CHAPTER THREE (THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT)

Kaylee’s POV

“You aren’t joking?” I asked with a widened expression as he stared at me..

“Where are you, Kaylee? I thought you said you were on your way?” My phone buzzed in my hand with a message from my stepmother before he could answer.

I shook my head, smiling at him. “I have to go settle some other issues. It was nice of you trying to cheer me up.”

He shrugged his shoulders as I bolted past him. My car revved out of the parking lot, speeding towards the hospital. The fleeting lights could not get my mind off the stranger’s words.

“Contract marriage? Is that still a thing?” I scoffed as I thought about it. “Must be nuts to think of such a thing.” I concluded as I focused on the road, shaking him off my thoughts until I reached the hospital.

I knew where I needed to head to as I rushed to the ICU. There was my stepmother with a grim face and my stepsister standing in the lobby.

“The grim reaper finally arrives,” my stepmom sneered as she saw me.

“She knew she could have saved us all of this stress,” my stepsister chimed with her mother.

“ Would you rather want me to be a mistress to Harvey to save our source of livelihood or you can let me think of other means of doing it?” I asked, staring at both of them.

“If he made you such an offer; you should make haste for him to accept you,” my stepmother said as she turned away, facing her daughter.

They sighed, talking to themselves, with me being the center of the discussion. I heaved a deep breath as I pulled out my phone, searching through my contact list. One thing concerning my job was my connections with influential persons. It was a short worth trying; if they would attend to me.

“You can meet with him,” a nurse said as she stepped out of his room after hours of medical personnel walking in and out of his room.

Stepmom and her daughter walked into the room while I focused on my phone. I was still picking out those I had a close relationship with.

Despite never feeling close to my father, seeing such a vigorous man reduced to this state was heart-wrenching. I had always immersed myself in my art, and work, lacking the means to detect that I was being used by Harvey. but I was now ready to face any hardship to amend my mistakes, after all I’m the reason we are in this mess.

I walked closed to the door, ready to share my ideas with my father concerning the findings from my connection. My hand reached for the doorknob, but it was slightly open, with their voices reaching my ears.

“She has to agree with Harvey’s proposal of being his mistress; if he made such an offer. It’s a means to save our financial plight,” my stepmother’s voice echoed from inside the room, followed by the beeping of the machines inside.

“Who’s going to tell her to do it?” Father asked.

I pushed the door open with all three pairs of eyes staring at me. “What gives you the right to decide what I want for myself? How do you expect me to be a mistress to a married man? I never expected something like that from you, dad.”

He cleared his throat as he pushed himself into a sitting position. “This is the only viable option available for us.”

“I’d rather grovel on the ground than be a man’s mistress,” I said, folding my fist as the words left my mouth.

“You can grovel on the ground after I have your mother’s gallery settling some of our debts,” father said with a frown on his face.

I felt his words hit me deeper. How could he want to take something as important as my mother’s gallery away from me?"

“Don’t forget who caused Harvey’s eyes to fall on our family,” my stepmother replied as she faced me, folding her hands across her chest.

Her words were a reminder of my rejection of Harvey’s proposal, causing him to switch his allegiance to someone else.

“You know what to do, Kaylee,” my father said, staunch for a man who barely escaped death from a heart attack.

I shook my head, letting him know of my stance. “There are other ways we can settle this, father, and none of them includes me being a mistress.”

“You caused me to sell out my shares, dropping the value of our company. This is the least you can do for us, or else the gallery is mine.”

I could hear the seriousness in his voice and knew he could do it as the gallery wasn’t in mine name, but his. Technically, the gallery was his because my mom died without having a will so as the spouse he automatically owns the gallery after her death so despite the work  I put into it, it can be taken away from me at any time. 

My hands clasped over themselves as I stormed out of the room. There had to be a way I could save my mother’s gallery. It was the only thing I had left of her; I thought as I walked through the lobby.

“Ms Kaylee.”

I turned towards the voice, throwing a professional face as I saw the man standing in front of me.

He cleared his throat, putting his hands behind him. “I am Master Shawn’s butler.”

“Like the CEO Shawn?” I asked as I placed a smile on my face.

“Yes, Ms Kaylee. The man who proposed a contract marriage with you.”

I widened my eyes as I stared at the butler — I never expected the person I spoke with to be the Shawn everyone knew.

“I didn't know,” I muttered, realizing the potential damage I had put on my reputation after laughing at him.

“My master happens to be in a difficult situation after he got into an accident, but he still has you in mind concerning the contract just before he slipped into an induced coma,” he said, lowering his head.

I swallowed as I imagined it had happened after I left him from the party. “Where is he?” I asked, finding my voice drop a notch. Probably because I remembered how I walked out of him, laughing about his proposal.

“If you wouldn't mind,” he said as he pointed the way to the elevator.

I nodded as he led the way. He brought out a special card, flashing it on the sensor.

I knew what those cards were for as the elevator chimed, opening to the hospital floor for the wealthy.

“I do not mean to drag you out of what you were doing to see him.”

“It’s fine,” I muttered as we stepped out of the elevator. The place screamed of opulence even in its simplicity. 

The butler took me along, opening the door to Shawn’s ward before joining me inside to stand next to his boss. I saw him on the bed, cleaned and unmoving. It felt to me like he was almost at death door.

“These are the contracts if you are ready to sign,” the butler said as he brought out some papers. “He needs you to sign these papers for himself. Just as he saw you needed help; he needed your help as well.”

I looked at the paper, staring at the man on the bed. He probably was chasing after me to make me understand his reason, and now he was in this condition. 

“He signed it already in the hopes you would agree to his proposal until this unfortunate event.” The butler continued, handing the papers to me.

I sighed, with the butler still holding the paper. It could go sideways, but there was a shot with the contract that I could save my mother’s gallery if only I signed the papers.

“Here goes nothing,” I muttered as I signed on the documents. It was the least I could do for someone who did not give up on me, even at death’s door.

“My master will appreciate your sympathy for him when he comes to,” the butler said with a curt bow.

I smiled as I looked at Shawn on the bed, handing the documents back to the butler. “Let’s both hope he makes it out of this before we can discuss other things.”

He nodded as he walked me to the door. “Your signature on the signature has done more than enough for him, Ms Kaylee.”

I nodded at the butler’s word, glancing at Shawn for a moment. “Get well soon, Shawn,” I muttered as I stepped out of the door. I heaved a breath as I stood in front of the elevator. “Let’s hope this doesn’t all go down the drain. This would help me to retain my mother’s gallery.”

There was a glint of hope in my eyes as I stepped into the elevator.