Chapter 2 - The Contract That Changed Everything
The first thing I noticed when I saw the second contract was that my name was already printed on it.
Not written.
Not added later.
Printed.
Evelyn Ward.
My fingers froze above the paper.
For a few seconds, I wondered if I had walked into the wrong room.
Maybe this was some kind of mistake.
Maybe Dante Bellandi had prepared two contracts for someone else.
Someone important.
Someone who belonged in a mansion like this.
Not a woman who arrived with twenty-six dollars and a handbag that had seen better years.
I looked around the study.
Everything about the room reminded me that I was standing in a world I did not understand.
Dark wooden shelves.
Old books.
Expensive furniture.
A large desk facing the windows.
And behind that desk sat Dante Bellandi.
Watching me.
He had not moved since I entered.
"Read it."
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
I looked down again.
The first contract was exactly what I expected.
Employment agreement.
Private childcare assistant.
Salary.
Housing.
Protection.
The second one was different.
Much different.
Marriage agreement.
I slowly lifted my eyes.
"You cannot be serious."
Dante didn't react.
"I don't make jokes about important matters."
I picked up the contract.
"Why is this here?"
"Because I need a wife."
The answer came so easily that it almost made me laugh.
Almost.
I placed the paper down.
"And you decided to ask the woman you hired yesterday?"
"You are not the first person I considered."
That somehow made it worse.
I stared at him.
"How comforting."
His expression remained unchanged.
"There have been other arrangements."
"Arrangements?"
"Women who wanted my money. Women who wanted my name. Women who wanted the power attached to it."
"And you think I don't?"
"No."
The answer was immediate.
It surprised me.
Dante leaned back slightly.
"You walked into my home carrying divorce papers. You refused to impress me. You told my daughter the truth instead of saying whatever would make her like you."
I said nothing.
"You understood something everyone else missed."
"What?"
"Children know when adults are pretending."
His eyes moved toward the door.
Toward the nursery.
"Livia has had seven caretakers in two years."
I felt my expression change.
"Seven?"
"They all promised they would stay."
His voice became quieter.
"They all left."
Suddenly, I understood.
The little girl's fear wasn't about me.
It was about everyone before me.
Dante looked back at the contract.
"My children need stability."
"So you need someone to play a role."
"No."
His answer was firm.
"I need someone they trust."
I shook my head.
"And the marriage?"
"A legal arrangement."
"Convenient."
"Necessary."
I stood there silently.
Part of me wanted to walk away.
A marriage contract with a mafia boss was not exactly the fresh start I had imagined.
But then I remembered Livia's face.
The way she asked if I would touch her hair.
The way she expected me to leave.
Because everyone else had.
"You want a wife for appearances."
"Yes."
"You want someone to protect your children."
"Yes."
"And what do I get?"
Dante looked at me.
For the first time, I saw something different in his expression.
Not power.
Not control.
Respect.
"You get protection from anyone who tries to harm you."
I looked away.
"Like Sebastian Crane?"
The room became silent.
My heart stopped for a second.
"How do you know about him?"
Dante didn't answer immediately.
That silence told me everything.
"You investigated me."
"I investigate everyone who enters my home."
"Because you don't trust anyone."
"Because trusting the wrong person gets people killed."
I looked at him.
The man in front of me wasn't just a businessman.
He lived in a world where every mistake had consequences.
But that didn't mean I had to become part of it.
"I can't marry someone I barely know."
"I know."
"Then why offer?"
"Because I watched my daughter eat three bites of soup for the first time in months."
I looked down.
The contract blurred slightly.
Not because I was emotional.
Because I hated that he had found the one thing I cared about.
The children.
Dante continued.
"I am not asking you to love me."
That sentence caught me off guard.
"I am asking you to help my family."
Family.
The word sounded strange.
Especially after mine had disappeared overnight.
I picked up the contract again.
There were rules.
Boundaries.
A public marriage.
A private agreement.
Nothing romantic.
Nothing forced.
I turned the page.
Then I saw one line.
My expression changed.
"What is this?"
Dante looked at the paper.
"Which part?"
"This."
I pointed.
The wife will have complete authority regarding the children's daily care and emotional wellbeing.
"You would give me that?"
"Yes."
"To someone you don't know?"
"I know enough."
I stared at him.
"That's dangerous."
"For you or for me?"
I didn't answer.
Because I wasn't sure.
Before I could say anything else, a small sound came from the hallway.
A knock.
Then a quiet voice.
"Miss Evelyn?"
I turned.
Livia stood there.
Holding Pearl.
The little girl looked at Dante first.
Then at me.
"Are you leaving?"
The question was so simple.
But it carried everything.
Fear.
Memory.
Pain.
I walked toward her.
"I haven't decided yet."
Her small fingers tightened around the rabbit.
"Everyone says they don't leave."
I crouched down.
"But sometimes people do."
Her eyes filled with sadness.
"Then why are you still here?"
I looked at her.
Because I didn't have an answer.
Because the truth was complicated.
Because I was standing in a mansion owned by a dangerous man while holding a contract that could change my entire life.
Finally, I said:
"Because I don't like breaking promises."
Livia studied my face.
Then she looked at the papers on the desk.
"Are you going to be my mommy?"
The question stopped the room.
Even Dante went still.
I swallowed.
"I don't know."
It was the only honest answer I had.
The little girl nodded slowly.
Then she reached into her pocket.
And pulled out a small folded piece of paper.
"I made this yesterday."
She handed it to me.
I opened it.
Three crooked drawings.
One was a little girl.
One was a rabbit.
And one was a woman standing beside them.
I looked at the drawing.
My chest tightened.
At the bottom, written in uneven handwriting, were four words.
Please don't disappear too.
I looked up.
Dante was watching me.
And for the first time, the coldness in his eyes was gone.
There was something else.
Something almost painful.
That night, I didn't sign the contract.
Not yet.
I told Dante I needed time.
He accepted.
No arguments.
No pressure.
But when I returned to my room, I found something waiting on my bed.
A new phone.
A new coat.
And an envelope.
Inside was the exact amount of money Sebastian Crane had taken from me.
Every dollar.
I found Enzo in the hallway.
"I can't accept this."
He looked at the envelope.
"The Don doesn't give gifts."
"Then what is this?"
"An apology."
"For what?"
Enzo looked toward Dante's office.
"For allowing powerful people to believe they can break someone simply because they have money."
I didn't know what to say.
The next morning, I woke up to shouting.
Not from the children.
From downstairs.
A man's voice.
Angry.
Familiar.
I walked toward the staircase.
And froze.
Because standing in the entrance hall was Sebastian Crane.
He was holding a newspaper.
And on the front page was a photograph of me.
Beside Dante Bellandi.
The headline was already circled in red.
Mafia Don Announces Unexpected Marriage Arrangement.
Sebastian looked up at me.
And smiled.
"Well."
He folded the newspaper.
"I was wondering where you disappeared to."
I stepped back.
Because behind him stood another person.
Someone I never expected to see again.
May you like
My former husband's lawyer.
And he was holding a document with my signature on it.
