I Signed a Contract to Marry a Suicidal Billionaire

Chapter 2

Matahari was walking down the alleyway as the sky started to rumble. Still on her wrecked pajamas and bare feet, she sadly walked as she heard Paul behind her, still obviously mad about what happened.

“What a nice way to end the night.” Paul said as he felt the drizzle drop in his cheeks. He watched Matahari’s back as she sadly walked under the rain. However, Paul felt no remorse for her because to him, she is just someone he can use. “How stupid”.

Matahari didn’t speak but her tears expressed what she felt.

Paul hated how Matahari looked like—and worst of all, the pace of her walk. She was so slow and sad, making Paul impatient.

“Hey b***h, can’t you walk faster?”

Matahari took a long time before answering him. “My feet are injured” at this time, the drizzle was already becoming rain.

How did she even get herself into the situation she was now?

Why did she keep on enduring all the hardships given to her by Paul?

“You know what?” Paul said, laughing as Matahari stopped on her tracks to listen to him. “You got a hold of Fifteen Thousand so fast. I wonder if you have savings that you are keeping from me.”

Matahari didn’t answer, but her fist hardened as she wanted to kill Paul for destroying her life.

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At first, everything was perfect. Matahari was a student who was doing well in everything. She had a perfect school record and an overall happy life.

Until Paul came.

He transferred to her university on her sophomore year, and he kept on pestering her to date him. When she rejected him multiple times, he made sure to separate her from her friends. He told lies to them, and her group of friends decided to exclude Matahari from their group.

Paul tried to pursue Matahari again, but she didn’t want to, which made Paul unleash his demons sleeping inside him. He threatened Matahari to hurt her mother, and he did, making Matahari feel powerless.

She tried asking for help, but no one came. Even the police were fooled by his charismatic traits.

She let herself be used by the monster and she died inside every single time it happened. Voiceless, dirty, undesirable, she couldn’t even look at herself in the mirror with feeling disgusted by herself.

5 years already passed by, and with her degree, she could have been rich by now, but all her savings were spent by Paul, leaving nothing but debts she need to pay.

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“If I knew you would be this undesirable in my eyes, I should have gone after Sunset, your best friend,” Paul said, waking Matahari from her reveries.

“What in the world are you thinking?!” She shouted and aggressively stood in front of Paul, unable to hold back her tears. A thunder came in later as the rain poured relentlessly. “Isn’t it already enough for you when you ruined my life?” she said, crying, but her tears were hidden by the rain that soaked them both wet.

“I should be the one who asks you that, you b***h,” Paul replied, mad about Matahari’s aggressive reaction towards him. He grabbed her hair and pulled it hard. “Didn’t I tell you that you can never be mad at me because you are my slave?” he asked, anger was apparent in his coarse voice.

Matahari looked at him, so mad that she was already crying but still looking at him badly.

“I am never your slave. I am someone you never treated as human!” she cried and tried to be free from his grasps.

Paul was astounded that he couldn’t keep himself from not hitting her. He slapped her so hard that her side tooth went loose. She spat blood and that teeth at Paul’s feet.

“You were asking for it,” he said, not even a hint of apology in his voice.

“I hope you die,” Matahari said as Paul pulled her hair tighter, but before he could have punched Matahari, she kicked his manhood. He shrieked in pain and let go of Matahari. She ran as fast as she could under the rain, as some people were already looking at her as she walked bare feet, soaking wet.

She passed by a train station just a street before her home, determined to end everything that night. Still, the rain was pouring down, but the sun was already apparent.

“It must be the next day now,” she stated the obvious. However, if it’s tomorrow, then her birthday would also be today. “Hah,” she cried. “What a perfect way to end my life,” she said, as she heard a train approach her.

All she could think about at that moment was how happy she was in the past. Her smiles, other people’s smiles, and her family flashed into her as she took a step closer to the railway. The wind made her blink, letting go of her tears.

She took another step and thought about the books she was never able to read, and she another step, this time, smaller than before.

At that moment, what she thought made her hesitate moments before the train could have passed. Her mother, her ever sweet mother, was waiting for her in the house, maybe hungry, maybe sick, or maybe even sleeping with a rumbling tummy. The thought killed her more times she could have thought.

However, as she was walking closer, and a second before the train ran her over, she took one or two steps back and fell down the ground. She waited for the train to pass and ran to her home, where her mother wasn’t found. She went out to ask the neighbors when a voice called.

“Matahari! I’ve been searching everywhere for you!”

It was her best friend, Sunset. She held her hand and put her under her umbrella, failing to see her tears disguised as rain.

“Your mother was taken to the nearest hospital last night. I’ve been trying to reach you, but your phone was left in your house,” she hurriedly said. However, she noticed the state Matahari was in, and the forming bruise in her cheeks. “Oh, poor you, I told you to move in with me!” she yelled, now crying because of pity.

Matahari could only think about her mother, and left Sunset running after her as she sped past the rain to go to the nearest hospital in their locality.

“Matahari! Wait for me!” Sunset called, but Matahari proved to be unresponsive.

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“…5 years already passed by after the devastating plane crash that killed the son and the pregnant wife of the richest man of our country, Olli Kaunisvesi. How he got through the disaster remains a mystery to me, because if it were me, I don’t know if I can handle that,” The television in the reception room clamored, as the program “Entreprenuerial Mindset and Society” was live. There were about ten people watching the program in the hospital’s reception. Sunset guessed that it should be family of those who came for check-up.

