Blindly

Ashley

“It’s a condition of the arrangement, you need to build an healthy relationship with him for the child.” she replied, her expression remaining perfectly professional. “You’ll be given further instructions when you resume tomorrow.”

Oh.

So that was the answer. It’s for the child.

Very informative. Ten out of ten for communication.

I wanted to ask more questions, but I decided against it. Maybe there was a reasonable explanation. Maybe the heir had some medical condition that required assistance. Maybe he was just lonely.

Honestly, at this point, anything was possible.

I nodded. “Okay.”

The woman glanced down at her folder before continuing.

“Your total remuneration for the arrangement is fifty million dollars.”

I sat up a little straighter.

Sorry, did she just say fifty million?

“Twenty-five million dollars will be paid to you tomorrow when you resume. The remaining twenty-five million will be paid upon the successful completion of the arrangement, which is expected to last ten months.”

I smiled.

Oh, I was definitely listening now.

“Okay. Thank you so much.”

Fifty million dollars.

Twenty-five million tomorrow.

Jason could finally get his treatment. I could stop worrying about where the money would come from, stop calculating figures that never added up, and maybe, just maybe, breathe without feeling like the entire world was sitting on my chest.

For the first time in what felt like forever, I could see a way out.

Then the woman closed her folder.

“There are two final conditions.”

I waited.

“You must not develop romantic feelings for the heir. This arrangement is strictly contractual, and we expect you to maintain appropriate boundaries.”

I blinked.

Well, that was oddly specific.

Not that I had any intention of falling in love with a man I hadn’t even met. I had just come out of a relationship that had thoroughly convinced me that romance was an overrated hobby.

Besides, I was here for the money, not a husband.

“Secondly, you must not disclose the details of this arrangement to anyone outside the authorised team. Not your friends, not your family, and certainly not the media. All information concerning the family and the contract must remain confidential.”

I nodded slowly.

No falling in love. No talking.

Easy enough.

I mean, I could keep a secret. And falling in love with a stranger was hardly on my to-do list.

“That’s all for now,” she said. “We’ll expect you tomorrow morning.”

I stood up immediately.

“Thank you. Thank you so much. I’ll be here.”

I smiled at the women, gathered my things, and left the hall.

And just like that, I had a job.

Well, sort of.

A job that involved IVF, a mansion, eight hours a day with an unidentified heir, and a rather suspicious warning about falling in love.

Nothing too complicated, right?

By the time I got home, I was exhausted.

Not the ordinary kind of tired that came from walking around all day. I mean the kind where your body was ready to shut down, but your brain had approximately seven hundred things it wanted to discuss first.

I ignored all seven hundred.

The first thing I did was send Dr. Hart a message.

Good evening, Doctor. I’ll be making the payment of twenty-five million dollars tomorrow.

I stared at the message for a moment before sending it.

Then I watched the screen.

One tick.

He was probably offline.

I hoped he would see it soon. I needed to know that Jason’s treatment was finally within reach. After everything we’d been through, I couldn’t bear the thought of anything else going wrong.

Still, there was nothing I could do about it tonight.

I changed into something comfortable, snuggled into bed, and pulled the covers over myself.

I would think about the contract tomorrow. I would think about the mansion, the heir, the eight-hour rule, and whatever else the family had decided to throw at me.

Tomorrow Ashley could deal with all of that.

Tonight, Ashley was going to sleep.

And sleep I did.

I woke up at exactly six the next morning.

For a few seconds, I lay there staring at the ceiling, wondering why my body felt like it had been hit by a truck.

Then I remembered the previous day.

Oh.

That explained everything.

I had been so exhausted that I’d fallen asleep without properly processing half of what I’d heard. Honestly, my body deserved an award for shutting down before my brain could start another unnecessary meeting.

I sat up, stretched, and glanced at my phone.

Six o’clock.

I had to be at the mansion that morning, and I had no intention of showing up late on my very first day.

I jumped out of bed and grabbed a small bag.

Then I stopped.

Wait a minute.

Was I seriously planning to move into a mansion with a tiny bag?

I looked at it.

It looked back at me.

Well, not literally, but you get the point.

I sighed and went to get my suitcase instead.

Since I would be staying there for a while, I might as well pack properly. I opened my wardrobe and started pulling out dresses, underwear, toiletries, and the other essentials I couldn’t imagine living without.

Thankfully, I didn’t own that many things, so packing wasn’t particularly difficult.

I stuffed everything into my suitcase, zipped it shut, and checked the time.

Seven o’clock.

Already?

I looked down at myself and realised I was sweating.

How?

All I’d done was pack a few dresses. I hadn’t run a marathon.

Apparently, my body had decided that moving into a stranger’s mansion was an Olympic sport.

I dropped onto the edge of my bed and wiped my forehead.

For the first time that morning, I allowed myself to sit still and think about the entire situation.

Hold on a minute.

Who exactly was the heir?

I frowned.

The women had mentioned him repeatedly, but not one of them had actually told me his name.

Wasn’t that something they should have mentioned before asking me to move into his family’s house?

Then again, I wasn’t exactly familiar with the businesses of the rich and powerful. I couldn’t name half the people whose faces appeared in business magazines, and I certainly didn’t spend my free time researching wealthy families.

So, unless someone told me who this man was, I was going into this completely blind.

Wonderful.

Absolutely wonderful.

I was about to move into a mansion, spend eight hours a day with a man I’d never met, and carry his child, all without knowing the first thing about him.

But it wasn’t so bad.

I mean, I had fifty million dollars waiting for me.

I could work with that.

Couldn’t I?

I shook my head and got up before I could talk myself into developing a sudden fear of rich people.

I went to the kitchen, ate something, and took a bath. Afterward, I stood in front of my wardrobe, trying to decide what to wear.

I eventually settled on a comfortable midi gown.

Simple. Neat. Nothing too dramatic.

Although, looking at myself in the mirror, I couldn’t help noticing that the dress made me look a little older than I actually was.

These dresses really did have a way of adding years to a girl’s life.

But a girl had to manage.

I adjusted the hem, checked my appearance one last time, and reached for my bag.

Just then, my phone vibrated.

I picked it up immediately.

A message from Dr. Hart.

Finally!

I opened it, expecting a reply to my message from the previous night.

Instead, I found a string of numbers.

I stared at the screen.

Account details, I guessed.

I read through them again, making sure I hadn’t missed anything, then let out a slow breath.

Twenty-five million dollars.

For Jason.

I held my phone a little tighter.

We were finally getting somewhere.