The Debt Collector's Daughter

CHAPTER TWO: THE CONTRACT

I didn't go to my bartending shift.

Instead, I sat in my studio apartment, all 400 square feet of it with Cassian Vex's contract spread across my secondhand coffee table and a bottle of cheap wine I couldn't afford going warm in my hand.

The contract was thirty-seven pages long. I'd read it four times, and it still felt like a fever dream.

MARRIAGE CONTRACT BETWEEN CASSIAN ALEXANDER VEX AND ELENA ROSE MARLOWE

Even my full name looked strange in legalese, like it belonged to someone else. Someone who made better choices. Someone whose father hadn't sold her to a billionaire to clear his gambling debts.

I took another sip of wine and forced myself to focus on the terms.

SECTION 3: DURATION AND TERMINATION

The marriage shall commence upon signing and last for a period of twelve (12) months. At the conclusion of this period, the marriage will be dissolved through legal divorce proceedings, with all terms outlined in Section 8...

One year. 365 days of pretending to be Mrs. Cassian Vex. The alternative was watching my father lose everything and my sisters' futures crumble with it.

SECTION 5: FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS

Upon signing, trust funds of five million dollars ($5,000,000) each will be established for Rosalie Anne Marlowe and Jade Catherine Marlowe, to be held until their twenty-fifth birthdays...

Gerald Marlowe's debt of fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) will be forgiven in full...

Elena Rose Marlowe will receive a monthly stipend of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for personal expenses...

I'd done the math three times because my brain refused to process numbers that large. Fifty thousand dollars a month. I currently make about three thousand between both jobs, and most of that went to keeping the girls fed and in school.

SECTION 6: LIVING ARRANGEMENTS

Elena Marlowe will reside in Cassian Vex's primary residence for the duration of the marriage. A separate bedroom will be provided...

Separate bedroom. That was something, at least. This whole arrangement was insane enough without adding s*x to the equation.

Although, reading between the lines, I suspected that was negotiable.

I flipped to the rules section, because of course there was a rules section.

SECTION 7: BEHAVIORAL EXPECTATIONS

Elena Marlowe agrees to:

Attend all social functions, charity galas, and business events as requested

Present herself as a devoted and loving spouse in public

Reside primarily at the provided residence

Refrain from romantic or s****l relationships with third parties

Maintain discretion regarding the contractual nature of the marriage

Cassian Vex agrees to:

Provide all necessary financial support

Respect Elena Marlowe's privacy and personal boundaries

Refrain from romantic or s****l relationships with third parties

Maintain discretion regarding the contractual nature of the marriage

I lingered on that line. Respect Elena Marlowe's privacy and personal boundaries. It was the most human thing in the entire document, and somehow that made it worse. Like he knew this was wrong but was doing it anyway.

My phone buzzed. A text from Rosie: Did you remember to pay the electric bill? It's due tomorrow.

God. I'd completely forgotten. I pulled up my bank account,$47.23. The electric bill was $120.

If I signed this contract, I'd never have to choose between electricity and groceries again. Rosie and Jade would never have to worry about whether they could afford college textbooks or if dinner would be ramen again.

But I'd be married to a stranger. A stranger who thought my dead mother was alive. A stranger who wanted to use me to find... what? What could my mother have possibly had that a billionaire would want twenty years later?

I pulled out my laptop and did what I should have done hours ago: I googled Cassian Vex.

The first page was Forbes articles and business profiles. Billionaire CEO Cassian Vex Acquires Tech Startup for $2.3 Billion. Vex Capital Reports Record Profits. The Man Behind the Empire: An Exclusive Interview.

I clicked on the interview. It was from two years ago, accompanied by a professional photo that didn't do justice to how unsettling he was in person. In the picture, he looked like every other handsome billionaire, perfect suit, perfect hair, perfect smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Mr. Vex, you've built an empire in less than a decade. What drives you?"

"Justice," he'd answered. "And the belief that everything has a price."

I kept scrolling. Business acquisitions, charitable donations, society page appearances with various beautiful women who never lasted more than a few months. Nothing about family. Nothing about his past.

Then, on page three of Google results, I found it.

Vex Family Tragedy: Parents Die in Car Accident

The article was from twenty years ago, from a small local newspaper. I clicked through, my wine forgotten.

Alexander and Margot Vex, prominent members of the city's business community, were killed last night in a single car accident on Route 16. Police report that Alexander Vex lost control of the vehicle on a sharp turn, sending the car through a guardrail and down a ravine. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

The couple is survived by their twelve-year-old son, Cassian, who was at boarding school at the time of the accident.

Twelve years old. He'd been twelve when his parents died.

The same year my mother "died."

