BOUND BY HIS PROMISE CLAUSE

THE OFFER I COULDN’T IGNORE

CHAPTER 5

Maya's POV

"Who are you?"

My voice rang across the quiet street before the man could say a single word.

He stopped just outside our gate, his gloved hands folded neatly behind his back.

Behind him, the black sedan remained parked beneath the old mango tree, its tinted windows reflecting the afternoon sun like polished glass.

I pointed at the car.

"Were you the one flashing those headlights at me?"

The man regarded me calmly.

"No, Miss Maya."

"Then who was?"

"I'm afraid I can not answer that."

I let out a dry laugh, with my eyes glued on him.

"What do you want?".

Behind me, I heard Grandma's slippers scrape against the concrete.

"Maya..." she called softly.

I didn't turn around.

The stranger hadn't moved an inch, yet somehow it felt like he controlled the entire situation.

He wasn't intimidating, and neither was he aggressive.

He simply stood there with the confidence of someone who never expected to be refused.

"I asked you another question," I said, folding my arms. "Why have you been sitting outside my house?"

"I've been waiting."

"For me?"

"Yes." He said

My expression hardened.

"That's creepy."

A tiny smile almost appeared on his face before disappearing again.

"My employer asked me to wait until you returned home."

" Your employer has a name, doesn't he?" I asked

"He does."

"Then say it."

"Mr. Lucian."

As expected... That name again!

My expression dimed... It had been less than twenty-four hours since I met the strange man on the cliff, yet somehow he had already managed to invade every corner of my life.

Grandma stepped beside me, her eyes moving cautiously between the stranger and me.

"Maya," she whispered, "do you know this man?"

"No."

The answer came too quickly..

"I've never seen him before."

The driver inclined his head politely.

"That is correct, ma'am."

Grandma frowned.

"Then why is he here?"

He answered before I could.

"I've come on behalf of Mr. Lucian."

Grandma looked at me again.

"And who is Mr. Lucian?"

My eyeballs widened.

How was I supposed to explain everything?

That yesterday I had walked toward a cliff determined not to come back... then I found myself in his mansion a few hours later.

None of it sounded real.

"I..." I began.

"It's nothing, Grandma."

She gave me the same look she'd worn my entire childhood whenever she knew I wasn't telling the truth.

"Maya."

"It's complicated. You won't understand."

"I can see that."

The driver waited patiently while the silence stretched between us.

Not once did he look impatient or interrupt. It annoyed me even more.

Gosh! Is he even human"

"What do you want?" I finally asked him.

He met my eyes.

"Mr. Lucian requests your presence."

My eyes blinked.

"... Excuse me?"

"He requests that you accompany me."

I burst into laughter.

"Requests?"

"Yes." He nodded.

" Tell him, I said NO!"

His expression didn't change....Not even slightly.

"I said no."

"I heard you." He said as he adjusted his collar.

"Good."

"Mr. Lucian expected that answer." He added.

I stared at him coldly.

"What?"

"He anticipated that your first response would be refusal."

A strange chill crept down my spine.

Expected?

"How?"

That man barely knew me.

Unless...

"No way!.

That was impossible... I shook the thought away.

"Tell your boss something for me."

The driver's eyebrows lifted ever so slightly.

"I don't take orders from strangers."

"I'll relay your message."

"And tell him if he wants to see me, he can come here himself."

Grandma tugged gently on my arm.

"Maya..."

"Grandma, please," I said, waving my hand once.

"I don't know what kind of people your employer deals with, but I'm not one of them."

The driver's face remained perfectly composed.

"I understand."

"No, I don't think you do." I respond.

"I assure you, I do."

The calmness in his voice only irritated me further.

"Are you always this... robotic?"

He actually considered the question.

"I've never been asked that before."

"Well, congratulations."

For the first time, the corners of his mouth twitched a little.

It was gone before I could decide whether I'd imagined it.

