The Devil's Contract Bride

Chapter Four

~JANICE~

There were a few problems with this revenge thing. Scratch that, there were numerous problems. The first is, quite simply, that I'm broke. You can't ruin people's lives if you don't have money or any kind of influence. Which I don't.

Even before my father, Kendall Chambers, had that heart attack that caused him to be placed in medically induced coma, I already had little to no influence over anything outside of my bedroom. Father's status as the patriarch of the Chambers empire meant that he had a lot of enemies, most of whom would have no problem with targeting his daughter just to hurt him.

So I was kept isolated, dreaming of the day I would finally be trusted with a role in the family's empire.

That day came much sooner than I expected, and in the worst way possible. Father, who was already having issues with his heart, suddenly collapsed one day. And since he couldn't run the empire from a comatose state, it was I who the lawyers and the household turned to. Unfortunately, that was when I found out the truth. The Chambers estate had once been powerful, easily placing our family among the top five richest in AZ country. But now it was in decline. Father had been doing everything he could to turn our fortune around, I learned. But the illness caught up to him before he could make much progress.

It was also then that I understood the reason for my betrothal to Phillip Jean. It was all so that the Jeans' overflowing fortune could help stop ours from sinking, once our family was joined with theirs through marriage. And failing that, so that I would have a means of escape if Chambers estate came crumbling down around me. Since we've been best friends since childhood, Phillip and I ended up falling in love and wanting to marry each other for real. Or at least, that's what I thought. Turns out it was just me.

Poor, delusional me.

'Nope, none of that self-pity,' I told myself sternly.

So Phillip screwed me over. Well, that was exactly why I was going to make him pay.

Which brought me back to my numerous problems, the first of which was… Ah, yes. I'm broke. Heiress of the Chambers empire, and I was broke as a beggar.

At least I wasn't entirely hopeless.

A-list families like ours, money wasn't the only currency we dealt in. We also dealt in favours, in connections. Scratch my back to scratch yours. The problem with that, though, was that all of the Chambers family's so-called friends ran away when it became clear that the empire was failing.

Right now, finding a unicorn would be easier than finding any powerful families that would be willing to help me with anything.

That being said, there was one person I could ask. Probably the last person I'd ever want to ask, but what choice did I have?

He was the only one who might not turn me away. A very slim chance, but he was the only hope I had– My maternal uncle, Matteo Liam.

Under normal circumstances, Matteo Liam was not a terrifying man. Far from it. Matter of fact, he was a respected and philanthropic governor known for his generosity, especially toward children. For this, he was widely admired within the state and even beyond. I had no doubts about his generosity. The only problem was that he has never liked our family much. Even though he was never obvious about it, I began to suspect long ago that there was some bad blood between him and Father. Probably concerning my mother's death. My mother, Daniela Chambers, who had died giving birth to me. Perhaps her brother blamed Father and I for that tragedy.

Even then, the fact that we were family had to count for something. I hoped it did. It had to, since Matteo Liam had visited our house regularly before Father's coma, despite his not-so-pleasant feelings towards us. After coming to that conclusion, I still had to spend the rest of the day mapping out how I was going to approach him.

By the time tomorrow arrived, I was a bundle of nerves.

I hurried to his ville first thing in the morning, before I had time to talk myself out of it. The security at the gates let me in after checking with the main house, which I took to be a good sign. If he didn't want me here, he would have just told them to throw me out, right?

'Unless he wants the pleasure of throwing you out himself,' the pessimist in me whispered.

'No,' I chided sharply. 'None of that. No thinking like that.'

My palms were sweaty, and I wiped them on my smart black dress as I was ushered into the lounge. I sat there, trying not to fidget. A butler brought me some water, but I couldn't bring myself to touch it. My stomach was so tight, I knew I'd throw up immediately if I dared to put anything in it.

I had begun some breathing exercises when I heard heavy footsteps. I looked up, and there was my uncle, descending the stairs with an unreadable look on his stern face.

I stood up immediately.

"Uncle," I said hesitantly. "Good… morning."

"Janice," he replied. "It has been a while."

"Y-yes," I stuttered. "Um…"

My mind had gone blank, every speech I prepared flying out of my head.

"I've been wondering when you'd come to me," he continued. He took a seat and motioned for me to do the same. Gratefully, I returned to the couch.

"This is about your estate, isn't it?" he said. "I understand that you've fallen on hard times."

"Yes, Uncle," I replied with relief.

"I am willing to help you, of course," he said. "Your father wasn't the best of men, but you're my niece. Blood is blood." He met my eyes with steely black ones. "You just need to do something for me."