The room was quiet, save for the faint hum of the ceiling fan and the sound of Alex flipping the pages of the contract one last time. I sat across from him, hands folded tightly in my lap, pretending not to notice how tense my shoulders were.
I had already signed it. My name — my full name — written in black ink at the bottom of a three-year agreement that bound me to a man I barely knew. A man who didn't even pretend to like me.
Alex finished scanning the last page, set the folder down with the precision of a man who controlled every detail of his world, and then looked up.
"That's it," he said. "Tomorrow we'll have it notarized. After that, we announce it."
His tone was final. Businesslike. Cold.
I nodded, but my throat tightened. There was still one thing I hadn't broug
