CHAPTER 3: THE CONTRACT
925 Words
The folder felt heavier than it should be.
Alessia eyed it from her side of the desk. She almost expected it to burst into flames the second she touched it or worse, flip her entire world upside down.
“Don’t open it.” Her father sounded desperate, almost angry.
She didn’t bother looking at him. “I have to.”
“No, you don’t,” he snapped, fingers raking through his hair. “We’ll figure something out. I’ll fix this.”
She nearly laughed really laughed, bitter and sharp.
Fix this? The empire was crumbling. Money was vanishing. Authorities circled overhead, waiting for a chance to swoop in.
There was no fixing this. Not anymore.
“You said that an hour ago,” she murmured. “And everything’s only gotten worse since then.”
Silence. She felt his eyes on her, heavy and guilty, weighed down by secrets he refused to share.
That was truly what chilled her. Not the scandal. Not the fall. It was knowing he had answers, answers he still wouldn’t give her.
Her fingers curled around the folder.
Without letting herself think, Alessia reached over and snatched it up.
Her father’s breath came out hard. “Alessia..”
She opened it.
The first page looked impossibly neat. Crisp. All business.
MARRIAGE AGREEMENT
Her stomach clenched.
She flipped through the pages. Clause after clause, each chillier than the last.
You will reside in Rafael De Luca’s primary residence.
You will present yourself publicly as his lawful wife.
You will not engage in relationships outside the marriage.
All personal movements may be monitored for security purposes.
Her hands tightened.
Monitored?
Her gaze darted up for a split second, then back to the paper.
This wasn’t a marriage. This was a prison, and the bars were invisible.
She kept reading.
Violation of contract terms will result in immediate financial and legal consequences to the Moretti family.
Now her chest ached.
So that was it: not just power over her over everything she loved.
“Stop,” her dad rasped. “You’ve seen enough.”
“No,” she whispered. “I haven’t.”
She sensed the worst hadn’t shown itself yet.
So she flipped another page.
And froze.
Air snagged in her throat.
A photo, tucked at the bottom. Her hands trembled as she picked it up.
A woman. Beautiful, elegant. She smiled, but even that felt haunted somehow. It felt familiar.
“Who is she?” Alessia asked, barely louder than her breath.
Her father went rigid.
“Alessia,” he said, his tone low and warning. “Put it down.”
She didn’t. She couldn’t. Deep down, Alessia already knew there was nothing random about any of this.
She checked the document again.
Subject: Elena Vieri
The name was meaningless. But her father’s reaction said everything.
“What did you do?” she forced out.
“Nothing!” he answered too quickly.
Her eyes shot to his.
“That’s a lie.”
Jaw clenched, he tried again. “Alessia, you don’t understand”
“Then tell me! Make me understand!”
Her voice cut through the room, sharp and unignorable.
Silence took over. Heavy, thick.
He looked like a man teetering at the edge, too terrified to fall but the drop had already begun.
Alessia held up the photo.
“She’s why he’s doing this, isn’t she?”
No answer. That was all she needed.
A chill crawled up her spine.
“This isn’t business,” she said. “It’s personal.”
“Yes.” His answer was barely audible. Broken.
Her stomach twisted again.
“What happened to her?”
Her father closed his eyes. For a heartbeat, he looked utterly ashamed.
“She died.”
Her breath disappeared.
“What?”
He repeated, voice heavy as stone. “She died. And Rafael, he thinks it’s because of me.”
Heart hammering, Alessia pressed, “Thinks? Or knows?”
That silence just screamed.
Oh God.
Her fingers closed around the photo.
“What did you do?”
“Enough!” he shouted, composure gone. “I won’t talk about this anymore.”
“No, you don’t get to hide,” she fired back, trembling with anger, not fear. “You don’t get to leave me in the dark, not when you’re forcing me into all this!”
He stared at her, really stared.
Regret carved deep lines across his face.
“I was trying to protect you,” he mumbled.
She laughed, empty and sharp. “Protect me?”
Her eyes burned.
“You already lost that chance.”
Quiet settled between them.
Slowly, Alessia looked down at the contract, the photo, the pieces of her life slipping through her fingers.
Her heartbeat leveled out not with calm, but because something inside her was cooling, hardening.
If this was a game, she had to learn the rules.
She closed the folder.
“When does he want an answer?” she asked.
Her father’s face darkened.
“Tomorrow.”
Of course. No time, no escape.
Alessia nodded, slow and sure.
She picked up the folder.
“I’m taking it,” she said.
“Alessia..”
“I need to think.”
She turned toward the door. But paused.
“And Papa?” This time her voice wasn’t warm. Or unsure.
“If I go through with this… don’t think they’re the only ones paying.”
A warning. A promise.
Then she walked out leaving behind the wreckage of her old life, and stepping into a future that could easily swallow her whole.
- Writer
