Contract Marriage; Fated Love

His long and slender fingers were tapping away on the keyboard. He looked very handsome and adorable even in his corporate wear. Of course, there was a cup of coffee on the table too. His attention was distracted by the ringing of his phone. He frowned and slid his fingers across the screen to take the call.

“Hello dear. Good afternoon.”

“Afternoon.”

Her enthusiastic greeting contrasted sharply with his cold and distant reply. She was taken aback and didn’t speak. The silence lingered and no one said anything. Noah went back to his keyboard.

“Noah?”

“Are you still on the line? I’m sorry. How are you?”

“Why did you sound so cold in the beginning?” she questioned trying to act coquettish.

“Work stress. I was busy, that’s why.”

“Alright. Baby I met with the fashion designer.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Oh! That’s true, I was informed of her arrival but it escaped my mind to let you know. How did it go?”

“Well, it went well. She’s so easy going and I think I like her already. She said she will make a draft and send it to me. I am so sure she’s the perfect person for the job. I wish she was employed earlier. We would have been married a long time ago.”

“I hope you will like her design this time.”

“I’m sure I will. She sounds like she’s very talented and she knows what she’s doing. I have this rare and total confidence in her.”

“Fine then. If you say so.”

“Please, can you come over in the evening?”

“I’m sorry, I will be out in a social gathering and I have a meeting as well.”

“That’s not fair.”

“I can’t help it. I will see you when we are done. I am occupied this week please.”

“Okay then. But…”

“I need to get back to work, Benny.”

“Okay. Bye dear.”

“Bye. Take good care of yourself.”

Noah stared into space after the call ended. He didn’t understand what was going on. He wasn’t getting close to Benny as he had expected. He had expected that he would be all over her after waiting for four years. But the reverse was the case.

A soft sigh escaped his lips and he went back to his work.

Rose and her partners in crime had spent two weeks in the prison and Noah hasn’t said anything about their release.

Early that morning, Mr. Williams was preparing for work when a delivery guy came up at his door step with a mail.

“Can I see Mr. Williams Grant?” he asked.

“I am the one.”

“Okay. I have a mail for you. Sign here please.”

Mr. Williams looked at mail and signed the delivery book.

He wondered who it was from since he wasn’t expecting any mail. He however decided to open the mail after breakfast.

He tore open the mail and the first thing that caught his attention was the caption.

‘Blackwood Towers.’

The letter came directly from the high and mighty head office. He held the letter with trembling hands and read it.

Noah had finally done it. He has been thrown out of the company. Why Noah decided to make it very formal, when he could just say the word, ‘you’re fired’ was beyond his understanding and it made the situation more difficult. He read the lines again, he wanted to be certain he wasn’t dreaming or imagining things.

‘The head office owes no one no explanation for the sack of any employee. But, yours is different. I gave you a rare privilege of remaining in the company after I had taken over the ownership. Yet, the Grant family deemed it fit to do the unimaginable.

On no account should any member of the Grant family be seen in that premises. The Grant family will pay dearly for their actions. It had to come as a mail to serve as a constant reminder and for documentation purposes.’

Mr. Williams tried to process the information. Vint company, the family business which he inherited from his father was no more. He had invested a lot, time, effort, money to take the company higher and had lost it all. When Noah took over the company and retained him as an employee, he believed there was a chance of getting back the company. That day changed everything. He didn’t know whose fault it was. Was it his wife and second daughter, Rose who spent so much money that the company started going bankrupt or Emil who failed to get married to Jayden to save the family business? He looked at his suit one last time, he was no longer an employee in his own company. He had lost it all and he was jobless. He felt his head spin and he passed out.

About ten minutes later, Olivia walked into the sitting room to grab a bottle of wine she left on the table. She saw her husband on the floor and rushed to him.

“Williams?” she screamed, shaking him. There was no sign of life in him.

She fumbled his pocket for his car keys and drove to the hospital in a mad rush. She jumped the traffic lights and was nearly penalised by the road officials. Fortunately, he still had life in him and the medical practitioners commenced treatment. She opened the letter and read the contents. She was angry and worried at the same time. She was angry that Noah had further stripped them of their possession and worried about what would happen next. Noah had said they were going to pay and there was no two ways about it. Maybe they had already started paying since her daughter was in prison with no hope of release any time soon. The only thing was that he had allowed their family members to visit them. He was just waiting for the right time to give them a punishment that they deserved.

The secretary to the president was on leave. He was replaced temporarily by a young girl in her late twenties. She knocked on his door and said,

“President Harper, you have some visitors”