Married by Contract

vily the night my l

lights reflected on the wet road, mocking me with their brightness while my world was crumbling. My mother's f

" the messa

e leather. Every step I took echoed in the silence, making my heart race even faster. Two hours a

immediately. If the payment isn

ntence. I already knew. Forty-e

. A stranger. A propos

the voice on the other end had

o feelings. No questions. I cover yo

ondering if I was dreaming-or if this wa

oors opened, a

ortably. His eyes were sharp, calculating, unreadable. Every movement he m

d, pointing to the

very fiber of my b

eemed to burn into my eyes: "One-year marriage. No

pounded l

d if I refuse?" I ask

giving. "Then you walk away," he s

ed at the contract as though it were a monster,

ying about me, about our little apartment, about bills we couldn't afford. The su

e pen with tre

gn," I w

x of fear, guilt, and determination. I had just s

expression unchanged. "Good

I couldn't. I was trapped in this golden ca

omes next," I managed to sa

ife. Act like a wife. You follow

e year. T

t other choic

ick that made my heart jump. Alone, I sank onto the bed, clu

t felt more like chains. My mind kept replaying his sharp eyes, the way he seemed to see rig

emptiness was overwhelming. The silence of the mansion was deafening, broken only

sudden as he had left. "Dinner," he sai

, though I suspected he ate alone most nights. He ate first, wit

ously, unsure if I shoul

ou will understand why I do things my way. But if you break the ru

d, nodding

he contract, and Mr. Adrian filled my mind. Something told me that this year would be more than just a t

a power over me that went beyond the contract. And somewhere deep inside, I felt the dang

nly dreams of a life where this contract didn't

es of this mansion head-on. To

s contract might be easier than surviving the feel