Contracted: Love In The Shadow

~~~~

As I stepped into my childhood home after four long years away, a quiet sigh escaped my lips.

To avoid any awkwardness over my sudden return, I had called my parents a few nights earlier.

I had imagined this reunion differently… smiles, laughter, maybe even pride when I told them I had been promoted to CEO of a prestigious interior company, a dream come true.

But that dream dissolved the second I walked in.

I pushed the door open fully and stepped inside. My parents froze when they saw me. Their expressions were tense, uneasy.

Huh.

“Mom? Dad?” I asked, my voice already losing patience. “What’s wrong?”

My father, Nicolas Dolman, reacted first. He rushed toward me and pulled me into a tight embrace.

“Oh, thank God you’re home,” he said, his voice filled with relief.

I didn’t hug him back immediately. In fact, my smile died the moment he touched me.

“…Hi, Dad,” I said after a second, then loosely returned it.

My mother, Rachael Dolman, joined us, wrapping her arms around me as well.

“Welcome home, my child.”

I pulled away almost instantly and looked between them.

Something was wrong. My father was a cold-hearted bastard, and my mother… had no space left to love anyone who wasn’t her husband.

“Okay… stop,” I said flatly. “What’s going on? You’re being… unusually nice. And in the Dolman dictionary, that’s abnormal.”

“Oh, nonsense,” my mother said quickly. “No matter how foolish or self-centered you may be, this will always be your home.”

I let out a dry laugh. “There it is. That sounds more like you.”

Then I noticed my father already pulling out his phone.

I placed my bags on the table and pulled off my jacket, glancing between him and my mother.

“What’s going on?” I asked again.

She just smiled.

Then I heard my father say…

“Yes, sir. She’s here. Inform Mr. Creed the wedding will proceed as planned.”

My brows pulled together.

Wedding?

I turned sharply. “Is Lora getting married?” I asked. “Because if that’s what this is… she’s fifteen. Have you both lost your minds?”

“No, it’s not her,” my father replied.

I paused. “…Oh.”

“It’s you.”

Silence. The room tilted.

I blinked slowly… then faster.

“…Say what now?”

“Today,” he continued like he was discussing the weather. “Get her things inside and prepare her. We don’t have all day.”

I stared at him.

Then I laughed. A sharp, disbelieving sound.

“Oh wow. That’s funny. That’s actually really funny,” I said, clapping once. “Now try saying it again, but this time make it make sense.”

“Mira dear, listen—” my mother began.

“No,” I cut in, my voice rising. “Wedding? You’re telling me my wedding is today? I just walked into this house! For fuck’s sake.”

“You have no choice,” my father snapped.

And just like that, we were back to four years ago. That anger. That rage. The same fight that never ended.

My expression dropped.

“…Excuse me?”

“You don’t have a choice,” he repeated, colder now.

I took a slow step forward. “Like hell I don’t.”

“Your attitude to this is a bit—”

“My attitude?” I let out a short laugh. “You’re standing here telling me I’m getting married today like I’m some delivery package, and you think attitude is the problem?”

My gaze snapped to my mother. “What the hell is going on?”

She hesitated.

My father sighed like I was the inconvenience.

“My business is collapsing.”

I stared at him. “…Okay… that’s bad… for you. But what does marriage have to do with this?”

“A few weeks ago, my team signed a contract with a conman. If I don’t fix it, I lose everything.”

I folded my arms. “Again… that sounds like a you problem.”

“Mira, you’re being rude to your father.” my mother warned.

“No, am not,” I turned to her. “I just got back after four years. Four fucking years. And within five minutes, I’m being told I’m getting married today to fix a mess I don’t even understand. Does that make sense to you?”

“I understand what you’re saying,” my mother said. “But your father made a deal with Lucian Creed.”

Creed…

I had heard that name.

I went still for a second.

Then I scoffed. “Of course he did. And?”

“He agreed to restore your father’s company,” she continued, “on one condition… your father finds him a wife.”

I stared at both of them. For a moment, I couldn’t even react.

Then I tilted my head.

“…Okay. So go find one.”

“That’s not how it works, Mira,” my mother said.

“Then how does it work?” I snapped. “He’s rich, powerful—whatever you people like to call it. Women will line up for him. Go pick one. Why am I involved?”

“Do you think any mother would willingly give up her daughter for business?” she asked.

I smiled.

