The Contract

It’s been three years today since I got married, but I’ve never met my husband. Yes, you might find that strange. My name is Liz Navarro Andrade, and I’m 21 years old. As soon as I turned 18, I had to marry my guardian. I lost my parents when I was 16 in a plane crash. My father had already left a will in case something happened to them. The will stated that I had to stay married to my guardian until I turned 25. My father wanted me to graduate, preferably in law, since the companies I own are all in that field. Only after graduating could I take the reins of the company and get a divorce. But things changed. My guardian passed away shortly after my parents. He had a heart attack—yes, at just 32 years old, he had a heart attack. As a result, everything changed. I married his uncle, who was only 27 years old when we got married. Isn’t that odd? The nephew is much older than the uncle. I found that strange, too, but what can I do about it? On the day of our wedding, I didn’t see him. He just sent the documents through Bruno, the lawyer my father left to assist me. I signed a document stating that I was married to Henry McNight—just that. Then I moved into a mansion. The house belongs to Henry; it’s huge, with two floors and a garage filled with several cars—about ten cars in that garage. I’ve been living here for three years, just with the housekeeper, Sandra. She’s around 50, with dark skin, brown eyes, and some gray in her hair. She’s the one who takes care of me; I consider her like a mother. “Sandra?” “Hi, Liz.” “Can you ask Bruno to come here? We’re having breakfast.” “Sure, but can I know the reason?” “I want my divorce. I can’t stand being married to a man I barely know anymore.” “Calm down, dear. There are only three years left.” I’ve never seen him, except for a photo Sandra showed me once. He’s blond, tall, with green eyes, light brown hair, and in the photo, his beard was unshaven. Yes, he’s definitely handsome. He would never look at a teenager who had just turned 18 at the time. “No, Sandra, I want to live my life. Enjoy things.” She puts down her coffee cup and just observes me. “I can’t do any of that being married.” “But you can. Go out with your friends, enjoy!” “Mrs. Navarro.” Petter is my driver. “Of course, Petter, I’m on my way.” “Bye, Sandra.” I grab my bag, kiss her forehead, and head to college. “Bye, my girl.” They call me by my parents’ last name. I don’t like being called McNight; I don’t think it’s fair to use the name of a man I don’t know and have never seen in person. The house staff are practically my family; I consider them as such. In fact, I treat them as if they were my parents. They are the ones who keep me company. Petter and Sandra have been dating for some time. Both have been married before and have suffered a lot, so they opted for dating when they met. On weekends, they are the ones who keep me company. And when Henry comes to New York, he stays in a hotel. As soon as I arrived at college, I spotted Ana. “Liiiiiz!” “Come.” She pulls me by the hand, all excited. “There’s a new professor.” “Wow! How exciting!” “He’s really hot.” I laugh; Ana always thinks the professors are hotties. As soon as we entered the classroom, I came face to face with none other than Henry McNight! “Oh no!” “I told you he’s a real looker, Liz.” Ana doesn’t know I’m married; she only knows I inherited a fortune from my parents, which is true. She knows Sandra and Petter. “Good morning!” He has a husky and sexy voice. “I’ll be your new substitute teacher!” The girls start murmuring. “I’ll continue with the Civil Law classes.” Great—just the subject I’m bad at. We sit down, and the class begins. I don’t pay attention to anything he says; I’m too busy admiring his looks and reminding myself that I’m married to this man. He stands with a firm posture, and though the girls are still whispering about him, he doesn’t let their comments affect him. He acts as if they don’t exist. Sometimes our eyes meet. I wonder if he knows who I really am. No, I doubt it. Hopefully not! “Hey, Liz, class is over.” Ana shakes me. “Really!” “Wipe that drool off your chin, and let’s head to the next class.” Ana laughs as she speaks. We head