A Contractual Marriage? Hell No Novels & Stories

I snapped and would have continued if I hadn't been interrupted. "What the hell is this nonsense?!" Chloe screeched. "Nathan, tell me what the fuck is going on, right now!" Mahn, I was doomed. Noah had been right. I should have taken care of things with Lily immediately after I had signed the damn marriage contract. Frankly, I hadn't been willing to let Lily go. I was so sure my marriage with Chloe would be sour and would not last. Lily was a wonderful mistress. Damn, she was hot and naughty and everything I had wanted in a woman.

"Let's meet at the Next Cafe tomorrow at 12 pm." *** The next day, when we met, Drex handed me a document that immediately piqued my curiosity. "What's this?" I inquired, giving him a suspicious look. "Please read through it; it's the best solution I could come up with," he urged. I opened the document, and it was titled "Marriage Contract." As I perused its contents, it outlined the rules we would have to abide by: - Rule No. 1: Divorce after 5 years.

His eyes drifted to my belly. "You need to take responsibility for this, Adam," I said, looking him in the eye. "You have to marry me." His lips parted. For a second, I got distracted with his red lips. Damn. I knew how good those lips were. "You're insane, Claire. How could you think of marriage when we don't even know each other?" I just arched my brow. "But you got me pregnant. You need to take responsibility for this." He let out another curse, then tilted his head upward. He looked at the night sky for a few minutes. I saw how his Adam's apple moved. "Fine. I'll father your child," he said, meeting my eyes. "But I won't marry you."

"I wonder what that crazy woman is up to. In a few days I'll be back and things will fall into place." "Was that it?" "No, I want you to prepare a document for me. Two, actually. I want a reliability contract and a marriage contract." "I got the second one right." "Is there a clause that prevents me from marrying a foreign woman? Or that I marry without being Kudsi? Or anything else that prevents my marrying a woman who is not the one my father chose?" "You have some things that would not let you, however, marriage is valid in any country. Once you are married, you will be married. There is nothing that talks about the nationality of the bride, if your plan is to show up here already married

I accept out of spite, drinking it while Lucien works on his laptop like I'm not there. Thirty minutes in, I break the silence. "How many couples will be there?" "Eight, including us." "Do they all have real marriages?" His fingers pause on the keyboard. "Define real." "Marriages that started without contracts." "Most marriages are contracts, Mara. Some are just more honest about it." "That's bleak." "That's reality." He returns to typing. "James and Victoria Worthington married to merge family fortunes. Oliver Grant married his assistant to avoid a sexual harassment lawsuit. The Pattersons have an arrangement where he keeps a mistress and she keeps his credit cards."

I said, quickly putting things in perspective. “What are you talking about? Don’t you want to have fun with Blake? Look, it might be a contract marriage, but you are still permitted to enjoy his presence. The kiss you both shared at the party tells me that you both would have a lot of fun sexually, so why are you fighting it?” He asked with raised brows. “Look, it is hard to explain, but I don’t want to raise my hopes. This is a contract marriage, and in no time, all of this would be over. What is the point of having so much fun with him?

The words hung in the air like a grenade with a removed pin. I stared at him. "What?" "Three days," he repeated, as if I was simple. "We'll be married." "No." The refusal came out immediately. "No, absolutely not. The contract is enough, why on earth do we need to do a stupid- "The contract you signed includes a wedding," he cut me off calmly, picking his pen back up. "Having a legal marriage doesn't preclude an actual ceremony. In fact, I insist on one." "You insist?" I laughed, a sharp, brittle sound. "You don't get to insist anything with me. I'm not some possession you can just… just decree into existence. I didn't agree to a wedding, I agreed to a contract."

“Once I find my fated mate, this… contract will be dissolved. You'll be free to go anywhere and marry anyone you choose. No strings attached. You will not lose anything.” Despite my anger and apprehension, I couldn't shake the nagging realization that Noel’s offer was the best. But the thought of marrying him filled me with dread. The idea of entering into a contractual marriage with him felt like a compromise of my autonomy and independence. Moreover, the notion that our relationship would be terminated once he found his true mate made me uneasy. I didn’t know why, but I didn’t appreciate the idea. It was a reminder that our union was nothing more than a transactional arrangement, devoid of

Just existing in the same space while people lived their normal Saturday lives around us. "This is weird, right?" I said finally. "What?" "This. Us. We're supposed to be in a fake marriage but we're sitting in the park eating apples and having actual conversations. That's not in the contract." "Fuck the contract." I looked at him. "What?" "The contract. Fuck it. It's a piece of paper. It doesn't mean anything." "It literally defines our entire marriage." "No. It defines the business arrangement. It doesn't define this." He gestured between us. "Whatever this is."

Just as I thought he's lost for an answer, he spoke, "I think at some points we are similar, although I admit I did not reckon the same about you at our first meet, my opinion gradually changed... After seeing you, I personally feel that our personalities don't clash, and that so-called tale of true love does not exist." "Besides, it's a contract marriage, you'll have no worries to be a proper wife until we're in public, in private__ well, we both are adults and know our needs and limits. Once the contract is over, we'll be on our separate ways, which I believe you won't mind__ Your liberty...." His clear response erased my doubts...