Chapter 4- Marriage Contract

KENDRA

It was the following morning, and I woke up nice and early for my early morning training session. I washed my face and brushed my teeth before I tied all of my long hair up in a ponytail and made my way downstairs.

I quickly grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before I headed out and drove myself to the private gym where I liked to train, thinking waking up and climbing out of bed on a cold morning was not easy.

I parked my car in my usual spot before I made my way inside and scanned my card. The metal barriers opened pretty quickly and let me through before they closed after me again.

Ben my personal trainer who was a big bulky guy stopped whatever he was doing and looked at me with a serious look on his face,

“You’re late” he said before I could even explain myself.

I put all of my personal belongings into a locker before I walked over to him,

“Only by two minutes” I said before I put on my boxing gloves. Ben wasted no time in telling me to get to work and I knew it was going to be one of those days where he was going to make sure I wasted no time and trained hard.

I punched the punchbag in front of me with all my strength and didn’t stop until my hands started hurting.

“Keep going” Ben shouted as he circled around me and didn’t let me slow down. I frowned at him and kept going, until I couldn’t feel my knuckles anymore.

Ben was the only one who physically knew how to push my body to its limit,

“You’re too slow, faster come on” he said, earning himself a frown from me as I thought was doing my best.

I didn’t realise when he stepped forward and started throwing punches at me instead, making my arms work faster than ever. I tried my best to keep up and just when I thought I was doing well, he distracted me and punched me on the shoulder hard, making me stumble.

I quickly regained my balance and looked over at him,

“Can I take a break?” I asked as I was out of breath already. Ben shook his head and looked over at me with a serious look on his face,

“Not yet” he said and that was all he had to say before I continued sparring with him, until I passed the point of exhaustion.

Ben allowed me to take a small break after fifteen minutes and I couldn’t be more glad. I walked over to the bench and quickly unscrewed my bottle of water before I took a few long sips of it, liking how refreshing it tasted.

I wiped the sweat of my forehead with a clean towel before I walked over to the weight training machine and sat down on the leather seat, ignoring the few guys who were checking me out from a little distance away.

Ben made me lift some lightweight dumbbells to start off with before he gave me the more heavier ones.

“You’re doing well, keep going” he said as he watched me quietly with both of his arms folded.

It was clear he wasn’t expecting me to do as good as I was, although my whole body was aching, and my arms felt numb, like they would give up on me any second.

“I can’t do this for any longer” I said quietly as the weight of the dumbbells weighed down on me heavily.

Ben circled me once again and looked down at me with no mercy,

“You don’t have a choice” he said before he told me to lift. I rolled my eyes and did as he said, thinking the quicker I listened the faster I could go home and shower.

It was almost an hour later when Ben finally finished training me and told me that he would see me again in the evening.

“Let’s hope I don’t come down with a sudden illness of some sort” I said before I drank some water.

Ben wiped the sweat of his forehead and looked at me with a serious look on his face,

“Either way I’ll be expecting you here” he said before he walked out of the gym before me. I followed him out and walked to my car, feeling like I had not an ounce of energy left in my body.

The moment I reached home, I knew I was in trouble.

“Kendra in my office now” father shouted the moment I stepped inside.

I took the bobble out of my hair and looked at him with a serious look on my face,

“Not until I’ve showered” I said before I quickly walked up the stairs and to my bedroom, thinking if there was one thing I hated, that was feeling sticky and sweaty.

Twenty minutes and I finally walked into my father’s office, earning myself a look of disappointment.

“Where did you go last night?” he asked before I even sat down.

I ran my fingers through my wet hair and looked at him,

“Out with a few friends why?” I asked, although I had a feeling he would see through my lie.

Father slammed his fist down on the desk in front of him and looked at me sharply,

“You went to rescue Kaleb, didn’t you?” he asked me calmly, almost too calm for my liking.

I leaned back against my seat and looked at him, thinking once again my lovely stepmother Megan or half-brother Jacob must have seen us arriving home later yesterday evening and wasted no time in telling father everything.

“Call it what you want” I said with a shrug.

That was all I had to say before Father got up from where he was sitting and threw a file at me, that just about missed my face and landed in my lap.

“Your brothers carelessness is costing me a fortune, and there’s only one way to fix this” he said with a small frown.

I felt my whole world stop for a few seconds the moment my eyes fell on front of the file in my lap.

“Marriage contract” it read in bold capital letters.

Those two words alone were enough to throw me off guard.

“What is this?” I asked father, although I knew what it was and just wanted to hear it from his mouth.

 Father sat back down on his chair and looked at me with a serious look on his face,

“Open it and you’ll find out” he said emotionlessly.

I quickly picked up the file from my lap and flipped it open, with my heart beating faster then in ever had in the last twenty-four years of my life.

“I am drowning in debt and there’s only one way to settle this, you will be marry into the Richardson family and save the little reputation I have left” Father said coldly.

From his tone of voice, I could tell he had already made his decision and was just simply letting me know.

“What makes you think I will agree?” I asked before I closed the file.

I refused to let him decide my future and marry me off to someone I didn’t even know.

“You don’t have a choice Kendra, take this as a way of saving your brother” Father shouted, before he lit up a cigar and took a long puff of it. 

I shook my head and looked at him,

“There has got to be another way out of it, I am not marrying someone I don’t even know” I argued, which only made father look at me with more disappointment,

“You will do as I say and besides it’s only for a year, after that you can do as you wish” he said icily.

Till this day I had never won an argument with him and knew today would not be any different either.

“I will agree, but on one condition” I said quietly, quickly getting his attention.

Father moved his cigar away from his face and looked at me questioningly,

“Spit it out” he said with a small frown.

I could tell he was agitated and that made me happy as I liked getting under skin and giving him a taste of his own medicine.

“You will not say anything to Kaleb and let him live his life the way he wants” I said quietly, my voice holding more emotions then my face ever could.

It was clear from the look on fathers face that he wasn’t expecting me to say that,

“And here I thought you were going to ask for a big sum of money” he grumbled under his breath, not knowing that my next request was going to be even more surprising.

I had big dreams and goals for the future but for that I first needed to have full control over my father’s multi-billionaire drug business, something I knew he would never give me.

“I don’t want your money, I want you to make me the heir of your company and I want it down in writing” I said quietly, getting his attention almost instantly.

Father let out a small mocking laugh and looked at me,

“Since when have women become heirs, your brother is the one who will be taking over, so I suggest you tell him to get his crap together and start learning” he said before he took another puff of his cigarette.

I hated the way father believed that women were not good enough for the business world. I wanted to prove him wrong.

“It’s the only way I will agree to this marriage father” I said with a hand on my chin, and it took him a moment to realise that I was being serious and not kidding.

He leaned back against his seat and looked at me,

“You will never be the heir of my business, get your head out of the clouds and focus on what’s important” he said coldly.

That was all he had to say before I dropped the marriage contract file, I was holding in my hand onto the desk in front of him and stood up,

“Then there will be no marriage contract of any sort, whilst I pull my head out of the clouds you can enjoy pulling yours out of the debt” I stated before I got ready to leave.

Father banged his fist down on the desk and looked up at me angrily,

“How dare you disobey me?” he shouted before he stood up tall and towered over me intimidatingly.

 I looked up at him and smiled,

“If you want me to help you save your business then you will agree to my little request, and I will do as you say” I said before I took my phone out of my pocket.

I knew I was pushing all of his buttons but there was no way I was going to agree to this marriage without getting something in return.

“I will call my lawyer right now, but if you ever make me regret my decision, you won’t live to see another day” father shouted before he forced the marriage contract in my hand and told me to read it and start preparing for the wedding.