Chapter Four

The conference room was quiet as usual with just a few staff hovering around the office at the late hours of the day. Every one of his staff knows that Isabella Stone, wife of the former CEO of Helixia International and mother to Alexander, only visits the office when there are real matters that need her intervention such as this. Showing up today at work was a surprise to the majority of the staff. Even though she is retired she still had her office intact as well as being a strong lead in the helm of affairs. She is a strong and very persistent woman who would go any length to see that her husband’s legacy continues to live on even though he’s late. 

Now she has a rift she must fix only by proposing a contract marriage between her son and the man’s daughter whom she finds so much pleasure in oppressing. That had been in existence since her husband was alive. She had never for one day liked the idea of signing contract marriages but she must do this to push her son high up in the success ladder as the world’s number one. That was a priority for her and she must do this for her son and her family. The offer of the contract is only for two years. Her son has to be married to a daughter of a top billionaire in town so that her company can sign a Mega deal with BINGOS CONGLOMERATE the top richest company known all over the world, if she could strike a deal with them using her son's marriage as the bait, her family will continue to swim in affluence till the end of the world. Just for occasions like this. She had made his assistant fix a meeting between Nicholas and his daughter. 

“Good morning Ma'am”. The secretary greeted the moment she stepped into the reception. She quickly ran over and helped her with her bag while she followed behind.

“Have you heard from Veloce International?” She asked with so much interest like her life depended on it.

“Well, I dropped them a reminder via email and I received a response from them a few minutes before you walked in”. The secretary replied respectfully.

“Alright”. The moment their representatives come, make sure to show them to my office. I have a brief meeting with a family friend and will be done in a couple of minutes. She said as she settled in on her chair. Then rummaging through her bag for her phone, she examines the phone for a while and scrolls through, then settles on the line she wants to call.

“Why aren’t you at work yet?” she asked over the phone.

“I will be with you shortly, " the voice boomed from the other end of the phone. It is her arrogant son, Alexander.

She had just finished making photocopies of the private agreement when she received a short knock on her door.

“Come in”, she responded in a very soft tone as she watched the door open slightly. 

The average looking old man walked in smartly with his beautiful daughter behind him.

“Good morning Ma'am” I greeted with disdain in her voice. A woman who would persuade her son to marry a girl he doesn't even know from Adam doesn't deserve any respect from me. I took a quick run down at the woman’s physical appearance and was convinced that Alexander did not steal his cute looks from anyone but his mother. He had her emerald green eyes and nicely shaped lips.

“You’re welcome Mr. Nicholas” she said without raising her head. I gave her a stern look as bitterness began to form in my chest. My father isn't a man of many words and has very little or no time to exchange pleasantries with anyone. At the offer of a seat I settled on the next available seat beside my father and began lacing my fingers underneath the table.

“I guess this is your daughter?” The mid-aged woman asked

“Yes, she is”. The woman flashed a grin at me and nodded without saying any more words.

After a long pause she finally broke the silence and gave a flimsy reason why we have to wait for her callous son to arrive before we can begin with the contract signing process.

“Alex isn't here yet and I wouldn't want us to sign this without him”. She said unapologetically.

‘That works”. My father nodded. I watched him with my side eye.

Helena raised her head at the sound of boots clicking on the marble floor and reached her ears and soon she found Alexander walking into the office with his hands in his pocket. His feet were striding towards the table with so much purpose and authority. Helena didn't hear him knock the door like they did. Of course to him that was necessary since it was his mother's office. He, being the new CEO, had the right to barge into other people's offices without knocking. He paused when he found Helena and her father sitting on the semi conference table in his mother's large office. He walked in like no one was present except for his mom and didn't even apologize for being late.

Helen's breath began to rage when she saw that mocking smirk he had made on his face just like the previous day she had met him at the restaurant.

