Sign On The Line ✔~ trixya

Chapter 18: In It For The Money

"Katya? I'm home!" Robert yelled out as he opened the front door. "What's this all about?"

Katya breathed in deeply, forcing herself to find the courage to say the words she knew she needed to say.

"What is this, Katya? Why are all your things in my kitchen?"

"I am leaving. I'm moving out." Katya said, her voice slightly shaking.

"Moving out?" Robert questioned with a laugh. "Is this a period thing or something? Whatever, just go unpack again. This isn't funny, Katya."

"I'm serious. I apologize, but I can not do this. I want to end our engagement." She replied as she stood up, her voice stronger now.

"End it? Yeah... that's not gonna happen, sweetheart."

In that moment Katya sincerely felt as if she was standing in front of a total stranger. The kind man she knew, the man who had been her ticket out of Russia, was now completely gone, and instead she could only see the sexist ass of a man that Trixie had told her about.

"What? What do you mean? You can not force me to marry you."

"Well, that's the thing, Katya, I kinda can. You might wanna learn to read what you sign." The man said, his lips twisting into a dark smirk.

He walked out of the room for a moment before returning with a familiar document. And suddenly Katya was filled with dread.

She knew that document.
She knew her signature was on it.
But she knew nothing about it's contents.

"Ah, I see you remember this little piece of paper. Well, care to read what you signed your name under?" He said as he placed the paper on the kitchen counter, pointing at section 4A.

Katya stared down at the paper, her eyes widening as she read the words written on the page.

4. Compensation

A. In the event that the Bride wishes to end the agreement of marriage, all expenses used on travel and housing by the Groom, aswell as any expenses related to the wedding ceremony, must be compensated. In addition the Bride must compensate the Groom for emotional distress and pay a fee of 10 000$.

Katya suddenly felt as if the world was collapsing around her as she realized what she had truly signed. She felt entirely powerless, realizing that ending her engagement meant that she would go into financial ruin. Katya knew that most of the wedding had already been paid for, Robert had also covered all her travel expenses, and he had insisted on spending huge amounts of money on fancy dinners and lunches for the two of them. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it would all add up to, the compensation fee itself being too much for her to pay.

And so Robert was right. He could essentially force her to go through with this marriage, because she couldn't afford to breach the contract. He had her backed into a corner. With his lies and dismissive statements he'd gotten her to sign her life away, and now she was trapped. He had told her to just sign, and she had foolishly done it without considering the consequences.

The only thing Katya couldn't figure out was why.

"Why? Why did you do this?" Katya asked, tears filling her eyes.

"Well, firstly I didn't want a mail-ordered bitch to just take my money and leave. Secondly, I needed a wife. My grandfather was a rather old-fashioned man, and he demanded that I found a wife before I was allowed to inherit his properties and funds, including this beauty of a house. I couldn't allow my cousin to get all of it, and he had a long-term girlfriend, so I knew I needed to move fast, and therefor a mail-order bride was the easiest choice."

"So that is why you refuse to let me leave? Because of the money?" Katya said in disgust.

"Oh, don't play that game. You were the desperate little bitch who was willing to marry any guy she found for a green card." Robert spat back.

And Katya couldn't argue, because he wasn't really wrong. In a sense she had attempted to fool him too. And now she was paying the price for it.

Katya picked up her phone, her wallet, and her keys and headed towards the front door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Robert said, trying to grab at her wrist, but she shook herself loose.

"Out. I need a drink." Katya said, not leaving any room for discussion as she barged out the door and got into one of Robert's cars, tears streaming down her face.