Heart Bound By Contract

The contract

Chapter 2

The Contract

Lauren sat in a rigid chair in a decadent foyer inside the Magnus manor. Harsh marble under her feet and merciless light drained her energy. She still trembled at the courthouse fight. Alexander stood in the room next to her by her side. His face was chiseled in a mask of serenity, but his eyes tore at her with rage.

"Lauren," Alexander directed in a low, steadied voice, "walk with me."

Lauren stood up, unzipping her small bag. She was carrying the weight of the day. Another man accompanied Alexander, and he seemed quite arrogant. That was Jordan, Alexander's cousin. Jordan's eyes were gleaming brightly as he observed every move.

He led her to a long, quiet hallway. He went to the door with glass on the other side. He put his hand into his pocket and drew out a fat envelope. He pushed it across the table to her.

"Sign there, and the conditions of your contract will be finalized," Alexander told her. He was speaking in formal and cold-sounding terms.

Her hand shook while opening the envelope. A contract on heavy paper lay inside. Her eyes grew wide while reading the large letters at the top of the document: "Obligation to Bear an Heir Within One Year." At the bottom, in small letters, was the note that the fee for her mother's operation had been paid in full upon uttering "I do."

"This. this is your contract?" Lauren said in amazement.

"Yes," Alexander cut in roughly. "It's a contract. I have given you what you need. You will, in return, give me an heir in twelve months' time."

Lauren scowled, struggling to comprehend. "So I am to be pregnant by. by next year at this time?" she demanded.

Alexander grinned. "Yes. It's a simple exchange. You have the money; I have an heir to bring legitimacy to my name."

Lauren cried. "It's so not romantic," she breathed. "It's a business deal."

Jordan chuckled deep in his throat. "You're really shocked, Lauren. Nothing with this family ever has anything to do with love. We all make bargains, not love," he told her curtly.

Lauren glared at Jordan, then Alexander. "I thought that marriage was. was supposed to be. something special."

Alexander's gaze went cold. "This is not a fairy tale, Lauren. This is a business agreement, an agreement that needs to be negotiated."

Lauren's hand shook as she clutched the contract. "I… I do know." But in her heart, she cried and suppressed.

Alexander motioned, and they entered into a totally new room. It was a very long hallway with very large doors. He stood before one door and slowly opened the door. "This is your room," he stated matter-of-factly to her.

The inner sanctum was neat but sparsely furnished. A large bed, small desk, and window overlooking the gardens adorned it. Lauren entered, relief and revulsion.

"Do you like it?" Alexander stood in the doorway.

"It's. beautiful," Lauren breathed. "But so naked."

Alexander's gaze was cold. "It's yours for the moment. But don't get too comfortable, you're not here as a guest. You're part of the bargain."

Lauren laid down her pen. "And your home?" she stuttered.

He paused. "My home is small. I do have my own study, and you're not to go in it. It's my bedroom, and you'll notice the separation."

Lauren swallowed. "Yes, I will."

They were standing again in the corridor. Jordan was leaning against the wall, his expression revealing nothing. "You see, Lauren, this is not a usual wedding. We're all rather fussy about what we need."

Lauren scowled. "Everything is so corporatese-jargonized. Where does emotion come in on anything?"

Alexander's gaze flashed for a moment. "This is life. My heritage in this family will never be founded on emotion."

Jordan laughed. "Oh, Alexander, always somber. But tell me this, no one in this family has ever learned to hone business rough edges."

Alexander waved his hand dismissively at Jordan's remark. "Lauren, sign the contract. This is the final thing."

Lauren leaned forward and touched the envelope once more and read the contract. "I never imagined my life would be like this," she gasped.

Alexander crossed his arms. "This is destiny, Lauren. We are all captives of circumstance."

She paused. She picked up the pen finally, tremblingly, and signed at the bottom of the contract. Her signature was small, almost illegible, but it sealed her fate.

No sooner had she signed than the ring of a phone beeped from one Alexander was holding. He looked at it for a moment, his eyes clouding to something Lauren couldn't decipher.

