HIS CONTRACT WIFE

THE OFFER EPISODE 1: THREE HOURS LEFT “What do you want from me?” Amara didn’t expect an answer. Adrian Cole sat across from her like time didn’t matter. Like she wasn’t standing at the edge of collapse. “I want you to marry me.” The words didn’t land properly at first. Marriage? Her mind rejected it before her heart could respond. Three hours ago, she was outside this same building trying to figure out how to survive another day. Now this. Three hours left before eviction. Three hours left before the hospital stopped treating her mother. Three hours left before everything broke. And yet this offer felt like a different kind of ending. “You’re serious,” she whispered. “I don’t make jokes about business.” That word business made her chest tighten. Marriage wasn’t supposed to be business. But Adrian looked like he had already reduced it to numbers. EPISODE 2: A COLD PROPOSAL “There are other women,” Amara said. “Why me?” Adrian didn’t hesitate. “Because you have nothing.” The silence after that was brutal. No influence. No protection. No one to question her disappearance into his world. “You’re convenient,” he added. Amara swallowed the insult because she had no room to reject truth. “And if I refuse?” Adrian stood. “Then you walk out that door,” he said calmly. “And keep everything you came in with.” Her reality flashed in her mind like a wound. Debt. Hospital bills. Eviction notice. No safety net. Nothing. He wasn’t offering love. He was offering survival with conditions. EPISODE 3: THE TERMS “What are the terms?” Amara asked. For the first time, something flickered in Adrian’s expression. Then control returned. “A legal marriage,” he said. “Public when needed. Private always separate.” “No emotional expectations,” he continued. “No interference in my life. I won’t interfere in yours.” “And after two years, we end it.” Just like that. Clean. Too clean. “And the catch?” she asked. He leaned forward slightly. “I need a wife the world can see,” he said. “Someone no one can use against me.” “And I need someone invisible.” That word again. Invisible. Amara felt it settle on her like a label she didn’t ask for. Then she saw it. ₦50,000,000 on the contract. Her future, priced. EPISODE 4: THE NEGOTIATION Amara didn’t sign immediately. “That’s not enough,” she said quietly. Adrian’s eyes narrowed. “You’re in no position to negotiate.” “I am,” she replied. “Because you need me more than you’re saying.” Silence stretched. Then he studied her differently. Like she had just changed shape in his mind. “I want protection for my mother,” she said. “Full medical coverage. No delays.” That was the line she wouldn’t bend. Adrian didn’t argue. “Done.” Too fast. Too easy. Her instincts screamed, but desperation drowned them out. EPISODE 5: THE SIGNATURE “One more thing,” Adrian said. Amara paused. “Once you sign,” he said, “there’s no going back.” A warning. Or ownership disguised as warning. Amara looked at the contract again. Her mother’s face flashed in her mind. The hospital bed. The weak voice. The silence between breaths. Her hand trembled as she picked up the pen. Then she signed. EPISODE 6: THE SHIFT The moment her name hit the paper, something changed. Not in the room. In her life. Adrian picked up the contract without emotion. But his smile returned. And this time It wasn’t kind.