When Love Becomes a Contract

Chapter Three: The Contract

I stared at my stepfather in pure disbelief. I couldn’t fathom the fact that he came to meet me directly at the studio. Perhaps this was the news Fabian wanted to bring to me.

Christopher broke the silence between us.

“You seem to be lost in thought, Princess,” he said, his lips still curved into a smile as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder as if trying to embrace me.

I quickly snapped his hand off my shoulder.

“Don’t ever call me Princess,” I responded, my face straight.

His smile faded.

“You know I can call you whatever I want to call you, little princess.”

I spat on the ground.

“You can go call your w***e of a wife that.”

A hard slap landed straight across my cheek.

“Don’t ever call your mother a w***e. She’s your mother, and you should put some respect on her name,” he said through gritted teeth.

Hot tears flowed down my face as I held my cheek in pain.

“You say I shouldn’t call her a w***e? After abandoning me when my father died and running after all those men until she brought you home and claimed you as her second husband? I regret the day she gave birth to me, and even more the fact that she’s my mother,” I exhaled as more tears rolled down my cheeks.

Christopher dragged me by the wrist, gripping it firmly. His eyes were bloodshot.

“You can hate us for all I care… as long as we’re your legal guardians, you will do as I say until you take your last breath on this earth. Am I understood?”

I aggressively snapped my hand out of his tight grip, sending a sharp pain through my wrist.

“Is everything alright, ma’am?” a staff member interrupted the heated moment between us.

I nodded with a faint smile.

“I’m fine.”

Christopher flashed her a lustful smile, and she shyly smiled back, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

The irritating situation made me want to leave the premises immediately.

“You promised me money,” he quickly said, stopping me before I could walk away.

“I didn’t promise you s**t!” I yelled, trying to control the urge to rip him to shreds.

“Calm down, Quinn. This anger of yours is something else.” He tucked his hands into his pockets as he turned to leave. “I guess I’ll just go home and reflect on the fact that my daughter is married to Vandal,” he said with a wide smirk.

Fear washed over my face. The only lie I told before marrying Vandal was that my parents were dead, and if he found out about this, I might as well be the one thrown out of Haven.

“I’ll run you a transfer. Minimum of three to five business days!” I yelled as I watched him wave his hand from afar.

I turned to leave, only to see Vandal standing behind me, his face straight and unreadable. Both hands were tucked into his pockets. He stood there motionless. He always wore that unreadable expression… I could never tell what was going on in his head.

“Who was that?” he asked, his cold voice sending shivers down my spine.

Could he have heard our conversation? I thought.

“Oh, that? That was the repair man… I wanted him to fix the… um… our studio sign,” I stuttered as I scratched my head.

And he did it again, just standing there staring at me, his dark eyes fixed on my body as if he knew the truth but preferred to observe how I blurted out my lies.

“Do you want to go home?” he asked, a hint of concern crossing his face.

I tilted my head. I had never seen him care much for me since we got married. His everyday treatment toward me was nothing but coldness.

“Yes, I want to go home,” I said in a low tone.

“Alright.” He nodded. “I’ll go get my coat inside.”

“No! Why?!” I immediately stopped him.

“You could tell Fabian to take me home. You don’t… have to drive me,” I stuttered again as my eyes fell to the ground. He was f*****g handsome watching me struggle through my awkward words.

He smiled faintly, his face lowered.

“Didn’t say I was driving you home,” he said before walking back into the studio.

“Fuck.” I placed my hands on my head. Now I regret slapping him earlier. This was actually my first time doing that to him, and he seemed so calm about the whole situation. I feel so guilty…

The ride home to Haven was peaceful and quiet. Cole didn’t say a word… neither did he mention Jayden being at his office today. Could it have been something else they were doing there? I thought deeply.

Oh my, I must have embarrassed myself today. And then Christopher came at the wrong time. I tried thinking of a way to get rid of him without letting Cole know about it. I just needed him out of my life.

My gaze fell on the rear mirror and I caught Fabian staring at me through it. His eyes were filled with concern, like he wanted to say something to me but couldn’t.

It turned out Fabian had a crush on me since my intern days.

He was the quiet type of crush… always staring and watching me from a distance, but never able to bring himself to confess how he felt. And I had absolutely no idea he felt that way about me.

I quickly looked away from the mirror. After all, I was the wife of Vandal and he was just a bodyguard.

I held my wrist, wrapping my fingers around it. It seemed as though the pain from earlier was resurfacing. My head felt heavy, and my vision slowly blurred.

********

I woke up on Cole’s cold bed, my skin slightly heated. Seems like I fell sick during the long ride home. My eyes moved across the room… it looked just as empty as the last time I saw it on our wedding night.

Cole and I both had a contract agreement to get married after his parents forced him through countless blind dates with billionaires’ daughters. He didn’t fit the position of the perfect heir to Vandal’s multi-billion-dollar assets, and so we got married.

I lied to him about my parents being dead, and he lied to his parents about my parents being dead but wealthy. He wanted his parents to approve of our marriage, and his request was granted. After our wedding, he toured me around Haven… and then I was shown my room. Obviously, what else was I supposed to expect from a contract marriage?

Cole came in with a tray in his hand, concern written across his face.

“When did you wake up?” he asked while checking my temperature with the back of his palm.

“Not long ago. I must have been a burden to you,” I responded with a pleading look.

He arched his brows.

“No, you’re not. You always get insecure about little things,” he said with a smile.

I couldn’t help but notice how good he looked whenever he smiled. He hardly ever smiled.

“I don’t get insecure about little things… don’t exaggerate it,” I smiled back at him.

“Well, you need to take some meds and probably get more rest. You only slept for less than two hours,” he said while handing me some pills and a bottle of water to swallow them with.

“What about the doctor?”

“Well… I sent him home after he gave me some instructions to follow.” He pushed back the strands of hair that had fallen over his face.

I gave him a suspicious look.

“Are you doing all this to change my mind about the divorce?” I questioned him.

His face hardened “I was never doing anything stupid with Jayden today and I never deserved that slap,” he answered.

“Then why was she in your office alone with you?”

“I was just about to kick her out of my office when you walked in,” he answered. “She was acting quite strange today… like she wanted something from me.”

“Whoa. And here I was foolishly thinking you were cheating on me with her.”

“Yeah, you always go on and on about me cheating on you and divorcing me. You know I would never do anything stupid to ruin our marriage.”

I scoffed, trying to act calm.

“It’s a contract marriage after all… we’re not really married based on our own personal feelings,” I said.

“You don’t have to feed yourself with lies from people out there. Just focus on what you want,” Cole said.

And to be honest, I actually felt like crying. I was too consumed by what other people were saying about my marriage instead of focusing on what I truly wanted.

Cole stood up to leave, his back facing me while his head tilted slightly in my direction.

“I’ll sign the divorce papers tomorrow morning. You don’t have to worry about the court anymore,” he said before walking out of the room, leaving me drowning in my own thoughts.

“He agreed to divorce me…” I whispered, my chest tightening as my heart began to pound slowly.