Grandma looked thoroughly confused.

"Maya," she whispered again, "what is happening?"

I looked at her calmly.

"I honestly don't know."

And that was the truth.

Nothing about the last twenty-four hours made sense anymore.

Including Lucian, the mansion, most especially the accident.

Now this.

It felt like someone had picked up my ordinary life and replaced it with someone else's.

The driver reached inside his jacket.

Grandma immediately stepped in front of me.

"Don't!"

Her voice shook.

My heart squeezed painfully.

Even at her age... Even with her aching knees.

Her first instinct was still to protect me.

The driver froze slowly...

He withdrew a cream-colored envelope instead.

"I apologize if I alarmed you."

He held it out toward me.

"Mr. Lucian instructed me to give you this should you decline his invitation."

I stared at it for a while.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I believe you'll understand once you've opened it." He said, reaching out his hands.

"I'm not taking anything from you." I replied.

"That's your choice."

My eyes reddened.

"Oh really!"

Without another word, he lowered his hand.

He wasn't forcing me.

He doesn't even want to argue.. he just waited.

And that really tested my patience. Curiosity had always been my greatest weakness.

I hated that about myself.

"What if it's money?" Grandma whispered.

"It doesn't look like money." I replied.

"Then it's dangerous?" She added.

I looked at the envelope again.

It was surprisingly thick.

It's too thick to be a letter and too thin to contain cash.

"What kind of game is your boss playing?" I asked.

"I'm not authorized to answer that."

Yeah! Of course he wasn't.

I blew out a slow breath.

Then, before I could change my mind, I reached through the gate and snatched the envelope from his hand.

It felt heavier than I expected.

The driver simply watched, motionless as always.

My fingers slipped beneath the seal.

I unfolded the contents.

The moment I saw it... Every sound around me disappeared.

My breathing stopped, and all my fingers went numb.

It was a photograph, not just any but...

Oh my God! It was me... Standing at the edge of the cliff.

My hair whipped wildly around my face, my shoulders slumped beneath a weight no one else could see.

Even without remembering the exact moment the picture had been taken, I recognized the emptiness in my own eyes.

I looked so broken.

Like someone who had already said goodbye to the world.

My fingers trembled.

"W-where..." My voice cracked. "Where did you get this?"

The driver remained silent.

I looked at the photograph again, then back at him.

"Who took it?"

He looked at me calmly.. at this point, I'm so pissed.

"Answer me!"

Grandma moved closer and tapped me on my shoulder.

"Maya?"

I quickly turned the photograph against my chest before she could see it.

"It's nothing, granny."

She frowned angrily.

"That doesn't look like nothing."

"It isn't... I just..."

My words tangled together.

The driver finally spoke.

"Mr. Lucian believes you'll have many questions."

I laughed bitterly as I shook my head.

"Oh, really? Do you think?"

"He intends to answer every one of them."

My eyes narrowed.

"Tell your boss I don't enjoy riddles."

"I'll inform him." He replied calmly.

"And while you're at it, tell him normal people introduce themselves before sending mysterious men to stalk women outside their homes."

"I wouldn't describe it as stalking." He replied.

"You wouldn't?"

"No."

"What would you call it?"

"A scheduled visit."

I stared at him weird... Scheduled visit indeed.

"Do they train you people to sound this robotic?"

"I attended etiquette classes." He replied.

Despite everything, a tiny laugh escaped me.

"You should ask for a refund."

For the first time, Grandma covered her mouth to hide a smile.

The driver didn't react.

"I'll take your recommendation into consideration." He said.

My eyes twitched... What? No way. He couldn't possibly be serious.

"This is exhausting," I muttered.

My gaze drifted back to the photograph.

Every trace of amusement vanished.

Someone had been there watching me.

While I stood on that cliff believing I was completely alone...

A cold shiver crept down my spine.

I lifted my head slowly.

"Was it Lucian?"

