EVA
That smug smile.
Ugh, it sent mixed emotions crawling across my spine. It remained plastered on Mason's lips as I spoke at length.
I concluded,"I really believe this deal is very straightforward, Mr. Green. We would both leave satisfied and our partnership will also bring loads of profit to us both."
His fingers grazed his chin slightly and his brows were furrowed slightly, as though he was conflicted.
It has been a week since the event where he insulated that I was his bride, and while I meant to confront him about it, he eluded me for days—business trips, he called them, but I thought he was just being an arrogant jerk.
"Ms. White, I don't see why I should trust you just yet. If you can't take a simple action to ensure that the future of your company is fully secured, then I can't trust you to offer you a partnership." There was a lazy drawl in his words as he leaned back into his seat, the annoying smirk intact. "I only give my attention to true value."
It took a large dose of self-control for me not to explode right there and then in his exquisite office where he had asked that we meet.
"Mr. Green, this is—"
"Call me Mason," he butted in, staring comically at me like I was a clown.
I only had myself to blame here anyway. If I was not so desperate to rise to the very peak of greatness, nothing would make me come back to this man a second time. A partnership with him meant I stood shoulder to shoulder with Mason Green in the business chain.
I would finally be in the perfect position to have my revenge and be the most powerful woman in the country.
Perhaps he knew that and was trying to frustrate my efforts or he wanted to keep me roped under him with his stupid idea of a marriage contract. That was the best reason I could think of for his sudden proposal.
Robert sat awkwardly beside me. We had talked about this since the ridiculous proposal, and seeing as he was like a father to me, he had given me his best advice.
"Eva, I don't think a man like Mason Green would just being up such a proposal. He probably wants something more. Going to meet him again won't get him to change his mind, I'm afraid. Mr. Green is not a man of empty words," he had said to me after I stormed out of my first meeting with Mason.
He adjusted his tie as he turned to me. "Eva, his mind is made up. I think it's best we left. We don't really need him, to be honest. I think you're doing just fine already." His voice was low as he spoke to me.
But I had not come all this way to be disappointed.
My gaze was sharp and intimidated as I faced Mason again squarely, masking my disappointment and annoyance, "Mr. Green, I believe it is not very professional for you to propose a marital affair with me in the table of business. I am simply not interested. Besides, the stunt you pulled the other day was quite ridiculous for a man of your status. I am not getting married to you!"
"Sad," he mumbled, rising to his feet while tugging on the hem of his jacket. Outlines of his muscular builds glared from the gesture. "I must have thought of you more highly than you actually are. If that's the case, I guess we're done here."
He headed towards the door, leaving me reeling in utter annoyance.
"Why would you want to marry me? Are there no other women who you can get married to? I don't want to be bound in a lifelong contract just because of a deal that might not even be up to ten years!"
He paused in his steps, turning slightly with a suave posture, "If I remember clearly, I stated that this would be a contract. A contract always has an end date, Eva. Five years."
My heart skipped a beat.
A contract marriage. My heart rebuffed the idea instantly. After all, I only ever wanted a man who would love me and who we would grow old together with.
'Well, how did that go for you?' My subconscious mocked.
Right. Marrying for love had only left me with a nasty divorce and two amazing kids.
Then my mind took over. There was no point in marrying for love. Love was all a bloody lie told by people drunk in their own flimsy infatuation until their eyes got cleared by reality.
What better use could there be for a marriage than this? After all, I would rise to the pinnacle of business and not just that—my boys would finally get a father figure in their lives at least till they were grown till an extent.
Then I would be able to handle them on my own, having more freedom in my hands since my business would be great then.
The first time I was married to Jake for five years, all it did was take for me and give me nothing in return, but now, I would get a cut—that too, a huge one.
I felt Robert nudge me out of my reverie slightly. I didn't realise I had been staring at Mason's smug face for almost a minute.
"Eva, are you sure you want to do this? You do know Mason is not God right?" He muttered slightly but shrugged myself out of his hold, with an unintentional harshness.
"Fine. But as long as it is on my terms," I muttered coolly to Mason who now had a light smile on his face.
Something danced in his eyes which I could not explain but it didn't bother me.
Love was not part of the contract and it never would be.
He strolled back to his seat with a proud smirk and pulled out a thick document from his locker, placing it in front of me, and my eyes almost popped out of my socket. How long has he prepared this?
"Don't worry about the terms, darling. It will benefit us both."