LOGINChapter Three.
DO'S AND DONT. Julian's POV. “Do you need me to talk to her or…” Adrian asked. “I will talk to her myself.” I replied, staring at my reflection on the tempered glass as I knotted my tie. “I just need you to make her feel comfortable.” “Sure. Although it did seem like she was a little nervous when I stepped in earlier.” he said. “But I offered her a cup of coffee to relax.” “Good. Now, should anyone ask about me, tell them I'm in a very important meeting.” I smoothened my tie with a hand after I'd finished knotting it. “Even if it happens to be a call. Tell whoever it is that I am busy, and will get back to them when I'm done.” “Okay sir.” he nodded. “The contract, please.” I asked, holding out a hand towards him. “Here it is.” he took it from the top of the table, and handed it to me. “I did exactly as you asked me to do.” “Good.” I said, staring at the marriage contract which I asked him to prepare. “Thank you. Now you can go fetch her.” He turned around, and exited my office. On the other hand, I took some steps forward, dropped the document on the desk. Meanwhile, Adrian had put a copy on the desk in front of the chair where I planned for her to sit. I sighed, put my hands in my pocket as I turned around, and glanced at the Kimura Corp building again. Just then, the door creaked open. “She is here, sir.” Adrian informed. I sighed, and turned around. “You can leave.” I said. “And don't forget what I told you.” “Yes sir.” he closed the door as he stepped out of my office. “Please, do have a sit.” I said, gesturing with a hand. She took some steps forward, pulled out the chair which was tucked in the desk, and settled on it. “Thank you.” she replied with a brief smile. “Nora Callaghan, right?” I raised a brow. “Yes.” she nodded. “Good. I believe you know why you're here.” I said, standing behind my chair. “So, I won't spend any time to explain that.” “Yes, I know why I'm here.” she replied. “You don't need to explain.” “Good. I just need you to be my wife for 25 days, and after that, we both go our separate ways.” I said, settling on my chair. “Meanwhile, you can take a moment to go through the document in front of you so that you know exactly what this is all about.” “Alright.” she picked up the document, and turned the first page over. “As you can see, clause one, says that the contract runs from today which happens to be the 1st of December to the 26th of December 12:01am.” I said, watching her read through the document. “Clause two, I give $50k today, and $150k on the 26th of December. Clause three, we stay in separate bedrooms. Clause four, no real names for your daughter, Lily. Clause 5, no Christmas celebration, of trees. And finally, no feelings. Is this something you can do?” “No Christmas Celebration?” she raised a brow. “I would appreciate it if you don't ask any question about that.” I replied. “So, can you do this?” “Yes, I can.” she replied, nodding her head. “However, Can I get the money right now? I'm afraid if I don't, then the doctor might ask me to take my daughter out of the hospital. I need to make a deposit of $50k.” ”Hospital?” I arched a brow. “Yes. I didn't mention, but my daughter is sick.” she explained. “She needs to undergo a surgery soon, else she'll die. I–I can't lose her. I already lost her father. So, I can't afford to lose her.” “You've been married?” I narrowed my gaze at the words. “What happened to him?” “He had the same heart condition that is threatening my daughter's life now.” she replied. I heard the tears in her voice. “My husband died while waiting for surgery; we didn't have enough money to pay for his surgery.” she explained, her voice heavy with tears. “GoFundMe stalled at $80k dollars we needed $20k more to commence his surgery. But we didn't get that. I can't allow the same happen to my daughter.” It wasn't as if it was a problem, or was going to be since her husband was late. However, I expected that she would have included those information when she replied to the advert. A five year old daughter, and a late husband. Honestly, it didn't sound so bad. “Alright, then we shouldn't waste anymore time. Here,” I took out a pen from my chest pocket, and pushed it across the table to her. “That is your copy of the document. Put your signature on it.” “Alright.” she picked up the pen from the table, and signed the document. “Is that all?” “No, I also need your signature on my copy of the document.” I pushed my copy of the document across the table to her. “Put your signature on it.” “Alright.” she brought the document closer to herself with a hand, and then put her signature on it. “There. My signature is on it. Is that all?.” She pushed both documents across the table to me. “Yes, it is. All that's left now is for me to put my signature on it.” I picked up the pen, and signed on both documents. “It is done. We're bound by this contract as husband and wife.” “Can I get the money now, please?” she asked in a soft voice. “Just a moment.” I brought out my phone from my pocket. “Kindly put in your account details.” I gave her my phone to do so. She received it from me, and punched in her account number. “Here,” she said, giving the phone back to me. “Done.” I said, turning the screen of my phone to her for confirmation as I wired the money. “You can go pay for your daughter's surgery.” Barely seconds after I wired the money to her, her phone chimed. She picked it up from the desk, and looked at it. For a moment, she fell silent, staring at the screen of her phone, while blinking her eyes rapidly in shock. “Thank you.” her voice shook with tears as she lifted her face to me. “I–I am sorry, but I have to leave now.” She pushed the chair back, and got up on her feet. “One more thing before you leave,” I said, lifting my face to her. “I don't want to see any paintings or decorations on the wall. Meanwhile, Adrian will leave with you and bring you to my penthouse right away.” “I understand.” she nodded. “Also, City hall, 5pm tomorrow. Wear red.” I said. “Kimura loves red.”Chapter 30.THE CULPRIT.Julian's POV.I closed the book in my hand, and dropped it on the bench that I was sitting on which was along the sidewalk. Then I took off my sunshades. “Mr Steve?” I called as he walked out of the store behind me.