Chapter 14: Chapter 14

There are times when one has to go thought the agonizing pain of waiting impatiently for someone—he had faced those situations rarely in his life.

It was one of those rare times when he sat by the huge window of the café she had sent the address to and waited for her to arrive.

To think that he was behaving weirdly ever since he met her would not be wrong. He was never pushy—never threatened or coerced someone into giving what he wanted. But there was also the fact that he was never rejected or treated indifferently just like how she loved to treat him apparently. Moreover, he also never waited for a woman like he had been waiting for the last hour. Even to himself, he seemed strange.

Why was he doing all that?

He was sitting and looking at the time when finally, she decided to grace him with her presence.

He was glaring at his phone when he heard someone clear their throat. He looked up to find her standing there with all her glory.

He could not understand why he was left breathless for a moment.

She looked lovely in her simple baby pink dress that reached just above her knees. Her sleeves reached her elbow and she was looking elegant with her beautiful black hair tied in a ponytail and a few loose strands touching her cheeks. Her long and slim neck was exposed for him to look at. Her eyes looked so sad, yet so beautiful.

He could not deny, even if he wanted to, how enchantingly gorgeous she was.

Before he could say anything, she had already taken a seat in front of him. He cleared his throat. Was he caught ogling her?

“I have been waiting for an hour.” He commented leaning back. She noticed how he looked so high and mighty. It was not like it was something new. She had almost gotten used to his glorious presence.

“I apologize. I had some things to take care of.” She said shrugging. How ironic! He thought. She was apologizing and shrugging at the same time. It was like someone showing they were regretful but the action says otherwise. She truly was something.

“You wanted to meet.” He said briefly. He was hesitant to start the conversation with how he wanted. He had expressed that to her countless times. It was about time she said what she wanted although he was sure she was about to grant his month-long wish.

He saw her narrowing her eyes at him.

“I think you already have an idea why I wanted to meet.” She told him a bit accusingly.

He shrugged showing like he was unaware when in fact, he was fully aware of the purpose behind the sudden call for meeting.

The truth was that he was enjoying putting her in the situation where she had to confess. He wanted her to say that she was ready to go with his offer.

She sighed before stating, “I know this is wrong. I know that I should not agree to your offer. But I don’t have any other choice right now.” She smiled at him. But the smile seemed so broken. Her tone triggered something in him. He felt like he had pushed her to her last limit, “So Mr. Thomas, when should we sign the contract?” She said after a pause and continued to smile like that. It was as if she was finding it hard to agree, but she had to.

Although she tried her best to appear strong to the eyes and ears, but he could tell how helpless she must have been at that moment. After all, it was all his doing--to push her to the edge where she had no choice but to give in.

He kept looking at her with unreadable emotions in his eyes until she tapped the table between them snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Oh, yes.” He said coming out of his train of thoughts, “We can sign the contract whenever you like.” He said not really knowing what to say or do. Maybe, it was the feeling of guilt that had engulfed him.

She laughed tauntingly, “Oh! Now, you care about my wishes, huh?” She commented with a shake of her head.

Even when her comment made a frown appear on his face, he kept himself from saying anything.

Guilt or not, he did not allow anyone to taunt him or make fun of him. It was beyond him how he was allowing her.

“I will make the contract ready till tomorrow. You can come to my office in the afternoon.” He directed in a professional tone. He did not want to prolong the conversation.

That made the two of them.

She sighed and stood up. She wanted to leave before the waiter approached them. She did not want to be anywhere near him. And to think that she was getting into an agreement to pretend to be his wife for a year…Just the thought of it was scary for her.

“Have a cup of coffee at least.” He called from behind her making her turn around. He wanted to celebrate their fake marriage and the fact that she had given the offer a chance. Despite how fake everything looked, it was the least he could do—treat her with something.

“You can have two cups. You might need it after the enormous effort you put in making me accept this deal.” She said with a raised brow getting a questioning look in return. She ignored the look, turned around, and walked away leaving him bewildered.

What did she mean by that? Did she know that he was the new owner?

