The Signed Contract

It was almost five in the afternoon when Anna arrived at her cousin's office, which, to her surprise, had been decorated in such a jubilant way that it was barely recognizable. Everyone in the room was holding a glass of beige-colored wine, with some spinning in circle and others singing eulogies cheerfully. No one noticed Anna's entry, or to be more exact, no one was bothered to give her a victory hug.

As Anna approached the table where snacks and glasses of drinks were placed, her eyes widened at the sight of the opened liquor bottle – wasn't it the champagne on her parents' wedding twenty-two years ago, one that cost tens of hundreds of yuan and one that was so well cherished by her parents that they did not even get to have a sip before they died in the horrible train accident? What was the bottle doing here, and why were those old-fashioned yet luxurious tableware serving the cheap imported candies?

"Oh, Anna, here you are." As Anna was just feeling over her decedent parents' legacy, she heard her cousin Vivi's voice greeting her ears, then she felt her overly skinny arms creeping her shoulders from behind. Anna subconsciously turned around and confronted Vivi.

"What are my parents' stuff doing here?" Anna asked, irritated.

Without answering Anna straightaway, Vivi first drank up the beige liquid in her glass, moved her hands up to Anna's smooth face and then showed a bright smile.

"Cheering us up, just as you did." Anna replied briefly, "And well done to get Mr. Bitch to sign our company this afternoon. That was much easier than I thought."

For one moment, Anna had no words to say back. She stared at her cousin who had got slightly tipsy and who walked in circle with her husband that took her out-stretched arms, irritated yet mute.

She was a minor errand girl, and she had been one since her tremendously wealthy parents died in the accident ten years ago. Her cousin Vivi had paid her condolence by tricking her into signing the will as an underaged person and taking all of her parents' properties for her family alone, claiming that she would be Anna's guardian and promise to give back the shares that belonged to her when she reached the adulthood. The truth was, however, that she and her then boyfriend Jerry joined the hands and started a cosmetic company with the money they had robbed of Anna. The company was getting more and more successful and Anna was accepted as one of the staff, which, according to Vivi, had been a deed conducted out of kindness.

"We are a family, aren't we?" Vivi loved to stress her relationship with Anna in and out of the company. That was her special way of expressing her gratitude towards the unethical thing she and her now husband had done to the Carlsson Family.

The celebration ended after two hours, when there was no a single drop left in the expensive champagne, and plates covered with biscuit crumbs and candy wrappers. As the last light was switched off and darkness dominated the room, Anna came out of the toilet where she had been hiding, grabbed the plate as well as the champagne bottle and left the office.

It had been her parents' legacy, and no matter how minor they might be compared to the enormous mountain of wealth that laid far-fetched for her, they still carried the patch of memories of her beloved parents within, and they were still her treasure.

In a two-store villa decorated with gold columns, Vivi and her husband bent over the desk, studying the signed contract they took over from Anna today.

"I don't think Mr. Bitch even read the clauses." Said her husband Jerry, caressing the slender legs of his wife's through the silk gown.

"Who cares," Vivi let out a nonchalant smile, "The point is that we got Mr. Bitch to work with us. And just tell me which one of the clauses is unreasonable for him anyway?"

Jerry nodded as the corner of his lips raised. But a second later, he frowned out of curiosity. "How on earth did Anna get him to sign the contract anyway, Mr. Bitch was always so…scornful. I heard that he has turned down at least ten collaboration invitations. I never knew Anna was so persuasive."

Vivi let out a small laughter, crossed her long legs so her smooth skin was exposed. She looked indeed coquettish at her age, which began with forty.

"Who cares?" Vivi said, moving away from the table and heading towards the bedroom. As she reached the bedroom door, she turned her head around and said to Jerry, "Remember to give Anna's commission fees tomorrow, she deserves that."

Jerry took a glance at the signed contract, then at his gorgeous wife who was standing in such an attracting position that all of his concern and curiosity was erased at once, abandoned the desk and joined that woman for bed.

As the clock struck ten, Anna turned off the light and was about to lie down when a text message reached her phone.

"Sorry for the rush today, could we meet tomorrow for a makeup drink?" Wrote Mr. Bitch.

Anna stared at the screen for a long while before typing two brief lines.

"No need, my aim has been fulfilled. Thanks for the contract."

If this Mr. Bitch was really involved with Cherrington Group, she better stay away from him. A minor role like her would be crushed without even being given a chance to breathe, if she did not behave carefully enough in front of an imposing elephant like Cherrington. And she must not be crushed now, not yet.

She had to take back everything that belonged to her.