CHAPTER 1: THE CONTRACT WIFE

“I did not come here to bargain. I came here to save my father’s company," her voice does not waver even though every word costs her something..

Sofia Marquez stands across the wide desk from Daniel Gray. She places both hands flat on the cold surface to stop them from shaking.

Daniel Gray does not lean forward. He does not offer a seat. He looks at the file in front of him like it is any other routine document. His expression is completely professional.

“Three years,” he says. “You will be my wife in public. You will attend all required events. You will not question my schedule. You will not enter my study without permission. You will not ask about my past.”

Sofia looks him straight in the eye. “And in return, you keep my father’s company running. You pay off the outstanding loans. You hand over the agreed amount on the day of the divorce."

“Exactly,” Daniel says. “And there are other terms. There should be no real feelings. No questions about where I go or who I see. We do not share a bed. We do not share personal details. When the three years are over, you walk away and we never speak again.”

“Who am I competing with?” Sofia asks. “There is a reason you are rushing into this marriage. There is someone else, isn’t there?” Sofia's lips quirked a little.

Daniel does not blink. “That is not part of the agreement. You agreed to no questions. Sign or walk away. Your father’s company has forty-eight hours before the bank seizes everything.”

Sofia picks up the pen. She looks at the signature line. She looks at his name already printed there. She thinks of her father sitting in his empty office, waiting for news that will not come unless she does this.

“I will sign,” she says. “But you need to know one thing. I will do my part. I will play the perfect wife. But do not expect me to be something I am not. And do not expect me to stay blind forever.”

“Sign the paper, Sofia,” Daniel says. His tone does not change. There is no softness, that any part of this matters to him at all.

Sofia signs her name. She pushes the document back across the desk toward him. She places the pen down beside it and steps back one pace. She feels like she has just handed over three years of her life to a stranger.

Daniel picks up the contract. He glances at her signature. He does not smile and not offer his hand. He slides a second document toward her.

“This is the schedule,” he says. “We are married tomorrow morning at the courthouse. There will be only two witnesses. and there will be no grandannouncement until the following week. You will move into the penthouse tomorrow afternoon. You will have the west suite. I will take the east.”

“Separate floors?” Sofia asks.

“Separate suites on the same floor. Close enough for appearances. Far enough to keep things civil. We do not share meals unless we have guests. We do not speak unless it is business or public matters. Do you understand?"

“Who is she?” Sofia asks again, crossing her arms on her chest. “The reason for all these rules. The reason you are so afraid is that someone will get too close," she smirked.

Daniel stands up. He closes the folder. “I told you, that is not your concern. Your concern is being in the right place at the right time and doing exactly what you are paid to do.”

“I am not paid to be your servant,” Sofia says. “I am paid to be your wife on paper. There is a difference. Do not confuse the two.”

Daniel looks at her for a long moment. His eyes are impossible to read. He walks around the desk and stops directly in front of her. He does not touch her. He stands close enough that she can smell expensive cologne and something else, something faint that she cannot place.

“You will do well here,” he says. “You are practical. You understand business. Just remember one thing. Do not fall in love. That clause is not a joke. That is a warning.” That made Ellie laughed in disbelief.

“I have no intention of falling in love with a man I am paying to marry me,” Sofia says. “Do not worry about my heart. Worry about keeping your end of the deal.”

“Good,” Daniel says. “Then we understand each other. The car will pick you up at nine tomorrow morning. Bring only what you need. Do not bring anything personal that might make this place feel like home. It is not your home. It is an assignment.”

Sofia turns toward the door. Her hand is on the handle when he speaks again. She stops but does not look back at him.

“Sofia?”

She waits. She does not turn around.

“Be careful what you agree to,” he says. “Sometimes the deal changes after the ink dries." A small smirked tugged at the corner of his lips.

She walks out of the office without looking back. The door clicks shut behind her. The hallway is long. She walks straight to the elevator without slowing down. She tells herself she made the right choice. She tells herself she can do this.

She takes out her phone. She calls her father. He answers on the first ring. She tells him the deal is done. She tells him the company is safe. She does not tell him about the rules. She does not tell him about the warning. She does not tell him that Daniel Gray sounded like a man who was already waiting for something to go wrong.

She steps out onto the street. People walk past her without looking. She feels completely alone. She looks up at the glass tower she just left. The windows reflect the gray sky. She cannot see into his office from down here. She cannot see him watching her stand on the sidewalk.

Her phone buzzes. A text from an unknown number. It says: “He is already taken. You are just a name on paper. Do not get comfortable.”

Sofia stops walking. She stares at the screen. She checks the number. It is blocked. It cannot be traced. She types out a reply then deletes it. She does not know who sent it. She does not know if it is a threat or a warning.

She walks into her apartment an hour later. She starts packing. She packs only what is necessary. She leaves the things that matter most behind. She knows that once she walks into that penthouse, she will not be able to leave whenever she wants. She knows the contract binds her as much as it binds him.

Her phone buzzes again. Another message. This one is from Daniel. It says: “Be on time. Do not make me wait. And do not speak to anyone about what we discussed today.”

She puts the phone down on the table beside her suitcase. She sits on the edge of the bed. She looks at the empty space across from her. She wonders who sent that first message. She wonders how many other people know things that she does not.

She stands up and walks to the window. The sun is going down. She knows that by this time tomorrow, her whole life will be different. She will be married. She will live in a stranger’s home. She will share a name with a man who keeps secrets behind every closed door.

She picks up the phone again. She saves the unknown number just in case. She does not reply to either message. She places the phone face down on the dresser. She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.

She tells herself it is just a contract. She tells herself three years is not forever. She tells herself she can walk away when it is done with nothing broken but her pride.

But as she looks at the pen she used to sign the papers, sitting on the table beside her, one question keeps repeating in her mind that she cannot push away:

If he was never going to let her in, then why did he look at her like he was already afraid she might change her mind?