Zade

    "I'm serious, I really didn't do a thing. I'm not a criminal." She bit out but I snorted with an eyeroll then glanced at my wrist watch.

"But you are, and I honestly don't like the thought of a criminal being around my niece, I just don't have a choice. If you can get her to start speaking, I'll be able to get her the help she needs. The therapist suggested a family picture is drawn up for her to be around, that's why you're becoming my wife for the time being."

She frowned as she sighed this time. "But, I still don't understand how she thinks I'm her mother." She breathed out and that was something we agreed on. It had shocked me immensely when my niece who had refused to utter a word since the night she was rescued from a fire, had suddenly pointed at the television which displayed a picture of Carla. 

My niece, Ella, had literally bursted right into tears and had demanded for her mommy while pointing at a picture of Carla.

"It doesn't matter. The doctor said it's a traumatic reason. So, do you agree to the contract marriage or not?"

She rolled her eyes this time. "You're sounding like I have a choice in this situation.

My eyes briefly trailed over her face before I responded. "But you do. Agree or return back to jail."

She sighed and sat back on the couch.

"I agree." She mumbled, sounding extremely unenthusiastic that I might have taken offense if I didn't relate with that feeling.

When I turned to leave, anger began to churn in my chest once again. Anger towards Carla, anger towards her soon to be ex-husband, and anger at this entire situation.

I didn't tell Carla that I plan on using her to get revenge on Dave. I didn't tell her that I plan to teach her a lesson as well, and to make her pay, because she's an accomplice of Dave. 

Dave is the one responsible for the death of my sister and her loving husband. He's the reason my niece is now an orphan and scarred with the trauma of watching her parents burn in a fire. He's the reason my only sibling is dead. And Carla is undoubtedly an accomplice, so she was gonna pay, and I was gonna make it hurt so damn good.

I honestly didn't like the thought of Carla around my niece. Apart from her being a criminal, she's partly the reason Ella is in this situation, and I didn't trust her one bit. At this point, I genuinely detest Carla.

I did find her adorable when we were kids. She got angry easily so it was fun to constantly tease her and make fun of her. Which is why it was still sometimes hard to believe someone so kind spirited could turn into a criminal like this.

Our families used to be close till my father took back what initially belonged to him after uncovering so many truths, then we all separated. I even had to stop being friends with her elder brothers. But I didn't grow to hate them, including Carla, even though our parents undoubtedly hated each other, because I believed they were innocent in their father's schemes. 

Which was why I called Carla to warn her a day before her wedding.

My genuine hatred for Carla came after I lost my sister. Now, I genuinely despise her.

I made my way through the hallways of my large house, up the stairs till I was stepping into my bedroom. Right in my bed was Lena, lounging and waiting for me.

Lena was the closest thing I've ever had to a girlfriend. We've been constantly sleeping together for years, and presently, she hadn't liked my decision to get into this contract marriage. She made that obvious by pouting and folding her arms as I approached the bed.

I flopped down into the spot beside her and let out a loud sigh, suddenly feeling drained. Lena glanced at me and I spoke.

"You still mad at me? I already told you it's nothing but a contract marriage. You know I have no other choice, Ella needs urgent help." I explained softly. Lena remained unmoving before she signed and wiggled close to press herself against my body.

"I understand, but it doesn't mean I can be okay with it." She whined and I sighed as I stroked her back.

"You don't need to be, just always remember that it's a contract marriage and nothing more." I assured her. "Remember that I also have to use her to get revenge for my sister. After all of this, I'll discard her."

"And get married to me next, right?" She asked as she kissed my jaw. I huffed and leaned down to gently kiss her lips before responding.

"Let that time come, hm?"

She pouted but snuggled into my side again. I absentmindedly stroked down her back while briefly wondering how it feels to genuinely want to get married to someone. Is that supposed to feel exciting? I've never felt love or affection for anyone so I wasn't sure. 

I guess I can see myself getting married to Lena in the future, because she's the one I've been the longest with and it's just so easy and convenient with her. I can see myself marrying her in a few years so she'd bear me a child, cause my family have begun to disturb me for an heir, and no other reason.

I was deep in thoughts when Lena began to kiss my throat, her hands sliding down my stomach to my pants. She began to moan softly and grind against me. Before lust could begin to cool within me, a hesitant knock echoed off the door and I instantly stiffened.

"Yes?" I called out, thinking it might be Carla... But the voice of my butler rang out instead.

"Sir, Miss Van Grande is missing. I've searched everywhere and she's not in the house. I think she... she ran away."

Carla 

      My heart was pounding hard as I walked fast, while gripping the watch tightly in my grip- a wristwatch which belonged to Zade, which I had stolen before taking off.