Your attitude sometimes makes me want to question your existence as my child" his mother spoke to him with anger in her eyes and for the first time, Helena saw how he recoiled into his shell like a tortoise at the sound of his mother's voice. She must have had a lot of influence over this young man she thought in her mind. This was the same man who had intimidated her the few times she had met him, and here he was shivering at the words of a woman. He was wearing a different business suit today which made his adequate body build even more enchanting and attractive. There is no doubt about the fact that he is a mouth dripping handsome man embedded with passion and fire in his shiny emerald eyes, manly prepped beard, chiseled and concrete jaw, broad shoulders and with a spicy killer scent surrounding him again would go rally crazy just to embrace this manliness and epitome of outer perfection. He possesses leonine power. Helena prayed under her breath for Alexander to control his bad attitude before he disgraced his family in front of his mother like he would effortlessly do outside.

Sit. His mother commanded, he flashed her a cold look for a while before reluctantly settling in on the seat opposite Helena’s, they locked eyes for a while. Helena didn't see the need to feel intimidated or scared of him at this point; rather , she gave him the stern energy he deserved. He rolled his eyes at her and focused on his mother who had now bent over her drawer to pick out the documents she had prepared for the contract. She passed a copy to Mr. Nicholas who read and signed after a few minutes then passed it on to his daughter to tender her signature as well on the contract.

I read the third rule and flared.

“What do you mean we have to act like a couple outside? If he's not allowed to touch me outside, then there isn't any need to act all loving in public. I said looking from Mrs. Stone and back to my father for the approval of this observation. From the side of my eyes I could see the frown forming on Alexander's face like he was meaning to say "who's going to touch you anyways?" in his croaky deep voice. I ignored the look focusing more on Mrs. Stone who had drafted the so-called agreement.

“Well, Ms. Cole, the agreement says that you two have to be married in the eyes of everyone else except the four of us sitting here because marriage is very important for all of us. Isn't that so Mr. Nicholas? She asked my father with a wicked grin on her face just like her sons’. 

“Yes, it is”. My father responded coldly, stuttering the word more than twice with his eyes down. At this point I began to brainstorm the reason why my dad could be so cold in front of this woman, or was it because she had affluence and so much wealth at her disposal? The dialogue and questions in my mind were endless. I despised her guts. I could feel the heat burning deep down my stomach. A surging urge to slap her in the face and kick her son in the balls. What effrontery? Obviously I could do any of that so I sat there and watched like a fool. After all, my father was sick and I had to do this for him; sort of a last wish or something.

“Yes, sure.” Her father responded by stuttering his words more than twice. Helena wondered what could be so wrong with her father and why he was acting so cold in front of a mere woman.

Well, this is his wish and she had to do it if it would make him happy for the rest of the years he would be spending with her. The thought of him leaving her makes her weak every single time. Now she was in front of a man she would soon call her husband so she mustn’t display her vulnerability in front of him or his mother.

She hurriedly searched for a pen in her bag and signed her own section of the contract beneath her father's signature. Then reluctantly passed it on to Alexander to scribble his signature too in the section that has his name written on it.

“Wait! Can we have our separate rooms, Ma'am?” She asked in a subtle tone.

“Who's going to touch you anyways? I can't wait for this madness to get done with. Alexander said in between his teeth”. I had waited so long for these words to pop out of his goddamn mind. I wasn’t surprised when they eventually spewed them.

His mother gave him a stern look and ignored his nasty show of attitude before she continued with what she had to say. 

"Of course you can, that's if you want because you two aren't allowed to fall in love, and it’s just a two year contract, no babies and no love making. Except when you two are out at a public function, then you can go on with a little PDA to convince our associates that you two are having a sweet thing going on."

She paused and took in a deep breath before continuing her statement.

“That way it's a win for everybody”.

Her dad nodded in agreement and rubbed Helena's lap with his hand.

Once Alexander was done with signing his own part of the agreement he walked out of the office without giving a hoot if anyone was offended by his rudeness. Helena gave her dad an eye sign to say you see that now? Father and daughter for a few minutes while waiting for Mrs. Stone to make photocopies of the document, and after she was done she handed it over to Mr. Nicholas and saw them off to the door. Just be a beautiful bride, Mrs. Stone whispered into Helena's ears as she brushed past her. My heart began to pound so hard she could hear every beat.