The Contract Marriage

Chapter Two:The Proposal

I couldn't remember the last time a stranger had gotten under my skin.

Yet somehow, Aria Bennett had managed to do it in less than five minutes.

I sat behind my desk the following morning, staring at the city through the floor-to-ceiling windows of my office.

The skyline was usually enough to clear my head.

Today, it wasn't working.

I could still see her standing in the middle of the ballroom.

The nervous expression on her face.

The tray clutched tightly in her hands.

And that ridiculous answer when I asked if she always greeted people that way.

Only the important ones.

I almost smiled.

Almost.

I leaned back in my chair.

"Aria Bennett."

I said her name quietly.

I didn't know why I remembered it so easily.

I'd met hundreds of people at Blackwood events. Politicians. Investors. Celebrities. CEOs.

None of them had stayed in my thoughts the next morning.

She had.

A knock sounded on my door.

I looked toward it.

"Come in."

My secretary, Daniel, walked inside carrying a tablet.

"Good morning, sir."

"Morning."

He placed the tablet on my desk.

"Your nine o'clock meeting has been moved to ten."

"Fine."

"And your father called."

My expression hardened.

"What does he want?"

"He asked you to meet him at the family residence at eleven."

I glanced at the clock.

"Did he say why?"

"No."

Of course he didn't.

My father rarely explained himself.

"Cancel everything after eleven."

Daniel nodded.

"Yes, sir."

He turned toward the door.

"Daniel."

He stopped.

"Yes?"

"Find me information on Aria Bennett."

His eyebrows lifted slightly.

"The waitress?"

I looked at him.

"Do I need to repeat myself?"

"No, sir."

He immediately lowered his eyes to his tablet.

"Of course."

He left.

I stared at the closed door.

I didn't know what I expected to find.

Maybe I simply wanted to know why I couldn't stop thinking about her.

Whatever the reason, I wasn't going to waste time wondering.

I would find out.

At exactly eleven, I arrived at my father's house.

The Blackwood residence had always felt more like a museum than a home.

Everything was expensive.

Everything was perfectly arranged.

And nothing ever felt warm.

My father was sitting in his study when I entered.

He didn't look up from the papers in front of him.

"You're late."

"I'm two minutes early."

He finally looked at me.

"Sit."

I remained standing.

"What is this about?"

He leaned back in his chair.

"You know the company will eventually be yours."

"I know."

"Then you should also know that the board is beginning to question your ability to lead it."

I almost laughed.

"My ability?"

"You are thirty-one years old and unmarried."

I stared at him.

"That's your concern?"

"It's one of them."

"Then tell the board to mind their business."

His expression didn't change.

"This isn't a request, Damien."

Something in his voice made me pause.

He opened a folder and pushed it across the desk.

I didn't touch it.

"What is that?"

"The condition."

"For what?"

"Your inheritance."

Silence filled the room.

I finally picked up the folder.

My father's eyes remained fixed on me.

"You will be required to marry before the transfer of controlling ownership is finalized."

I looked up.

"You're joking."

"I'm not."

"Why?"

"Because the family needs stability."

I dropped the folder onto the desk.

"I don't need a wife to run a company."

"Perhaps not. But you need one to satisfy the terms."

I stood.

"No."

His eyebrows rose.

"No?"

"I'm not marrying someone because you decided I should."

"You have six months."

I laughed bitterly.

"Find someone else to inherit the company."

"You know that isn't an option."

I walked toward the door.

"Then I suppose we're done."

"Damien."

I stopped.

"You don't need to love her."

I turned around.

"What?"

"You need a wife. Nothing more."

For a moment, I said nothing.

Then I walked out.

By the time I returned to my office, Daniel was waiting for me.

He had several files on his desk.

"You asked for information on Aria Bennett."

"Yes."

He handed me the first file.

"Twenty-four years old. Works part-time at the Blackwood Hotel. She has no criminal record, no major scandals, and no public relationships."

I opened the file.

A photograph stared back at me.

Aria.

Her brown hair fell loosely around her shoulders.

She wasn't smiling.

I remembered the woman from the gala.

She looked different in a photograph.

More guarded.

"Family?"

"Mother is alive. Her father disappeared when she was a child."

I paused.

"Disappeared?"

"That's all we've found so far."

I looked at the file again.

There were several other women listed in the documents Daniel had brought.

"These are the alternatives?"

"Yes."

He began explaining.

"There's Amelia Hart. Twenty-six. Daughter of a prominent investor."

I shook my head.

"No."

"Victoria Lane. Twenty-eight. Socialite."

"No."

"Isabella Moore. Twenty-five. Model."

"No."

Daniel sighed.

"Sir, you haven't even looked at the rest."

"I don't need to."

He gave me a tired look.

"You rejected twelve women in less than three minutes."

"Because I don't want any of them."

His eyes moved toward Aria's file.

"And you want her?"

I looked down at the photograph again.

I remembered her voice.

Only the important ones.

For the first time that morning, I smiled.

"I don't know yet."

I closed the file.

"But I want to know everything about Aria Bennett."

Daniel nodded.

"Understood."

He gathered the other files.

As he reached the door, I spoke again.

"Daniel."

He turned.

"If she agrees, there will be rules."

"Of course."

"No feelings."

"No problem."

"One year."

He nodded.

"And when the year is over, the marriage ends."

I looked at Aria's photograph one last time.

A simple arrangement.

A temporary marriage.

Nothing personal.

At least, that's what I believed.

I had no idea that the woman I had chosen for a contract would eventually become the one person I couldn't imagine living without.