Ruthless Love

Chapter 19 - Sydney

A knock on the door forces me to place my cup of tea unattended on the kitchen counter. I look down, an oversized nude sweater. Is that appropriate to open the door?

I straighten my clothes, it's probably Alaina. She wants to know if I'm okay or if everything is okay. I clear my throat and walk over to the door.

When I swing the door open, my heart stops. Flint Everwood stands in front of me. Black v-neck t-shirt with the front of the shirt tucked into his jeans. He has brown leather shoes on.

I attempt to slam the door but his hand stops me. He presses against the door as I try to shut it. His strength outweighs mine. "I need to talk," he says.

I frown. "I don't want to talk."

With a little more force, I fall a step behind and the door swings open. I notice Flint watches me with concern so I look to the side. I can see him frown from the corner of my eyes. As I attempt to shut the door again, his voice stops me. "The contract," he says.

I pause. He's going to bring the contract up like he always does. I really should've read the contract. I cringe as I turn my back to him. My heart beats faster when he walks closer. "I'm here for the contract," he repeats.

I shake my head. "What about the contract?"

He grabs my wrist and turns me to face him. The first thing I notice is the contract in his hand. He pulls my hand in front of me and slams the contract in my hand. He doesn't say a word but I know now that he's giving me an opportunity to read it to see exactly what I never knew about the contract before. Whatever it is though, I know this much; he'll use it against me.

I flip through the first page of the contract, and then the second page. The third page freezes me. In big and clear writing I see two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. I move my eyes away from the contract and to Flint. He's smirking. He knows that I don't have that much money. According to the contract, if I fail I owe Mr Everwood two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. All these rich guys are always after the money. You'd think someone like him who has plenty of money would make contracts with different terms but I guess it's always about the money for them.

"Done?" He asks.

I nod, anger building up. "I don't have that kind of money."

His smirk grows bigger as he leans in to whisper in my ear. "I know."

I wish I could wipe the smirk off his face, instead all I do is frown in his direction. Mr Everwood without another word takes a step forward and walks into my living room.

Suddenly it hits me how exposed I am. I am standing in front of him with just an oversized nude coloured sweater. I pull the sweater a little lower to cover my thighs and trudge after him. "You can't just storm into someone's house like that."

His eyes cut right through my soul when he looks at me. "Who's going to stop me?" He says. "You?" He questions pointing at me.

Moving forward, I watch him take a seat on my couch. He smirks. "I don't think you can really stop me."

I clench my teeth. "I can. You can't just walk into my house like that."

"Oh yeah," he says grinning. "I guess you have two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to pay me then, I guess."

My hands turn into fists by my side. If it wasn't about owing him, I swear I'd actually attempt to punch him. Even though I hate the idea of asking, at this point I know I have no choice. "What do you want?"

I watch him pull a small box from his pocket and throw it in my hand as I catch it. He nods ever so slightly suggesting I open the box. When I open the box, my mouth drops in shock. It's a bloody engagement ring by the looks of it.

"I'm not marrying you!" I shout.

He laughs in my direction before standing up from the couch and walking over to me. He stands behind me as if to intimidate me and then stops to whisper in my ear. "Don't get ahead of yourself," he says. "You aren't that important."

I laugh. "So what the hell is this for?" I say tossing the box back to him. "You've got to be kidding."

When he attempts to lean in closer, I push him back and step away. He won't intimidate me, I won't let him.

"I know you don't have the money, so in order to terminate the contract for good, you'll have to pretend to be my fiancée," he says matter of factly.

"Are you crazy?" I say turning to face him. "No way."

He smirks my way, and I know he's won. "That's fine, you can pay me instead."

Anger overtakes me. "Fine, what do you want me to do?"

"Be my fake fiancée," he says. "Both to my family and at the love'n'bloom gala."

"How long?"

"Now you're talking," Mr Everwood says running a finger down my arm forcing me to take another step back. "For as long as I want."

"What!" I shout. "That could mean years."

He leans in and laughs in my ear. "I guess you better start saving if you don't like this."