Desires and Contracts

Ch. 5

I can't believe I agreed to lie to a family that trusts me. I know I was doing it for the money but Xavier was the bad guy here right? He wants to deceive his dad and grandfather just so he can have the business. That's much worse than agreeing to this for $2 million. I had to make sure to ask Xavier to eventually let me tell Austin and Kelly the truth. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I had to hide this lie from them forever.

After the meeting, I went back to campus. I only had one more class before I began my shift at the restaurant. I worked until 6 pm today and right when I got home I made myself a quick dinner. After eating, I showered and got straight to studying and finishing assignments. I had to pull an all-nighter because I wasn't sure how much time I'd get tomorrow since I had to go to Xavier's office to review the contract at 5:30.

The next day, I went to babysit Natalie after my classes. She was telling me all about her presents and what she did for the rest of the weekend after her party. We worked on some of her homework as well. When it was 5 I began packing my belongings. It would be better for me to get an Uber from here to Xavier's office instead of taking the bus.

I arrived at Xavier's office at 5:25. His assistant told me that he is ready to see me in the conference room, which she said is located at the end of the hallway on the third floor. I nervously walked to the door of the room, uneasy about how my life would be changing. I knocked on the door and Xavier opened it, letting me inside.

"Skylar, this is my lawyer Michael Key. Michael this is Skylar."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Key."

"Please call me Michael. I was shocked to hear that Xavier wanted me to finalize a contract for his marriage. Will your lawyer be joining us soon?"

"Oh um I don't have a lawyer. But I'm going to read over the contract myself."

"Don't worry I won't be tricking you. You can trust me." Xavier winked. I rolled my eyes at his cockiness.

"Let's get started shall we? So I have two copies of the contract, one for you Xavier and one for Skylar. You guys can go ahead and scan through it real quick and then I can go into details about each condition and then answer any questions you might have."

We silently scanned through the contract and I made sure to highlight a few things that I needed clarification on.

"Okay so the main points of this contract are that both of you must stay faithful for the entirety of a year. Both of you have to attend any public events together, for publicity and to make the relationship believable. You are required to get married within at least 3 months and stay married for at least one year. So I guess this contract is for one year and 3 months. Skylar- you will receive $2 million at the end of the first year. You will move in with Xavier once you are married and will continue to live with him until the divorce. When you file for divorce, you are allowed to ask for up to $1 million in the settlement but nothing more. You also cannot tell anyone about this arrangement. Xavier- by marrying Skylar you will be receiving your family business. You cannot demand any money from Skylar because she will be accompanying you to all social events. You are also not allowed to speak to anyone about this arrangement. As part of this contract, there will be affection publically shown by both parties. However, neither of you have to engage in any activity which you are not comfortable with. You both would have to be responsible and have consent in any forms of affection. Do you have any questions or additional conditions?"

"Yes, it's about not telling anyone about this agreement. Can I please eventually tell Austin and Kelly the truth? They trust me so much and I won't be able to live with myself knowing that I'm hiding something this big from them. And on top of that, it relates to their family, so I feel like I am deceiving them." I asked.