CHAPTER 2
1902 Words
(Seraphina's POV)
I did not sleep that night.
I sat on the edge of my bed in my small apartment in Queens, staring at the folder Kael Voss had given me, the contract inside outlining everything from the wedding date to the conditions of our “marriage.” My phone screen lit up at 6am with a message from the hospital.
Your mother’s vitals are stable this morning. Please come by when you can.
I was at the hospital by 7.
My mother was awake, propped up against her pillows, looking better than she had in days. She smiled when she saw me, and for a second I almost forgot the conversation I had the night before.
“You look tired, baby,” she said, reaching for my hand.
“I am fine, Mom.” I forced a smile. “How are you feeling?”
“Better. The doctor said something about a new treatment starting soon.” She squeezed my fingers. “I do not know how we are affording it, but I am grateful.”
My throat tightened. She did not know. She did not know that her continued treatment depended on whether I was willing to sell three years of my life to a man who had a hand in my father’s death.
“Do not worry about that, just focus on getting stronger.” I said.
I left the hospital an hour later with my decision already made, even if I had not said it out loud yet. I called the number from the unknown text.
“I need to see the full contract again, Every clause.” I said when he picked up.
“My office. One hour.”
When I arrived, he was not behind his desk this time. He was standing by the window again, sleeves rolled up, looking like he had not left the office since yesterday.
“You read it,” he said without turning.
“I want changes.”
That got his attention. He turned around, one eyebrow raised slightly, like he was almost amused.
“I am listening.”
“My mother’s care continues regardless of how this marriage ends, even if I walk out before the year is up, even if you decide you are done with me, her treatment does not stop. That goes in writing.” I said.
He studied me for a long moment. “Done.”
“I keep my last name private. Cole stays my legal name on all personal documents. Voss is for the cameras only.”
“Fine.”
“And no physical expectations, this is business. Nothing else.” I said, my voice firmer than I felt.
Something shifted in his expression, quick and sharp, gone before I could read it properly.
“Agreed,” he said. “Anything else?”
I hesitated. There were a hundred more things I wanted to say, mostly about my father, about the company he destroyed, about the people who lost their jobs because of him. But none of that belonged in a contract.
“That is all,” I said.
He walked to his desk and pulled out a pen, holding it toward me. “Then sign.”
I stared at the pen for a long moment. Once I signed this, there was no walking it back. I would be married to the man responsible for everything I lost.
“Why are you really doing this,” I asked again, needing some kind of answer before I signed my name away.
He was quiet for a moment.
“My board wants stability before our merger with a European partner closes next quarter,” he said. “A scandal involving my personal life right now would cost us four billion dollars. A marriage solves that problem.”
“And it had to be me.”
“It had to be someone the press could not dig up dirt on,” he said. “Someone with no other scandals attached to her name. You qualify.”
It was such a cold, calculated answer that it almost hurt more than if he had lied to me. I took the pen from his hand and signed my name on the line.
The moment the ink touched the paper, his assistant walked in with another folder, this one thicker than the last.
“Mr Voss,” she said, glancing nervously between us. “The press release just went out early. It is already trending.”
“Early,” he repeated, his voice suddenly sharp. “I said tonight.”
“Someone leaked it,” she said. “And there is something else.”
She hesitated, looking at me now instead of him.
“What,” I said.
“A woman called the front desk twenty minutes ago,” the assistant said. “She said she needs to speak with Miss Cole immediately. She said it is about a four-year-old boy named Noah.”
The pen fell from my hand and rolled off the edge of the desk. How did anyone outside my small circle know about Noah?
My mind raced through every possibility. Carla did not have this number. Nobody at the daycare knew where I was today. I had built a wall so carefully around my son’s existence, keeping his name out of every form that could connect back to the Cole family, keeping his photos off every platform that strangers could search.
“Did she say anything else,” I asked, my voice tight.
The assistant glanced at her tablet. “Only that it was urgent. She left a callback number.”
Kael was watching me now with a stillness that unsettled me more. His eyes moved from my face to the assistant and back again, sharp, calculating, filing away every reaction crossing my face.
“Is something wrong,” he asked, his tone carefully even.
“No,” I said too quickly. “It is personal.”
“Everything about you is about to become my business,” he said. “We signed a contract ten minutes ago.”
“This has nothing to do with our contract.”
“Does it not?” His eyes narrowed slightly. “A child connected to you, appearing the same day you sign a marriage agreement with me. I am a businessman, Seraphina. I notice the timing.”
“It is a coincidence,” I snapped. “Not everything in my life revolves around you and your suspicions.”
I needed to call Carla back. I needed to hear my son’s voice. Nothing else mattered right now, not the contract, not Kael Voss and his calculating grey eyes, not the wedding that was somehow now just days away.
Whatever was happening with Noah, I needed to get to him. Nothing else came first.
- Writer
