At All Cost (Contract Marriage)

"Sign the papers," Peter Saint's personal assistant said. "Or lose the chance to save your parents' company and restore your family's reputation." Victoria stared at him, one eyebrow raised. A sense of unease settled in her chest as she wondered what she was about to get herself into. It was a five-year marriage contract with Peter Saint. And from the terms she had read, it would be far more difficult than she had imagined.

"Have you signed it yet or are you still thinking?" said Peter Saint. Victoria, holding the pen aggressively and deep down in her sober, her heart pounded violently, and she gritted her teeth.. She never imagined that someone as bold as she would find herself trapped in such an arrangement to sign a marriage contract with a man she never loved or had been in a relationship with all because she wanted to save her parents' company and bring back their wealth and reputation.

Peter Saint leaned back in his chair and fixed his gaze on her. "You have three days to become my wife." The pen trembled in Victoria's hand.

One signature. That was all it would take to sell five years of her life to a man she barely knew.

Yet she signed anyway. Victoria said, I know as I have read the agreement papers. A faint smile crossed Peter's lips.

"Your boldness won't help you in this marriage."

He snapped his fingers and his personal assistant opened the door as Victoria stepped out with her inner mind in deep thought.

.....

Lost in thought, Victoria barely noticed her mother entering the room.

"Victoria!". She tapped her and said, hope no problem....?

Victoria, out of thought, looked at her mum and tears almost dropped from her eyes, saying, "How can there be no problem?" with all that happening to our family, falling from wealth to ruin. This is not how the LANGFORD family has pictured themselves years back. The plan was to be well known across various countries, which they were on the verge of achieving, but a sudden mystery led to their downfall which was still unclear to them.

Dragging his feet, Victoria's father entered the room and sank into a chair. Saying, to every action there's a consequence. What could have happened to my family, despite how kind I was, what could we have done to deserve such misfortune?. Victoria's mother looked at him and said "why are you all doing this, how can you be saying such a word in the presence of our daughter's, you were supposed to be consoling her as well". The deed has been done, only a solution remains.

What about your boyfriend? Victoria's mum said. "Boyfriend?" Victoria echoed in disbelief. Have you forgotten how he squandered part of my assets and stole out of the family's company gold. Her father looked at them both and said "When did all this happen, Victoria, you once had a boyfriend!!!!". Back when they lived in luxury, then before all this happened, she had a secret boyfriend kept away from her father's knowledge but only to her mother's own. As both of them were about begging, Victoria's father kept coughing consistently and they both rushed (Victoria and her mum) getting him water to cool down.

Victoria said, "Dad, what have you eaten since morning?" Pretending not to hear, facing the ground and trying to cover it up with another topic ' where have you been? She faced her mum and said What have you both eaten. It happens to be that her facial expression said it all meaning 'nothing'. She broke down completely and tears finally dropped from her eyes. It happens that things have gotten even worse than she thought. She gets up to find them something to eat first even before thinking about hers...

While still together, her phone rang repeatedly. Her mum said 'who is that?'. She said, I don't know, maybe one of those random scammers again. Her mum said I don't think so. Victoria stood up to the side of the room to pick her call and a voice said "REMEMBER, YOU HAVE THREE DAYS TO MOVE INTO MY HOUSE AS MY NEW WIFE". She hung up the call and her facial expression changed simply because she knows where the call comes from. 'Of course who wouldn't know where it is from, Peter Saint the ruthless billionaire' but she didn't know who the real speaker was.

While her dad was observing, her mum said who was that?? She said you will soon discover as her lips trembled and her voice shook as she did not want it to be disclosed yet not even at the current situation. Victoria's mum's eye went straight to an envelope in her shelf inside the room. As she stands to pick it up to check, Victoria rushed forward and tried to stop her mother from opening it. But unfortunately, her mum already has the envelope at hand and slowly opens it to check what is inside.

This will finally answer the question of her father then when he said 'where have you been'. Disappointment washed over Victoria as her heart raced. It happens that her parents have no knowledge about the contract marriage she went to sign at Peter Saint's office.

The envelope was opened and a piece of paper brought out. Her mum's eye went straight to the largely signed authentic legal document. Without reading first, she looked up straight at Victoria's eye in her mind saying 'what have you done'. She looked back at the paper to discover that it's a contract marriage. Her heart skipped a beat and her facial expression said it all, her father said to her mum, what's the paper all about. It happens to be the photocopy of the contract marriage she had signed with Peter Saint.

Victoria's dad stood up to collect the paper from her mum and check what it's about. After reading it, Victoria's mother shouted "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, HOW DARE YOU, WHOSE OPINION DID YOU SEEK". Still in shock, the paper fell from Victoria dad's hand and he passed out. Looking at her, her mother rushed to her husband's side in panic. On

the floor shouting his name.