Thirty Days
717 Words
The words lingered between them.
“I lose everything.”
Aria looked from the document to Kael.
He didn’t look like a man who was begging.
He looked like a man stating a fact.
She pushed the papers back across the table.
“There are thousands of women who would marry you tomorrow.”
“There are.”
“So why are you sitting here with me?”
Kael folded the document and placed it beside his plate.
“Because they all want to marry Kael Blackwood.”
His dark eyes met hers “I need someone who doesn’t.”
Aria frowned “That doesn’t make sense.”
“It will.”
“No, it won’t.”
She shook her head.
“You don’t know me.”
“I know enough.”
“You know I work in a café.”
“I do.”
“You know my mother is sick.”
“Yes.”
“You know I can’t even pay her hospital bills.”
“I know.”
Frustration bubbled inside her.
“So you investigated me.”
“I verified your background.”
“That’s the same thing.”
Kael didn’t argue.
Perhaps because he knew she was right.
A housekeeper quietly entered the dining room carrying dessert.
Neither of them touched it.
The woman sensed the tension and quickly excused herself.
The room fell silent again.
Aria broke it first “What exactly do you expect from me?”
Kael answered without hesitation.
“Attend public events with me.”
“Live at Blackwood Manor.”
“Convince the board, the media, and my family that our marriage is real.”
“For how long?”
“One year.”
“And after that?”
“We divorce.”
The word came so easily from him.
As if he had rehearsed it.
As if marriage were nothing more than another business contract.
Aria looked down at her hands.
“You’ve thought about everything.”
“I had to.”
“But not once did you ask whether I wanted this.”
Kael’s expression hardened.
“That’s why you’re here.”
“No.” She looked straight into his eyes.
“I’m here because my mother is dying.”
The sentence struck him harder than he expected.
For the first time that evening, Kael had no immediate reply.
Aria stood.
“I should go.”
Kael remained seated “I’ll have Daniel drive you home.”
“I can take a taxi.”
“It’s late.”
“I’ve been taking taxis my whole life.”
She reached for her handbag.
“I appreciate your honesty.”
“Do you?”
“I do.”
“But my answer is still no.”
She turned toward the door.
“Miss Bello.” She stopped but didn’t look back.
“If your answer is final…”
His voice remained calm.
“…I’ll respect it.”
She nodded once before leaving the dining room.
Kael remained alone.
Daniel entered a few moments later.
“She left?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Kael picked up his untouched glass of water.
“She refused.”
Daniel wasn’t surprised.
“What now?”
Kael stared at the empty chair across from him.
“For the first time in years…”
A faint smile crossed his face.
“…I have no idea.”
Outside, the cool night air greeted Aria as she stepped through the gates of Blackwood Manor.
She hugged herself while waiting for a taxi.
She had done the right thing.
Hadn’t she?
A contract marriage to a billionaire she’d met only once was absurd.
So why did walking away feel so difficult?
Her phone rang.
It was the hospital.
Her heartbeat quickened.
She answered immediately.
“Hello?”
The nurse’s voice was urgent.
“Miss Bello… your mother has taken a turn for the worse.”
Aria felt the blood drain from her face.
“You need to come to the hospital.”
“Right now.”
The call ended.
For a moment, she couldn’t move.
Then, with trembling hands, she looked back at the towering mansion behind her.
One decision.
One signature.
One chance to save her mother.
And suddenly… Saying no didn’t feel nearly as simple as it had five minutes ago.
- Writer
