Five: A New Life.

With a few hours still left on the journey, Mr Baron alongside his newly engaged fiancé decided to spend the night at a five-star hotel to recuperate before continuing the next day.

Sliding his key card over the door, he pushed it open and Sofia was the first person to make her way in, lifting her gaze to look around the room. A brittle sigh escaped her lips as Oscar closed the door behind the both of them. There was a brief silence to occur the moment their eyes settled on the one bed in the center of the room that they were to share.

And clearing his throat, he walked past her.

"You could take the bed, i have to stay up either way" He said as if knowing exactly what she thought and Sofia pushed a lump down her throat. "I couldn't" She brought her eyes to look at him and whilst he clenched the edge of he table, he turned to his side.

"We're adults and we're about to get married which is the most intrusive thing one could think of in this moment so sharing a bed compared to that is nothing" Sofia muttered and she sat in to remove her shoes. Oscar scoffed beneath his breath as his eyes navigated her curved back.

"You changed so much" He whispered, holding unto his tie to loosen it and Sofia looked to him. "I mean—" He didn't want to sound any more disrespectful so he paused. "You could say it" She replied, tossing her thatched converses to the side.

"I lost a lot of weight since you last saw me. It's the bullying" She let out a soft chuckle and watched as Oscar unbuttoned his shirt before slowly pulling it apart from his body. Sofia's lips fell wide open as her eyes gazed at the tattoo across his back. Oscar had large biceps and even larger abs and when he turned around, he caught her lingering gaze on his body.

"Although i wish i never had" Sofia awkwardly turned away.

"I think i was more me then than now"

She stood to the counter and he humphed. "On the contrary, you didn't change much even though i barely knew back then" Sofia continued and he ran his hands through his hair with a smirk. "We barely knew each other" She sucked in air once he inched closer and Oscar raised his hands to the wardrobe behind her, reaching for a robe all whilst his eyes fell upon Sofia's flawless, supple skin.

"I knew you" Oscar croaked.

She pushed a hard lump down her throat as his body pressed into hers. "We're strangers" Came a shrill whisper and his lips grazed the side of her face.

"Don't ever call me a stranger."

When Oscar pulled away, she could finally breathe but Sofia could also muster enough courage for a reply. "You don't know the slightest thing about me!" She exclaimed and whilst he clothed himself with the robe, Oscar turned back to her.

"Sofia Winters, Graduated from Emerson. You turn twenty three next month—" His voice reverberated the depths of her stomach as he took her former statement like a dare. "You have a degree in Accounting although you love writing. You used to write poems at thirteen about life and love. You're vegan although not for the entirety of your life and the scar on your right arm was from falling from the edge of your table in grade two" He continued.

"You like the color red and have thought of how an amazing color that would be on your head. But you fear your parent's opinions. You fear." Oscar paused with a livid breath. "You fear for being something other than what the people around you want" Sofia's heart shuddered as their eyes met from a distance.

She was quiet and he was fulfilled.

"Don't call me a stranger when i know everything about you." With a hoarse tone, he brushed past her shoulders and held unto the bathroom door went whilst Sofia sat into the edge of the bed with a wandering mind.

"Why did you leave?" She asked him after a well-thought pause.

Oscar threw his head upon his shoulders to her. "Why did i never see you again after that day?" She whispered. "Because you said i should leave you alone" He said with such a straight face that one would think he was serious.

But then Oscar muffled a chuckle.

"I'm joking" Relief washed over her face and that chuckled transformed into a smirk. "My father became mayor and i was to be homeschooled from then, that was why. That was why you never saw me again" He walked in and closed the doors in Sofia's face, leaving back a ton of more questions than answers.

-

After his shower, Sofia watched Mr Baron slip into yet another clean pair of suit jacket and pants just before he took his seat in the chair opposite from her. His face was as white as snow beneath the chandelier lights but his skin was ever glowing for a man.

He had a large document in his hands which he placed to the table.

"Here's the contract" He muttered after Sofia had said yes in the car to his proposal. She had no other choice, there was no way she could return back to Boston or her father. And there was no way for her to cater for herself.

She'd rather die here on the streets.

Plus everything was different now that she knew Oscar wasn't entirely a complete stranger and besides it was just one year. One year of contract marriage before they both go their separate ways—what was the worst that could happen?

