Chapter 26 Chapter 26
Amelia
He leaned back in his chair, completely at ease, as if the conversation meant nothing to him. A slow smirk spread across his face, his eyes cold and calculating.
“You should have signed that contract when I honourably brought it to your office,” he said calmly, like he was stating a simple fact. “This is the price you pay for hesitating and thinking I would change my mind.”
Anger rushed through me. My hands clenched at my sides as I stared at him. “But I never agreed to marry you,” I shot back. “Now you are adding even more conditions to the contract?”
His smirk deepened, dark and confident. “Oh, you will marry me,” he said without a trace of doubt. “And you will give me complete access to you. I will take you whenever and wherever I want, and I will have total control over your life.”
My breath caught, my chest tightening as his words sank in.
“If I were you,” he added casually, like he was offering advice, “I’d start taking fertility drugs.”
I stood up abruptly and slammed my hand hard against the table. The sound echoed through the room.
“Fuck you,” I snapped, my voice shaking with rage. “Fuck you for thinking you have control over my life. For thinking you can take everything from me and decide my future.” My chest rose and fell as I glared at him. “I will find a way out of this mess without you. I don’t need you.”
I bent down, grabbed my bag from the floor, and turned toward the door, my heart pounding. I was just about to leave when he slowly raised two fingers, a silent command for me to stop.
“Wait,” he said calmly.
I froze, he placed his phone on the table, his expression relaxed, almost amused, and made a call right in front of me. I watched in disbelief as he leaned back again, completely unbothered.
The call connected almost immediately.
“Hello, good evening, Mr. Sinclair,” a man’s voice said politely from the other end.
“Good evening, Mr. Abdul,” he replied smoothly. “I need you to check out a building. I will send you the location shortly.”
My stomach dropped. “I want every possible loophole, every problem you can find,” he continued, a smile slowly forming on his lips.
“Something serious enough to take the property completely away from the owner.”
He ended the call and looked up at me, still smiling.
“Send the address and I will start working on it right away,” Mr. Abdul said before Maxwell ended the call.
I felt something inside me snap. “You can’t keep taking everything from me,” I yelled, my voice breaking as tears burned my eyes, threatening to spill. “You can’t just destroy my life like this.”
He looked at me and smiled, slow and cruel. “Keep testing me,” he said calmly, “and I will take every single thing you own.”
I stood there, staring at him. My hands shook as I struggled to hold back my anger and the tears gathered in my eyes. For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then I reached for the papers on the table, snatched them up, and turned away. Without another word, I walked out of the restaurant, my heart pounding painfully in my chest.
I was just about to step outside when his voice stopped me.
“You have twenty-four hours to decide,” he said.
I didn’t turn back. I kept walking.
I called Adele and drove straight to her place. My hands were shaking the entire way. The moment I arrived, she opened the door like she had been waiting for me. I didn’t even greet her, I walked straight into the living room and collapsed onto her couch, completely drained.
“I am finished, Adele,” I said weakly. “I’m completely finished.”
She rushed over and sat beside me, worry written all over her face. Without saying a word, I handed her the documents. My fingers felt numb.
“This is the new contract Maxwell just drafted,” I said, my voice breaking. “I should have just signed the first one he gave me.”
Adele opened the file and started reading. As her eyes moved down the page, her face changed. Her eyes widened slowly, just like mine had earlier.
“Wait,” she said, looking up at me in shock. “So you have to, have a child with him until he decides to let you go?” She flipped another page. “After five kids?”
I let out a shaky breath and buried my face in my hands. “I’m in serious trouble,” I whispered. “What am I supposed to tell the kids? How do I even cope with something like this?” My voice rose as panic took over. “And Declan, what about Declan? Do you think he won’t make a fuss about this? This will destroy everything.”
Adele held my hand firmly, her grip steadying me. “Look at me,” she said, her voice calm but firm. “You will call Declan and tell him the truth. All he wants is money to waste on his ridiculous dreams. Tell him the only way you can fund his lifestyle is if you marry his brother.”
I hesitated, disbelief written all over my face. “You think he’s actually going to agree to this arrangement?”
Adele smirked, a mix of amusement and confidence in her eyes. “That fool loves money more than anything in his life. Call him here tonight and let’s get it over with. You need Maxwell, and no one can save you from him except the president. Just marry him. We will figure out the rest later.”
Taking a shaky breath, I pulled out my phone and dialed Declan. I asked him to meet me at Adele’s place. The fool insisted I send his cab fare before he’d even leave, and, with a sinking heart, I did.
An hour later, he arrived at Adele’s doorstep, reeking of alcohol and cigarettes, the very fashion dream he spends my money on. He swaggered in as if he owned the place, completely oblivious to the tension hanging thick in the air. I braced myself for the confrontation that was about to come.
“Whatever you dragged me here for had better be worth it,” Declan said as he dropped into the chair, not even sparing Adele a glance. “I don’t even understand why you insisted on meeting here.”
I took a deep breath and told him everything, by the time I finished, my throat hurt and my hands were trembling.
Declan exploded. “So you are finally going to marry your baby daddy?” he snapped, jumping to his feet. “Then what happens to me, huh? I knew I should have told him everything a long time ago. Now you’re just going to discard me like I never mattered?” He paced the room, ranting, his voice loud and sharp.
“Calm down,” I said quickly, forcing myself to stay steady. “I’m only telling you this because the engagement you are talking about won’t work anymore. The only way I can keep paying you is if you keep your mouth shut about the kids and let me marry your brother.”
He stopped pacing and stared at me. “You are not telling him about the kids?” he asked slowly.
“No,” I replied. “But the only way I can get out of this mess is to marry him. You said it yourself, whatever your brother wants, he gets.”
Declan was quiet for a moment. Then he shrugged and sat back down.
“As long as it doesn’t affect my money,” he said casually, “we are good.”
Author's note: she's f