THE COLD CEO OBSESSIVE POSSESSION

THE CONTRACT

Chapter 2

The rain had not stopped.

It drummed relentlessly against the tall glass windows of the executive office, turning the city beyond them into a blur of silver lights and dark shadows.

Amelia stood frozen in the middle of the room.

She could barely hear the rain anymore.

All she could hear was the pounding of her own heart.

The contract lay on the desk between her and the man who had just changed the direction of her life with a single sentence.

Marry me.

She stared at him.

"Excuse me?"

Adrian Blackwood did not repeat himself.

He simply leaned back in his chair, his expression as cold and unreadable as ever.

The infamous CEO.

The man whose name appeared in newspapers almost every week.

The billionaire everyone feared.

The man who could destroy a company with one phone call and make powerful businessmen lower their heads when he entered a room.

And now he was asking her to become his wife.

Amelia let out a nervous laugh.

"This isn't funny."

"I wasn't joking."

Her smile disappeared.

"Then you have the wrong person."

"No."

His answer came immediately.

"I have exactly the right person."

Amelia shook her head.

"You barely know me."

"I know enough."

"You don't know anything about me."

"I know you work two jobs."

Her eyes widened.

"I know you have been paying your mother's medical expenses."

She swallowed.

"I know your younger brother's university fees are overdue."

Her fingers tightened around the strap of her handbag.

"And I know," Adrian continued calmly, "that your landlord gave you seven days to clear your rent."

Amelia's face went pale.

"How do you know all that?"

Adrian's eyes remained fixed on her.

"I make it my business to know things."

Fear crawled slowly down her spine.

"You investigated me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

For the first time, something changed in his expression.

It was barely noticeable.

A flicker.

A dangerous curiosity.

"I saw you."

"When?"

"Three months ago."

Amelia frowned.

She had never met him before yesterday.

At least, she didn't think she had.

Adrian stood.

He walked around the desk slowly, stopping only a few feet away from her.

"You were standing outside a restaurant."

Amelia's mind searched through her memories.

A restaurant.

Three months ago.

She remembered working a late shift at a luxury restaurant where she had been employed as a waitress.

She had been exhausted that night.

She had spilled coffee on her uniform.

A wealthy customer had humiliated her.

And then—

She remembered a black car parked across the street.

Someone had been watching her.

Her eyes lifted slowly.

"You were there?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

The honesty of his answer unsettled her more than a lie would have.

He continued.

"I saw you crying."

Amelia looked away.

"I wasn't crying."

"You were."

"It was raining."

"It wasn't."

She stared at him.

Adrian's voice became quieter.

"You thought nobody noticed you."

Amelia's throat tightened.

"But I did."

Silence filled the office.

Something about the way he said those words made her uncomfortable.

Not because they were cruel.

Because they sounded almost possessive.

She stepped backward.

"I can't marry you."

Adrian didn't move.

"You haven't heard the terms."

"I don't care about the terms."

"You will."

He picked up the contract and held it toward her.

"You need money."

Amelia stared at the document.

"I don't want your money."

"Your mother's treatment costs money."

Her expression changed immediately.

"Don't bring my mother into this."

"I am offering enough money to pay for her treatment."

She said nothing.

"Your brother's debts will be cleared."

Still nothing.

"Your family will receive a house."

Her breathing became heavier.

"And in exchange?"

"You become my wife."

"For how long?"

"One year."

Amelia laughed bitterly.

"One year?"

"After one year, we divorce."

She stared at him.

"And that's all?"

"That's all."

But something in his eyes told her it wasn't.

She just didn't know what.

"What do you get?"

Adrian's jaw tightened.

"I need a wife."

"Why?"

"Because my grandfather's will requires it."

Amelia blinked.

"What?"

"My grandfather left controlling shares of Blackwood Enterprises in my name, but there's a condition."

He paused.

"I must be married before my thirty-first birthday."

Amelia slowly understood.

"So this is a business arrangement."

"Exactly."

"You need a wife."

"Yes."

"And you chose me."

"Yes."

"Why?"

His eyes darkened.

"Because I know you won't betray me."

"You don't know that."

"I do."

"How?"

Adrian stepped closer.

"Because you had every opportunity to steal from a customer three months ago."

Amelia's eyes widened.

He remembered.

"You found a diamond bracelet."

"I returned it."

"You could have kept it."

"I couldn't."

"You were struggling financially."

"That doesn't make stealing right."

Something almost like satisfaction crossed his face.

"That's why."

Amelia looked down at the contract.

The numbers were impossible.

Enough money to pay her mother's hospital bills.

Enough to settle her brother's fees.

Enough to rescue her family from years of financial struggle.

It was everything she had ever needed.

