Chapter 3: The Rules
415 Words
Amelia watched Adrian carefully as he stood across from her.
“Because I need a wife,” he had said.
But that answer only made her more suspicious.
“What happens after one year?” she asked.
“The marriage ends.”
“And you expect me to simply walk away?”
“That is the agreement.”
Amelia shook her head. “You make it sound so easy.”
“It will be, if we follow the rules.”
Adrian picked up the contract and opened it to the final pages.
“There are several conditions.”
Amelia sighed. “Of course there are.”
“First, we will live together, but we will have separate bedrooms.”
She nodded.
“Second, neither of us will interfere in the other’s personal affairs.”
“Fine.”
“Third, there will be no romantic expectations.”
Amelia raised an eyebrow. “Then why get married?”
Adrian looked at her for a moment.
“Because sometimes marriage is about appearances, not love.”
His words bothered her more than she wanted to admit.
“And the fourth rule?” she asked.
Adrian’s expression became serious.
“We cannot fall in love.”
Amelia stared at him.
“That shouldn't be difficult.”
“Good.”
He handed her the contract.
“You have forty-eight hours to decide.”
Amelia looked at the papers in her hands.
Forty-eight hours to decide whether to give up a year of her life to a man she barely knew.
Her father watched her with worried eyes.
She knew what the decision meant.
If she refused, Carter Industries would probably be gone within weeks. Her father could lose everything he had spent his entire life building.
But if she accepted, she would become Adrian Black’s wife.
A stranger’s wife.
Amelia stood up.
“I need time.”
Adrian nodded. “Take it.”
He turned toward the door, but Amelia suddenly stopped him.
“Adrian.”
He looked back.
“Why do I feel like you're not telling me everything?”
For the first time, his calm expression disappeared.
Only for a second.
Then the cold billionaire mask returned.
“Because you don't know me well enough yet.”
He walked away, leaving Amelia more confused than before.
She looked down at the contract again.
There was something about Adrian Black that didn't make sense.
And somehow, she had a feeling that this marriage was about much more than money.
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