Cold.

“And yet here I am,” I said. “Standing in front of mine, about to be sold off.”

“Don’t be dramatic,” my father said. “You are our daughter. If you can’t do this for us, who will?”

I laughed again, but there was no humor in it.

“I can help you do anything, Dad. But this?” I shook my head. “This is too much. This isn’t help. This is you throwing me into the lion’s den just to save your damn business.”

“No, that’s not what this is about.”

“Yes, it is.” I snapped. “At least have the decency to be honest.”

There was a long silence.

I paced once, dragging a hand through my hair.

“Even if I was insane enough to consider this,” I said, “you don’t just drop something like this on me and expect me to walk down an aisle like a trained dog. I don’t know him. I don’t trust you. And I definitely don’t trust whatever deal you made.”

“You don’t need to know him,” my father said. “There’s no time. Get married now. Once I fix everything, we’ll arrange a divorce.”

I stopped walking.

Turned to him slowly.

“…You really think I’m that stupid?”

“No, but if you do this—”

“No,” I said, pointing at him. “You couldn’t handle a business deal, and now I’m supposed to trust you with my life? My future?”

“Mira, enough.” Mother snapped at me again, but father was quiet.

“Please,” he said after a moment. “I’m begging you.”

That word again.

Begging.

Since when did Nicolas Dolman beg? Since when did he even have a heart?

I looked at him.

Then at my mother.

Then back at him.

I shouldn’t have come back.

I knew this feeling. This exact same trap.

I exhaled slowly.

“Fine,” I said at last.

They both looked up too quickly.

“But don’t get comfortable,” I added immediately. “I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing this so I don’t wake up one day and hear you’ve completely destroyed yourself and dragged my name with it.”

My father nodded fast. “Anything you want—”

“Oh, I’m not done,” I cut in.

I stepped closer.

“I have a condition.”

“Okay… what is it?” he asked.

“Since this is a contract, not a marriage, I’m only giving my name. Nothing else. No intimacy, no touching, no pretending. And the divorce papers are prepared immediately—before the wedding even happens. Deal?”

My parents exchanged a look.

I caught it.

My eyes narrowed.

Was there something else they weren’t telling me?

“That look,” I said. “That right there? That’s exactly why I don’t trust you.”

“It’s fine,” my father said quickly. “Deal.”

I held his gaze for a few seconds longer.

God… this felt wrong. Everything about it.

“You better be right about this,” I said quietly. “Because if this backfires, I won’t forgive you. Not this time.”

“Get her ready,” he said to my mother. “We leave in ten minutes.”

I let out a small, humorless laugh.

“Of course,” I muttered. “Why not?”

And just like that, I walked back into the same house I once ran from… and into a wedding I never agreed to.

I stood in my old room for a second, looking around. Nothing had changed. Same curtains. Same bed. Same suffocating feeling.

I should have stayed away.

My mother moved around me, fixing my hair with unsteady hands.

“You’re nervous,” I said.

“I’m not,” she replied quickly.

I gave a small scoff. “You’ve never been good at lying.”

She said nothing.

“Done,” she said after a while.

I glanced at the mirror. “Not bad… for an older woman.”

She hit my head lightly. “I’m not old.”

“Hmm,” I muttered.

I met her eyes through the mirror. “Anything else I should know?”

A pause. “No.”

She didn’t look at me.

I noticed. I just didn’t push.

“Okay,” I said quietly. “I trust you.”

She handed me a red gown.

I stared at it.

“You’re joking.”

“I’m not,” she said, already walking out.

The door closed.

I looked down at the dress, then dropped it on the bed.

“No.”

I went to my bag and pulled out a white gown with silver stones.

My fingers lingered on it for a second.

A gift.

From my boss… from the man I loved.

I swallowed.

“Not the time,” I muttered.

I changed into it anyway.

If I was being dragged into this, I wasn’t going to look like a victim.

I faced the mirror again.

Better.

I straightened my shoulders, lifted my chin.

Once this was done, I was leaving. For good.

I wasn’t staying here long enough for him to use me again.

I took one last look at myself.

“Alright,” I said softly. “Let’s go meet the man who thinks he just bought himself a wife.”

Ten minutes.

That was all I was worth.

And somehow… I had a feeling saying yes to this was going to cost me more than I was ready to give.