Lara sat stiffly in the sleek, modern living room of Adrian's penthouse, her gaze fixed on the contract in front of her. The words blurred together as she skimmed them, her mind refusing to fully comprehend the implications. Her heart raced, and her palms were clammy against the cold glass of the table. She couldn't stop her thoughts from swirling, from the weight of the decision pressing down on her chest.
Adrian sat across from her, his posture relaxed, his fingers steepled together as if he had all the time in the world. He was calm. Always calm. A stark contrast to the storm inside her.
"You'll stay married to me for one year," Adrian's voice cut through the silence, flat and emotionless, as though he was discussing business rather than her entire life. "You'll attend public events with me, play the role of my wife. In return, I will keep my promise. Your café will be saved. Your family's debts will disappear."
Lara's pulse pounded in her ears, and the words echoed in her mind, but she couldn't process them all at once. It felt like a bargain she couldn't afford, but what choice did she have?
Her family's café, the only thing her late mother had left her, was on the brink of collapse. Her father's debts, his endless failures, had pushed them to the edge. She had tried everything—loans, cutbacks, long hours—but nothing had been enough. Now, here was Adrian Sinclair, offering a way out, a lifeline.
But it came with a price.
"And after a year?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly as she forced the question out.
Adrian didn't flinch. His eyes didn't even flicker toward her face, his gaze fixed on something far beyond the present. "We divorce, and you walk away with a settlement big enough to start over."
The cold detachment in his voice sent a chill through her. It was the business transaction he made it out to be, and Lara felt the sting of being nothing more than a pawn in his game. She couldn't decide if it was relief or resentment building inside her.
"Why me?" she whispered, unable to hide the question that had been gnawing at her from the start.
Adrian's gaze flickered to her at last, and in that brief moment, something dark passed behind his eyes—something she couldn't place, but it sent a shiver of warning down her spine. He leaned back slightly, the smirk on his lips never wavering.
"Because you owe me, Lara," he said, his tone hard and cold, like a statement she should have already known.
Owe him? The words almost seemed laughable. She didn't owe him anything. She had never asked for any of this, never wanted to be caught in his web. She wanted to scream at him, to demand answers. But the steel in his voice was enough to silence her. She knew that if she pushed, she wouldn't like the answer.
There were things she didn't want to know about Adrian Sinclair, things that didn't matter. The deal had already been made.
Taking a deep breath, Lara picked up the pen, her fingers shaking as she signed her name at the bottom of the page. The ink seemed to burn on the paper, an irreversible commitment that would shape the next year of her life.
One year.
One year to play the part of his wife, to pretend everything was fine while her world crumbled around her. She could do this. She could survive it.
Right?
Her pulse still hammered in her chest, but she forced herself to look at him. Adrian was already standing, his tall figure casting a shadow over her as he glanced down at the contract. He had expected her to sign. He knew she would. It wasn't a choice—it was an obligation, a silent understanding that she had no other option.
"You'll do as agreed," he said, his voice colder now, almost final.
Lara met his gaze, her own eyes burning with the defiance she didn't have the courage to voice. "I'll survive, Adrian. For a year."
His lips curled into that same, unnerving smirk, and with that, he turned to walk away, leaving her alone with the contract, the weight of her decision pressing down on her shoulders like a heavy chain.
She didn't know what the next year would bring, but one thing was certain—her life would never be the same again.