“Damn it!” he turned to run in the other way. But then, Adrian blocked his path.“Too bad.” I put on my sunshades, got up from the bench, and walked up to him. “I am sure you remember me, right?” “I-I have no idea who you are.” he stuttered, evading my gaze. “What do you want with me?” “How about we have a little chitchat?” I smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Perhaps, you'll remember who I am, and what I want with you. How does that sound?” “Look, I've got a family.” his voice trembled as he lifted his face to me. “I have two kids.” “Get in the car.” I ducked my head to the side. Adrian escorted him into the car. I got in, and closed th
Chapter 29.AN OPEN THREAT.Julian's POV.Back in my office. While sitting, I swiped at my screen staring at Victoria's photos as I brought her words from the previous night back to mind. Obviously, this wasn't the life I planned for us. But I just couldn't deal with her anymore. As I tried to delete the photos, the door opened, and Adrian walked in. I dropped my phone on the desk as I watched him approach me. “Is there a problem?” I asked. He dropped a file on my desk. “Here, the man who leaked the photos.”“Finally.” I picked up the file, and stared at it. “Steve Harrison. Do you have any other information about him?” “Yes. It turns out that he has a wife, and two children.” he replied. “However, his wife is currently in a hospital.” “Why?” I looked up from the file.“She has been diagnosed with kidney failure.” he explained. “From what I gathered, her treatment was continued after her h
Chapter 28.ONE HAS TO GO.Nora's POV.“Can I come in?” I asked, opening the door just enough for Julian to see my face. “I won't take much of your time.” “Give us some minutes, Adrian.” he said, hanging his hands on his sides.Adrian approached the exit. As he came close enough, I stepped aside for him to leave.“What is it you want to talk about?” he rolled up his sleeves, and glanced at his wristwatch. “I have don't so much time to spare.” “I know. I'll be quick about it.” I said, closing the door behind me as I walked in. “Lily really loves the Christmas trees. So I was hoping if you could just leave it for some time.” “You already know my answer to that.” he said, looking at me. “I don't see any reason why you are still asking when you know that it's not possible.” “All I'm asking is for a few days.” I shrugged a shoulder. “And then you can do whatever you want with it. I just want her to see i
Chapter 27A FAMILY PHOTO.Nora's POV. The foot of the couch scraped the floor as I moved it a little to the right, trying to create some space at the centre of the room. “Mom, what are you doing?” Lily stood at a distance, her doll tucked in her arm. “Are we having a visitor tonight?” “Uh, actually,” I sighed, sweeping a hand across my forehead to get rid of the sweat. “We aren't having any visitor sweetheart.” “Why then are you moving the couch?” she asked, sweeping her eyes all over the room. “What is going on?” “Hey,” I walked over to her, and bent down. “Something big is about to happen today, sweetheart.” “How big is it?” she asked, looking past me. “How big do you want it to be?” I framed her face with my palms, and shrugged. “It all depends on you.” “Really? I want it to be this big.” she smiled, spreading out her arms while holding her doll with a hand. “Can it be this big?” “Uh, let's see,” I replied, tilting my head from side to side.“Please mom,” “Okay then, any
Chapter 26FAMILY VALUES EVENT.Julian's POV.Tapping the mouse in my right hand with a finger, I propped my head with my left hand as I stared at the figures on the computer screen in front of me while. Something wasn't adding up. I sighed, and tilted my head from left to right, and then from right to left. Someone must have added a thing or two to the list because the list of materials for the project were the same. However, the total cost for the materials had increased by two percent which was unusual. It was either I didn't check it well to begin with, or someone added something new which wasn't recorded. However, the latter seemed to have been the case because I made sure to have gone over the report again, and again to be sure that there were no errors whatsoever.The creak of the door broke in on my thoughts. I turned in the direction, and found Adrian approaching me.“Good morning, sir.” he greeted, holding some documents in his hand while walking towards me. “Good morning,
Chapter 25.A MEMORYJulian's POV.The door creaked as I opened it, and walked into the chapel. I found someone whom I believed was Victoria sitting on one of the chairs in the front row. Of all the places we could have met, she chose the chapel. Besides, was there really any need to meet? What exactly was she trying to do?I closed the door, and then began to walk forward. As she heard the sound of my footsteps approaching, she got up from the chair, and turned to face me. “I didn't think you would come.” she said with a smile. “Do you remember this place?” “What are you trying to do?” I asked as I stopped walking. “Why do you ask for us to meet here?” “See? Loosen up a bit Julian.” she made a face. “You are always serious. Always thinking that I'm going to hurt you.” “Well, if that's not what you plan on doing then why did you ask for us to meet here?” I raised a furrowed brow. “I don't have the luxury of time to talk to you. So be quick about whatever it is you want to say to m







