Sign The Contract, Ariella

The first thing I noticed when I got home was that the front door was hanging crookedly from one hinge. I pushed it open and froze. The living room had been torn apart. A chair was broken, the small table had been overturned, and the cabinet drawers lay scattered across the floor among clothes, papers, and pieces of broken glass.

“Mum?”

I heard my little sister crying from the kitchen and hurried toward the sound. I found her clinging to my mother, who sat on the floor with tears running down her face.

“What happened? Are you both okay?”

“The loan sharks came,” Mum said, wiping her cheeks. “They gave us until the end of the week to pay the debt. When I told them we didn't have the money, they started throwing things around. Then they threatened to come back and take the house.”

My chest tightened. “Did they hurt you?”

“No, but they were serious about the threat. Ariella, I don't know what we're going to do.”

I helped Mum settle my sister before we began cleaning. We gathered the scattered clothes and swept up the broken glass, but there wasn't much we could do about the damaged furniture. While picking up the things near the cabinet, I found the large framed picture of my father. The glass was cracked, and one corner of the frame had broken.

Mum took it from me and held it carefully. “Your father would have hated seeing this place like this.”

I didn't know what to say, so I helped her set the picture safely against the wall and returned to cleaning.

“I still haven't paid your sister's school fees,” Mum said suddenly.

I looked at her. “How much?”

She told me, then added that my brother's fees were due next week. The electricity bill was overdue, the landlord was demanding his rent, and she still owed the pharmacy for my sister's medicine.

I stared at the broken table. “Anything else?”

Mum sighed. “That's everything, Ariella. I just don't know how I'm going to manage all of it.”

I remembered the folder in my bag.

The contract.

I had spent the journey home trying to convince myself there had to be another way. But standing in our wrecked living room, listening to Mum worry about bills we couldn't afford, I couldn't think of one.

I retrieved the folder and placed it on the table.

“This is what Freya and her mother offered me.”

Mum looked confused as she opened it. I explained the arrangement, the compensation, and the conditions I had insisted on. They wanted me to carry a child for Freya and Alpha Tristan Silverclaw. In exchange, they would clear our debt, pay my siblings' school fees, and provide financial support.

Mum listened quietly as she read through the contract.

“We could have a fresh start,” I told her. “Our debt would be gone, the children could continue their education, and we wouldn't have to worry about loan sharks showing up at our door. We could finally build a better life.”

Even as I spoke, I knew I was trying to convince myself as much as her.

When she finished reading, Mum closed the folder and looked at me.

“You don't have to do this, Ariella.”

“I know.”

“Then you can say no.” Her voice trembled. “We'll find another way.”

I wished I could believe her. We'd been trying to find another way for years, and somehow, things kept getting worse.

“If there were another option, I'd take it,” I said. “But those men are coming back, Mum. We can't keep living like this, and the children shouldn't have to sacrifice their future because we can't afford their fees.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “What about you? You're my daughter. I can't let you suffer just to save the rest of us.”

I took her hand. “I'm doing this because I want us to have a chance. Please don't make me feel like I'm doing something wrong by trying to help.”

Mum pulled me into a tight embrace, and I held her until she finally let go. Neither of us knew what the future would bring, but we both understood what refusing the offer could cost us.

I opened the contract to the last page and picked up the pen. I didn't want to carry Alpha Tristan Silverclaw's child for Freya, and I certainly didn't want to spend months surrounded by people who thought so little of me. But my family needed this chance, and I couldn't walk away from it.

I signed my name.

Ariella Vale.

I stared at my signature for a moment before setting down the pen. I wasn't doing this because I wanted to. I was doing it because my family needed a way out, and somehow, that responsibility had landed in my hands.

I was still staring at the contract when my phone rang.

An unknown number...

“I assume you've signed,” the person on the other end said, without so much as a greeting.

Freya... of course.

“You'll be travelling to Silverclaw tomorrow, so make sure you're ready early. I won't tolerate lateness.”

I pulled the phone from my ear and frowned at it before placing it back

“How are you so sure I would sign?”

Freya burst out laughing. “Oh, sweetheart, look at you! You look like you need money just to keep that big body of yours fed. Of course you'd take my offer. What other options do you have?”

I gripped the phone tighter. “Freya, I understand you might have the alpha and Luna as parents,  but whether you like it or not... you need me. You need you right now, so, consider keeping your mouth shut. You might discover it's a wonderful way to make this experience a great one for both of us.”

They was silence on the other end...Then Freya's voice turned icy.  “Watch your tongue, Ariella. You're not in a position to speak to me like that.”

“Then stop giving me reasons to.”

“You have until tomorrow morning to get yourself ready. Be at the packhouse gates early, and don't keep me waiting. I'm not going to repeat myself.”

The call ended and I stared at my phone.

“Unbelievable.”

My mother glanced at me. “What did she say?”

I dropped the phone onto the table. “Apparently, I'm leaving tomorrow. And according to Freya, I'm too fat and desperate to know how to tell time, so I'd better not be late.”

Mum gave me a look.

“What? I'm paraphrasing. Abd i sure as hell wont lwt her look down on me for any reason.”

She shook her head, but I caught the small smile she tried to hide.

I looked back at the contract.

Tomorrow, I was going to Silverclaw.

And if Freya thought signing that paper meant she could treat me like a doormat, she was about to have a very unpleasant surprise.