chapter 7
788 Words
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_CHAPTER 7: SIGN HERE_
The office was on the 80th floor.
Glass walls. Cold air. A view of the entire city that made Amelia feel about two inches tall.
She wasn’t supposed to be here.
She was supposed to be at the coffee shop, clocking out at 6pm, going home to a studio apartment with a leak in the ceiling.
Instead she was sitting across from Luca Cole.
_THE PROPOSAL_
Luca didn’t look up when she walked in.
He was on the phone. Italian. Sharp. Angry.
He ended the call, tossed the phone aside, and finally looked at her.
“Miss Carter.”
“Mr. Cole.”
“Do you know why you’re here?”
“No.”
He leaned back in his chair. Black suit. No tie. Watch that cost more than her yearly salary.
“My PR team has a problem. My board has a problem. I have a problem.”
“Okay…”
“I need a wife.”
Amelia blinked.
“I’m sorry?”
“A wife. For 12 months. Public appearances. No scandal. No questions.”
She laughed. She couldn’t help it.
“You’re joking.”
“I don’t joke.”
He slid a folder across the desk.
Inside: photos of her. Her apartment. Her mom at the hospital. Her bank statements.
Amelia’s blood went cold.
“How did you—”
“I own the building you work in. I own the hospital your mother is in. I own a lot of things, Miss Carter.”
He wasn’t threatening.
He was just stating facts.
_THE TERMS_
He listed them like he was reading a grocery list.
1. *Duration*: 12 months
2. *Payment*: $2,000,000. Half upfront. Half at the end.
3. *Duties*: Galas, dinners, photos. Play the role.
4. *Rules*: No dating. No talking to press. No falling in love.
5. *Exit Clause*: 30 days notice. Full payout.
“You’re serious,” she whispered.
“Dead serious.”
“Why me?”
“Because you’re invisible. No family drama. No exes. No social media. You’re clean.”
“And because I’m desperate?”
He didn’t deny it.
Amelia looked at the contract. 12 pages.
Her hands were shaking.
$2,000,000 would pay off her mom’s medical debt.
It would buy her a new life.
It would cost her everything.
“What if I say no?”
“Then I find someone else. And your mother’s hospital bill goes to collections next week.”
There it was. The ruthless part.
_THE SILENCE_
She didn’t answer right away.
She stood up. Walked to the window.
80 floors down, people looked like ants.
She thought about her mom. About the nurse who said “we need payment by Friday.”
About being 26 and so tired.
“I have conditions,” she said.
Luca raised a brow.
“No one touches me.”
“Agreed.”
“I keep my job at the coffee shop.”
“Fine.”
“And I want it in writing that this is a contract. Not a marriage.”
He almost smiled. “It already is.”
He pushed a pen across the table. Montblanc. Heavy.
_THE SIGNING_
Her name looked wrong on the line.
_Amelia Carter._
Not his last name. Not yet.
She signed.
He signed.
A witness, his assistant, signed.
Just like that, she was Mrs. Cole.
Luca stood. Came around the desk.
He didn’t offer his hand.
“Ring fitting is tomorrow at 10am. Photoshoot next week. My mother arrives in 6 days.”
“Okay.”
“One more thing.”
“What?”
“Don’t ever lie to me. And don’t ever make me regret this.”
He walked her to the door himself.
In the elevator, alone, Amelia stared at her reflection.
Same face.
Different life.
Her phone buzzed.
Hospital: _Payment received. Your mother’s treatment will continue._
She exhaled.
She’d sold herself.
But her mom would live.
_THAT NIGHT_
She went home to her tiny apartment.
Packed one bag.
Luca’s driver was waiting downstairs.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“To the penthouse, ma’am.”
The penthouse was bigger than her whole building.
White everything. Cold.
Her room was at the end of the hall.
Separate rooms. Thank God.
On the bed: a dress for tomorrow. A note.
_Be ready at 9:30. - L_
She sat on the floor and cried.
Not because she was scared.
Because for the first time in 3 years, she didn’t have to choose between rent and medicine.
_THE LAST THOUGHT_
Before sleep, she looked at the contract on her nightstand.
Clause 8.3 stared back at her: _Either party may terminate..._
She traced the words with her finger.
12 months.
She could do 12 months.
Right?
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