The Price

My fingers wouldn't move.

The leather folder rested in my hands, its edges worn like it has existed for a while. It was nothing more than a stack of papers.

So why did it feel impossibly heavy?

Daniel Reeves waited without saying a word. Behind the glass doors, doctors and nurses moved briskly around my father's bed. Every instinct told me to stay where I was.

"Can this wait?" I asked in a low voice.

"I'm afraid it can't." There was no impatience in his voice. If anything, he sounded tired. "Your father made me promise that you would read those documents the moment you arrived."

I swallowed hard. "What are they?"

"I think it's better if you see for yourself." For several seconds, I simply stared at the folder. Then, with trembling fingers, I loosened the clasp and opened it.

The first page carried my name:

MISS MONA HART

My brows drew together. I turned the page and my breath caught. Across the top of the next document, bold black letters stretched from one side of the page to the other.

MARRIAGE AGREEMENT

I looked at Daniel.

"...What?" I blinked and looked down again. The words didn't change.

A hollow laugh escaped me. "This isn't funny."

No one actually laughed with me. 

I flipped to the next page and there were more legal documents. I flipped and flipped until my attention caught something. My father's signature appeared at the bottom of the document. I recognized it instantly because I had watched him sign birthday cards, report cards, sketchbooks, and countless business papers for as long as I could remember.

There was no mistaking it. It was definitely his handwriting. I looked up so quickly the papers nearly slipped from my hands.

"What is this?"

Daniel met my eyes. "It is a legally binding marriage agreement."

I stared at him. "This has to be a sick joke."

"You should keep reading."

"I won't ." My voice rose for the first time as I snapped the folder shut. "My father would never promise me to someone without my permission."

Daniel remained silent. The silence only made my anger grow.

"Say something."

He exhaled slowly. "He wanted to."

My expression faltered "To what?"

"He intended to tell you himself."

"Then why didn't he?"

Daniel glanced towards the ICU before answering. "Because every time he tried..." His voice grew quieter. "...he couldn't bring himself to do it."

My grip tightened around the folder.

"This doesn't make any sense."

"It didn't to me either."

I searched his face for any sign that this was some elaborate mistake but I found none.

I lowered my eyes to the document again and opened it one more time. One section had been highlighted.

Bride: Mona Hart

Just beneath it...

Groom: Adonis Blackwood.

My breathing stopped.

Adonis...Blackwood?

The name echoed through my mind. Of course I knew it.

Everyone in Ashcroft City did.

The billionaire who never appeared in public without a silver mask. The man newspapers loved to call the Masked Devil of Blackwood International.

Some people claimed his face had been destroyed years ago. Others insisted there was nothing wrong with him at all, that he hid his face simply because he enjoyed making people fear him.

No one seemed to know the truth. The rumors only grew louder because no one had ever seen his real face.

I slowly lifted my head.

"Adonis Blackwood?"

Daniel gave a single nod.

"The same Adonis Blackwood everyone's always talking about?"

Daniel brow furrowed slightly. "Mr. Blackwood doesn't appreciate rumors."

A chill crept down my spine and I looked back at the contract.

I scoffed bitterly. "Father wouldn't do this to me." My voice trembled. "Especially not with someone the whole city calls a monster."

Daniel's expression remained unreadable.

"Rumors rarely tell the whole story."

"But why?"

My voice was barely audible. "Why would someone like him want to marry me?"

Daniel didn't answer immediately. When he finally spoke, his voice was calm. "That is a question only Mr. Blackwood can answer."

I stared at the papers in my hands. None of this felt real. I closed the folder and raised a brow. "I'm not marrying him." Daniel's expression didn't change.

"I understand."

"No." I met his eyes. "I don't think you do."

"My father is fighting for his life in there." I pointed toward the ICU. "And you're asking me to think about marriage?"

"I'm asking you to honor the decision he made."

"I can't." The words came without hesitation. "I won't."

Daniel let the silence settle before reaching into his briefcase. He removed another stack of documents.

"They're part of the agreement."

He handed me the document and In it was a financial statement, court notices, loan default letters and bank demands. Each page carried an official seal.

"The banks called in every outstanding loan. The investors withdrew. Even the board voted to liquidate Hart Holdings."

I stopped looking at the document and fixed my gaze on Daniel.

"Every personal asset registered under your father's name has already been seized." He continued.

My mouth went dry.

"Our house?"

Daniel nodded.

"And...our savings?"

Another nod. "Everything."

The corridor fell silent. Then Daniel added,

"Except you."

My brow arched.

"What does that mean?"

"This marriage agreement became part of your father's rescue package six months ago."

My eyes widened a bit.

"Six months?"

He nodded.

"That was when Hart Holdings first began collapsing."

The words hit differently this time.

Six months ago...I had still been away at university. Obsessing over studio projects and complaining about deadlines.

Calling Dad every weekend, believing everything at home was exactly as he'd always told me. All that time, he had been carrying it all alone.

"The company was already failing?" I whispered.

Daniel nodded.

"Your father's health had also begun to deteriorate."

My chest tightened.

"He chose not to tell you." He paused ." Because he didn't want your final year distracted by his problems."

I closed my eyes and clenched my fist.

Every time he'd said, "Everything's fine, sweetheart." He had been lying.

Daniel slid the marriage agreement back toward me. "If you refuse to marry Adonis Blackwood..."

His voice became firmer. "...the Blackwood family will withdraw every form of protection they have extended to your father."

He took in a breath. "Including all the Hart Holdings' debts they purchased."

He continued calmly. "And your father?"

Daniel didn't soften the truth. "The specialists treating him were also brought in through the Blackwood family."

The air caught in my lungs.

"If their support ends..."

He didn't finish. He didn't need to.

I looked toward the ICU. Dad. Then down at the agreement.

Adonis Blackwood. The billonaire behind the silver mask. The man holding my father's future in his hand

I closed the folder. When I looked up again, my decision had already been made in my mind. "Take me to Adonis Blackwood."