04~ Released

“So, how is it? Would you take his offer?” John Kent persuaded a hesitating Rita who was skeptical after listening to the details of the offer.

Life was full of surprises, but Rita certainly wasn’t expecting this one.

In just 3 days, she lost all her wealth and someone came out of nowhere to offer her a helping hand but with a ridiculous request.

5 minutes earlier…

“What? Your boss wants to marry me in exchange for dropping my charges and paying off my debts?” Rita inquired, still feeling shocked that there was a person in the world who would lay out such an offer.

“Yes Miss Jones. My boss is very rich and has a great influence. He’s also one of your company’s investors and he’s willing to help you pay your millions of dollar debt. All you need to do is get married to him.” John uttered slowly.

“That’s absurd! I can’t marry a man I don’t love, heck, a man I have never met before. This is a life time commitment we are talking about here.” Rita remarked, frustrated at her situation.

‘Do I really have no option?’ Rita had never imagined she would be placed in between the devil and the deep blue sea.

“So, you prefer spending a life time in jail?” John asked.

‘Damn!’ Rita cursed the assistant in her mind. He was really good at negotiating. Making sure to use her weakness to make her concede.

“What does your boss look like? Show me his picture.” Rita demanded, after all she wouldn’t blindly enter a marriage with someone she doesn’t know. ‘What if he is a balding man with a beer belly?’

“I’m sorry, he insists on remaining mysterious until you accept and decide to marry him.” John responded.

Rita felt her heart sink as she confirmed her suspicions. ‘If he is good looking would he want to hide himself until I accepted the offer?’ It only means the man is old with a huge beer belly.

She felt depressed at the thought of marrying an old balding man. All this time, her life was smooth sailing but out of nowhere, she found herself in debt and was now selling herself to an old man to pay off her debts.

‘Does it mean I will now have a sugar daddy?’ Rita always despised girls who sold themselves to older men for a luxurious life. But now she was in the same shoes. Selling herself because she’s been pushed into a corner.

“Miss Jones, you really don’t have a choice here. My boss said this is your only chance, if you refuse he will take back the offer.” John persuaded her calmly but his back was drenched in cold sweat.

If the lady refused to take his offer, then he would kiss his job goodbye.

“But he’s not that bald right?” Rita queried making John laugh out loud when he imagined his rude boss as a balding man.

Stifling his laughter, he responded, “Don’t worry Miss, my boss’s looks are top-notch.” John said, making an okay sign with his hands.

Rita sighed inwardly, feeling depressed. If the assistant was trying so hard to claim his boss was handsome then he’s definitely ugly and old.

“Look, there won’t be any offer like this from anywhere. By this afternoon, the people you owe money will start suing you. You would have to spend the rest of your life in jail. Taking my boss’s offer is your best bet right now.” John recommended patiently.

“Fine.” Rita agreed albeit reluctantly. Since she was already in this situation, nothing could get any worse than her current predicament.

‘It’s just signing a paper right? I can make up excuses to not perform any conjugal duties,’ She thought, wrinkling her nose at the thought of making love to an old balding man as he breathes heavily. ‘Yuck!’

“Great! Please sign here.. and here.” John said cheerfully as he showed her the places to sign on the document.

He wiped off invisible sweat from his forehead. The negotiation was harder than he thought. Thank goodness the lady agreed and saved his job.

Rita perused the agreement that stated the huge amounts that will be paid off and how she was not allowed to back out after signing the agreement.

In the end, she was only worth a 100 million dollars. She felt her heart ache when she remembered how her father told her she was priceless.

Picking up the pen that John had put on the table, she signed the documents with a heavy heart. The lump in her throat was too painful to swallow.

“Thank you so much Miss Jones, it was nice working with you.” John said as he got up and bowed dramatically.

The door to the visitors room opened and a plump man entered.

“Mr Dawson, I was just winding up things with Miss Jones here and she has signed the offer. Is it done?” John asked the man.

“Yes it is. She can be released.” Mr Dawson responded.

Rita was shocked at these people’s efficiency. It had only been an hour but everything was sorted out and she was now a free person…… from the hands of the law at least. Now she had to go into another prison called marriage with a man she doesn’t know.

Jane the warden brought the business suit she had worn when she got arrested and Rita proceeded to change into it in the bathroom.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror and felt sad. Her complexion had changed too in just 3 days. She had also lost weight.