"I have to take this," he snapped, stepping to another door. Jordan stepped aside, smiling.

Lauren fell into the chair beside her, contract still in her hand. She was frightened. "Is this real?" she panted out loud.

A light knock on her bedroom door. One of the maids appeared and whispered softly, "Miss Greene, breakfast is waiting if you'd care to have it."

Lauren winced as she stood up and moved towards the dining room. Seated there with tea, she couldn't help but get up and read the agreement over again.

She was distracted by Jordan stepping into the room. He placed himself in front of her, a twinkle of amusement dancing in his eyes. "You see, Lauren, our family history is simply replete with dirty tricks. I recall reading about Alexander's first love—she trashed his heart so that he pledged never to be in love again. It's a tradition, too," he leaned in.

Lauren's eyebrow creased. "What do you mean?"

Jordan smiled. "There's more to Alexander than you think. His parents died when he was an infant. He was in a horrific accident and ended up paralyzed. And his last girlfriend didn't work out."

Lauren's eyes grew wide. "I didn't know."

Jordan shrugged. "No secret between us. Alexander was weaned on hard choices early. He learned that emotion can only be a hindrance to success. That is why he is so cold."

Lauren stared at her tea. "I didn't know a human being could be this hurt and this shut off."

"We all carry our scars," Jordan breathed. "But Alexander keeps his behind a mask of command. You understand, where I was raised, weakness was a handicap."

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Alexander returned, his face impassive.

"Lauren, I have other purposes for you," he said to her. "You will be waited on by servants. There is one thing that I would like: do not enter my private rooms and do not bother me when I am working."

Lauren nodded, fuming with frustration and desperation. "I understand, Mr. Magnus."

Alexander's tone softened. "I don't want to be unkind, Lauren. But this is the way it must be for now."

He leaned back, still studying her. "Your promise still stands. If you violate your part of the bargain within twelve months, there will be consequences."

Lauren's stomach twisted. "I. I don't want consequences," she gasped.

Alexander never lost sight of her. "It is what it is, Lauren. You've signed on and your mother's surgery money is all taken care of. Your fate is sealed and delivered."

Lauren's eyes welled with tears at the enormity of her assignment. "I wish there were another way."

Alexander rose and out of the room, muttering under his breath. Jordan lingered a bit longer, his smile disappearing from his face. "Things are going to get real interesting," he snarled before he too left.

alone in her new bedroom, Lauren buried deep into the bed and clutched the contract against her chest. Every phrase of that contract was burned into her mind. She was suffocating.

A gentle knock at the door. "Miss Greene, are you okay?" asked the housemaid in a soft voice.

Lauren lifted her head, preventing herself from covering a weak smile. "Yes, I'm fine," she said, though not quite.

The day went by, and Lauren walked through the halls of the Magnus house. In every step, echoed within her the coldness of the corporate environment that she had so entered. She yearned for warmth, for compassion, but ringing in her ears instead, the click of a pen.

Under cover of night, seated near by the window in view of the garden, Lauren inhaled to herself, "I have given away my life. But am I ever to be free?"

Again tears swamped her eyes. Footsteps could be heard in the hall outside. The door crept a little open and a low anxious voice was heard:.

"Lauren, we must speak," Alexander spoke to her from the doorway. There was a sharpness to his voice that caused her heart to stumble.

Lauren's eyes snapped up, having no clue what to anticipate.

Alexander's eyes drilled into hers before she could even get a word out, and he repeated, "There are things you do not know about me. and about us."

Lauren's heart racing, she stood up. The room was smaller; the air was thick. She knew once she uttered those words, there were some things that would flip everything around.

And at that point, with the contract in her pocket and a life she did not want hanging over her head, Lauren knew she did not have her own life. Her own life was bound to Alexander's life, and there was no turning back.

"Tell me everything," she breathed softly, her voice trembling with will and fear.

Alexander's face darkened, and he moved closer. "I shall, eventually," he replied with a rough voice. "But you will just have to get used to this arrangement for now."

Lauren's heart hammered against the cage of her chest as she sensed in anticipation the weight of the truth still to be spoken.

"Uhmmmm…"