Becoming Mrs.Terry

Becoming Mrs.Perry

Chapter Two: One Night to Decide

Tinah didn’t sleep that night.

She tossed and turned on her narrow bed, Rowland Terry’s words echoing in her head like a broken record.

“I need a wife… and I want it to be you.”

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his unreadable face, heard his calm, calculated voice.

It didn’t make sense.

She was just his secretary. A name on his schedule. A voice that answered his calls. A woman who kept her heels quiet and her head down.

So why her?

She rolled onto her side, facing the cracked wall of her small apartment. The clock on her nightstand blinked 3:04 AM.

Her mind drifted to her sister — Hope — asleep in the next room. Just twelve, and already dealing with more pain than most adults. Hope was the only family Tinah had left, and the hospital bills weren’t slowing down.

This wasn’t just about her anymore.

A contract marriage could change everything. Financial freedom. Stability. A better future for Hope.

But the price?

Her pride. Her peace. Her ability to separate real from fake.

Tinah had promised herself she’d never depend on anyone again — not after her parents died, not after the foster homes, not after fighting her way through college working night shifts.

And now, a man who barely smiled, who only called her “Miss Perry,” was asking her to play his wife.

Was it bravery or desperation if she said yes?

⸻

The next morning, Tinah stood in front of Terry Corporation’s towering glass building, heart thudding in her chest. She was wearing her most professional blouse, her hair tied back, and not a trace of emotion on her face.

Just like he liked it.

She took the elevator up to the top floor in silence. Her hands trembled slightly as she reached his office door.

She knocked once.

“Come in,” came the cool reply.

Rowland was standing behind his desk, sleeves rolled up, looking like he hadn’t slept either.

Tinah stepped in, closed the door behind her, and said:

“I’ll do it. I’ll marry you.”

For the first time since she’d known him, Rowland blinked. Then nodded once.

“Good. I’ve already prepared the contract.”

Of course he had.

He handed her a thick file — terms, clauses, signatures. Everything legal. Everything binding.

“Six months,” he said. “No expectations. No intimacy. You’ll attend events with me, play the part, and live in my home. In return, you’ll be paid monthly. A final bonus at the end. And your sister’s medical bills? Covered.”

Her throat tightened. “You looked into my sister?”

“I needed to know what mattered to you,” he said simply. “So I could offer what you need.”

Tinah stared at the paper. This man was ice. But somehow, he had touched the one part of her she couldn’t hide.

She signed.

And in that moment, everything changed.