There was no way. He made sure to keep it a secret and told the previous owner not to reveal his name in front of her.

It was not like he was afraid of her or something, but he did not want any more bad blood between them now that they were going to spend a year together. It was scary for him as much as it was for her. He never allowed someone to be close to him. He just spent the night with them and went his way after that without giving anyone the permission to be attached to him. That were a few reasons why he chose her—she was not a gold-digger and she definitely did not want be related to him in any way. He could not understand her reasons, but those factors were in his favor.

Besides, she had been a stripper, so he did not see himself having feelings for someone with that kind of past.

He was safe in any way possible by marrying her. She was the best choice for him at that moment.

He ordered himself a cup of coffee and started the planning in his mind, about how to convince his grandfather about the marriage. He would throw a fit if he came to know that she belonged to middle-class. He would destroy the world if he came to know that she used to be a stripper. He could not reveal the later.

He had won the challenge which was gaining her consent—despite how forced it seemed. He had gotten what he wanted, so what was up with the emptiness he felt? He should have been over the moon. But why wasn’t he?

The sadness in her eyes was haunting him. But why?

Olivia’s POV:

“What have I done? How could I do that?” She was grabbing her head in her hands and leaning against the wall of a narrow street beside their apartment building. She could not believe that she had agreed to go along such a stupid offer.

She had thought and tried to find a way out, but there was none. She had truly hit the dead-end.

It was so hard to tell Sana and Aunt Mary that her mother was in the last stage of cancer.

When the owner—or the previous owner left, she could not stop crying. She had called Sana to tell her to come to the apartment. She could not understand what to do. She told Sana everything while her mom and Aunt Mary were still in the hospital. Her mom was under some drugs, so the doctor had told them to keep her there till night.

The doctors ran samples and blood tests every now and then, but she had never thought that a day would come when they would tell her the tragic news. Even a few days ago when she visited the hospital with her mom, she did not think that the samples they were collecting were going to bring her the worst news of her life. She had a tiny bit of hope that her mother was going to be alright, but it all went in vain.

“Olivia, we have no choice but to tell your mother. She had the right to know.” Sana had said while hugging her tightly. She was crying along Olivia. Her dear friend had gone through a lot at such a young age. It was making her heart hurt.

Olivia shook her head wildly, “No! She should not know. She would break apart if the news reached her. Promise me that you won’t tell her.” She looked at Sana with such heart-wrenching sadness that she could not do anything but nod.

She also told Aunt Mary about it once she brought her mother home. Her mom was not in condition to ask her where she had been all day or understand what was going on around her. She also got a promise from Aunt Mary not to tell her mother. Mary could not stop crying after she heard the news. Amelia was her best friend after all. They all kept each other company before they had to leave. It was late at night when she went to Amelia’s room to see her resting peacefully. She was still under the influence of drugs. She wept quietly while lying her head beside her mother and looking at her beautiful face. She looked older than her actual age due to the cruel disease she had.

On top of the news about her mother’s diagnosis, she had to think about a way not to be kicked out of the apartment. When everything got hard, she had the relief that at least, they had a shelter to live in. and now, they were going to lose the last thing they had. She thought about everything helplessly.

There was no way out. She could not help but consider the offer which she deemed as pathetic and ridiculous—the offer that she had pushed at the back of her mind. She never thought that she would consider it in real.

She went to her room wiping the new wave of tears. The tears had dried up from crying all day making her cheeks dry and stretchy. She did not care about that though.

She unblocked the number she had blocked the other day and called him telling him to meet.

She could not believe she was going to make a deal with the person, who was responsible behind her misery that she was going to be on the streets soon. She knew it was him who was responsible.

She knew only he was capable of doing something so cruel. The previous owner had no intention to sell the apartment, but suddenly he decided to sell the apartment. That too, on the days following his warnings.

She could be naïve sometimes, but she was not stupid.

And she was about to make a deal with the same person who had brought misery upon misery in her life—from losing her job to losing the apartment. The absence of any choice was making her want curl and cry again.

But if crying was any solution, she would have solved her problems long ago.

And now, she had to marry someone who she had started to hate.