This was actually my first time taking something that doesn't belong to me, and it was solely out of desperation, because I had a feeling that Dave would have cleaned out the money left in my account, and It was confirmed when I stopped at a bank to check. That's why I took this watch while fleeing, because I planned to sell it and use the money to leave the country.

I stepped into a watch store and informed them I had a watch to sell, then I presented the watch to them, while guilt churned within me. As soon as I successfully leave this country, I planned to instantly call Zade and apologize, then I'd start working towards paying him back for the watch. I wasn't sure of how I'd repay him for the bail, but I was gonna try to repay that as well. 

I just couldn't imagine marrying Zade, not as a contract marriage. I refuse to leave a monster and get trapped by another, that just wasn't fair to me. Zade was worse than a monster, he was a demon. He was ruthless and cunning that even Dave feared him and had always hated him. I never knew there was ever a beef between them, but I knew Dave detested him.

I also couldn't imagine myself playing the role of a mother. I lied when I said I sucked with kids. It was the complete opposite. Being forced to play out that role was just gonna remind me of a pain of mine, one which I've learnt to hide. 

Years ago, I had a child, but the child died at birth. 

Since then, I've been unable to take in. I knew that bothered Dave, because he sometimes complained about it. That was another reason why I readily agreed to go to jail for him, because I convinced myself that after doing something like that for him, he'll feel too indebted to me that he'd never consider leaving me for another woman If I didn't get to conceive again.

But clearly, I shouldn't even have bothered.

"Ma'am, can we have the receipt for this watch?" A woman approached this time. I instantly stiffened before awkwardly laughing and making a show of patting my pockets.

"Ah- I think I dropped the receipt while on my way here." I explained and the woman nodded before leaving and heaved a relieved sigh.

As I glanced around, I noticed a few people were staring at me and I rolled my eyes. I was certain everyone staring at me sees me as a criminal and nothing more, that's why moving to a different country sounded very appealing. I don't have anyone here, my family and friends deserted me, and now Zade would clearly not let me roam scot free. So basically, it was the only option I had. 

"Ma'am?"

I was pulled out of my thoughts and I stiffened. Standing before me was the woman who previously approached me and two different men.

"We can't buy this watch without proof of you being the owner, we're so sorry but we'd like proof that you're the owner first." The man standing in the middle spoke and I stiffened.

Yikes! 

"But I'm the owner." I insisted but they shook their heads. The onlookers weren't trying to hide that they were clearly staring at this point.

When I realized that they weren't gonna change their minds, I sighed and held my hand out for the watch, but they refused to return it, and that's when the panic started.

"Ma'am, are you really the owner of this watch?" The man asked this time and I inched backward, eyed darting around for a means of escape because now I realized that security was now blocking the doorway.

"Don't think of trying to run, ma'am, else we'd call the cops." The man warned, not sounding respectful at this point and I bit at the inside of my mouth while wishing I could just die right now. The onlookers were currently murmuring to each other while pointing at me. Some tried to film but we stopped by the store owners and I was grateful for a little mercy today.

"Ma'am, we'll only let you go if you reveal the actual owner of the watch, and said owner comes to get it. Or we'll call the cops."

I let out a long groan and wished I could disappear into thin air.

Fuck my life.

~~~

     I wished the ground would open up and swallow me. I was dying from humiliation when Zade arrived after I revealed that I got it from him. The look in his eyes made my heart lurch into my throat, and I awkwardly shifted my weight around till he came to stand before me.

"If you're a little smart, you'd have instantly realized that this watch is a costume made type. It's not available in the market so you could have tried harder if you wanted to steal something. At least put your criminal experience to actual use." His low voice filled my entire body with hot embarrassment and was too humiliated to respond.

Zade apologized for the troubles on my behalf, then he was tugging me out and into his car. I sat awkwardly beside him, feeling like the biggest fool ever.

"I'm sorry," I whispered but he only hummed.

"Do I drive you to the station?" He asked and I stiffened before shaking my head.

I guess this was goodbye to my hopes of escaping the devil himself.

"No. I- I agreed to the contract marriage."

"But you ran away... and stole my watch. Are you gonna try claiming you're not a criminal after this theft?"

I swallowed emptily, knowing how the watch situation definitely looked. 

"This is actually my first time stealing anything, and I apologize for those two things, and I also still want the contract marriage." I mumbled and Zade hummed.

"Wise choice. But, if you try running away again, our deal is over. Got it?"

I swallowed again and nodded, staring down at my folded hands. 

"Yes."

"We'll sign the contract tonight, right after you meet my niece."

I turned towards him, taking in his striking side profile.

"What if your niece doesn't recognize me? She might also not want to be around me..." I was still speaking when he waved me off.

"You already know what my answer is." He responded easily and I glanced out the window, losing myself to my worried thoughts.