Sofia picked it up, letting her gaze fall to the crispy pages. She read along each word unto she got to a space. Only then did he hand her a biro. "You write your rules for this arrangement—" He had a glint in his dark eyes as he paused. "And i'd write mine."

After a pause, she did scribble something down before she looked back up at him.

“What happens after the one year?” Sofia asked him and a lump slipped down the back of his throat. “Right, we will divorce after one year after which we will go our separate ways. It’s more than enough time to convince my father into giving me the shares and enough time for you to build from a new found fame” Oscar said.

“Until then, we remain a grave secret”

“Fame?” Sofia belittled that word with her tone. Because was that really what she wanted—she wanted a roof over her head and food across her table. She wanted to move on from Damien but how would she handle the fame from a secret marriage to a billionaire when it did come out.

She passed the contract back to him after signing and he brought his eyes to her one rule.

“No physical contact during the contract?” There was a intonation to his voice and she nodded. “I’m just—i’m done with men and i’m trying to protect my heart now. I can’t handle another, Oscar. It’s nothing more than a contract marriage” Sofia continued and he rolled up his sleeves to his elbow.

He didn’t say a word in regards that but since she had a rule, he had one as well. “And no hookups” Mr Baron said. “We shall respect our various private lives and shall not interfere” Crossing his legs, he penned down his signature.

“We shall be going back to my family house after where i would introduce you as my live-in wife. My father is heavy is privacy and keeping us a secret wouldn’t be that much burden at all” He realized that since Aaron and Francesca already fed the public eye, no one would really be of interest to him—not that he even liked those magazines and interviews he did.

The scandal with his ex, Francesca already messed with him enough so this relationship he decided, would remain quiet for some time.

“And unless you have no other choice, you would not reveal the terms of this contract marriage” A dangerous aura swept between the both of them as their eyes remained locked into each other. Sofia was a bit restive in that chair and Oscar loosened his collar.

“After a year, i would publicly announce our marriage and subsequently divorce”

“But your father?” Sofia whispered. A heavy countenance fell upon Oscar’s shoulders as he stood. “My father would be dead by one year” He could swear by that statement and even though it was such a horrible thing to say, Ronald Baron was sick and he had a prognosis from his heart disease that was less than a year and his sons especially Oscar had already accepted that.

Sofia’s lips fell wide open but seeing the expression across his face, she didn’t push any further with questions. Oscar stood and ran his hands through his hair. “You said after this, we would be going home—after what?” Sofia paused between her words and looked into his eyes. Oscar hefted his watch and cleared his throat.

“We’re getting married right now” There was a shudder in her heart at those words and once he placed the contract to the table, Sofia was bewildered. “You never said that!” She exclaimed as she looked down at her terrible dress. He stuck his hands into the wardrobe however and brought out a wrapped gown before placing it to the bed between them.

“It’s final, Sofia. Our one year starts now” Oscar wore an emotionless expression as she pushed a lump down her throat. “I know people and i know someone here that could help us with that—that could marry us and give us the certificate i need. Only you just look pretty, Sofia” He whispered her name and she filled her lungs with much needed air.

“It’s just—it’s all happening so fast” She replied.

“You signed the contract” He grabbed his briefcase and nudged his adam’s apple. “Meet me downstairs in twenty minutes” Oscar commanded before leaving her behind in the room. Sofia’s eyes roamed the dress before she hefted it up in her hands. That wasn’t even the hardest part—the hardest part was when she stood in front of the mirror and couldn’t control the tears that fell.

Deep down, her resentment for Damien forced her to do this because deep down she would do whatever it took to move on. But she couldn’t deny the fact that she still felt something for him. And now, she was in this sage silk dress that hugged around her slender frame. She had changed so much over the years but nothing close to marrying someone she just met.

After a minute long breakdown, Sofia wiped her tears and picked up the flowers Oscar had left by the sink. The time was long gone twenty minutes but only then did she make her way out of the hotel room. She had a wooden brown pair of Gia Borghini’s—a famous designer she admired ever since she was little. Oscar had a fancy taste if he picked out her outfit, she thought.

It was just like her.

Like a warm hug as if she wasn’t just about to take the most reckless of decisions. Sofia stood for a moment at the doors of the chapel and heaved the deepest breath. Her face was blemishless even without makeup and her skin glistened—that was the first thing Oscar noticed from below the alter.