toward the door, and at that moment, I trip over my own feet and go straight to the floor, dropping my books. Way to go, Liz! “Are you okay?” Henry comes over and asks. I try to say something, but the words won’t come out. He crouches down to help me with my books, and for a split second, our eyes meet. He extends his hand. Of course, I accept! Only then do I realize that Ana is frozen beside me, watching everything. “Th… thank you!” Don’t stutter, Liz, I scold myself. “You’re welcome! Just be more careful next time.” Wow, how rude. “Let’s go, Ana!” I don’t say another word to him; I just grab her arm and leave. “Did you see how he acted?!” I say to Ana as soon as we’re out of the room. “He’s totally my type, Liz!” Ana sighs. “He’s such a hottie.” “And he’s rude!” “No way. He helped you out.” The bell rings for the next class. “Let’s go!” I pull Ana again; it seems she’s hypnotized by him. I can’t deny that I didn’t focus in any of my other classes. I could only remember those green eyes! He’s way more handsome than in the photo. And besides everything, he’s my husband. I’m sure he doesn’t know who I am. I hope it stays that way until he signs the divorce. “Are you okay, Liz?” “Yes, I am.” Ana asks, pulling me out of my daydream. “Then let’s go; it was our last class.” I look around and see the room is empty. “Let’s go!” “There’s a party at Samantha’s house today; shall we go?” “I’m not feeling well.” I put on my best pitiful face. “Did the hot professor get you all flustered?” She starts to laugh. “Of course not!” I try to lie. “I have cramps. I’d rather stay home.” We head out of the corridor. “I’ll try to kiss Igor!” Ana’s always been bold but a bit shy, too, if you catch my drift. “Good luck with that.” Igor doesn’t pay attention to her, but she can’t understand that. “Okay. See you Monday.” Ana hugs me and heads toward the gate. I just stand there, watching her walk away. “Are you okay, Miss...?” I hear that husky, sexy voice behind me. My whole body shivers, and he really doesn’t know who I am. “Navarro! Liz Navarro,” I say, turning around with a sarcastic edge. “Sorry. It’ll take some time for me to learn all the students’ names.” Man, this guy’s got such a wonderful voice. And he treats me like a simple student. I don’t respond. I just turn and head for the gate. I don’t look back. “Miss Navarro? Miss?” I walk away, hearing him call after me. As soon as I exit through the gate, I feel relief and a tremor. I spot Petter’s car and hop in quickly. “Did something happen, Liz?” “No, Petter.” I try to play it cool, but he keeps glancing at me through the rearview mirror. “I think I ate something that didn’t sit well.” “Do you want to see a doctor?” “No need. A tea from Sandra will be enough.” “Okay.” He starts the car, and we head home. The whole ride home, I can’t stop thinking about him. As soon as I get home, Bruno is waiting for me. “Bruno?!” “Hey, sweetie,” Sandra comes to meet me. “You look pale; is something wrong?” “I ate something that didn’t agree with me.” I pull a face to make it believable. “I’ll make some tea for you.” Sandra goes to the kitchen. “Thank you.” I put my bag on the floor and sit on the sofa opposite Bruno. “Everything okay, Liz?” “Yes, Bruno. What brings you here?” “Mr. Henry wishes to speak with you about the divorce.” “There’s no need for that.” This is just too much. “He never showed any interest in meeting me. He didn’t even show up on our wedding day. So he doesn’t need to see me to talk about the divorce.” “He will come to the city to do this.” “He’s already here in the city!” “How?” Oh Liz, nice going with your big mouth! “I saw in the newspaper that he was already here,” I try to lie. “Ah, I see.” He seems to believe it. “Just tell him to sign the papers; I want to live my life. That’s it." “Look, Liz, I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything. Mr. McNight has quite a strong personality.” “That’s because he’s never seen me angry.” “I’ll see what I can do with him.” Bruno looks at me with pity. “I’ll call you.” “Thank you, Bruno.” Is my husband some kind of "demon"? Everyone who talks about him seems to be afraid of him. He heads toward the door. Chapter posted on August 14, 2021, at 10:54 PM