CHAPTER 6: The Contract

NORA'S POV

Tyler's hand wrapped around my wrist as he pulled me away from the crowd of elders. Their stares burned into my back, but I had no strength left to care what they thought of me.

He led me through a marble hallway that seemed to stretch forever. My feet ached with each step, but I forced myself to keep up with his long strides. The walls were lined with expensive art that I could barely make out in my unreliable vision.

We stopped at a heavy wooden door. Tyler pushed it open and gestured for me to enter. I hesitated, before stepping into what appeared to be his private study.

The room smelled of leather and cedar. Dark bookshelves lined the walls, filled with volumes I would never have time to read. A massive desk was in the center, polished to a mirror shine.

Tyler walked to the desk and dropped a folder he had been holding. The same contract Landon had signed. My stomach twisted into knots as he laid it flat on the surface between us.

"Sit," he commanded, his voice leaving no room for argument.

I lowered myself into the chair across from him. My hands gripped the armrests so tightly. Tyler opened the folder and began sliding papers toward me, one by one.

"Read," he said, tapping the first page with his finger.

I squinted at the document, willing my vision to cooperate. The words swam before my eyes, blurring and sharpening in turns. I blinked hard, and slowly the text came into focus.

The first clause made my blood run cold. I was to obey Tyler's commands without question or hesitation. Failure to comply would result in severe consequences that were deliberately left vague.

My throat tightened as I moved to the next section. I was expected to bear his children when he deemed it appropriate. The language made me feel like livestock being traded at the market.

I forced myself to keep reading. No right to leave the premises without permission. No contact with my former life. No autonomy over my own body or choices.

Each word felt like a nail being driven into a coffin. My coffin. The one Landon had built and Tyler had sealed shut.

"Do you understand the terms?" Tyler asked, his tone businesslike and detached.

I looked up at him, my vision blurring with tears I refused to let fall. "I never signed this," I whispered, my voice cracking despite my best efforts.

"Landon signed it on your behalf. You are his foster sister, after all." Tyler leaned back in his chair, watching me with those cold eyes. "The contract is legally binding."

A bitter laugh escaped my throat. "Legally binding? You run an illegal operation. What court would enforce this?"

His lips curved into a smile that did not reach his eyes. "My court. My rules. That is all that matters here."

I slammed my palm on the desk, the sound echoing through the study. "I had no choice! He sold me like I was nothing!"

"And yet here you are." Tyler's expression remained unmoved. "Safe. Fed. Your mother is receiving the best medical care money can buy."

The mention of my mother stopped my protests cold. He was right. Whatever degrading terms this contract held, it had saved her life. Landon would have cut off her treatment out of spite.

Tyler stood and walked around the desk. He stopped beside my chair, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his body. I stiffened but did not pull away.

"You think I enjoy this?" he asked quietly. "You think I wanted another responsibility?"

I looked up at him, searching his face for any hint of humanity. For a fleeting moment, I saw it. Regret, perhaps. Or sympathy. But it vanished as quickly as it appeared, replaced by the same cold mask he always wore.

"Your mother is safe now," he said, his voice hardening again. "That is all that matters."

He turned and walked toward the door, leaving me alone in his study. The sound of the door closing behind him felt final, like the last page of my old life being torn away.

I sat frozen in the chair, exhausted from the seriousness of my new reality. I was his property now. A possession to be used however Tyler saw fit. The contract spelled it out in black and white.

My hands trembled as I reached for the papers again, reading through the clauses one more time. Each word cut deeper than the last. This was my life now. Trapped in a gilded cage with a man I barely knew.

A sob broke free from my chest, followed by another. I pressed my hands over my mouth, trying to muffle the sounds. I would not give them the satisfaction of hearing me break down.

But the tears came anyway, hot and bitter. They streamed down my face as I grieved for the life I had lost, the freedom that had been stolen from me.

I did not know how long I sat there crying. Time seemed to lose meaning in that quiet room. Eventually, the tears stopped, leaving me exhausted.

I wiped my face with the back of my hand and took a shaky breath. I had to pull myself together. I had survived Landon's betrayal. I would survive this too.

My eyes drifted across the study, taking in the details I had missed before. The expensive furniture, the crystal decanter on the side table, the framed photographs on the bookshelf.

And then I noticed it. A drawer in Tyler's desk, slightly ajar. The wood did not quite meet the frame, leaving a thin gap.

Curiosity overrode my caution. I glanced at the door to make sure I was still alone, then leaned forward.

Inside were several photographs, stacked haphazardly as if someone had looked through them recently and forgotten to put them away properly.

I picked up the top photograph, my hands shaking. The image showed a young woman with dark hair and delicate features. She was laughing at something beyond the camera, her eyes bright with joy.

My breath caught in my throat. The woman looked eerily similar to me. The same shape of her face, the same curve of her smile. We could pass as sisters.

I grabbed the next photograph. The same woman, this time standing beside a younger version of Tyler. His arm was wrapped around her waist, and he was looking at her like she was his entire world.

Who was she? And why did she look so much like me?