Chapter 3 – He signed the contract!

Caspian looked at her when he noticed the letter she was holding and turned to face her, saying, "I'm not going to spend my time with your crap. I must report to the barracks "He turned around without paying attention to her.

She runs at him and clings to his arm, "can you listen to me first? I know you were shocked to marry me too. We are both placed in this situation where we can’t back out but... I prepared a plan so that we could both go back to our own lives," she tries to convince her.

"What exactly do you mean?" He asks, turning to face her. He looked down at his arm, which she was clutching. She released off of him swiftly and grinned awkwardly.

She showed the envelope to him and stated, "I prepared a contract before we get married stating that the ceremony that happened today will not be valid.

She handed him the papers, saying, "Once you sign it, I'll depart tonight and we can live our separate lives. Don't worry, I didn't include many restrictions because we're splitting up soon, and I guarantee you that you may edit or add to any of the articles."

Caspian throws his raging eyes at her. He can’t accept that there is someone embarrassed to be his wife and even dare to sign him a contract to invalidate their wedding on their honeymoon.

"She may be playing hard-to-get, she must be thinking that if she did it, she would get my attention," his mind told him.

It was a long time before he took the envelope from her. He scanned the contents of it and glanced at Stephanie. He saw how happy she was when he accepted it, Caspian turned his gaze back to the paper, and he was shocked when he read it.

It was indeed true! She wasn't lying about their marriage being declared null and void. He clutched the paper fiercely as if he intended to rip it in front of her.

He called their driver and asked him to revise some parts of the contract. After a few minutes, he came back, giving the revised paper to him. Caspian checked it before if he wanted to change some of it, and when he was content, he finally spoke with her.

"Where’s the pen?"

She heard his deep voice, Stephanie quickly searched for a pen and gave it to him. Her face was lit up with happiness while he obediently signed the contract.

She blink her eyes twice and asked herself, “he signed that contract?”

He handed her the papers and walked out of the house while she happily hugs the paper and can’t still get over it he easily agreed on her plan. She remembered that she needed to leave the house right away, and the contract stated that he would send her to any hotel tonight, she run to chase him.

She was very happy that she was free from him. She couldn’t believe that it was easy to negotiate with him, though she had heard from other people, especially her friend, that it was hard to negotiate with him.

"Now, I can show them that I, Stephanie Alicia Villamar, handled the problem in just a few minutes and I am FREE!" She rejoices in her mind. She was out of her trance when she remembered to check the paper before she could finally move on to the next page of her life, but her eyes almost got out when she saw what he had changed.

"CASPIAN ANDREW ARDIENTE! WHAT’S THE MEANING OF THIS?!" She shrieked at him. He was grinning while staring at his wife, who was standing at the doorway, with a furious expression on her face.

She took a few steps and went to face him, "what is this?" She was enraged and showed the document to his face.

"Can’t you understand a simple language? My heart aches to know that my parents agreed to marry an illiterate woman like you," he mocked.

She took a deep breath and bit the bottom of her lip. She was trying to keep her cool so she might avoid hurting him, she composed herself and feigned a grin. 

"I am not illiterate. I just can’t understand your logic on why you have to sign this if you will change the main reason why it was created,"

"What’s wrong with it?" He pretended that it didn’t matter. Caspian placed his hand on her shoulder and explained, "our parents would doubt us if we crossed the line. I want our marriage to be considered and let’s play the game as a happily married couple in front of others. But don’t worry, I will not bother you. You can still enjoy yourself alone because I will be on duty and I have no idea when I will come home."

She smirked and realized that he had a point, but one thing she was curious about was why he wanted to keep their marriage.

Caspian hopped into the car and was about to close the vehicle door when he remembered one thing, "before I leave, I want to remind you to not get closer to any men or you will be in trouble," he cautioned.

Stephanie was stomping her feet as she walked back into the house, throwing the documents on the couch.

"He tricked me?!! And he even warns me to stop seeing other men. Does he think that I am such a woman?!" She shut the door angrily.

"He left that, he deserves to forget that," she said, her gaze darting to the medicine kit on the coffee table.

Stephanie looks around and is pleased to see how luxurious the place she will live in is, but she is bewildered as to why the design of the house appears to be the same as the design of the house she used to live in.

She stopped in front of the mirror when she saw her reflection and remembered that she was still wearing the wedding gown, "this gown suits me well, but the man I married wasn't a match for me," she sadly uttered.

She went upstairs to look for clothes and change her clothes. She searched in three rooms and found clothes in the wardrobe. She quickly changed into the bathroom. While she was standing, she felt the pain in her sole.

She checked it and saw some scars on her feet. The medicine box in the living room flashed across her mind. Stephanie went down quickly and used it to clean her wounds before gently putting on the slipper.

"It's a good thing he forgot," she grumbled as she returned to her room to sleep.

One sunny morning, Stephanie woke up with a non-stop ringing of the doorbell. She quickly went downstairs and opened the door while squeezing her eyes.

A man appeared in front of her. He was wearing a polo shirt and pants, he had a cap, and he was holding a box. From what she saw, he seemed to be a delivery man.

"Good morning, ma’am! Is it the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Ardiente?" He inquires.

"Yes, it is," she says with a yawn.

"Here's a package for you," he remarked as he handed her the box. When she observed that he appeared to be looking inside the house, she gently closes the door.

"Do you still need anything?" She had been alert when she realized that the man was acting strangely. Her heart began to race and she was thinking about how she would escape this situation if she suspected that the man was planning something bad for her.

"Your house is rather large. May I ask whether there is anyone else who lives within but you?"

Her pulse was racing and her legs were shaking as she took big breaths.

"Oh no! What can I do if he’s a bad guy? Who could save me if something came up?"

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