And yet accepting it meant marrying a stranger.

A cold, controlling stranger who had apparently been watching her for months.

"What happens if I say no?"

"Nothing."

"Really?"

"Really."

"You won't help my family?"

"No."

Her heart sank.

Adrian turned away.

"You are free to leave."

Amelia stared at him.

She should leave.

Every sensible part of her mind screamed at her to leave.

But then she remembered her mother's face.

Weak.

Pale.

Smiling despite the pain.

She remembered sitting beside her hospital bed while the doctor explained that another treatment was necessary.

She remembered having only a few thousand naira in her account.

She remembered her brother calling her yesterday.

Amelia, they said if I don't pay the remaining school fees, they won't let me sit for the exams.

She closed her eyes.

Her pride was expensive.

Her family's survival was more important.

She picked up the contract.

"I need time."

"You have until tomorrow morning."

She looked at him.

"That's not enough."

"It is."

"You're impossible."

"I've been called worse."

She turned toward the door.

"Amelia."

She stopped.

She looked back.

Adrian's expression was unreadable.

"Don't discuss this with anyone."

"Why?"

"Because the moment people discover our arrangement, everyone will have an opinion."

She frowned.

"Is that a threat?"

"No."

His gaze dropped to the contract in her hand.

"It's advice."

She left the office.

But Adrian remained standing behind his desk long after the door closed.

His eyes stayed fixed on the place where she had disappeared.

His secretary entered quietly.

"Sir?"

Adrian didn't answer.

"Sir, should I cancel the arrangement?"

"No."

"She hasn't accepted."

"She will."

The secretary hesitated.

"How are you so certain?"

Adrian finally looked at him.

"Because she loves her family more than she loves herself."

The secretary lowered his gaze.

"And once she signs?"

Adrian looked toward the rain-covered window.

His voice was quiet.

"She becomes mine."

---

Amelia stepped into the elevator.

The doors closed.

Only then did she allow herself to breathe.

She looked at the contract again.

Her hands were trembling.

She opened the first page.

The agreement was detailed.

Marriage duration: twelve months.

Public appearances: required.

Residence: Blackwood Mansion.

Financial compensation: enormous.

Confidentiality: absolute.

No romantic expectations.

No interference in personal affairs.

No outside relationships.

Amelia stopped reading.

That last part bothered her.

She turned the page.

There were more conditions.

She was expected to attend family functions.

She was expected to appear beside Adrian whenever necessary.

She was expected to behave as a respectable wife.

But one sentence caught her attention.

Neither party shall develop emotional attachment to the other.

Amelia stared at it.

"Why would they even include that?"

She shook her head.

This was madness.

A marriage without love.

A marriage with rules.

A marriage built entirely on money and necessity.

She should never agree.

Yet she knew she probably would.

---

That night, Amelia sat beside her mother's hospital bed.

Her mother was sleeping.

The soft beeping of the machines filled the room.

Amelia looked at her.

She wanted to tell her everything.

But she couldn't.

Not yet.

She pulled the contract from her handbag.

For nearly an hour, she stared at it.

Then her phone rang.

It was her brother.

"Hello?"

"Amelia?"

His voice sounded worried.

"Yes."

"The hospital called."

Her heart dropped.

"What happened?"

"They said Mum needs the treatment immediately."

Amelia closed her eyes.

"How much?"

He told her.

Her stomach twisted.

It was more than she had in her entire life.

She looked at the contract.

Her eyes filled with tears.

"I'll find it."

"How?"

"I'll find it."

After the call ended, Amelia sat silently.

Then she picked up a pen.

Her hand hovered over the signature line.

She thought about the stranger waiting for her answer.

She thought about his cold eyes.

His terrifying confidence.

The way he had said She becomes mine.

She should have been afraid.

She was.

But she was more afraid of losing her mother.

Slowly, she signed.

Amelia Rose Carter.

The moment the ink dried, her phone vibrated.

A message.

From an unknown number.

Good choice, Mrs. Blackwood.

Amelia froze.

She hadn't told anyone.

Not her brother.

Not her mother.

Not a friend.

Nobody.

Her fingers trembled as another message appeared.

Welcome to my world.

She stared at the screen.

Then came the final message.

You have no idea what you've just agreed to.

Amelia's blood ran cold.

Across the city, Adrian Blackwood sat alone in his office.

His phone displayed the photograph of Amelia signing the contract.

He smiled faintly.

The cold CEO had finally gotten what he wanted.

But the contract was only the beginning.

Because Adrian had lied about one thing.

He didn't need a wife because of his grandfather's will.

That was only part of the truth.

He had chosen Amelia long before the will had ever become a problem.

And he had no intention of letting her walk away after twelve months.

Not now.

Not ever.