The clock on the wall of the administration division showed 4:55 p.m. local time. Five more minutes until closing time—a little slice of heaven for part-time employees who lived from one deadline to the next.
Kirana let out a long sigh, so long that it nearly blew the short strands of hair falling across her forehead. Her eyes remained fixed on the laptop screen, which displayed a spreadsheet filled with red numbers—not profits, but this month's expenses, which had already gone far beyond anything reasonable.
“Hang in there, Kirana. It’s the end of the month, sure, but if this keeps up, you’ll go hungry until next week,” she muttered softly to herself.
Suddenly, someone knocked on her desk three times in a firm rhythm.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Kirana looked up. Standing there was a tall man in an immaculate navy suit. His face was cold and stiff, and he almost never showed any expression besides blank or extremely blank. Aldo Danendra, the youngest CEO in the company and Kirana’s direct boss, was notorious for being intimidating, perfectionistic, and exceptionally talented at making everyone’s blood pressure shoot through the roof.
“Mr. Aldo? Is there another revision to the report, Sir? I just sent it to your email,” Kirana asked, immediately putting on her professional face, even as she prayed inwardly that she wouldn’t get chewed out.
“Come to my office now,” Aldo said without preamble, then turned and walked away without waiting for an answer.
Kirana let out a soft snort as she straightened her blazer. “What a North Pole penguin. Does he not have a ‘relax’ button somewhere on his body?”
Reluctantly, Kirana followed behind Aldo down the quiet upper-floor corridor toward the CEO’s private office.
As soon as the door shut tightly behind them, sealing out all sound, Kirana stood straight in front of Aldo’s enormous desk.
“Sit down, Kirana,” Aldo said, pointing to the cushioned chair across from him.
Kirana sat and placed her hands in her lap. “What’s this about, Sir? If it’s about last month’s office inventory data, I already audited it again. Everything’s clean. Nothing’s missing.”
Aldo did not answer right away. He opened a desk drawer, took out a thick document bearing an official stamp, and slid it across the desk until it came to rest directly in front of Kirana.
Kirana frowned. Her eyes read the title on the document’s cover, sounding out each word in her head.
‘Mutual Agreement... Marriage?’
Kirana gave a small laugh, assuming her boss was making a painfully bad joke. “Wow, Sir. If you’re trying to make a prank video for TikTok, you’ve got the wrong person. I’m not cut out to act like the victim of a scary-boss phobia.”
Aldo’s face remained perfectly flat. There was no smile, no sign that he was joking. “I’m not joking, Kirana.”
“Huh?”
“Marry me for 30 days,” Aldo said flatly.
The air in the room suddenly felt suffocating. Kirana gaped at him. She blinked repeatedly, making sure her ears hadn’t picked up the wrong frequency.
“S-Sir... You realize what you’re saying, right? We have a professional relationship: boss and assistant. You’re the boss, and I’m the employee. You pay me the regional minimum wage, not a dowry through the Office of Religious Affairs!” Kirana protested, her voice halfway to a shout.
“I’m one hundred percent aware,” Aldo replied calmly, leaning back in his chair. “And I’m not offering puppy love. This is a business arrangement.”
“A business arrangement?!” Kirana clutched her chest. “How can you call getting married a business arrangement? Are we trying to merge cement companies?!”
“The reason is simple. My mother keeps hounding me to enter into an old-fashioned arranged marriage with one of her business partners’ children every weekend. I need married status to put an end to all that drama in the near future,” Aldo explained bluntly.
“Then why me?! There are hundreds of employees in this building, Sir! Why not marry the HR manager while you’re at it?!”
“Because you won’t get emotionally involved,” Aldo answered immediately. “You’re rational, critical, and know your boundaries. You need money, and I need married status. A healthy transactional relationship.”
Kirana snorted incredulously. “Wow, what an amazing assessment of me. Do you think I’m some kind of profit-seeking robot?”
“Am I wrong?” Aldo stared sharply into Kirana’s eyes. “Or would you rather reject my offer and keep worrying about the debt you’ve racked up at the coffee shop in front of the office for the past three months?”
Thud.
Kirana’s heart seemed to stop for a moment.
“H-How do you know about my coffee-shop debt?!”
“As a good superior, I know the little details about my employees’ well-being. Including the fact that you were almost kicked out of your favorite coffee shop because your tab had piled up,” Aldo said with a cutting edge, the left corner of his mouth lifting slightly. An annoyingly faint smile.
Kirana bit her lower lip. Checkmate. The CEO had exposed her private business just like that.
“In addition to paying off your debt in full this very second...” Aldo continued in his business-persuasion voice, “...I’ll also change your part-time contract to a permanent position with a fifty percent raise, plus full health insurance benefits.”
The offer was like poisoned honey—sweet beyond belief. Kirana swallowed hard. Debt paid, permanent employment, a raise. The ultimate temptation at the end of the month.
“Just 30 days?” Kirana asked to confirm.
“Exactly 30 days. After that, we’ll handle the divorce amicably and professionally in religious court, citing the classic reason of incompatibility,” Aldo replied without a care.
