Chapter Six

Though she had promised herself to not think about the deal, it was all she could think about when she reached home. Her life had never been easy; ups and downs, highs and lows were what had made her strong and independent. She wasn't going to surrender, no matter what.

He was a Devil in God's disguise. The way his silky brown hair came down on his forehead, messy and chaotic. He was handsome from the depth of his blank eyes and the nil expressions on his face. The emotionlessness of his countenance was dangerous, bold, in a certain kind of way. His eyes were the hue of the new spring growth, bright and soft all at once. There were flecks of strength, of the kind of green that came only as summer advances.

Stop it Faith, she railed at herself.

She was imagining her potential enemy's features and crushing on him. Well, technically, it wasn't childish or anything to tag him as her 'enemy' but it suited her just fine to imagine him as her nemesis rather than a crush. No, he wasn't a crush. He was just, well, a man. A normal man who wasn't a part of her life.

But he would be if he took over Josh's company. She would have to work under him. As his personal assistant. I like my coffee sweet, he had said. She wanted to kill him by cutting his arrogant head off.

Her phone started ringing and she saw it was from the nursing home. Her heart flip flopped against her chest, beating with a thunderous sound only she could understand. Did something happen to granny?

She put the phone over her ears and waited with bated breath, "Yes?"

"Your grandma's dying," Dr. Peters' composed voice was now distressed.

The cell phone fell on the ground with a loud thud. The instrument fell so noisily that it broke into pieces, shattered glass, detached sim card and a splattered piece of battery. She saw the destruction with her own eyes; the broken shard of glass, grinding into dust particles and her feet a few inches away from that destruction.

Setting her trembling feet into motion, she made her way towards the nursing home. She wasn't able to breathe properly; her breaths coming and going in rapid convulsive shocks. It was harder to move suddenly. Movement seemed alien to her. She got off the bus and saw the nursing home slowly emerging in her view; her vision blurred with tears.

As she neared the building, it became harder to move; every movement was taking more energy out of her and it seemed as if there was no energy left. She saw her granny, lying lifeless. She was on life support and that meant, she had again slipped into a coma.

"My god," She breathed a puff of air into her lungs but her heart was breaking.

"Miss Cole, please steady yourself. She needs you." Dr. Alicia gave her a nod.

"What, what happened?"

As Faith sat herself on the stool, the young doctor told her how Jenny was breathless and needed artificial oxygen; her blood pressure had risen and she had slipped into a coma. It had been three hours, her consciousness still hadn't returned.

"If this continues, she'll die. As soon as she wakes up from this coma, we have to start the stem cell transplant. It's important, Miss Cole. Do you understand?"

Understand?

It was as if every word was hammered relentlessly into her brain. It was impossible not to understand. "I do. I'll do something, I promise. I'll make arrangements."

Slipping out of the room, she saw her Jenny through the glass window. She was tired, tired of everything, her poor Jenny. Faith wasn't going to let her go. But what could she do? Either she would have to beg Josh for some money or?

The idea of entering into a hellish, fake marriage with the most selfish person on earth seemed terrifying. No, she clearly couldn't do that. But she wasn't going to ask Josh for money. Josh loved her and she knew it; he would willingly give her all the money she needed but her self respect would be shattered. All her life, she had worked hard to earn her dignity and one of the reasons Josh loved her was because of her unnerving strength and dignity. She wasn't going to lose in front of his eyes.

The second option that she would have to sell herself wasn't dignified either. But it wasn't Josh. She wouldn't have any guilt. It was Alexander, a man she hated and she really didn't care what he thought of her. His opinion didn't matter.

But....

She would have to bow down?

Her precious Jenny had told her to never bow down to anyone. It was her life that was concerned. Faith couldn't possibly think about herself now, could she?

"Hello, Benedict?" Her voice wavered but she held herself together.

"Yes, who is this?"

"Tell your boss that Faith Cole called and she wants to meet him urgently. Tell him to meet me at 6 in Cafe Delilah."

She cut the call and started for her house. Her phone beeped with a message of confirmation from Benedict. She was uneasy again. She wasn't familiar with such things; contracts, pretensions, selling oneself. Shit, it all sounded so degraded in her mind.

She was going to enter into a contract marriage of six months with the biggest asshole to walk the face of the earth. Though he had promised he wouldn't touch her, she would read all the clauses carefully, she reminded herself.

A deal with the devil, she laughed at herself for being so fucking helpless.

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Alexander Hamilton was happy. At last, she had given in. He knew she would come back to him, helpless. He knew women like her too well. They were just after money; all they needed were money, fame, properties and power. He had just thrown the arrow in the right direction.

Now, she would have to bow down in front of him. No matter how big his own problem was, a woman surrending to his demand was a treat to watch.