Chapter Five

He was asking her to marry him? For real?

The earth beneath her feet slipped, making her almost numb. She grabbed the nearby table and blew a huge puff of air into her lungs. She was breathless.

"I know it's sudden, well, too sudden but you have to help me."

Faith could no longer take it. Did that mean he knew that his father had also given her this proposition? Were they in this together? Her mind was going to blast.

"What help? I barely even know you, you barely even know me. Why do you want to marry me?" She was exasperated.

"You are twenty-five years old, you live alone in your apartment in Texas's most decent neighbourhood. And you have a sick grandmother." He winked. "She has cancer and well, you need a lot of money for her stem cell transplant. Right?"

She was sick to the stomach. Sickness arrived to her in waves rather than simply one thing at a time. There was a crick in her neck, a cold, muscle aches and head pain came as a slowly building bruise. She felt nauseous, dizzy.

"What do you want? How, how do you know all this?" She shivered when he came closer.

His hair was dripping wet. Gentle hair that tumbled in such rich autumnal hues. It was kind of a restful visual poetry that impacted her soul. His blue eyes hovered over her body and at last rested on her face.

"I'm Alexander Hamilton. I know everything. And I take what I want."

His hoarse whisper chilled her spine, "What do you want, Mr. Hamilton?"

"You."

The sharp and curt reply pierced her being like a thousand daggers. All the strength she had within herself washed down the drain and she just stood there, shocked to the core.

"I mean, don't think too much, sweetheart. You are just a petty personal assistant. Don't think you can lure a rich man like me," He winked and she wanted to vomit. "but, I do need to get married to a good and decent girl if I want to take over that company."

She couldn't move; it was as if her feet were jammed into the floor and someone was hammering her head harshly.

"You think I'm the perfect girl?"

"Yes, for this contract marriage of six months, you definitely are." He smirked.

She hated that pathetic smirk on his face, "Why do you seem to think that I'm good and decent?"

"Look at you, sweetheart. You wear atrociously unattractive dresses at work. Besides work, as if now, you are wearing this un-sexual sweater, my god. That's the most pathetic thing I've ever seen," He looked at her clothes, mocking and scrutinizing them.

"You are a virgin, most probably. You are innocent, you help people. You are the definition of good and decent."

His alien words disgusted her. She wanted to vomit on his face. He was an asshole, indeed. He genuinely thought being good and decent meant wearing unattractive clothes and being a virgin, she fumed.

What the hell?

"Don't you dare..."

"Oh, calm down, sweetheart." He wrapped his strong arms around her waist. "I don't mean to be rude."

"You are effortless in it, don't worry. As for my answer, I will not marry you even if you are the last man on earth. I will not betray Josh. Count me out from this freakshow!" She jerked his arms from her waist and stepped back.

She gave him a strong hard look. She wasn't going to bow down in front of such a self-conceited bastard. She wasn't weak.

"Oh, freakshow, huh? Well, your grandma is very gravely ill, isn't she? For entering into this freakshow with me for six months, you can earn the exact amount of money you need!"

He winked like a devil, making her go sick. He didn't have an option. He wasn't going to let Faith slip out of this deal. She was the perfect choice, the perfect good girl Josh would never have a problem with. For the past twenty four hours, he had been searching a good and decent girl who would be able to please his father but he had failed miserably.

Faith breathed harder. "Are you trying to buy me with money?"

"Can you be bought? If yes, then yeah I'm trying to buy you."

"You-" Further words failed her, her eyes shining with tears.

"Ah, don't cry now, sweetheart. This is a good deal. You marry me, sign a contract, stay in the marriage for six months and then you'll be free. As free as a bird. And as your pay, I will pay for the entire treatment of your grandma."

The words hung in the air, silence slicing through the painful void his words had left in her heart. Her grandma would be fine, but for that she would have to sell herself to him? Was she so pathetic?

"And what do we do these six months?"

Her question surprised him. "We move in together in this house. We'll have seperate rooms. I won't interfere in your matters and neither will you. You can continue to have affairs, because I know I will," There was a smug look on his face.

"this contract prohibits us to have a sexual relationship like normal married couples. So, yeah, I won't touch you, sweetheart. I have mistresses, but if you decide to engage in affairs, be discreet."

Faith was now completely disgusted by this man. She would vomit if she didn't think it was embarrassing, she thought.

"Think about it, sweetheart. Let me know by tomorrow night." He looked at her like a hawk and then made his way upstairs, completely aloof.

She stood there, like a frozen statue. In that wonderland of white, she felt an anticipation of sorrows to come, of new ways to feel pain. That house was nice and big, she looked around. She could certainly live in it, without noticing him.

The incompetent thoughts bugged her. No, no matter how big his mansion was, she wasn't going to live in it. She wasn't going to marry him. She was just here to listen to him and she did. It was stupid of her to stand there and wait for something else to explode on her head.

Think about it, he had said.

No, she wouldn't.