Clenching her fists tightly, she vowed to take revenge and get back her company after throwing Eric the swindler in jail.

Tying her hair into a messy bun, she left the bathroom and she wanted to proceed to the front desk to check out but was stopped by John.

“You don’t have to,” John said. “The boss has cleaned your record. You can start a new life with a clean slate.” He added and Rita’s heart thundered. Even though the mysterious man was old and balding, he seemed to be considerate and caring.

She was genuinely grateful because it wouldn’t be fair for her to have a criminal record when she didn’t do anything.

Inspector Joseph came out to see them off but he was acting respectful. Contrary to his previous cocky attitude. Rita wondered what was with the change in attitude all of a sudden.

She shook her head feeling disgusted at how hypocritical humans were. They’d step on you when you’re down but respect you the moment they hear that things have changed and you’re in a good position.

Getting out of the police station, Rita took a deep breath of fresh air. She missed this.. pure odorless air to breathe freely. The police cells were really dirty and needed proper renovating. She shivered at the thought of being thrown back there. Never again.

A Maybach drove up and stopped right next to them. John opened the back seat door and gestured for Rita to get in.

Looking at the direction the car was going, it seemed it was heading directly towards the civic center.

Rita frowned at the realization. ‘Am I going to get married in dirty clothes and a smelly body?’ She was worried her future husband would be disgusted by her and send her back to prison. Naturally she wanted to make a good first impression.

“John, I would like to have a shower and a change of clothes please.” She pleaded.

“I’m sorry ma’am, the boss said we should go directly there because he has a meeting in the afternoon.” John answered.

Rita sucked in a deep breath as she took in her disheveled state. She didn’t know how to get herself away from the embarrassing situation she was going to face at the civic center.

Perhaps, her husband to be didn’t care about appearances. But that thought just made Rita more depressed and her eyes blurred with tears. ‘What kind of life would I live?’ She thought, sadly.

It was 30 minutes later and they stood at the entrance waiting for close to an hour and Rita was starting to get pissed off. She wanted to complain but looking at her situation, she bit her tongue and waited in silence.

Soon, a fat short man was approaching the civic center entrance and Rita’s heart pounded heavily in her chest as she took him in.

He was bald with a big scruffy beard and the biggest round beer belly she had ever seen. Her stomach knotted and she felt like throwing up. ‘Is this my husband?’ The possibility terrified her out of her wits.

She started debating if it was too late to refuse the offer and go back to prison. ‘That would be better.’

The more heavy steps the big fat man made as he walked towards her, the more Rita’s heart hammered loudly in her chest to the extent of exploding.

Her heart ached when she thought about what her perfect life had become.

The man had now reached the entrance and she was about to open her mouth to greet him when he bypassed and entered the civic center without glancing her way.

Her wildly beating heart instantly calmed down. ‘Phew! That was close!’

Rita heard a chuckle and looked at John who was stifling a giggle.

“Miss Jones, you’re so funny. You thought that’s your husband to be?” He asked in amusement, laughing his lungs out after failing to keep it down.

Rita glared at the annoying assistant and scoffed. Deep down she felt relieved and prayed her husband wouldn’t be like the man who just passed.

A convoy of Maybach cars soon drove in and stopped at the entrance.

Every passerby stopped to look and see who the tycoon that had just made a grand entrance was.

Naturally, Rita became interested too. After all she was bored just standing by the entrance waiting for a husband-to-be who was a no show.

The man who stepped out of the car was dressed elegantly in an all black suit. He had the perfect height and a taper side-part haircut with stubbly boxed beards on his chiseled jaw.

When his face became clear, Rita’s heart skipped a beat. ‘Chris?’

Christopher Stevens was a 31year old entrepreneur. He was the CEO of the Stevens electronics group, a company he had started from scratch and he was now labeled as the second richest man in the world.

He used to have a huge crush on Rita during their university days but she rejected him mercilessly in front of a lot of people.

Rita didn’t know how to react after meeting her old friend who she had utterly humiliated in the past.

She made a silent prayer, hoping that he would pass without acknowledging her to prevent being awkward.

But her world came crumbling down when the lawyer Mr Dawson walked over and stood next to Chris.

Realization dawned upon her as her eyes widened in shock.

‘H - He’s the mysterious man?’