~~~

     When we arrived back at his home, as soon as we were being let in, a woman clad in a short dress walked right towards Zade, wrapped around his shoulders and kissed him right on the lips.

Zade

      I knew what Lena was trying to do. She was clearly trying to mark her territory, to show Carla that she owned me. But no one owns me, and I'd rather not be doing this right now because searching for Carla had been stressful enough before getting that call from the watch store.

When I broke the kiss, I glanced over at Carla. Her face was blank and there was no trace of jealousy or anger, and I knew that was what Lena expected to see when she looked over at Carla. I really wish Lena would be rational about this whole situation because for one, I didn't like being doubted, and I also wanted her to trust and believe me when I said there was completely nothing between Carla and I.

"So, this is the famous ex-convict." Lena drawled out beside me, a sarcastic smile across her lips.

Carla only rolled her eyes. "I see I'm more famous than I realized because you clearly know me but I don't know you. Who might you be?"

That hit home to Lena and she stiffened, no longer smiling. She had always wanted to accompany me on outings, so she could improve her social media presence but I had always refused.

"Don't delude yourself, you're only famous for theft and being jailed! And I saw the news this morning. Your husband is Apparently divorcing you for someone else." Lena hurled back at Carla.

I sighed, already having a headache.

I was surprised to not see any hurt flashover Carla's face. Does she not feel anything for Dave anymore? 

"Anything else you want to inform me about myself that I don't already know?" Carla bit back, surprising me because she used to be quite timid while growing up. It's shocking to see her standing her ground like this.

Before Lena could respond, I spoke up.

"Carla, meet Lena. She's a friend." I introduced Lena, knowing she badly wanted the girlfriend tag, but I wasn't sure I'd ever be ready for that.

"Lena, Carla."

"A friend... that you fuck? Do you fuck all your female friends, Zade?" Carla asked and Lena stiffened beside me.

I ignored Carla's question and tugged Lena along with me out of the sitting room till we were in my bedroom. Then I let go of her and leveled her with a pointed look.

"I don't like that back and forth, it's childish and disappointing of you, because I instantly knew what you were trying to do." I said flatly and she sighed, her chin jutted out.

"I just wanted to introduce myself." She defended herself but I rolled my eyes.

"You know what I meant, and I don't want a repeat, okay? I already said I was gonna make her pay for being an accomplice of Dave, but these back and forth won't change anything so it's pointless."

Lena finally nodded and came to wrap her arms around my waist. "I'm sorry, baby. I just got a little jealous, that's why."

I nodded and stroked her back. "But there's no need to, I already explained it all to you."

She sighed again then pouted. "You introduced me as a friend. It was humiliating and that bitch would only look down on me on moving forward."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"She won't." I assured her.

"But are you sure about this though? Remember her damaged reputation, this won't look good on you or your company." She explained and I hummed. I already thought of that and I was already working on taking care of it

"I'm aware and I'm working on it. I won't be affected." I assured her and she reluctantly nodded after sighing again.

"Would we have fun tonight though? That's why you invited me over, right?"

I shook my head, feeling regretful because I did invite her for that reason.

"I have so much to work on tonight so that can't be possible, but I'll send a car to come pick you tomorrow, okay?"

She wanted to argue but later decided on nodding in understanding. After a few more exchanges, I began to see her out the door. She demanded a goodbye kiss. I don't usually indulge it because outside of sex, I wasn't fond of things like that. But tonight, I leaned down and pressed a quick kiss against her lips that made her grin brightly. She only casted Carla a glance before walking past the sitting room. After she was gone, I headed back into the sitting room and motioned Carla over. 

She was sitting on the couch but reluctantly sauntered over, which made me scoff.

"Where are we going?" She asked when I wordlessly began to walk down the hallways, with her falling into steps behind me.

"To my niece, Ella."

         When I stepped into the room, Carla hesitated for a moment before stepping in. She was clearly nervous as she glanced around the room packed to the brim with different toys.

I instantly headed for Ella.

Ella was four. She was perched in her bed, playing with a stuffed toy. When she noticed me, recognition showed in her eyes and she briefly smiled but that was it. That was I got from her everyday and nothing more. 

I crouched before her and smiled, softening my voice and praying that this works out. 

"Sweetheart, I want you to meet someone, okay?"

Her eyes filled with confusion. She could hear well, she just refused to speak for almost a year.

When I motioned for Carla to approach, she hesitantly stepped forward till she was before me. I noticed the moment Ella's eyes landed on Carla's face. Her eyes flew wide and so many emotions rushed over her face at once.

