KARMA SERVED HOT

Chapter 7 - A contract signed

Lianne’s POV

There's no going back. It's either I sign this contract and get this done with once and for all or nothing.

I sat down on the chair as I weigh my options, my brows drawn together in concentration: the first one is I sign this contract and get married on paper to this man in front of me for throughout the duration in which my revenge will take place, the second one is that I walk out of this office right now, without signing the contract and forget all about getting a good support.

Sure, I may be able to accomplish my revenge even without him but one thing that I've learned about life is that people respond more quickly to power and influence than they respond to strategy.

Strategizing may be powerful indeed but without the right connection and resources, strategy is nothing.

And so I have made a decision to sign the contract with him. If there's one thing I know, it is the fact that from the moment I stepped into this office, the moment I saw him, I knew there's no going back.

And that whatever decision I make will determin how fast or slow my revenge will take place. What's there to lose for me? Nothing. I no longer have a family of my own.

“I know Mr Vance, there's no going back” I responded to his question “I have decided, I would sign the contract” I took a slight pause.

“However, I also have some terms I would like to add to this contract before I sign”

“The first one is that there would be no intimacy between us, none whatsoever and secondly we would be living in different quarters” I continued

“To the public we will maintain the perfect image of husband and wife and do everything required to prove that”

“However in private I would like to have my own privacy and I would not allow such a thing, my duties to you as a wife doesn't extend past fulfilling the public aspect. Even though you have signed the contract this still counts”

He didn't reply me immediately, he looked at me with a leveled and confident gaze, a slow and easy smile spreading across his face. His gaze seems to say to me indirectly that try all you can, no matter how many walls you try to build, they are all insignificant in front of me.

“Do you perhaps have any objections Mr Vance” I asked him cooly, keeping my voice calm and steady.

“None at all” he replied while tilting his head to the side. Although he says he have no objection, his lingering and heavy gaze said otherwise.

I picked up the pen, it's weight heavy in my hand. Here it comes, the point of no return.

I knew that once I sign this contract I would be bound to the most powerful man in this city, but on the brighter side I would have access to his money, his resources and his connections which I need to take back everything that was cheated from me. That, I concluded, is a huge consolation to me.

Then without any other hesitation left, I firmly append my signature on the contract.

Before I could take my hand away from the contract, he leaned forward, over the desk. His face close to me, close enough for me to smell his musky scent, a combination of sandalwood and spice.

“It is done then Miss Smith” I heard him whisper “You are now officially Mrs. Vance”

I froze then I blinked once,then twice. He just called me Miss Smith not Miss Elara which was the name I have surely used to book an appointment with him and also the one on the document.

Miss Smith, the name of the woman who was killed by her ex-fiance and half-sister. How did he know my real name? I am very sure that I had concealed every single thing that connects me to my previous identity as Lianne Smith.

My heart pounded furiously against my ribcage, and my breath hitched. The room seemed to spin slightly under my feet. I looked into his eyes, to find any trace of joke. None, his expression schooled into something lethal, serious and sure. Ethan Vance isn't a man that randomly pulls a joke, talkless of a joke as serious as this.

I steeled myself, clenched my fists tightly until it turned white, I refused to let my hand shake even though everything in me is screaming at me to run, to leave this space this instant.

But no, I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing me c***k. If he really knew about me then there's no point forging my identity and coming this far. Then that means I might be falling into a trap much deeper than a business proposal and a contract marriage.

“ I believe you've got the wrong person Mr Vance. I have no such name, my name is Elara Vale” I replied him, my eyes cold devoid of any emotion, letting a forced cold smile touch my lips.

Then as if he didn't just drop a bombshell on me he said “You'll need to move in with me as my wife” leaning back and sinking comfortably into his chair. His gaze dropping low to my lips before moving back up to my eyes “my men will escort you to your house, to pack your belongings and assist you with moving over to my house”

I nodded, “It's a pleasure doing business with you Mr Vance”. I stood up and stretched my hand outwards to him for a handshake which he took firmly, the signed contract lying on the table, below our shaked hands.

He took my hand in a firm grip, holding onto it for a moment longer than normal. Then I slowly pulled my hand back, leaving the signed contract resting between us.

I nodded at him and got out of his office, breathing a sigh of relief, that was close. As soon as I walked out I saw bodyguards in black suits follow me.

“This way ma'am” the bodyguard standing in front, which I assume to be their leader, motioned to me, leading me to the parking lot of the company where a Mercedes was waiting.

The bodyguard opened the car door while I slid in sighing softly as soon as I sat down.

A contract once signed is a contract in effect. I never would have imagined that I would be someone's wife today. If someone had told me that, I would have denied it outrightly.

My mind flashed back to Ethan Vance, who is now my husband on paper.

What on earth did he know about me?