Chapter Two: The Contract

Lucia didn't come home until midnight.

Her thoughts still waver back to Diego.

Why would he choose to come back after ten years?

For her?

Unlocking the apartment door quietly, she hoped Maria was asleep.

But the lights were off.

She found her way to the stairs, eyes wide open yet sour.

"Where have you been?" Maria’s voice was calm.

She turned and found Maria seated at the kitchen table, precisely waiting.

"Out," Lucia replied as she headed for her room. "I'm tired."

"We need to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about. I said no. Find someone else for your rich client." "Lucia-"

"I mean it, Maria. I don't care how much money he's offering. I won't do even if he offers sixty million-."

"It's one hundred million euros."

Lucia stopped, then turned around. "What?"

"Diego increased his offer. One hundred million. Fifty now. Fifty after you deliver."

The number was too big. But it didn't make sense.

"I don't care if it's a billion euros. I've already made my choice."

Maria stood up and walked over. "I already said yes."

"You what?"

The world tilted. She climbed down the stairs to where Maria was.

"I accepted the offer this afternoon. After you left."

Lucia's hands started shaking. "You can't do that. You can't accept without my permission. Not after I'd already declined."

"I'm your legal guardian until you're married-"

"I'm twenty-five years old!"

"And you're still living under my roof. Still dependent on me." Maria's voice went hard. "I decided for this family. For our future."

"You sold me." Lucia's voice came out strangled. "You actually sold me."

"I saved us." Maria grabbed her phone and then showed her the screen. It was a bank notification. Fifty million euros. "The money's already transferred. Already in our account. The debts are cleared. The house is paid off and we're free."

Lucia stared at the number. All those zeros.

"Listen, you had no right-"

"I had every right. And it's done." Maria set down the phone. "Tomorrow at 2 PM we're going to Diego's office. You're going to sign the contract. And then you're going to do what we agreed on, three days ago."

"I agreed when I didn't know it was him!"

"And that changes what exactly? You were willing to carry a stranger's baby for fifty million. Now it's someone you know and even love, for twice that amount. If anything, it should be easier."

Lucia laughed. "Easier? He destroyed me, Maria. And you have no idea what that did to me?"

"But I do know that he's offering one hundred million euros now." Maria's face was stone. "And we both know that money could take us a long way so you are just being so dramatic." "Dramatic?"

"Yes. Dramatic." Maria moved closer. "You loved him when you were fifteen and you're twenty-five now. You have Alex and have moved on. So this is just business."

"It's not just business to me!"

"Then make it business." Maria's voice dropped. "Because the alternative is that I go to prison for fraud. The money's already spent. The debts are paid. If you back out now, Diego will sue. We'll lose everything. Including this apartment. Including any chance at a normal life."

The trap closed around Lucia's throat.

"You planned this."

"I made a choice. The right choice." Maria headed for her room. Stopped at the door. "We leave at 1:30 tomorrow. Wear something nice. And Lucia? Don't make this harder than it needs to be. You're doing this whether you want to or not."

The door clicked shut.

Lucia stood alone in the kitchen then her phone buzzed.

Alex: [Are you okay? You've been quiet. Call me when you can. Love you.]

Tears burned her eyes. Her heart smashed as if it were a grape.

She couldn't tell Alex. Couldn't explain that she had to bear her ex-boyfriend's child for a hundred million euros.

----

Lucia could hardly get enough sleep all night. She couldn't stop tossing and thinking.

At exactly 1 pm, Maria came to knock on her door.

"Get dressed. We're leaving in thirty minutes."

Lucia's voice came. "What if I don't go?"

Maria opened the door. "Stop fighting this. You'll only make it worse."

Lucia sat up, then looked at her. "Do you even care what this does to me?"

"I care that we're not homeless and the creditors don't get to call anymore." Maria's voice slightly softened. "We are poor Lucia and this is a huge chance for us. We would be free, isn't that what you wanted?"

"Not like this."

"Life doesn't always give us what we want how we want it." Maria set a dress on the bed. "Blue, it attracts your beauty so wear it."

Then she left.

Lucia looked at the dress. The same one from yesterday. The one she'd worn when Diego walked back into her life. Blue had always been his colour.

She wanted to burn it, but instead she had to put it on.

And at 1:30, they left.

The drive to Torre Castillo took twenty minutes till they finally parked in the underground garage. Then rode the elevator to the thirty-second floor.

"Miss Gomez. Mrs. Gomez. Mr. Castillo is waiting in his office." The receptionist smiled as she walked up to them politely.

She led them down the hallway, past glass offices and people working till they got to double doors, then the receptionist knocked once.

"Come in."

Diego's voice boomed and the doors opened.

He sat behind his massive desk. Black suit. White shirt and those blue eyes that saw too much.

Standing beside him was a younger man with dark hair and muscular.

"Lucia. Maria. Please sit." Diego gestured to the chairs in front of him.

Maria sat immediately while Lucia stayed standing.

"I'm not signing anything."

 Diego pulled out a folder. "The contract, you can read it if you want. The terms are simple. You carry my child. Live in my house during the pregnancy and I will pay you one hundred million euros. The remaining fifty would be given after the delivery."

"I didn't agree to this. So you can't force me."

Lucia's hands balled into fists.

 Walked around his desk. "You have two choices. Sign willingly.

Or sign after I make your life hell, I know you don’t have the exact money I sent last night, you’ve probably used some to settle your debts. So, Either ways, you're signing."

He stopped in front of her. Close enough she could smell his cologne.

"Choose, Lucia. Easy way or hard way."

"I hate you."

"I know." His voice dropped. "Sign the contract."

Her eyes burned with tears she wouldn't let fall.

She looked at Maria, the young man beside him who was watching with too much interest, then back at Diego who was standing there like he owned her and there was no way out.

Lucia grabbed the pen.

Read through the contract with shaking hands. Pages and pages of legal terms that all said the same thing.

She belonged to him now.

She signed her name at the bottom. The letters looked and felt wrong. 

Diego grabbed the papers and signed below hers. "Good girl."

The words made her skin crawl.

He handed the contract to the young man, Santiago. "File this. And ask Rosa to prepare a room. Miss Gomez will be moving in today."

"Today?" Lucia's voice cracked.

"Today. Your things would be collected from your apartment." Diego returned to his desk.

"No. I can't just move in like that. Am not ready yet-"

Diego's eyes were ice. "This is your life now, Lucia."

Maria stood. "Thank you, Mr. Castillo. We really appreciate-"

"I have a boyfriend. A life that I can't just abandon." Lucia's voice increased. "How am I supposed to explain this to Alex?"

"One hour," Diego said quietly. "Say goodbye to your beloved lover. Tell him whatever you need to tell him. Then come back. This is your life now."

Lucia scoffed. "Tell him what exactly-"

"Whatever you want, I don't care" Diego's voice went hard. "But make it clear to him that you're mine for the next year. Whatever relationship you have with him ends today."

"The contract didn't say-"

"The contract says you abstain from sexual relations with anyone but me during conception attempts and pregnancy. Page seven. You signed it without reading, didn't you?"

Lucia's stomach dropped.

"You bastard."

"One hour, Lucia. Don't waste it arguing with me. Santiago would be driving you both back."