an end in just two hours due to his cooperation.

After the filming, he grabbed onto Denise and offered, "Let's go, Nissie. I will treat you to dinner!"

"No can do!" Denise unhesitantly rejected him. "I am still working."

Some of the company's employees had started talking about this again.

"Goodness! Mr. Michael's invitation to a meal together has been rejected!"

"Geez, I wonder what her background is. How can someone from the countryside look so good and be so great?"

"Treat me to dinner! I would skip work just to eat with you! Ah!!!"

"Listen, Denise." The rejected Michael was desperate. "Isn't it good enough for you to live in the manor and travel around the world? Why do you have to work here at the Harmon Corporation? Could it be that the Lawson Family is going bankrupt? I can take care of you!"

"You wouldn't understand." Denise only rolled her eyes at him before she went back to the secretary department to continue with her work.

Everyone thought that Michael would get angry and leave, but then an even more bizarre thing happened—the young master who never liked to wait for others was actually in the lounge waiting for Denise to get off work.

By the time work ended, Alex came out of the office and said to Denise, who sat across from him. "Grandpa has booked us a table at a restaurant. Let's go eat together."

Alex was actually reluctant to go, but he had eventually agreed to it rather helplessly. James had threatened him that he would poke a hole in himself using a syringe if Alex refused to go back when they had a video call during James' hospitalization from a heart attack.

Michael happened to walk in right then.

"Nissie, Nissie! You got off work! Can we go eat now?"

Michael only saw Alex here after he walked in.

"Alex?"

Nissie? Alex looked at the two of them in disbelief.

Pausing slightly, Denise asked, "Why don't we eat together?"

In the end, the three of them came to the restaurant James book.

Along the way, Michael never stopped talking, and Denise would reply to him from time to time.

He became even more attentive when they arrived at the restaurant by helping her with the chair and food.

Alex couldn't help feeling like he was an outsider here.

"Right, Nissie, why did you come to work at the Harmon Corporation out of nowhere? What is your relationship with Alex?"

Michael had a feeling they weren't just in an employer-employee relationship.

Denise peered at Alex. "Grandpa told me to come. And as for him and I, we have a contractual marriage relationship."

Michael immediately coughed up the sip of water he just had.

"What?!" He continued after a second, "So you are the rumored Alex's fiancée from the countryside!"

Denise only nonchalantly nodded in response.

He had heard a lot of rumors before, and he had to admit that Denise was indeed from the countryside. However, the 'countryside' she was from included the Lawson Manor worth hundreds of millions, and her family even had dozens of villas.

"The two of you…" Michael looked at them doubtfully.

"There are no personal feelings. The contract will be void after three months." Denise informed him in a calm voice.

Relieved, Michael nodded, and being the straightforward young man he was, he blurted out, "That is great, then. A man as aloof and boring as Alex isn't worthy of you. I can do better."

A speechless Alex was quietly eating when he wondered, I am not worthy of Denise?

"Michael, your brother wanted me to help get you the car, but I think—"

"No, no, Alex! You know that is not what I meant." Michael let out a bashful giggle.

The meal went on pretty well until Denise and Alex parted ways with Michael at the restaurant's entrance.

"Bye, Nissie! I will come play with you when I can make time."

Denise then lovingly patted Michael's head again. "Goodbye, Pup. Be careful on your way back!"

It felt like she was petting an Alaskan Malamute.

However, Alex thought differently when he looked at her. Eyes narrowed, he suddenly brought up not long after he and Denise got in the car. "So that is why you were so sure you won't fall for me. It is because you are already in love with someone else."