years old Zara Klein was forced to marry, and produce an heir for 41-year-old Kai Adler, who has three months left to live; to save her father's company from bankruptcy. She had to keep up with Kai's inhumane treatment, got pregnant with his child and quietly anticipated his death. But their lives took a drastic turn when Kai miraculously got cured of his illness.

Marriage Pact

I sat on my bed by the window, and the raindrops falling against the panes coursed down in rivulets without sound-a reflection of the void inside my soul. There lay my son, sleeping still peacefully on the bed, curled up into a small bundle, his steady breathing the only sound in my room. For an instant, at the sight of him, all was well again, but pretty soon my reality confronted me. 


A knock shattered the fragile silence. 


"Ms Zara," Madam Tess's voice was indistinct from the other side. There was something odd in her tone, like hesitation, even fear. 


Slowly, I rose, quickening at the pulse. Opening the door, I found her standing there, clutching a folded piece of paper in her shaking hands. 


"What is it?" I asked, a knot already forming in my stomach. 


It's. It's a message," she breathed over her shoulder, eyes wide in that wild, frantic way. "From jacob." 


94