Then she was bursting into tears while uttering a single word, hands outstretched towards a frozen Carla.

"Mommy."

I was transfixed by the sight. Ella was speaking over and over again. 

Carla was clearly in shock, her mouth and eyes wide open.

Before I could attempt to do anything, Carla shocked me as she stepped forward and took a sobbing Ella in her arms and held her against her chest as she cried. My mouth dried up as I watched the sight unfold before me, Carla was gently shushing Carla while gently massaging her back. Ella was crying hard and tightly clinging onto Carla's shirt, like she didn't want her to suddenly leave.

When I noticed tears silently streaming down Carla's face as she comforted Ella, her eyes closed as she moved around with the kid, I was consumed with something warm and light, flooding my chest at once.

The sight was just so... soft and intimate. So vulnerable. Even with tears running down her face, she was still so beautiful. That was something that always stood out to me about her since we were kids- she was unbelievably beautiful.

A bitter feeling soon replaced the warmth. A stranger witnessing this sight won't know that someone this beautiful could ever become a criminal and an accomplice of murder. 

Who could have thought that shy, innocent Carla would grow up into a criminal?

At the end of the day, this was proof that looks could really be deceiving. 

~~~

     After Ella finally fell asleep, Carla and I stepped out of the room, and I led her straight into my office so we could sign the contract. If I had any doubt of this plan, watching Carla with Ella had just eliminated all those thoughts. She was clearly the perfect one for Ella. 

She claimed to not be good with kids, but that had clearly been a lie. No nanny had ever connected with Ella this way, and I've ran through over fifty Nannies for Ella. 

Lena absolutely sucked with Ella and I never tried after that one time Lena called her weird right in my presence because she wouldn't speak.

I presented her with the contracts and showed her where she'd sighed. But she asked if she could sit because she wanted to thoroughly read through it first. 

She's clearly smarter than I anticipated.

After about twenty minutes, she put the contracts down and spoke. "Would I return back to jail after the marriage is over?" She asked.

"Of course. Your sentence is two years, you'll stay married to me for one, then do one year in jail." I responded and she frowned.

"Then I can't sign the contract." She declared and I instantly narrowed my eyes at her.

"I might be trapped in this situation with no choice but I refuse. I can't go to jail back after spending a year being in a contract marriage with you. If you can't alter that clause and still insist, then you might as well send me back to jail." She breathed out, eyes never breaking from mine.

I was actually impressed. I didn't know if she was suddenly this bold because she has now seen that I won't want her gone after seeing how she and Ella connected.

I wordlessly reached for a pen and altered the clause. After that, she wordlessly signed it and got to her feet.

"You're now my wife now. From Carla Van Grande to Carla Dalton Gomez."   

That sent a little rush through my veins before disappearing.

She jutted out her chin as she spoke. "Only on paper." 

I scoffed and pocketed my hands. "Of course."

"I'm technically still married to Dave since the divorce papers are yet to be signed and all." She pointed out as we exited my office.

"I'll have one drawn up in a few days. Do you have any questions?" I asked and she shook her head.

"I'll give you a list of rules tomorrow, but right now, I'll be showing you to your room."

"There are rules I'll have to follow?" She demanded and I rolled my eyes.

"Of course there are. Isn't that already a given?"

She didn't respond and I stopped by the room beside Ella's and turned towards her. "You'll be staying here, and if you do anything to hurt Ella, I promise that I'd..."

"Are you serious? Why the fuck would I hurt a child? Do you think that little of me?" She demanded, sounding insulted.

"I just can't put anything past criminals. That's only logical."

She bristled. "I'm not a criminal and I'd never ever do something as cruel as hurting a child!"

I pursed my lips and responded. "I'll be the judge of that."

She glowered at me this time, her hands fisted at her sides and her chest heaving. "Oh my god, I hate you so fucking much."

I didn't know what came over me, perhaps it was the way her cat shaped eyes glared at me, but in the next moment, I stepped forward, cornering her right into the wall. I leaned down and placed a hand on the spot right above her head, then I reached for her chin with my second hand and tilted her head up so our eyes locked.

"Might I remind you that I spent millions of dollars on your head this morning? Watch how you speak to me." 

As I spoke, her eyes still flashed fire my way before they slowly dimmed and she tensely nodded, the glare still present on her face.

My eyes briefly dropped to her mouth before I continued.

"And for the record, I also hate you."

After those words left my mouth, I dropped her chin and stepped away. My gaze briefly dropped on her slowly heaving chest before I turned away, heading for my own bedroom.

The last thing that flashed before my mind as I stepped into my bedroom were her plump lips and her hazel eyes.