Chapter 5. Agreement Before Marriage

"Wait, so one of the Jaffin daughters is Mr. Marvin's lover?" William said, the 35-year-old man who had been hiring people to go after Stella and Mia.

"Yes, Boss. It appears that way. We overheard the man addressing the woman with affection. He also mentioned that Stella should have disclosed her debt, so he could settle it without causing embarrassment."

"Why don't you find out first! You should have—"

"Our job is to collect debts, not look for information!" The man interjected. "Now, hurry up and pay for our work, so we can leave this place!"

"Damn it!" William exclaimed, his fists clenched tightly. He walk over to the desk, opened the drawer, and retrieved a brown envelope to give to the men.

"Mr. Marvin also mentioned, if you want to take the blame, just blame Damian."

"Damian?"

Without hesitation, William grabbed the cell phone lying on the table and dialed Damian's number.

***

"What is the meaning of this? Why did you unilaterally cancel our partnership?" Damian demanded angrily as he entered William's room.

"You canceled my partnership with Esther! I lost hundreds of millions in profits!" William retorted, rising from his seat and approaching Damian.

"What do you mean?" Damian asked, his expression puzzled.

"I had a partnership with Esther Company, and it was terminated."

"So, what does that have to do with me?" Damian said, not comprehending.

"Mr. Marvin said it was all because of you!"

"Because of me? I don't even know him! How could it be because of me?"

"One of the Jaffin daughters is Mr. Marvin's lover." William explained.

"What?" Damian exclaimed, staring at William with a shocked expression. He diverted his gaze, deep in thought. "Stella? No, no... there's no way it's Stella. She just broke up with me. How could she possibly be involved with Mr. Marvin? Is it Mia? But she already agreed to... earlier."

"Mr. Marvin must be furious that you've caused distress to his girlfriend. I understand, the Jaffin treasure wasn't willingly handed over to you, but forcibly taken. Moreover, you instructed me to retrieve it directly from his daughter. We had to pursue them, all because you didn't allocate a single penny. Thanks to you, I've suffered significant financial losses. I should have been earning hundreds of millions from the profits of my partnership with Esther! But you've sabotaged everything. Damn it! I should never have followed your directive to collect that debt from the Jaffin daughters. This is entirely your fault!"

"Fine, I apologize." William conceded.

"You're sorry? Everything can't be solved with just an apology!"

"What should I do? Compensate for the loss?" Damian retorted. "Or are you going to seek revenge on me? Go ahead! I'm not afraid. Instead of focusing on revenge, you should be figuring out how to prevent your company from crumbling. You've already forfeited the profits from the partnership with Esther. And now, you've terminated our partnership as well. That means you'll lose out on the profits from our collaboration too. Are you confident your company will recover from this?"

William stared at Damian with a sardonic glare, his fists still clenched tightly, acknowledging the truth in Damian's words.

Damian smirked triumphantly. "Use your common sense," he advised, tapping his temple with his finger before turning to leave.

"Okay." William conceded at last.

Damian's smile widened upon hearing William's response before he exited the room.

***

"My secretary will draft a letter for the arrangement we discussed earlier." Marvin said, his attention focused on the road as he drove.

Beside him, Stella nodded slowly. "I have conditions as well."

"What?"

"I want our marriage to be genuine. Even if it's only on paper, I don't want it to be a fake. I refuse to trivialize the sanctity of marriage."

"What?" He stared at her in disbelief, then abruptly pulled over to the side of the road, and turned to face her with the same shocked expression. "You mean we're actually getting married?"

"Yes," she affirmed. "Marriage is sacred, it's not something to be taken lightly."

"Are you out of your mind?" he exclaimed.

"It's precisely because I'm sane that I'm saying this," she insisted.

"No! Our marriage will be purely contractual. There will be a contract to sign later, specifying the duration of our arrangement. If our mission isn't accomplished by the end of the contract term, there will be an option for an extension," he explained.

"I refuse," she replied firmly, arms crossed. "I won't entertain the idea of treating marriage as a game. Contract marriages are not acceptable!"

"But I don't love you! How can we go through with a real marriage?" he protested.

"You think I love you, huh? Well, I don't love you either. My heart is closed off to all men. I've lost faith in men entirely. I don't even plan on getting married for the rest of my life. So don't worry, in this marriage, you're still free to do as you want. I know your life must be filled with countless women."

"That's not the case! I-" he said, but she cut him off.

"If you're unwilling, then let's cancel our agreement," she said, her smile unwavering.

"I've already settled your debt!" he retorted through clenched teeth.

"I'll repay the debt. I'll work in your household as a servant or fulfill any role you assign me. A typical monthly salary is usually at least three million, and my debt is fifty million. That means I'll need to work with you for around seventeen months. Three times seventeen equals fifty-one, which exceeds one million. So, I'll be working for about a year and a half without pay from you. That's no issue. I'm prepared," she said confidently.

He glared at her, clearly annoyed.

"How?" she asked incredulously.

"You're being petty!" he retorted.

"Petty? My conditions are simple. I just don't want to play around with marriage. That's all. Even if you become my husband on paper, I won't impose many restrictions on you. You're free to do as you want," she explained. "So, do you agree? If not, I won't insist. Tomorrow, I'll come to the company as an employee." With that, she reached for the door handle, ready to leave.

"Okay," he said. "I agree."

She turned to face him, who was looking at her with sarcasm evident in his expression. "Okay," she replied before leaving.

Continued...