Chapter 5: CHAPTER 5

Evelyn’s POV

I pulled back, equally shocked and flustered by the kiss. I stumbled backward and my eyes asked the questions.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said, without explaining himself or apologising.

I parted my lips to speak but I was interrupted by the voice of Alpha Roman. “You cheap slut,” he cursed, walking close to me.

Alpha Michael pulled me to his side and I watched as the muscles of his jaw tightened. “Don’t you ever address her in that way again,” he said, his voice saying it meant every word he spoke.

Roman stopped. He looked at him, then at me. He erupted in laughter. “I’ll make sure you pay for this,” he said, straightening the creases on his shirt. “You can kiss your company goodbye.”

He walked out of the room, shouting at a lady who stood in his path as he exited. I let out a deep breath. That had been one very intense encounter. I bowed my head, distracting myself by cleaning the alcohol that had spilled on my dress to avoid looking at Alpha Michael.

“Let’s get out of here,” he repeated and I looked at him.

“Why?” I asked.

He creased his brows. “Why what?”

His question irritated me. “Why do you think you could call me names one day, and then just kiss me like it didn’t matter another day?” I felt his eyes judging me. “I’m not a whore as you think I am.”

I began to turn away but he caught my hand. “I meant it,” he said, his voice low and hisbeathing ragged. “Not the kiss,” he added. “I meant it when I said you are mine.”

I scoffed. How could someone excite and piss me off at the same time and with the same intensity?

I tried to free my hand from his grasp but he didn’t let go. “I’m not your plaything.” I spat out.

He smiled. “Good.” He let go of my hand and reached for a cup of drink. I watched as he emptied the cup into his throat. When he dropped it, he looked at me. “I have a proposal for you, Miss Moon. Something that would save you from being whored about by your mother.”

I bit my lips. How dare he?

“A marriage proposal,” he said, before I could say a word.

“Marriage.” I repeated the word. Was he drunk?

“In exchange, I can save your dying father and all you have to do is do as I say,” he finished.

I looked around. This had to be a prank. I laughed. "Are you serious, Alpha Michael,” I asked, a new found courage brimming to the surface. “What changed between today and a few days ago?”

A dangerous smile danced on his lips. “Nothing has. Do you accept my proposal or not?”

Despite how ridiculous this sounded, he had always been the first choice for my step-mother. He had better affluence than Alpha Roman and I was pretty sure Roman meant those words he said so I was pretty much stuck with him.

“Let me think about it,” I said instead. “ I can’t just marry you because you are asking.”

He waved at a man in a suit who came running towards us. The man pulled out a phone from his inner pocket and handed it to him. He looked at me. “You have until we get to my lawyer to make up your mind.”

With that, he pressed his phone against his ears and turned around. I watched his back, seething quietly. The nerves of this man.

The drive to his mansion was quiet. I watched the house appear and I was still fascinated by it. I had seen it a couple of times but the beauty was just never enough. I imagined what it would be like to wake up in a home like this everyday. Then I felt a pang of fear. Michael was not my fated mate. What would happen if my mate showed up after I married this man?

His lawyer met us in the sitting room. He looked young, almost in the same age group as Michael if I guessed well.

“I need to have my lawyer as well,” I said, watching them.

The lawyer smiled. “It’s just a simple contract. I’ll leave you to discuss it fully.” He took a polite bow and left.

My eyes travelled around the space that I sat in. I didn't know when I sighed. Things had started going down the hill really fast about a year ago. Dad’s sickness was the final stroke. He unbuttoned his coat and tossed it on the arm chair. I watched him. He was insanely good looking.

“So,” he said, sitting down and stretching a contract to me. “That is my offer..”

My eyes moved from his shirt that was struggling to fit his large chest to the document in front of me. I collected it and glanced at it.

“We will stay married on paper,” he said, leaning back. “And in exchange, I’ll help pull your family out of debt. Generous, right?”

I lowered my head and tried to read the contract.

“You’ll pose as my wife on occasions that demand it. However, like I mentioned earlier, we’ll be married only on paper.” I raised my head up and his eyes locked mine. “No PDA unless necessary for the blogs. We can pretend to like each other in public but once we are here, you can have your space. No sleeping in the same room and no falling in love.”

I smiled. This was too easy. I looked at the contract again, then at him. “Piece of cake,” I said.

“You think you can handle it?” he asked.

I detached the pen from the writing pad. This was probably going to be the easiest contract I would ever sign. There was no way I would fall in love with him, and I could still have it all, including my real mate.

My eyes fell on the duration of the contract. Just a year. A year to pretend to be the wife of Alpha Michael Greywood.