Not in any universe

SERAPHINA

“First of all, if you are being serious, I will have my legal team draft out a contract,” he said calmly.

“You will review it with independent counsel and once it is signed, then we will go about the necessary procedures needed to get married.”

As he spoke, I still couldn’t believe that I was in this situation. I had pinched myself multiple times and at some point I had felt the blood pull up in my skin to confirm that I definitely wasn’t dreaming all of this.

“That’s it?” I finally asked, my voice definitely steadier than I actually felt.

That cold stare of his was still very much fixed on me and I wondered what he was even thinking.

“That’s all there is to it now.” He said,

It was like he was discussing a merger.

“Are you sure this will bypass the marriage clause in the will though.” I asked, “because this awfully sounds like legal fraud.”

“Nope it isn’t fraud.” He said, “A bit of deceit, since the family lawyers wont know about this contract I have drafted with you, but certainly not fraud.”

His expression sharpened just slightly as he continued,

“The will requires me to be married,” he said,

“Legally. For a minimum period.”

“This marriage.” I said, “What kind are we talking about here? Won’t it be public? The media would have so many questions, wouldn’t they? And how do we explain this even to people at work?”

The questions in my head rolled out of my tongue eagerly, as I wanted to get the full picture of how everything was intended to play out.

“Not initially,” he said, “There will be legal documentation, but beyond that, discretion is essential. I have no need for the headlines being all up in my business like that.”

“So, no interviews.” I said, calmly as I teased “No public declarations of love.”

“God, no.”

I was pleased at this in a way, but then reality set in once again.

“This is still marriage we are talking about here.” I said, “How do we expect to keep that a secret forever?”

He scoffed at this, as a little laugh left his lips.

“There is no universe in which I plan to be married to you for the rest of my life.”

“What are you saying?”

“One year.” He blurted out. “And that will be it.”

“Just one year?”

“Incase you haven’t noticed,” he said, “but you’re not exactly the ray of sunshine you think you are.”

I raised a brow at this. “Wow. You do know how to

make a woman feel special. It has no doubt come as a surprise that you haven’t been able to find a wife of your own, prince charming.”

The sarcasm was very evident in my statement, as I looked at him. He was still laughing now as the whole situation seemed to amuse him.

“Good to see that you have managed to find the humor in the situation.” He said,

I folded my arms, as my mind tried to keep up with everything.

One year.

That was three hundred and sixty five days, at the end of which I would have Two million dollars.

Under normal circumstances, there was no universe in which I would ever make that kind of money. Definitely not legally and not as quickly as I needed it.

There were things that I hadn’t told him, things I had no intention of telling him, that money could fix and I definitely couldn’t keep ignoring them.

“So, how will the payment work?” I asked,

“There will be a three month trial period to see if

any of this can even work in the first place.” He said, “I don’t want to spring up the marriage on the lawyers immediately or they are going to suspect that something is up.”

That made sense.

“When the signing of the NDA and everything is done, a million dollars will be transferred into your account.” He said, leisurely. “Think of it as a goodwill gesture to confirm that I mean business. When we are done with everything and the divorce proceedings the remaining balance will be transferred as well.”

I stared at him from across the desk as he spoke.

The fact that he had just broken down everything about marriage and what should have been an evidence of love into mere numbers was still extremely wild to me.

“It’s still insane,” I said quietly. “You know that, right? We are talking about getting married because of a contract

He leaned back in his chair, as he looked very unbothered. “Marriage has always been a contract.”

“That’s not how most people see it.”

“That’s because most people romanticize it and don’t see it for what it truly is,” he said, “I don’t. Which is why this will work.”

There was a brief moment of silence between us.

“Tell me something,” I finally said, “When you said earlier that this would be strictly business… did you mean it?”

He looked at me for a couple of seconds and then stood. I watched as he walked around the desk slowly as he made his way to me, until he was standing directly in front of me.

I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I once again registered in my head how tall and well built he was as he towered over me. I could feel the heat emanating off him as we both stared into each other’s eyes.

“There is no scenario,” he said, his voice low as he leaned in to my ear. “in which I touch you.”

I could feel my pulse jumping.

“Even if you were the last woman on earth,” he continued, “I don’t believe in love, Ms Cross. Marriage is nothing but a social construct designed to trap people into expectations that inevitably leads to resentment.”

I swallowed, as I listened to him.

“My grandfather knew that,” he added, “which is why he orchestrated this elaborate scheme of his.”

“Why do you hate it so much?” I blurted out, as it was plaguing my mind.

For a second, I saw something change in his expression, as his eyes darkened just a little bit. And then it was gone.

He straightened himself and stepped away from me, returning to his chair as though the moment hadn’t existed.

“I will send you an address to come over” he said, brushing past the topic “and by then I will have the full contract prepared for you to sign. You will sign nothing you haven’t reviewed.”

I nodded slightly, as I turned around.

“And I don’t think I need to stress how important it is that this conversation doesn’t leave this room,” he added lightly. “Mrs. Blackwell.”

The way he had said it sent a strange shiver through me, as I turned around and met his gaze once more with a nod.

“Your secret is safe with me.”

I once again reached for the door handle.

“It was the money, right?”

I froze.

“What?” I asked,

“That’s what changed your mind, he said, as his eyes were on me now. “The money.”

There was a brief moment of silence and then I smirked,

“I mean,” I said, “who could turn that down?”

He shook his head at that moment, “Figured.”