"…I'd like to announce the engagement of these two, Miss Kimberly Maelle Shao and my second son, Ethan Reginald Regal."
There was a brief silence before the entire hall erupted with loud cheers and clapping.
Ethan looked totally confused; he couldn't believe the entire family had set him up like that, at the same time his eyes met that of Mia and could tell she was taken aback by everything that had just happened.
Tears swelled in her eyes as she quickly ran off. Suddenly an idea popped into his head and so he ran after her and just before she exited the hall, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to himself. Cupping her soft cheeks in the palms of his great hands, he planted a long and soft kiss on her lips, causing his mother to lose her balance and taking the entire hall by surprise.
---
"…Do you care to explain to us the meaning of this disgraceful, Ethan?" His father bellowed after a long awkward silence in the study. Reginald Regal had summoned his entire family including Mia to the dark study. The place has this dark feel, it had tall wooden shelves stacked with books and heavy had heavy furniture. With one look, one could tell it was a man's study.
"…Like I said earlier on, Miss Anderson here and I have been engaged for a while now, and we intend to marry in the new year." Ethan told his father straightforwardly, Mia simply raised her head and stared at him.
"…Engaged?! To a…peasant who is obviously out to get your money!" His mother snapped, "How can you be so blind—"
"Mother! My decisions are mine to make—"
"Well we all know the result of that decision, don't we?? A motherless son!—"
"Enough! I will not stand here and let you speak of Noel like that mother! He's your grandson! Why can't you just accept him and stop being a snobbish—"
"Ethan! You will not speak to your mother like that in front of this…" He paused as he glanced at Mia.
"Leave us." He said instead.
Mia whose eyes had been covered with hot tears let out a small sniff and cleaned her face as she quietly made her way out of the study.
Ethan immediately went after her, grabbed her and pulled her into one of the random empty rooms in the grand hallway and shut the door.
"…Mia look I'm—"
"I really have to go Sir…My shift resumes in a few hours." She told him coldly.
"…I know my brother and I haven't been entirely honest with you…But you can't leave now, we've already come so far—"
"Lying to your family, is that how far "we've" come—"
"You don't understand, I did what I had to, Mia. I can't get married to Kim—"
"So I became your safest escape route—"
"I had no other choice Mia! Goddamn it!" He snapped.
They both stared fiercely at each other till Mia broke away first and turned in the opposite direction.
"My goodness, what am I doing…" She face palmed as she sobbed. "I should never have gotten involved with you, your son or your brother in the first place." She croaked.
"…Let's get married, Mia…First thing in the morning, we'll go to a court…"
He was interrupted by Mia's sarcastic laughter,
"Marriage, that's your way out of this? How about walking back in there and simply telling them the truth—"
"The truth doesn't change anything, I kissed you in front of a lot of people, in front of the Shaos….I can't be with Miss Shao—"
"Your families seem to think the opposite, what exactly do you want?" She asked,
"…Marrying Miss Shao is simply a contractual agreement between our families to create an alliance between our families for the sake of our businesses…The only way out was to be engaged to someone else before the year ran out, and since I couldn't present anyone, I have to marry her… But I can't stand that woman, my son can't stand her either…She's this while, I've been doing what's expected of me just to please my parents…You did this in Japan, how hard can it—"
"I cannot be your puppet again, Mr. Regal." She told him firmly as she walked to the door.
"Wait." He called out.
Without turning, she paused in her tracks and listen to his footsteps, the next thing she felt was his body heat over her back.
"You do realize you might just spend the rest of your youth cleaning rooms and making beds, right?"
"Wh-What do you mean?" She stuttered as she turned and came face to face with his poker face.
"With no connections, no money or power, you might never realize your dreams of becoming an actress." He told her in a cold tone as he walked passed her.
"I on the other hand have all these three key things…And I am willing to help you…If you help me." He concluded.
Mia's heart suddenly skipped a beat as her eyes widened,
"Yes Miss Anderson, I'm ready to make you as famous as Miss Shao, an A-list actress…So, what do you say…. A contract marriage…We get married in the morning, you quit your job and I give you your dream?"
It was past 4pm when Mia and Ethan walked out of the court house, Mia heaved a small sigh of relief, the entire day had been quite overwhelming, she was glad that it was coming to an end…At least so she thought.
"…The court said the marriage certificate will be mailed to us…Meanwhile, George is already sending your things to my place right now." Ethan told her stiffly and Mia simply nodded. Just then, a navy red blue Roll Royce Phantom pulled up in front of them.