And then her flustered frightful cheeks. She had not a veil but she had colorful bouquet of flowers he had left for her. His hands folded right behind as she walked down the aisle of the empty congregation—it was just them, his driver and the priest. With a witness who had signed a confidentiality agreement.

“I thought you weren’t coming anymore” Oscar teased with a smirk when she was close to him and his arms slipped around her waist. Sofia felt comfortable ironically and with a flashed smile, she looked to the priest.

“We’re really doing this” She whispered, only audible to himself and Oscar cleared his throat. "Do you take this man to be your wedded husband?" The priest interrupted their back and forths and Sofia took a look at Oscar.

She pushed a lump down her throat, setting her gaze upon his bushy uneven eyebrows and his untendered beards. His shoulders were broad in that dark suit and so were his eyes. "I do" She quivered but just abit from the adrenaline that pumped through her veins.

She was getting married to someone who she had met a few years back but someone she had no idea of, still. And there was a wave of unrecognizable feeling that washed over her.

"And do you, sir take this woman to be your wedded wife, to love and to hold, to cherish in life's happiest and darkest moments, in sickness and in health, till death?" At those words, Oscar froze for a second, licking his lips.

He looked at Sofia Winters and that was probably the first time he actually saw her.

He was moved by her eyes which could tell a million stories and he was mesmerized by her beauty for the first time in many years. He recognized them and a smirk morphed across his lips.

Why did he gaze so much, Sofia thought.

"I do." Oscar responded with a nod after some hesitation and a dangerous aura swept through the air again as his arms groped her waist—this was the first of many things that would make them a believable couple. Sofia let out a subtle gasp, looking at him.

What was he doing?

Before she knew it, Oscar had kissed her softly on her lips like no one had ever done and it was just long enough to inhale her breath, feel the warmth of her skin and the taste of her strawberry flavored lips.

Then he pulled away, watching as she struggled to catch a breath.

There was a flash from a camera nearby, catching the second proof of marriage—a photo of their first kiss that was to be stapled to their certificate. Oscar turned to the priest and a coy smile crept to the corner of Sofia’s lips.

His hands grazed the edges of the lectern.

"Congratulations—" His voice drew her back to the reality. “You are now husband and wife." The clerk pronounced and after signing respectively, they burst out through the doors like it was Las Vegas with the document in her hands.

Sofia chuckled with the breeze rushing into her face. “We’re married!” She exclaimed hysterically to Oscar Baron and he stuffed his chest with his hands buried into his pockets. He took the certificate from her and then sauntered down the opposite end of the corridors.

“Yes, yes we are” His voice was cold.

All his life he imagined the one time he would walk the aisle, it would be with Francesca but things happened. Life happened and now Sofia stood there with the smile vanishing from her lips.

When she returned to her room, her husband was nowhere to be found and she fell across the bed with her elegant dress, thinking what this kind of change meant for her—two people still hung up on their exes. Could it be that they would tolerate each other just enough to make this have even the slightest chance at working?

The morning passed with her heavy thoughts and she didn’t see Oscar till the next morning when she entered into his car to resume the journey. It was an eerily silent drive to Salem and in a few hours, they got to this magnificent castle before which the car came to an abrupt halt.

Oscar walked to her door, pulling it open and Sofia stepped out to the merciless sun as she looked up at the mansion. Above her the door suddenly opened to a stern stewardess that held it. The woman had large glasses around her eyes and a lavender suit tailored to her perfect size.

Her gait was elegant and stance, exquisite and Sofia looked to the both of them. “Oscar” She whispered, submerged beneath this woman’s scrutinizing gaze.

"Mother!" He suddenly exclaimed and her heart fell.

Oscar made his way up the bricked stairs, placing a kiss across his mother’s cheeks and she looked down at Sofia.

"Who is she?" Came the coldest question and Sofia choked.

She was intimidated by this woman before her and each step she took forward was a new depth her heart sank into. And until she was merely a few inches from her, she didn't utter a word.

Rather, Oscar broke the silence.

"Mother, meet Isabella. She's my—“ He paused, his hands folding into each other. “She’s my wife” They exchanged glares before she pushed the door open. Sofia bowed her head as she made her way into the large building.

“Sofia, meet my mother” That was the first of his family to ever set eyes on his new wife. And alas, her hands brought the doors to close behind her, leaving the entire world behind—leaving everything.

She sucked in air, ready to finally begin her life anew.

And her eyes met the cold ones of Mr Baron, her contract husband with whom Sofia now shared this life with.