The Signature

I didn’t open the folder right away.

My fingers rested on the expensive leather, feeling the weight of every page inside. Casper still stood a few feet away, silently watching me the way a man watches a storm he knows he can’t stop. Emma had returned to her seat, legs crossed, expression soft and patient, as if she had all the time in the world.

“I need a minute,” I said.

Emma smiled. “Of course.”

I turned away from both of them and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. The city stretched out below us, glass towers, moving lights, people living ordinary lives. None of them knew that inside this quiet private room, I was about to sell my body to the only man who had ever broken me.

Five years ago I had stood in a different room and signed a different kind of goodbye. That night I had left with nothing but a suitcase and a heart that refused to stop bleeding. Tonight I was being asked to leave with even less.

Casper’s reflection appeared behind me in the glass. He didn’t touch me. He didn’t need to. The heat of his body reached me anyway.

“You don’t have to do this,” he said, voice low enough that only I could hear.

I almost laughed. “You just told me to sign.”

“I know what I said.” His reflection’s jaw tightened. “Emma has leverage. The board, the shares, the public image, she knows exactly where to cut. But that doesn’t mean you have to bleed for us.”

I turned to face him. Up close, the years showed in the sharper lines around his mouth, the colder set of his eyes. Still the most beautiful man I had ever hated.

“Then stop her,” I whispered. “Tell her no. Fight for once.”

Something flickered across his face. regret, anger, something darker. Then it vanished.

“I can’t.”

Two words. That was all it took to reopen every old wound.

Emma’s voice floated over from the table. “The terms are generous, Lilith. Full medical coverage. A private suite in the penthouse for the duration. Two million dollars deposited the day you sign, another three when the baby is delivered healthy. And a confidentiality clause that protects all of us.”

I walked back to the table and opened the folder.

The contract was thick. Clean language. No room for emotion. My body would be monitored. My diet controlled. My movements limited once the pregnancy progressed. Sexual activity of any kind was forbidden unless approved by both parties, an unnecessary clause that still made my stomach twist. At the end of nine months I would hand over the child and disappear. No contact. No claims. No future.

I flipped to the signature page.

Casper’s name was already there, written in the same sharp, controlled handwriting I still remembered from old birthday cards. Emma’s signature sat beside his, elegant and final.

All that remained was mine.

My hand hovered over the line.

“Once you sign,” Emma said softly, “there’s no going back. The clinic is already reserved for next month. The hormone protocol starts immediately.”

I looked at Casper one last time. “Do you even want this child?”

His eyes met mine. For a second the mask slipped again and I saw something raw and honest. “I want an heir. That is all.”

The lie sat between us like a third person.

I picked up the pen.

The tip touched the paper. My name came out in uneven strokes—Lilith Grace Voss. The same name that used to be written next to his on every plan we ever made.

The moment the ink dried, something inside me went quiet and cold.

Emma exhaled as if she had been holding her breath for years. “Thank you. Truly.”

Casper said nothing. He simply watched me put the pen down, his expression was unreadable.

I closed the folder and slid it toward Emma. “We’re done here.”

“Not quite.” She opened her purse and removed a smaller envelope. “There’s one more thing. The clinic prefers the intended parents to be present for the initial consultation. Tomorrow morning. Nine o’clock. I’ll have a car sent for you.”

I stared at her. “You already scheduled it.”

“I was hopeful.”

Of course she was.

Casper finally spoke. “I’ll pick her up myself.”

Emma’s head turned sharply. “That’s unnecessary.”

“It’s efficient,” he replied, tone final. “The less people involved, the better.”

I saw the flash of irritation in her eyes before she smoothed it away. “Fine. But I’ll be there as well.”

The three of us stood in a triangle of silence that felt more dangerous than any argument.

I grabbed my bag. “I’m leaving.”

Casper stepped into my path. Not touching. Just blocking. “Lilith.”

I hated the way my name still sounded in his mouth.

“What?”

His voice dropped so low it was almost a growl. “Once this starts, there is no room for mistakes. You stay professional. I stay professional. The second the baby is born, you walk away and never look back. Do you understand?”

I lifted my chin. “Crystal clear.”

He held my gaze a second longer than he should have. Something dark and hungry moved behind his eyes.

Then he stepped aside.

I walked past him without another word, past Emma’s perfect smile, past the table where my future had just been sold. The door closed behind me with a soft, expensive click.

Outside, the night air hit my face like a warning.

I made it all the way to the curb before my hands started shaking.

A black car was already waiting. The driver opened the door without a word. I slid into the back seat and pressed my forehead against the cool window, trying to breathe.

My phone buzzed.

A message from an unknown number.

I opened it.

Casper: Tomorrow. 8:30. Don’t make me wait.

I stared at the screen until the letters blurred.

Another message arrived before I could lock the phone.

Casper: And Lilith… wear something that doesn’t make me remember how you used to look in my shirts.

My breath caught.

I typed nothing back.

But as the car pulled into traffic, one truth settled deep in my bones and refused to leave.

The contract was signed.

The pregnancy hadn’t even begun.

And Casper Ashton was already looking at me like I still belonged to him.