Chapter Twenty-Two: A free snack

At last, he took the coffee away from her so that she would not choke, and in the end, her saliva did the job.

"What did you think? Party A and Party B shall sleep in separate rooms and have no sexual intercourse through their whole marriage." He said mocking the contract she had handed him earlier.

A blush crept up her cheeks and cleared her throat. "No. I mean I don't mind the sexual intercourse part but I'm not ready to be a mother in less than a year." She replied. He looked amused by her response and he leaned closer. He lifted her chin upwards and towards his direction so that she would face him directly.

"Think about your choice carefully. This marriage you can't take it back. I mean that literally. Once you marry me it's for life." He warned her and went back to his seat.

'That's not going to work for me.' She thought and glanced up at him. Married with him for life?

"That's unless I successfully kill you right?" She asked and he confirmed her question with a nod. "You'll end up a widow though." She shrugged at that.

"You seem pretty confident that I won't kill you." She narrowed her eyes at him. " I don't know but I'm looking forward to the methods you will use. If you do successfully kill me make sure you don't get caught." He reminded her and she scoffed.

"You should have told me this earlier." She said with a twitched mouth. "I'm sure you'll agree anyway." He stated confidently.

"Well, I don't agree. I'll face the enemies alone." She responded and stood up. He stayed sitting down with a nonchalant expression. "Are you that reluctant to marry me?" He asked. "Give me a reason at least." He requested and she rolled her eyes.

"It's pretty obvious." She said. "No, it isn't. Your family will be safe, your identity is safe. Power, wealth, anything you want I can give it to you. Except for love, there isn't a single thing I won't deny you." He furrowed his eyebrows.

She laughed. "Exactly. There it is. The reason you wanted. You said it yourself." She answered. He narrowed his eyes. "Love? I thought just like me you wouldn't care about that. It seems we aren't a perfect match after all." He replied.

"That's not quite it. I don't want your love. I don't even know what 'love' is." She said with a laugh.

"It's not about love it's about what will happen if there is love. Do you understand the consequences if one of us falls in love?" She asked.

"You say you can give me everything except love and that's the problem. How do you know what will happen in the future? I know you don't hate me and I don't hate you either. I'm the target you never caught and you are a mission I never completed." She explained herself calmly and took a seat.

"There is always a possibility and I'm not willing to risk it. If I fall for you I will end up hurt because you will never be able to love me. If you fall for me then you will end up hurt because I don't mind killing you." She continued and he looked at her in interest.

"Unless we both fall for each other...." He countered and she sighed. "That's highly unlikely." she shrugged.

"You see if I don't marry you I have the chance to meet someone else. I don't want to risk that chance. The whole point of Clair is too have another chance at life." She told him.

"But if I don't marry you then I'll have to look for someone else. The rest weren't chosen because they aren't capable enough. They will fall for one or the other. Either me or the benefits that come with me." He said. "Well, that's not my problem." She chuckled.

"You made a valid point. Your reasoning is perfect actually. I just want to ask….is that the real reason? And how will you fight off your enemies when we have the same enemy in common? How will you find out their identities?" He asked and she was startled.

Right she had not thought about that yet….

"I'll figure it out." She responded and he sighed. "Sure. I have another question."

"Will you tell me about that night?" He asked. "I'm going, to be honest with you. I have been looking for you not just because you were a target I had to imprison but because I know you are the woman that night. It took me a while to remember but in the end, I recovered several memories....." He told her and she froze.

When she didn't say anything he continued. "At first I didn't care but that night gave me a memory I will never erase."

Clair gave him a confused look as she hid her real reaction. When she saw that he wasn't being fooled by her innocent and confused facade she sighed.

"I saved your life, your welcome." She replied confidently.

"You could have sent me to the hospital." He arched an eyebrow at her. "I had a special identity at the time." She countered. "You took advantage of me." He insisted and she chuckled.

"It was a free snack who wouldn't take it?" She teased.

He glared at her and her smile grew bigger. "Oh, now that you mentioned it, it was an interesting night. It's funny how I had full control over you." She teased.

"Shut up." He stopped her right away.

"It shouldn't be a problem for you, right? Your brother mentioned how many girlfriends you have…." She glanced at him and her eyes widened in realization. "Don't tell me I stole your virginity? Did I?" That was a big mistake. She shouldn't have said that.

Although she had been shameless many times it was all for the act and she isn't experienced in s*x at all. That day was a lucky day for her. She got to explore, learn, and experiment on him without having to be embarrassed since he was drugged and would not remember anything.

How embarrassing!

"You really love provoking me don't you." His expression darkened.

"It was a joke…." She mumbled. She coughed and tried to switch the topic. "Anyway my answer is still the same. The past is in the past correct?" She asked waiting for his agreement. She stood up and picked up her things.

"You have a week to think about it. For now, we will just let our parents believe that we agreed on this marriage." He told her.

"Sure but my answer is still a no." She replied and stood up. "Thanks for the coffee!" She shouted as she exited his house as quickly as she could.

He didn't say anything and sat in his chair in amusement. 'I don't think your answer will still be a no after this week….' He thought. She had not failed to amuse him.

It made him wonder how he went from wanting to imprison her and never see her again to feeling guilty for her 'death' and then being amused because she will be his future wife no matter what.

He watched her slowly heading back inside. "Drive me home." She told him and he nodded his head already expecting that she would come back and ask.

He chuckled when he saw her flushed expression.

'Oh so she can have that side too.... i guess she isn't as thick skinned as I thought.'