Love by Contract

Chapter 3: Buying Time

Rose POV

I woke to my phone buzzing against the nightstand.

I picked up the phone and it read: Bluewood Clinic - 9:00 AM - Pregnancy Termination.If you miss this appointment, all payments to St. Catherine's Hospital will cease immediately.

It was a message from James.

My hand moved instinctively to my stomach.

Bella or the baby.

My sister or my child. I thought to myself.

I sat up slowly, every muscle in my body aching. The bruise on my cheek had darkened overnight.

I pulled myself out of bed and called the clinic. My hands shook as I dialed.

"Bluewood Clinic, how may I help you?"

"This is Rose Scott. I have a nine o'clock appointment." I paused, gathering courage. "I need to make a deal with you."

Twenty minutes and ten thousand dollars later, I had my answer. The receptionist would send confirmation that the procedure was completed. James would get his proof. And my baby would stay safe.

At 8:47 AM, the email arrived: Procedure completed successfully.

I watched it send to James's inbox and felt the weight lift slightly from my chest.

But the relief didn't last long.

When I came downstairs an hour later, the front door was already unlocked. And standing in my living room, examining my wedding photo was Sofia Ryan.

"You're still here,” she said harshly as her gaze met mine, "I expected you to be halfway to the clinic by now. James is far too patient with you."

My stomach clenched. "James didn't mention you were coming."

"He didn't have to,” she stepped closer, "I'm here to make sure the trash gets taken out properly.

“Did you really think one drunken night would buy you a permanent seat at the Scott table?" she asked.

"This is between me and my husband," I said, keeping my voice steady despite the fear crawling up my spine.

"Husband?" Sofia laughed out, “You're a temporary fix, sweetheart. You should be grateful James even offered to pay for your sister's hospital bills. If it were up to me, I'd have thrown you both into the street the moment those test results came back positive."

"Don't talk about Bella like that."

"I'll talk about anyone however I want,” Sofia's eyes gleamed with malice. "And there's nothing you can do to stop me."

She grabbed my arm suddenly and drove her nails into my skin.

"The car is waiting downstairs. I want you to get in and go to that clinic, or I'll have your sister's life support unplugged this afternoon,” she said with much authority in her voice.

"Let go of me," I tried to pull away, but her grip tightened painfully, "I already went to the clinic and it's done."

"You're lying." She leaned closer, searching my face. "I can see it in your pathetic eyes.".

"Check your email," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "The confirmation came through an hour ago. James already has it."

For just a moment, Sofia's confidence wavered. She released my arm to pull out her phone, her fingers flying across the screen.

I saw the exact second she found the email. Her expression shifted from certainty to pure rage.

"You little brat,” She shoved me hard.

I stumbled backward with my hip colliding with the sharp corner of the mahogany sideboard. Pain exploded through my side and I cried out, pressing my hand against the injury.

Sofia advanced to me with her face filled with fury. She grabbed the collar of my dress and her hand rose high..

The front door slammed open.

James stood in the doorway with his tie loose and his briefcase dropped carelessly on the floor.

His eyes locked on Sofia's raised hand and the expression on his face made my blood run cold.

"Get your hands off my wife."

The words were barely above a whisper, but they carried absolute authority.

Sofia froze, her fingers still twisted in my collar.

"I said get off her."

Sofia released me immediately. I slumped against the sideboard, my whole body trembling.

James crossed the room in three long steps and positioned himself between Sofia and me as a human shield.

"What the hell are you doing in my house? Did I invite you here?" James asked.

"You were upset last night. I thought…"

"You thought you'd assault my wife while I was at work?" he said with each of his words precise, "Is that what you thought?"

"She's lying about the abortion!" Sofia's composure cracked. "Look at her, James. She's playing you. She didn't go to that clinic."

James turned to look at me. His eyes swept across my face to the bruise from last night that I'd tried to cover with makeup to the fresh tears streaming down my cheeks.

Something shifted in his expression.

"Is it done?" he asked quietly.

I met his gaze, my heart pounding so hard I thought he might hear it. "Yes."

"You're certain?"

"Check your email."

He pulled out his phone, scrolled through his messages. Found the confirmation from Bluewood Clinic. His jaw tightened as he read it, but his face remained unreadable.

When he looked up, his eyes were harder than I'd ever seen them.

"Get out," he said to Sofia.

"What?"

"Get out of my house. Now."

"James, you can't be serious"

"GET OUT NOW," James shouted.

The word cracked through the room like a whip.

James took one step toward Sofia and she flinched.

"You don't make decisions about my household. You don't touch my wife and you don't enter this house without MY invitation.Do you understand me?" He voice dropped dangerously low.

"I'm trying to protect you"

"I don't need your protection. I need you to leave."

The silence between them was heavy and suffocating.

Finally, Sofia straightened her jacket and smoothed her hair. "Fine. But when you finally wake up and realize what she's doing to you, don't come crying to me."

She walked to the door, paused with her hand on the frame. "You're making a mistake, James. The biggest one of your life."

The door closed behind her with a soft click.

James turned around.

"Let me see your side."

"I'm fine." The lie came automatically.

"Let me see it, Rose."

Slowly, I lifted the hem of my sweater. The bruise was already forming dark purple spreading across my pale skin where the corner had caught me.

James stared at it for a long moment.

Something flickered across his face. Guilt, maybe. Or regret. But it was gone before I could be sure.

"Put ice on it," he said flatly.

"I know."

Another silence came in, this one even more unbearable than the last.

"Why did you come back?" I finally asked, "You're supposed to be at your office."

"I forgot a file. The merger contract for the eleven o'clock meeting."

Of course. It was always about business with James Scott.

He moved toward his study, then paused in the doorway. Didn't turn around.

"The clinic confirmed the procedure," he said, his voice carefully neutral. "The contract continues as planned. Six months left."

Six months. That's all I had left in this house and in this pretend marriage.

"Right," I whispered. "As planned."

He stepped into his study and closed the door.

I stood alone in the living room, my hand pressed against my stomach, against the lie I'd just paid ten thousand dollars to protect.

Then I heard it.

A soft creak from upstairs.

My head snapped up toward the landing and a shadow moved at the top of the stairs, then disappeared.

My heart stopped.

Someone had been listening.

Someone had heard everything. Sofia's accusations, James's defense and the confirmation about the clinic.

But who?

The housekeeper didn't come on Tuesdays and Sofia had already left.

Which meant

"Lilly?" I whispered.

No answer.

Just the echo of a bedroom door clicking shut somewhere above me.

How much had she heard? How much did she understand?

And what would she do with that knowledge?