HIS TO RUIN, HIS TO SAVE

Chapter 4: You Have 48 Hours Sweetheart

Elara's POV

WIFE? Adrian had said the word but to Elara it really felt like a slap on her face. She couldn't breathe for a second.

Elara just kept her eyes on him. She waited for a smile. She’d thought any second now he’d crack. That he was messing with her right? But Adrian Kade didn’t. He just sat there without moving in that ugly orange chair. Looking bored, as though he was doing something normal.

"Exc…" She flinched. "Excuse me, come again?" Her voice cracked. "You’ve got to be kidding me."

"I think I was clear." Adrian took another paper from his folder. "I need a spouse. And you need eight million dollars. It seems fair to me."

"Fair?" Elara choked. Her chair scraped backward. Creak!

"Have you even listened to yourself since you walked into this building? You are talking about buying me."

"I’m…I'm only talking about a contract," he’d replied without hesitation. His voice had no emotions in it. It sounded worse than before because it had no feeling in it at all. "A business deal. We’d both know people have gotten married for a lot less."

He’d extended his hand to her and extended another document to her. It looked like a normal piece of paper with black letters on a white background. Unfortunately for Elara it felt like bad news.

"Read it."

With shaking hands gripping the paper she glanced at her father who was now far asleep. She’d barely hold onto the page. Her head wasn't thinking correct and all she could see from the page were words mixed together into a big blur. Legal language and hidden tricks filled the whole page. "Two years," Adrian said. "From this Christmas to the next one. Then it’s a clean break."

She’d looked up from the paper. Her heart was hammering against her ribs.

THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP.

It was trying to get out. "Don't get you…Two years? Two damn years of what exactly?"

"A performance." He’d leaned back in his chair. He studied her like she was some kind of bug. "You’ll go to fancy parties. Dinners and press events. You’d play your part. You’d have to smile and you’d have to hold my hand. And you’d have to look at me like I’m the most amazing person in the world. When we are in public you are my loving wife. When we are alone you are nothing to me. I repeat you are nothing to me. Absolutely nothing."

LOVING. The word had made her skin shiver.

"You want me to lie to everyone just because of the grudge between our fathers?"

"What I actually need is stability. My investors get nervous when a CEO isn't married. A wife makes me look human. Settled."

"And when we're alone?" Elara dug her thumbnail into her finger until it hurt. Daniel used to hate that habit. STOP PICKING ELARA IT'S GROSS. She did it anyway. Bad habits stick around. Especially the ones that kept her going. Daniel called her a distraction. But even now Adrian called her a business tool. Which was worse?

"The contract covers it." With his well manicured finger Adrian pointed to a section. "Rule 14. Separate bedrooms."

Elara blinked. SEPARATE BEDROOMS.

"Elara…this…" Adrian said and pointed casually to Elara and then back to himself. "...isn't a love story. Business. That is what it is." His eyes looked really mad. "Physical contact requires written agreement. Unless you sign for it I won't touch you. So don't even…"

That hurt. The words he’d said hurt her a lot. But why did that hurt though? She didn't want him. To even make matters worse she couldn't stand him. But the coldness. Like she was dirty. And like he’d need gloves to be near her. "Written agreement" she’d repeated with tears almost dropping from her eyes. "So I fill out a form for a hug?"

"Being specific…will prevent any type of mess."

Now her father's monitor beeped steadily. Her father was dying. His heart giving out. Everything he’d built falling apart.

"And what if…if I walk out?" Elara whispered.

Adrian didn't move.

"Then Hayes Manufacturing is gone by Monday. The company will be taken over and they’ll take everything your dad owns. I'll see to it. Every single person who works for him will get fired on Wednesday." He’d pointed to the bottom of the page. The letters there were in bold and looked angry. "Sign it and you stay. But if…if you try to leave before the two years are over? hahahaha! There’s a big penalty."

She'd stared at the number written there. "Five million" she breathed. "You want five million if I leave?"

"For breaking contract. For leaving early. For embarrassing me." He’d shrugged. "It ensures you stay honest. That you don't run."

"I don't have five million. You know that." She’d swallowed bitterly. "You own all my debt."

"Exactly."

He’d built a cage around her. Locked the door. And made sure she couldn't leave. If she signed she belonged to him. If she ran she destroyed her family.

"Why?" she asked. "Why me? A model or actress could've been hired. So why me?" She’d searched his face for pity or regret.

Nothing.

Adrian leaned forward. "Okay let me spell it out. Richard Hayes. He thinks he's a good man. Always putting people before money." Elara nodded confused. "Twenty years ago my father ran a company. He wanted to succeed." A muscle tightened in Adrian's jaw. "Your father found a small mistake in his paperwork. Tiny. But Richard Hayes went to the newspapers. Made my father look like a villain so he could look like a hero."

His eyes narrowed. "My father lost everything. The company. His self respect. He’d drank himself to death because of what your father did."

With a slight movement Elara pushed herself back against the chair she was sitting on. "I… I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't. The winners always get to tell the story." Adrian’s face was like a mask made of cold anger. "You can think of this as me fixing that story. I'm taking his company. I'm taking everything he’d built. And I'm taking his pretty daughter so he has to sit there and watch me do it."

"You're really sick, aren't you?" she didn't know when she let out. Her voice just above a whisper. "I'm thorough. You can't deny that." Adrian stood tall over her once again. His head looked down at his watch.

"The clock started when I…I walked in."

He’d picked up his folder but left the contract between them just sitting like it was a bomb. "Now you know what I'm offering. You know what happens if you refuse."

Click. Click. His cufflinks caught the fluorescent light above them as he adjusted them. Right one. Then left one while looking down at her. In that moment Elara had never felt so much like a loser. Except on the day Daniel drove away from her without even looking back.

"Forty eight hours Sweetheart. Clock’s ticking. That's all you have. Then the deal is gone. You know what that means? Your father’s company is gone with it."