contracted to my ruthless CEO

Chapter 4: A decision no way out!

Stacy quickly took a cab back home. Her jaw tightened as she kept staring at the message on her glowing screen. Her hands trembled. Everything seemed normal in the city as she stared past the window.

She couldn't stop thinking about the last words from Gerard. “And maybe you too.”

Still at the same moment, she reread the message still open on her screen. “You don't know what you just walked into” She couldn't stop staring.

“Who is this? How does he or she know my location and situation at that exact time?” She kept thinking.

She didn't reply, she didn’t delete it. She decided just to leave the message the way it is. So she turned her phone face down and dropped it beside her.

When she got home, she took a warm bath, put on some dry clothes, and went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. She stood at the kitchen sink with the cup of tea untouched and the quiet of her apartment dominating her.

“Two things happened today. A man I hate is said to be my husband. And someone I don't even know is watching my life secretly already.” She thought to herself.

She slowly walked to her room and reached for her laptop, a notebook and a pen.

She searches Crestline Holdings. Then Vantex. Then proceeded to hostile acquisition, share movements, everything. She read it all carefully, even the things she does not fully understand and writes notes in the margin of her work notebook. In order not to be the one lost in all this and understand more about everything happening around her.

She thought of searching about Gerard Blackwood. But then closes the laptop and decides not to. She lies on her bed staring at the ceiling.

She keeps staring for a few seconds. Then eventually gave in as she reaches for her laptop and searched.

What popped up first was a photograph of him in London, wearing an expensive suit and a cold expression, as he stood outside a luxurious building.

She stares at it for a few seconds longer then closes her laptop and goes back to bed. Her phone faced down on her night stand. Laid in the dark.

At the same time of the day, Gerard was at his lobby. A glass in his hand, standing at the window looking at the city's movements. Thinking of Daniella, a forced deal and his sick father's wishes.

Then his phone rings. It was Noah Price.

"Vantex approached Hartley Group this morning," Noah says. "Formal offer. Better terms than Crestline's current contract. Hartley is considering.”

Hartley Group. Fifteen years. His father's account personally.

"And what’s the timeline?" Gerard says.

"If Hartley walks, two weeks before three more follow. After that the board fractures and we both know what that looks like.”

Gerard sets his glass down. "Noted. Now I need you to me everything on Stacy Mills.”

"The fiancée?"

"The variable," Gerard replied flatly. "I need to know exactly who I am dealing with.”

He ended the call then sent a message to Eleanor.

“Both families should be at my office the day after tomorrow in the evening. Remember, it’s non negotiable."

He went back at the window for a long moment after. His mind slowly wandered off to the way she said they don't have anything like the wall was already built between them. But what if it was? He ended up pushing the thought away.

That same night. Daniella sat still in her hotel suite. Composed. Perfectly dressed as always. Her laptop is widely open, a glass of red wine sat on the table beside her like she was celebrating something.

Two messages. Both delivered and read.

All those years with Gerard Blackwood had taught her many things. Thoroughness was one of them. And patience was another.

Her phone rings. But she lets it ring quite longer before picking it up. Unbothered.

"Mr. Cole.”

Adrian Cole's voice came out sharp and measured. Like someone who has been waiting so long for an accomplishment. “I understand you are still in New York."

“Yes I am."

"And is Gerard aware?"

"Gerard thinks I stayed for him." She paused, as she played with her hair. "Well, let’s just say he’s not entirely wrong."

"It seems like you have access.” That wasn't a question.

"I have everything." Her voice is completely even. "Four years is a long time to know someone. Their habits. Their passwords. Their pressure points. The version of them that only exists when nobody else is watching.”

Silence grew between them.

"And the girl?"

Daniella closes the laptop slowly with her phone in her hands. "She already read my messages." She lifted her glass. "She deleted the first one. But she read it twice before she did."

"Are you certain about this?"

"I built the tracker myself. So damn sure I am."

Adrian is quiet for a moment. "What do you want in return, Miss Cross?”

Daniella looks at her reflection in the dark window across the room. The woman looking back at her is composed. Unreadable. Completely decided.

"I want to watch him stand in the wreckage of everything his father chose over me," she says quietly. "And I want him to know I built every piece of it."

The line got silent for three full seconds. "Well then. I think it’s time to welcome you on board."

She ends the call and sets the phone down. Looking at the phone, she picks it up and typed the second message. "He is already investigating you. Did you really think you had a choice? You never had a choice.” She immediately sent it, sets the phone face down and finished her wine.

It was morning and Stacy was leaving for work. For her both jobs as usual. With her head facing down and her hands moving. The anonymous messages kept appearing more during her shift. She read them under the table so her boss doesn’t catch her.

"He talks about everyone like a transaction. You will be no different.”

She kept deleting it.

The second day, still at work. Her father called about four times. She picked up on the fourth. He tried to convince her to reconsider but her response was still the same. That evening, she went back home to her laptop. Back to the research. She understood more today than she did yesterday. She was building a picture piece by piece and she didn't like what it looked like.

Her phone buzzed at eleven. Still from an unknown number. "The wedding announcement goes public in seventy two hours whether you agree or not. That is how men like him work. They do not ask. They announce. He will destroy you.”

She kept staring at the screen. It was getting too much. She couldn't sleep. Her heart raced faster than usual.

The next morning, the news breaks before she gets to work. “Vantex Corporation. Hartley Group. Formal acquisition offer” Three publications. One television network. All before nine in the morning.

Her feet trembled, her eyes cracked as she kept on reading it on her phone in the cab. Eventually after reading it three more times. That when she realized it. “This is real.” She whispered to herself.

In the midst of it all, her phone buzzed. "Today is the day when you have to give an answer. Whatever they offer you, just remember you are not a solution to them. You are a sacrifice. And once you sign that paper there is no walking back.”

Eleanor called thirty seconds later.

"Miss Mills, there’s a meeting at the office this evening. Both families. The address is on your phone."

Stacy stared at the pavement, her mind racing.

"Miss Mills? Are you there?"

"Yes yes. I heard you."

She hung up. Sit for one more moment in the cold. With her legs shaking she picked up her bag and went inside to finish her shift.

That evening, the Mills and Blackwood families were gathered in the same room for the first time. Richard and Victor sat across from each other as old friends. Old weight between them and the agreement they both made.

Gerard stood by the window. With his hands in his pockets as usual. The city below him exactly the way it always is. Stacy walked in last. Everyone stared at her as she moved to her seat. Precised and unbothered.

Gerard turns from the window and immediately their eyes meet across the room, they stared at each other for quite a bit. Richard slides two documents across the table. One toward Gerard. One toward Stacy. Both names were already printed. Same page.

Gerard hesitates but picks it up. Stacy looks down at hers and does not touch it. She looks back up at Gerard. He was already looking at her. Everyone stared at her including her father.

The word no was still in her chest, she could feel it. But right now, she had to make a final decision.

What’s it going to be?