I sat back, my mind racing. This couldn't be a coincidence. Cassian's parents died in a car accident. My mother died in a car accident. Same year. And now he was telling me my mother might be alive, that she'd worked for his family that she had something he needed.

What the hell had my mother been involved in?

My phone rang, making me jump. Unknown number.

I almost didn't answer. Then I thought about the contract, about Cassian's twenty-four hour deadline, and accepted the call.

"Miss Marlowe." That smooth, controlled voice. "I hope I'm not disturbing you."

"How did you get this number?"

"I'm a very resourceful man." I could hear the faint smile in his voice. "Have you read the contract?"

"I'm reading it now." I set down my wine glass before I threw it. "You failed to mention that your parents died the same year as my mother."

Silence. Then: "You've been doing research."

"Of course, I've been doing research. You're asking me to marry you based on some connection between our families that you've failed to explain."

"It's complicated."

"Then uncomplicate it." I stood, pacing my tiny apartment. "You want me to trust you with a year of my life, I need more than 'your mother had something I want.' What did she have? What happened to your parents? And why do you think my mother is still alive?"

More silence. I was starting to hate his silences.

"Not over the phone," Cassian finally said. "Meet me tomorrow. Ten a.m. I'll send a car."

"I don't need your car. Where?"

"My office. Vex Capital, fifty-second floor." He paused. "Come alone, Elena. This isn't a conversation for your father."

"Trust me, my father is the last person I want involved in this."

"Good." Another pause, longer this time. "For what it's worth, I understand why you're hesitant. This arrangement isn't conventional. But I promise you, I'm not the villain here."

"Everyone thinks they're the hero of their own story," I said.

"True." There was something in his voice now, something almost like respect. "But I'm self-aware enough to know I'm not a hero. I'm just a man trying to right a wrong that's been festering for twenty years. And if that makes me the villain in your story, I can live with that."

He hung up before I could respond.

I stood there, phone in hand, staring at the contract that would change everything.

My whole life, I'd been taught that family came first. That you protected the people you loved, no matter the cost. I'd given up college to take care of my sisters. Given up friends, relationships, any semblance of a normal life in my twenties.

What was one more sacrifice?

I sat back down and read through the contract one more time, paying attention to a section I'd skimmed before.

SECTION 10: TERMINATION CLAUSES

Either party may terminate this agreement early under the following conditions:

If Cassian Vex locates the item in question before the twelve month period concludes

If either party engages in behaviour that violates the terms outlined in Section 7

If continuing the arrangement poses a demonstrable threat to either party's safety or wellbeing

In the event of early termination, all financial agreements remain in effect...

So even if this ended early, Rosie and Jade would still get their trust funds. My father's debt would still be forgiven.

I thought about what Cassian had said. Your mother worked for my family.

My mother, who I barely remembered. Who died or didn't die when I was four years old. Who apparently had been involved with the Vex family in some capacity important enough that Cassian Vex would offer millions of dollars and a fake marriage to find out what happened.

I pulled out the shoebox I kept under my bed. Inside were the only things I had of my mother: a few photographs, a thin silver bracelet, and a locket I'd never been able to open. I'd tried over the years, but the clasp was stuck or broken or both.

I picked up the locket, studying it in the lamplight. It was delicate, old-fashioned, with an ornate "M" engraved on the front. For Marlowe, I'd always assumed. Or maybe her first name, whatever it had been before she'd married my father.

On impulse, I added it to my purse. If I was going to meet with Cassian Vex tomorrow, if I was actually considering this insane arrangement, maybe the locket was worth showing him.

My phone buzzed with another text, this time from Jade: Can you help me with my history essay tomorrow? It's due Friday.

Friday. Two days away. In two days, I could be Mrs. Cassian Vex. Or I could be Elena Marlowe, broke bartender, scrambling to make rent while my father's empire collapsed around us.

I looked at the contract one more time. At the numbers that would change my sisters' lives. At the separate bedroom clause that meant I could keep at least part of myself.

Then I looked at the termination clause. The one that said if continuing the arrangement posed a threat to my safety or wellbeing, I could walk away and the girls would still be protected.

It was a loophole. A way out if things got too dangerous or too dark.

I picked up my phone and texted Cassian's number: I'll be there at ten. But I have questions. A lot of them.

His response came thirty seconds later: Good. So do I.

I set the phone down and finished my wine, staring at the ceiling of my tiny apartment. Tomorrow, I'd go to his office. I'd ask my questions. I'd look this man in the eyes and figure out if he was someone I could trust for twelve months.

And then I'd decide whether to sign away a year of my life to find out the truth about my mother.

The truth about what really happened twenty years ago.

The truth that Cassian Vex thought was worth fifty million dollars and a contract marriage.

I just hoped I wasn't making the biggest mistake of my life.