The driver's expression remained unreadable.

"I'm no authorized to discuss that."

"Not authorized?" I correct.

"Correct ma'am I'm sorry." he replied.

"So you're basically a talking vault." I added.

"If that's how you wish to describe me."

"Oh, I do."

Grandma gently touched my arm.

"Maya..."

Her voice had changed.

She wasn't merely confused anymore. She was frightened.

"My child..."

She searched my face.

"Who is this, Lucian?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Because I genuinely didn't know. At least not exactly.

Was he a businessman?

A billionaire?

A stranger?

Or someone who somehow knew things about me that even I didn't know?

"I met him yesterday," I admitted quietly.

Grandma's eyes widened.

"Yesterday?"

I nodded slowly.

"There was a little accident."

I carefully avoided looking at the photograph in my hand.

"He helped me."

That wasn't exactly a lie... just wasn't the whole truth.

The driver glanced at his wristwatch.

"Mr. Lucian dislikes waiting."

I let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Your boss really needs a hobby."

"Knitting, maybe." I added

"Or maybe bird watching?"

I pointed my finger at him..

"Do you ever laugh?"

"Occasionally." He responded.

"I don't believe you."

"So I've been told."

I rubbed my forehead.

"You're giving me a headache."

"My apologies." He said calmly.

"You don't sound sorry." I replied.

"I assure you, I am."

"No, you're professionally polite. There's a difference."

For the first time, I noticed the tiniest twitch at the corner of his mouth.

"I nearly got you that time," I said proudly.

"I don't know what you mean." He said, adjusting his hands together

"Hmmmm..."I narrowed my eyes.

"You're definitely Lucian's employee."

The driver reached into his pocket again. He slowly produced a sleek black business card.

There is no company logo or office address.

Just a phone number embossed in silver.

He extended it toward me.

"If you change your mind."

I hesitated before taking it.

The card was unusually heavy and expensive.

Everything about Lucian seemed expensive.

Even his business cards had a superiority complex.

"I don't even know where he lives," I muttered.

"He knows where you live." He said.

I looked up sharply.

"That wasn't funny."

"It wasn't intended to be." He replied.

"Congratulations. That was the creepiest thing anyone has said to me all year."

He inclined his head.

"I'll accept the compliment."

"...That wasn't a compliment." I replied.

"So I gathered."

Before I could say another word, he turned and walked back toward the sedan.

I watched him open the rear door.

Halfway inside, he stopped.

"One more thing, Miss Maya."

Something about the way he said it made my heart pound.

Slowly, he looked back at me.

"Mr. Lucian asked me to remind you..."

The world seemed to grow impossibly still.

"...that your accident..."

He paused "...and your parents' accident..."

Every muscle in my body locked.

"...weren't accidents."

The words struck like lightning, and every smile on me disappeared.

"No..."

The whisper escaped before I realized I'd spoken.

Grandma gasped beside me.

The photograph slipped from my fingers, drifting to the ground between us.

Nooo!

That couldn't be true.

For fifteen years... Everyone had told me the same story.

It was a rainy night, and a terrible crash happened. A bad fate.

So why... why this now

Why would Lucian say something like that?

How could he possibly know anything about my parents?

I had only met him yesterday.

The driver gave one final respectful nod before climbing into the sedan.

Seconds later, the engine came to life.

The black car rolled away from the house...

Then disappeared at the end of the street.

Neither Grandma nor I spoke.

The silence felt heavier than words.

I stared at the photograph lying at my feet.

Someone had watched me on that cliff.

Someone knew the truth about my parents.

My fingers slowly closed around the black business card.

"I'm going to see him," I whispered.

Grandma grabbed my wrist immediately.

"Maya..."

"If everything he said is true..."

I looked toward the empty road where the sedan had vanished.

My voice was barely audible.

"Then whoever killed my parents..."

I swallowed hard.

"...is coming for me too."