Chapter 2

Lucas was taken aback by her question. She looked genuinely surprised, as if she was hearing the topic for the first time. He had assumed Samuel had discussed the whole thing with his daughter. Personally, he was not too happy about getting shackled into marriage with an ill-looked Johnson young lady after two failed marriages. 

Evelyn Johnson reminded him of one of the orphans in a charity home he had recently donated a huge sum of money to. She looked distasteful and lacked simple fashion sense. He still bore the scars of divorce that proved all women were the same. Once they perceived a man was wealthy, they did everything humanly possible to burrow their way into his life, and once they got what they wanted, they were gone. At least he had enough experience to criticize them.

His first marriage had been to Janice Bridge, an English model thirteen years his junior. He had been young and foolish back then to fall for her wiles and charming words. Eventually, she had trapped him into marriage with a pregnancy allegation, and because he was enthralled by her exquisite beauty, he had given in. In the end, she was exposed after an ultrasound test — impossible on her part — disproved her claims, showing no baby in her womb. 

He had sent her packing the very next day with divorce papers as a parting gift. Connie was his second mistake two years later, after which she cheated on him with a younger man. She was also a crack addict and had only married him to fund her expensive habits. Since then, Lucas had decided that getting married was an awful waste of time management.

“Miss Tina, I will not be a party to any pretentious attitude from you. Do you really want me to believe that Samuel sent you here without telling you the details of our agreement? That is impossible.”

Her weak chin wobbled in despair and she hid her teary eyes behind her thick glasses. “It’s Evelyn, sir, and no, my father told me nothing about this. I actually thought I was coming to pick up a cheque or... some money. I hope to go to school and... you must believe me, sir!” she asserted as soon as she saw the disbelief in his angry eyes.

Suddenly, he burst into a humorless laugh, one that did not reach his eyes. He didn’t resemble a man who laughed at all except when profit was involved.

“‘A cheque or some money?’” he mimicked her, repeating her shy words rudely. “Young lady, I don't know what you and your father discussed in my absence, but I cannot shoulder such a debt on your family’s behalf without something in it for me. Don’t flatter yourself though. This is strictly a contracted marriage, and I am a businessman. Other than that, I want nothing to do with you — physically or emotionally. Therefore, I suggest you quit stalling, pick up that pen, and sign the dotted lines accordingly.”

“But I don’t want to get married. I’m just 22, and I have my whole life ahead of me. All my schoolmates are in college, having the time of their lives. I haven’t achieved anything, and I just got... I can’t get married now.” She held her tongue at the last minute, pausing halfway through revealing her secret to a man who didn’t give a damn about her.

He turned lightly and sat up prominently, his sneer disapproving and lacking sympathy.

“Then your father should have thought about it before coming to me with his offer. Granted, you’re not much of a handsome package, but he did say you were his most prized possession. Samuel might think otherwise hearing your argument. What a total waste of time you are.”

Evelyn swallowed deeply, a knot forming quickly in her throat. It wasn’t fair; her father had deceived her with lies, plying her to dance to his tune. He had played her like a puppet, weaving tales of the possibility of her returning to school if the debt was resolved. Nobody had mentioned marriage to her — not even her mother, who was her closest confidante. They had let her wander into the lion’s den, unaware of the consequences that awaited her.

Besides, Mr. Kent was not even within her age bracket. She was barely twenty-two, with limited knowledge about life, and at thirty-eight, he had been in and out of two marriages. The age difference between them was older than her younger brother’s, and it would be odd, despite how wealthy he was.

She patted her purse, mentally caressing the paper that lay within it. Despite their financial difficulties, she had studied hard and nailed the entrance exams into UCLA, the school of her dreams. Her counselor at high school, Mrs. Scholes, had encouraged her, telling her not to give up on furthering her education, even after two years of sitting at home. She had saved up her pocket money, washed dishes at a diner, and worked briefly at a dry-cleaning shop just to raise the money needed to purchase the form.

Her earliest birthday gift had been a pocket calculator, and since then, Evelyn had been fascinated by the magic of numbers. That fascination grew into a love for mathematics, and at UCLA, she wanted to study Business Administration.

“Make up your mind, Miss. I am a very busy man.” He ostentatiously checked the time on his Rolex gold watch and returned his eyes to the young woman before him. He had another meeting in an hour. Regardless, he was not excited at the thought of spending any more time than required with the unattractive female.

His eyes drooped, filled with fear and something that looked like disappointment. Lucas was used to people being terrified of being in his presence. However, he felt he had not done anything worth scaring her into silence. Either she was a great coward, or he was just that good at frowning.

Evelyn picked up the ballpoint pen, twisting her wrist in indecision. It was a sacrifice, a price she had to pay to save her family. Finally, she scrawled her signature across the lines neatly, signing away her freedom.