Contractually Yours

10• Mrs. Russell

🔹️🔹️ Crystal Russell 🔹️🔹️

The ride to Adrien's house was silent but comforting. I unpinned my veil and ruffled my hair before rolling down the window and the cool night breeze hit my face making me sigh. I looked at the night sky and kept thinking about how my life had changed in such a short span of time. A week ago, I was a financially struggling girl who had no plans of getting married. And now, I am the wife of a billionaire.

I felt someone's eyes on me and I turned around. As I did, Adrien turned his head the other way and acted like he wasn't staring at me a while ago. I ignored it and went back to my thoughts and before I knew it, the car was parked in the driveway of a tall complex. We both got out of the car and Adrien led the way to the elevator. We stopped on the top-most floor, a penthouse. He unlocked the door and we both went inside. The interior of the house was very impressive. Not very fancy but quite decent and luxurious.

We went inside further and he stopped in front of a door. "This one is your room. All your belongings have been shifted here." He explained. "That one there is my room, and the room beside that is my study." He pointed towards the left and I nodded at him. He returned a stern nod and took a few steps to leave but then stopped and looked at me. "As I said before, our marriage is just for a show. I will not interfere in your life and I expect the same from you." He said, trying not to sound rude.

"I know. And I will keep my side of the promise." I replied to him. He turned back and walked to his room and I entered mine.

I was truly stunned to see the room. It was large, literally half the size of my whole house in Brooklyn. Getting myself out of the gown, I hopped inside the bathroom and had my tiredness washed out with a hot shower. The fact that the room had a walk-in closet did not surprise me anymore. What actually surprised me was that the closet did not only have my belongings but also a few luxury brand clothes and accessories. Anyway, I wore my shorts and t-shirt and plopped on the very soft bed and sleep engulfed me in no time.

I woke up next morning to the shrill sound of my phone's alarm that I had forgotten to turn off. It was 6:30 in the morning and though it was early, I didn't feel like sleeping anymore. I did my morning routine and changed into something presentable. For the next seven minutes, I thought whether going out of the room would be the right thing to do. But then, I couldn't lock myself in here for the whole day, so I slowly opened the door and peeked around in case Adrien might be out there.

For some reason, I wanted to avoid him.

On finding the way clear, I took small steps and made my way to the kitchen. I filled a glass with water for myself and began to drink it. Right when I took the last sip, a sudden voice made me choke on the water.

"Can I get some water too, please?" Coughing, I turned around to see Adrien drenched in sweat. He wore a black gym vest and green pants that had my eyes lingering over his muscular arms. His chest heaved on a higher pace and sweat dripping from his wet hair under a black cap, to his neck, made me gulp hard. Maybe he was back from a jog or gym.

"Did I startle you?" He asked and I realized that I had stopped coughing.

"Y-yes. You came out of nowhere." He chuckled at my mumbling and I passed him the water he asked for. My mouth dried up as I saw his Adam's apple bob up and down while he gulped down all the water in one go.

Snap out of it, Crystal!

I scolded myself and averted my eyes from him. "I'll be back." He said and went to his room. I looked around the house for some time, appreciating the interior. I slid open the glass doors of the balcony and let the morning breeze caress my face.