Three
His eyes widened in shock.
“What did you say?”
“I’m your wife,” she repeated, her voice barely above a whisper. The room fell silent. He looked her up and down, trying to process the information.
The journalist who had been taking sneaky pictures of him and his friend a few weeks ago was now his wife?
Sophia on her own part was shocked and frightened. A few weeks ago, she had a very unpleasant encounter with a famous billionaire and his friend.
She was only very lucky to have been forgiven by the man that day. She was a journalist and she knew that selling such stories worth so much money.
She had been so eager to get some high end news that she ended up taking the risk that almost sent her to prison.
She didn’t know that the billionaire’s friend was the richest man in the country, Damien Sterling, who was seldom seen and known by the general public.
That day, he was so furious and wanted to punish her for her impudence but for his friend’s intervention. What is worse is that she’s standing before that man right now as his wife!
“My wife? You despicable thing! I’m sure this is your ploy to expose my private life to the public. I need to confirm your identity,” he intoned, disgust evident in his voice.
“I’m…” Sophia spoke up but he hushed her with the cold gesture of raising his hands.
He reached out for his phone and checked the message from his assistant. Reginald had sent his wife’s pictures to him on his grandfather’s instructions.
Having confirmed she was the one, he put down his phone and looked at her lazily.
“Now, I’m sure you are not only despicable but a gold digging slut as well. Gosh! I underestimated you. I can’t trust you in this house. You’ve got so much tricks up your sleeves. One news about me out there and you regret ever being born. Is that clear?”
Sophia nodded, she had always regretted being born anyways. This wasn’t how she expected and imagined her first meeting with her husband. How stupid of her to think this mystery husband of hers would love her so much. Now, she was certain love was far from her.
Heck, why did she go out that day or even try to take pictures?
He pulled out two sheets of paper from his drawer and flung them at her. The rough edges hit her delicate face and gave her a slight cut. The man didn’t care about that.
“Sign them!”
“What is this?” she asked as she bent down to pick up the papers, not wanting to tear up in front of him.
“Marriage Contract?” she read aloud from the papers.
“Yes, you have to live by my terms and conditions. Your dirty tricks won’t work on me. I don’t know how you got my grandfather to agree to this but I’ll never be fooled by you!”
She was only his wife on paper and had no right to act as his wife. She was only to play the role in rare cases when they were in public places.
They were married and she wasn’t supposed to be with other men throughout the duration of the marriage.
His part of the house was out of bounds and she wasn’t allowed to come there.
Sophia frowned as she read the contract terms. Nothing outrageous but they were all pointing towards the fact that he thought her a slut and a gold digger.
“I have my own terms too,” she blurted before she could stop herself.
She was annoyed that he called her names, not once, but multiple times, demeaning her efforts in her job. She made a mistake the first time they met and so what? Does that give him the right to say just anything? Who did he think he was and why was he so arrogant?
“What terms?” he asked dryly.
“No intimacy.”
Damien laughed.
“Bold of you to think I want to have anything with you.”
The words shut out of his mouth like arrows, making a dive for her already wounded ego.
She however ignored the comment and went ahead to state her second term.
“I’m not after your money. I have a job and I’ll love to keep my job whilst being married to you. Also, I’ll like the marriage to be a secret for at least, six months.”
Her last request took him aback. A lot of women would be eager to announce themselves to the public as his wife, to obtain special treatment. But the woman before him was different. Or, was she just pretending?
“Accepted.”
The terms were added and she endorsed her signature.
“Here,” he said, pushing a credit card towards her.
“I don’t need it…”
“Even if it’s just a marriage on paper, you’re still my wife, take it. Remember, you are not allowed in this part of the house. Shut the door behind you,” he finished and returned to his work.
Sophia took the credit card and walked quietly out of the room.
The following morning, Sophia sat at the breakfast table while the maids served her. She offered to help but Mrs. Jenkins would hear nothing of it.
“How about Mr. Sterling? Isn’t he having breakfast too?” she asked.
“He will, ma’am, but not here. Your meals are served differently,” Mrs. Jenkins responded. Sophia nodded and resumed her meal.
He meant business when he said he didn’t want to see her around the house.
Sophia got dressed for work. As she was leaving the house, the driver approached her saying,
“Good morning, ma’am. I’ll be your personal driver from today.”
The car before her was a limited edition car. Her colleagues would definitely ask questions and gossip if they saw her, a poor, struggling and ordinary employee coming down from that car.
“No, I’m okay. I’ll take a taxi.”
“But ma’am, the master has…”
“It’s fine, you can take the day off,” she answered.
Damien was cold and he didn’t want to see her or have anything with her but he made sure to provide everything she needed.
He had given her his credit card, assigned her maids and even a driver. He was cold but he could still pass for a good man.
“If only he could quit being arrogant."
The following days passed by swiftly, with her seeing less of Damien. They lived like two strangers in one house.
One weekend, Sophia decided to read some books to keep herself busy. To her dismay, she found that she had read nearly all the books in the general library, which had only a few books.
“Mrs. Jenkins, please, is there another library in this house?” she asked the housekeeper.
“Yes, ma'am but it's for the master alone.”
“Ohh,” she muttered sadly.
Well, Damien wouldn't mind if she borrowed a book, would he? It wasn't as if she was stealing it. She would take it and read up, hopefully, she would be done before he returned for the day.
She found her way to the left wing of the house. She opened the door to the room that was close to his study.
“Wow!” She smiled at his rich collection of books.
Books!
That had been her only solace all throughout her miserable years in her parents house.
As she searched the shelves for a book to read, her eyes caught sight of an open door at one part of the library. Her curiosity piqued and she walked to the door which was slightly open.
She realized it was his study. He had a connecting door for his library and study for ease of access. She wanted to leave, and focus on the library but she sighted a book on his table.
Goodness! That was her favourite collection and she had been longing to read it for as long as she could remember.
She wasn't able to purchase the other series of the book when it was published because she didn't have the money.
She forgot that she wasn't supposed to be there and hurried inside the room. To her greatest amazement, he had all but one of the books.
“Damn! He should have all. No way anyone would miss reading every single one of it.”
She began to search for the book on the table, as if it were her own study.
“Looking for something, wife?” Damien's voice cut through the silence and she froze immediately.