“Wow, you make getting divorced sound as easy as canceling a Netflix subscription,” Kirana grumbled. She picked up the document and carefully turned through the pages. “But I have conditions!”
“Go ahead.”
“One: No getting emotionally involved. We only pretend to be affectionate in front of your family or in an emergency. Otherwise, we’re strangers who happen to share a roof.”
“Agreed.”
“Two: No physical contact outside what’s required for the marriage certificate. Handshakes are fine, and holding hands is allowed when we’re acting. Anything else is strictly forbidden!”
“Reasonable. Continue.”
“Three: You have to buy me a serving of sweet cheese-and-milk martabak every two weeks, and the company covers all my meals at the office.”
Aldo fell silent for a moment, staring at Kirana in disbelief. “You’re adding a martabak clause in the middle of a marriage contract?”
“Hey! That’s my prerogative as the party suffering emotional damages!” Kirana shot back irritably. “Deal or not?”
Aldo sighed, then gave a short nod. “Deal. The martabak is a minor matter.”
“Okay. Where’s the pen? I’ll sign it now before I realize I’m doing the stupidest thing in all of Indonesia.”
At 5:30 p.m. local time, Kirana emerged from Aldo’s office with a brand-new status that was completely beyond reason: the CEO’s contract wife.
She walked down the lower-floor corridor while staring at a copy of the contract in her hand. Her mind was still spinning, trying to process what had just happened in less than an hour.
“Kirana!”
A hard slap on the shoulder nearly made Kirana drop her document. To her left, Siska—her long-haired coworker from the same division—appeared with a wide grin, a backpack slung over one shoulder.
“You’re totally spacing out, Kirana! If a ghost possessed you, you’d know it,” Siska scolded. “So? Did the boss chew you out over yesterday’s report?”
Kirana quickly folded the document and stuffed it into her bag. “Huh? Oh... no, Sisk. It’s fine. We just talked about some routine administrative stuff.”
“Routine? But you’re so pale, you look like you just saw the second-floor ghost,” Siska pressed, narrowing her eyes. “Wait, don’t tell me you got a serious reprimand?”
“No, I swear. Actually...” Kirana almost blurted out that she had just signed a marriage contract. If Siska found out, the news would become national gossip in the office WhatsApp group within ten minutes. “...actually, our boss is being nice today.”
“Huh? Mr. Aldo? Nice? Say a prayer, Kirana! That North Pole penguin doesn’t even know the word ‘nice,’” Siska exclaimed in disbelief. “Just yesterday, half the finance division nearly cried because of one misplaced comma.”
“Yeah, well, he’s just having a moment of weakness today,” Kirana dodged quickly. “Come on, let’s go home. I’m exhausted.”
“Sure, let’s go. Hey, you’re still coming with me to the coffee shop out front to pay off last week’s coffee debt, right?” Siska asked as they headed toward the elevator.
Kirana came to an abrupt stop. She smiled faintly, remembering what Aldo had said about her debt being paid off instantly.
“Hmm... forget it, Sis,” Kirana said casually.
“Why? Since when are you so stingy? You’re usually the loudest one whenever debt comes up.”
“My debt’s been paid off.”
Siska stopped walking and looked Kirana up and down, her mouth hanging slightly open. “Paid off? By whom?”
“Enough with the questions. Go home!” Kirana urged, laughing softly as she hid the huge secret that had now officially bound her life for the next 30 days.
That night, at 8:00 p.m. local time.
Kirana stood in front of a luxury apartment in the Sudirman area. Her backpack hung from one shoulder, while her right hand carried a small cardboard box filled with her personal belongings, which had been moved over in a hurry on the orders of her pretend husband.
Ding.
The elevator doors opened. Aldo was already standing there waiting, dressed in a plain black T-shirt and relaxed slacks—a very rare sight, since the man was usually wrapped in a stiff formal suit. Without the suit, Aldo’s broad shoulders were clearly visible, making Kirana swallow unconsciously.
“Damn, he’s pretty handsome when he’s in casual mode,” Kirana thought, cursing herself.
“You’re late,” Aldo commented coldly when he saw Kirana.
“Sorry, Your Esteemed CEO. There was traffic. Do I have a private helicopter like you?” Kirana snapped as she dragged her box past Aldo and into the apartment.
The moment she entered, Kirana’s eyes lit up in awe. The apartment’s interior had a modern minimalist design dominated by gray and white. It was incredibly clean, neat, and orderly—the hallmark of someone with acute OCD.
“The bedroom on the left is yours. Don’t touch my work area in the living room, and never put strong-smelling food in the refrigerator,” Aldo listed, one household rule after another.
“Yes, Commander!” Kirana replied with a playful salute. She set her box on the sofa, then collapsed onto it, exhausted. “But remember, Sir. According to the agreement: no getting emotionally involved!”
Aldo walked closer and stopped directly in front of the sofa where Kirana was lying. His handsome face tilted down as he looked at her, his gaze difficult to interpret.
“Don’t worry, Miss Kirana,” Aldo whispered, his voice slightly deeper than usual. “I have no plans to fall in love with a constantly complaining assistant, either.”
Kirana gave a soft snort, even as her heart suddenly began beating twice as fast as normal. “Good. Then our deal is safe.”