"Get in." He told her as he held the door.
Once they were seated in the passenger compartment of the luxury vehicle, Mia stared at the hem of silk-white knee length dress and then at the window. She couldn't believe she had just gotten married to her Ethan who was quietly seated next to her. Even though she had liked him in the past, he seemed like a complete stranger to her now.
"…I've drafted the contract …Here's your copy." He said, handing her a brown envelope.
"The details of the contract are stated there and all you need to do is read through and sign your name." He added as he pressed a button on the intercom system so he could speak to the driver, since they were in the silent compartment.
"…James, please can you drive a bit faster?"
"Yes Sir…Meanwhile, congratulations to you and the Young Madam…Although I was confused when first young sir asked me to come pick her up—"
"Thank you James, that's enough for now." Ethan said as he quickly let go of the button.
Mia opened the content of the envelope and stared at the paper.
"A CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN…PARTY A (ETHAN REGINALD REGAL) AND PARTY B (INSERT YOUR NAME HERE)"
She quickly scanned through the document and pick out certain agreements,
"Party A and Party shall live as a couple under the same roof for the period of the contract. Except for purposes of their work and careers.
Party A and B shall keep their relationship private to outsiders.
Party B is entitled to a monthly allowance stated by Party A and shall be compensated even after the divorce.
Party B shall bear the family name of Party A, attend family gatherings together but shall NOT make any public appearance together.
Both parties shall not be involved in any extramarital relationship during this period.
Neither of the parties shall reveal their relationship to outsiders without the latter's consent.
In case of pregnancy, the child shall bear the family name of Party A and Party A shall have full custody of the child even after divorce.
The contract expires two years from the date of signing.
Breaching of the contract by Party B shall attract grave consequences."
Mia felt a lump in her throat as she read through. Was the hell was she getting herself into? She wondered but it was too late to go back, she knew. That morning, she had ended her old life.
--
"…Miss Anderson, what's the meaning of this?" Mr. Fisher bellowed as Mia handed him resignation letter, she had gone to work earlier than usual for that purpose.
"…I have decided to resign…I want to work towards achieving my dreams and the only way is to try and reach for it, please I hope that you respect my decision." She told him sadly,
"…Well, you weren't always going to be here forever…You're a good person Mia, I hope you find happiness and all your dreams come true."
"Thank you Mr. Fisher." She smiled. "Also, could you help me give these letters to Miss Lin, Tracey and Betty? I don't think I'll be able to face them myself."
"Yes, I will…Hopefully, they'll understand your decisions."
"…Sometimes, you've got to do what you've got to do to be able to do what you really want to do."
---
Mia was brought back to the present by clearing his throat. Without thinking much, she signed at the bottom of the document and handed him the paper.
"…Um, concerning the sexual aspect—"
"Don't worry…I can handle myself." Mia immediately cut in,
"...Right, well in any case, you don't have anything to worry about, we'll be in living in separate rooms." He told her plainly.
Just then, she turned and faced him and asked,
"…What we…aren't able to…control ourselves as adults?"
Ethan turned to look at her and for a moment, he seemed lost, suddenly he looked away,
"…I won't touch you Mia…So don't throw yourself at me."
For the rest of the ride, the sat in an awkward silence till they arrived the mansion.
At the entrance where the household staff all lined up on either sides of the entrance in two straight lines, with a strange older woman in front of them, she was tall and slender, her hair was tied into low bun and she had an intimidating look on her face.
"Who is she?" Mia questioned,
"…Let's find out, and remember only you and me knows that it's a contract marriage…Make it look real." He said before the door was swung opened and the duo alighted.
Mia smiled gracefully,
"Congratulations and welcome home Young Madam." The woman smiled as she bowed gracefully and the others followed suit.
Mia chuckled nervously, the woman simply made her feel... Uneasy.
"And who are you supposed to be?" Ethan questioned as he reached Mia's side,
"I'm Mrs Harrison, the new housekeeper." The woman smirked,
"And Mrs Pena?" Ethan furrowed his brows,
"She was relieved of her duties early this morning—"
"By who—"
"Ah! The newlyweds have finally arrived!—"
"Mother, what are you doing here?!"
Dearest readers, you have reached the end of volume one!! Thank you so much.
As we move into the next volume, I want to cheer me on by voting, gifting and commenting, tell me what your thoughts on what's going to happen next, your input means a lot to me. Hope to hear from you soon. Mwah!
XOXO - EssieWan
— Bab baru akan segera rilis — Tulis ulasan
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