Chapter 25: Chapter 25
The copy of the contract which her mother had sent over to her after the marriage along with some important documents that her mother had taken from Carol’s former house was kept in a big envelope in a drawer of a table in Carol’s room. After taking her bath, wearing her nightie, and doing a few other things, she brought out the envelope, sat on the bed, and removed the contract from it. All this while, she had put off reading it because she was not sure that she wanted to know what was inside it, but now, she needed to know.
At first glance, the contract was just a bunch of legal jargon which Carol did not understand, neither was she willing to go through the trouble of deciphering what they meant. She was wondering whether to call her mother to explain it for her when she happened to come across the part of it that stated what was expected of her.
According to the contract, she was to marry Sebastian. Carol smirked at this. That much she had already done. Also, she was to keep him company and make sure that she acted the loving wife during the one year and six months that they were to be married. Carol was not sure how she was supposed to go about that one, considering that the man in question wanted nothing to do with her most of the time and he also seemed to find her extremely annoying.
A third condition of the contract stated that on no condition was she to get pregnant for Sebastian as he did not want any kids. Carol could just imagine Sebastian making sure that his uncle added that particular requirement. Again, she did not see this to be a difficult task at all. As it was, Sebastian did not seem to be remotely interested in her, although she could not say the same thing about herself. The truth was that she found the man to be incredibly sexy, and he was her type, but she also found his behavior hateful and so she was sure that fulfilling that condition would not be a problem at all.
Carol could not believe that this was the contract. So what was all the hype about? With the way everyone had been going on about it, one would have thought that she would be asked to do very ridiculous and annoying things. She continued to read.
The next condition stated that in the event that she got pregnant despite what the contract stated as the previous condition, Sebastian would have full custody of the child if they decided to part ways after the one year and six months were over.
“Well, that would be a big problem as I don’t see myself giving up a child that I carried for nine months just like that, so the best thing is to make sure I never get pregnant.” Carol thought to herself, fully confident that this would not be an issue at all. She had managed to remain a virgin till the ripe old age of twenty-eight, and although she got mad urges to have sex as any normal female would, she was confident that she would not have to turn to Sebastian or any other man for that matter to fulfill her urges.
There were a few other conditions none of which was a major issue as far as Carol was concerned, and she was beginning to feel very good about the whole thing when she came upon the last condition, and her blood ran cold.
The condition stated that if at the end of the one year and six months, Mr. James did not notice a satisfactory change in his nephew, he would not pay up the balance of the money that Carol’s father owed, and the family would be at the mercy of the people that he owed. Carol stared at the words, confused beyond measure. She thought that the debt had been settled after she got married to Sebastian, at least, that was what her parents had told her. She glanced at the clock in her room and saw that it was already past eleven in the night. Her parents usually went to bed early, so she knew that they would be asleep by now.
Carol did not think that she could sleep without understanding that last part of the contract, so she went downstairs in search of Mr. James, although she doubted that he would still be awake or even around. He had been talking of going back to the hotel earlier, but Sebastian had talked him out of it, asking why on earth he would want to stay at a hotel when he came visiting as there were more than enough unused rooms in the house. Carol did not know if he had been able to convince him, but it was no harm checking.
Slowly, she climbed down the stairs in search of him. She would ask the driver or gateman or even the cooks if he had left or not. The house was silent, but she could perceive the smell of cigarettes, which seemed to be coming from the dining room. Carol went in there to see Mr. James seated there and smoking a cigarette. He did not seem surprised to see her at all.
“How’s the headache?” he asked her, and she could see in his eyes that he knew that the headache had just been an excuse to beat a hasty retreat and avoid both men. Carol shuddered. How on earth did this man seem to know everything that went on around him?
“It is gone, thanks. I took your advice and used some ibuprofen.” She said anyway.
“That’s good to know. So what are you still doing up by this time of the night?”
“I could not sleep, so I was going through the contract. Um, I don’t understand some parts of it and need some clarification.” She told him and watched as a slow smile came over his face. He knew exactly what she was talking about.