The Contract Between Us

ADRIAN

CHAPTER 3

ADRIAN'S POV

“Bro, I'm telling you, she's perfect!”

William said with excitement

“Marry her!”

He said with raised eyebrows

“Marriage isn't something you just do. Besides, she got hit by MY car!, not the best way to get a contract”

I argued

“What? Were you expecting to meet a good girl , talk for a year before proposing, planning the wedding for another 6 months or so before actually getting married?”

He asked me rhetorically

William is one of the most sarcastic people I have ever come across!. He jokes about almost everything, with our big age, he can't take anything serious.

Not even in meetings with shareholders is he serious.

“You have a point.”

I told him in defeat

He really does have a point. I don't have the luxury of waiting anymore to meet a nice girl that meets all criteria to accept my proposal with such short notice.

Besides, all the other girls In high society like me, are either so shallow, they have no direction and aren't even trying to find one. Frankly, such a woman does not fit into the role of first lady of this company, regardless of social status and popularity. Honestly, even I can't marry such a woman.

All our conversations will be meaningless and my company's name will be in the mud faster than my enemies predict.

I'm certain if I marry someone like that, the headlines online would be ‘city's hottest billionaire marries dumb girl’....or something similar that gossip blogs are fond of writing.

Or if I do marry a middle class girl…..those ones will be worse in my opinion. They tend to be more materialistic than most, they only care about the money and very soon me and this company will go bankrupt and never come back relevant.

I'd rather marry one that barely knows me, signs the contract because she actually has valid problems. A lady that diligently does her duties in this company and basically……stays out of my way.

I'm not looking for love, I'm looking for security. The board of directors in this establishment and all franchises have deemed it fit for me to settle down or leave…. literally.

I can't let all the hard work I put into this multimillion dollar company go to waste. I built most of it on my own, brick by brick.

The first lady of the company has a couple of duties only she can fulfil as the wife of the president of this enterprise. Some of the duties include her being the director of all things relating to philanthropy, attending and hosting exclusive gatherings, birthing an heir….etc

So much is at stake with this. It almost feels like a cult at this point.

Many years ago, the board created that policy and I signed to it in agreement.

What!...I was barely twenty, I didn't think I'd still be single at twenty six. With all the women over me all these years, none of them really stood out to me.

They're either so fake all they do is lie on social media or they're so spoiled all they do is try to get into the beds of wealthy men like me.

I sleep around once in a while but, don't think for one second I'll marry someone whose name is known all over the streets.

Gendered double standards…..I agree.

“C’mon man…..look at this! She's a young girl doing everything she can to make ends meet. She's barely getting by.”

William said and got me out of my deep thoughts.

I took a sip of my drink and dropped the glass back on the table.

“You see! She has got enough on her plate.”

“You hired a Private Investigator to look her up, man. You thought about it”

William looked at me with a smirk on his face.

“ You do realise that the woman I pick isn't just a face right?. There are certain qualities she has to tick or I'll be in real trouble with the board this time. I held them off for a whole year and tried to find ways to override their decision but, it's a tradition….no CEO can avoid this when his time is up”

I took a deep breath as I sunk deeper into my chair and observed my office.

My office has a gloomy vibe this morning. I must have dimmed the lights to match my mood without even realising it.

My office is really big, I can stay in here for a few days without even having to leave. I have a bathroom in the far right corner of the office behind the black door.

The whole aesthetic of my office is a modern dark vibe. It's colour coded with mainly black, dark blue, grey, and touches of red here and there.Three sofas mounted on the suede carpet at the left side of my office, facing a 65’ inch TV.

Keeping my collection of wine on display is a mini wine bar with three little stools at the extreme left end of the room facing the city with a mini fridge across, stacked with drinks of different varieties.

A view of the city behind my office chair, with just a large transparent window separating me from the lights of the City and the crescent moon and twinkling stars at night. Also, the shiny bright sun seems close to my office each day, obviously because my office is at the top of the building, as I watch the hustling and bustling streets of the city.

From blue collared workers running around with their tools and lunches in their bags to white collar workers with their briefcases and their proud resting faces going in and out of buildings.

These activities seem to have a calming effect on me with the pressure of being CEO and being the son of Christopher and Eileen.

That and the pressure to get hitched.

“Adrian, you should at least try to see her. To know how she's doing.”

“That accident could've gone worse, she might want to sue you or….she might have died”

Adrian added

“I'll pay her off, make her sign an NDA to keep her mouth shut”

I told William

That's usually the path the company takes when there's a mistake that could affect the company

“Yeah sure, and another opportunity just like this will present itself to you tomorrow”

William sarcastically remarked as he got up from one of the two chairs facing me

“Ughh”

I sighed clearly annoyed with his remarks

“You said it yourself. You said you need a woman that is more than just a face, you need someone that needs money that can fit into the role and not bother you”

He said while picking up her file one more time from the table and opening it up

He flipped a few pages and dropped the file on my table in front of me.

“There you have it”

William said as he just stared at me

I took my gaze away from him and I played attention to the page he opened for me to see again

‘Antonina Hope Levi’

What seems to be her name appeared at the top of the page.

I haven't seen this page before now, I didn't care to look through.

A tiny picture of a young girl holding a baby boy, which I assume is her brother, an older woman and man all sitting on a couch in a living room.

‘Dylan Levi’

‘ late Esther Levi’

‘ Benjamin Levi’

This should be her brother, Mom and dad, in that order.

Below were two other pictures of her. One in a graduation gown and one in a lab.

Before even reading the description below to see, I looked up at William. As expected! He had the widest smile on his face.

I looked back at the file and read through.

Wow

She went to university for biomedical engineering and she has a master's degree.

The PI mentioned she's struggling financially, so how did she go through the university? At an Ivy league for that matter And even a master's program. I couldn't help but wonder.

I looked back at William with widened eyes and slumped in my chair.

I took another sip of my drink and savoured the taste delicately.

William leaned towards the table and flipped to the next page. On the next page is a list of all the jobs she had to do to keep all of them alive after her dad got cancer and her Mom died.

That's a lot of jobs. I couldn't believe someone would have to go through all this…

“Or maybe you should pick a wife from the sea of ladies with 50 pounds of plastic in them or the ones that don't deserve the benefits because they're already loaded”

William chuckled and nodded his head

He also took a sip of his drink as he laughed some more

As annoying as I find him….he is right. I took in everything in her file and I gulped the final sip.

“Cover for me for our 11am?”

I asked him curiously waiting to hear his response

He nodded his head affirmatively

“Get a fruit basket while you're at it”

He strode out of my office and left me alone with my thoughts.

I'm desperate….