Matahari didn’t mind anything that was happening around her as she went inside the emergency room. A lot of people were eyeing her desperate state. Sunshine ran after her, worrying about her best friend.

“Still, he became more successful while holding such painful memories inside him. Let’s look at his picture. He doesn’t even look depressed to me!”

Matahari went straight to the reception.

“Where is Priscilla Taylor, please?” Her voice was desperate and teary. The reception staff looked at her and felt sorry at her state. At that time, her bruise was already apparent. Her lip seemed broken as well. The staff immediately checked the room, and after a good ten minutes, she looked at her again.

“She is in Room 306,” she said. But before Matahari could have left with Sunset, a nurse, who has been watching her from the side, held her hand. Matahari looked at her to discover an old woman who is about in her 60s.

“Why? Who hurt you?” the nurse asked with a motherly tone. Matahari felt like hugging her, but she remembered that she was too wet, and she would get the nurse’ clothes dirty.

“No one,” she finally said, but Sunset sighed in dismay. She hesitantly let go of the kind hand that held her, while she was desperate to feel that warmth again, for a longer time. She hurriedly ran towards the elevator, leaving the kind nurse sad for her.

“Her hands…” the nurse remarked. “They are trembling”.

They watched them board the elevator, and what Matahari thought would be the last time, she looked at the nurse, catching each other’s glances.

She immediately tried to brush away that momentary warmth as she decided to focus on what’s ahead. Today is her birthday, Paul is on the loose, and her mother is at the hospital, all alone, because her best friend had to search for her.

Nothing can ever convince her that it was not her worst day ever. As they went higher through the elevator, she was walking left and right, an indication of her, not being able to wait furthermore. The moment they were able to get to the third floor, she immediately stormed the entire room, as she saw her all-white hair, and finally her mother, sitting before the television set-up high in the wall, she ran as fast as she could to hug her.

“Oh, Matahari,” her mother said, surprised. Sunset stayed behind.

“I’m so sorry I am late.” She cried, hugging her mother.

“Why are you so messy?” Priscilla asked.

“I… I ran and forgot to bring my umbrella,” she lied, unable to look at her mother’s eyes.

“Oh, my daughter,” she cried and hugged Matahari, not bothered with her wet clothes. She then noticed her bruises. “Did Paul hit you again?”

Matahari fell silent. Sunset rolled her eyes. Before she could answer, the nurse from earlier appeared, carrying a first aid kit in her arms. Sunset sat beside Priscilla.

“Sweet child,” she said. “Let me take a look at your wound,” Priscilla let Matahari go and smiled at her. As she saw that Matahari can’t see her anymore, she collapsed in Sunset’s arms.

“I told you to stay in your bed Auntie,” Sunset scolded her.

“I don’t want my daughter to see me weak,” Priscilla answered. “I wish I could save her from that devil,” she added, referring to Paul.

“It’s sad that police won’t even do anything about it,” Sunset said.

Sooner or later, Matahari was back with fresh bandages in her feet and some in her face as well. “Mom,” she called, and suddenly, Priscilla was energetic again, though Sunset knew it was a hoax. “You have to rest,” she said, but Priscilla got up from her seat and desperately tried to walk straight, despite her head pounding.

“All I want right now is to go home,” she said, as if begging Matahari to take her home. The truth is, she knew that they couldn’t afford the treatment.

Matahari followed her mom, knowing this reason well. Sunset rented a cab for all of them, and the driver was very upset with the seats being wet. Sunset had to pay him more because of that.

Sooner of later, they arrived at their humble home. Though it was small, it was clean and very organized, except, of course, when Paul goes home. To their relief, Paul wasn’t there. Priscilla went straight to her bed and rested as Matahari gave Sunset tea, her favorite drink.

“Do you want to apply in my agency?” Sunset asked, out of the blue. Matahari had been wondering what made her friend suddenly rich, but she was skeptical about it.

“May I ask what it is about?” she asked. Sunset sipped her tea before answering.

“It’s called, You Shouldn’t Die Alone Organization,” Sunset said. However, Matahari was astounded, and she laughed, loud enough to disturb her mother who was already sleeping in her room. She sneered at them both, and they both talked silently again.

“I am a bit offended, but I get that reaction a lot,” Sunset stated. “It’s a legitimate organization that helps mental health of those suicidal people. A lot of them clients are rich, one even gave me a car,” she said, and Matahari remembered the only car that Sunset had, a Lexus that she always uses as a background for her posts. “Yes, that one,” Sunset read her mind. “There he is, still alive today”.

“So basically?” Matahari asked, intrigued.

“Basically, you will have a contracted marriage with them and help them recover from depression,” Sunset replied.

“And they pay you sums of money?”

“They pay the agency sums of money, and the agency pays you, and the contracted husband can also pay you,” Sunset, eager to help her best friend out, said.

“That doesn’t sound real,” Matahari commented.

“Explain my wealth then,” Sunset contradicted her skepticism.

It has always been a great mystery to her as to how Sunset got rich, as it almost seemed like it’s over night.

“I think I have to think about it,” she said, finally deciding to believe her best friend.

“As you should. With the lots of money, you could earn there, you can be free from Paul and be able to afford your mom’s hospital bills”.

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However, Sunset didn’t have to wait long for her best friend’s decision, because the next day, Matahari came knocking at her door.

“How do I sign up?” she asked, still panting from her running from the next street. Sunset smiled.

“Come with me”.