Billionaire's Contract

My name is Sera

I come from a small town called Talluah. It's not loud. It's not rich. Nothing happens here except time passing too slowly and people watching too much. The kind of town where news travels faster than cars. If you smile too widely, someone will ask why. If you cry, someone will notice.

But Talluah was my home.

I was sixteen when my mother died. She was strong. She laughed a lot. She smelled like soap and cinnamon and always kissed my forehead before bed. She got sick too fast. One week it was stomach pains. The next week it was tubes and doctors saying sorry in low voices.

After she died, I didn't feel anything for a long time. I just walked around like a shadow of myself. The house grew quiet. My father didn't speak much after the funeral. He used to be a strong solid man. His hands are rough from years of building things. His chest was full of heavy memories. After she was gone, he stopped waking up on time. He stopped working. He lost his job within months. Said he needed time. Time turned into years.

I dropped out of school. I tried to hold on but I couldn't. I was working three jobs and still trying to study. It didn't work. My mind was always at home, worrying if Dad remembered to eat or if he was just sitting and thinking about some old memories again.

I wanted to be something. I used to dream of studying medicine because I had always loved to save lives. But all that became a memory. I told myself I could go back someday. I told myself this was temporary.

That someday never came.

Now I'm twenty-one and still in Talluah. Still working. Still trying to keep my father alive. And somewhere along the way I stopped being a girl with dreams and became a girl with survival lists.

I never gave myself to anyone. I never kissed anyone, never touched or let myself be touched. My body was all I had left. It was mine. My pride. My proof that I still had control over something

But life has a way of testing even that

It started with my father coughing too much. At first, I thought it was a cold. But then he couldn't eat. Couldn't move. I rushed him to the hospital. The doctors said kidney failure. Something dangerous. Something that needed fast treatment

I looked at the papers. Thousands of dollars in medical bills. Medicine. Tests. Bed fees

I looked at my account. I had two hundred and fifty-three dollars. Rent was due in five days

I stood in a white hallway holding those papers and I felt something inside me break. Not in a loud way, not like glass either. But something inside me quietly broke. Like soft fabric tearing in a dark room

I went home that night and sat on the floor of our kitchen. The fridge was empty. My phone battery was dead. My father was asleep in the hospital, hooked to tubes. I stared at the wall and asked myself one question

What's left to give

And I knew the answer

There was only one thing I had never sold

Myself, My pride.

It made my stomach turn. The thought of it. I didn't want to do it. I hated even thinking it

But I loved my father

He gave me everything when I had nothing. He held me through every nightmare. He worked for years to keep a roof over our heads. He lost his heart when Mom died. And now he was losing his life

And I couldn't lose him too

So I stood up. I washed my face. Put on clean clothes. Nothing fancy. Just a white blouse and jeans. I tied my hair up. Put on a little gloss. I looked in the mirror. My eyes were dull. My mouth is straight. But I told myself it was fine. This is what choice looks like when there are no choices left

I walked to the edge of town. Past the closed shops. Past the church. To the part of Talluah where people go when they don't want to be found. A bar with dark glass windows. I had never been inside. I didn't belong there. But that night I didn't care. At first, I went for just a drink to cool off my brain

But something happened.

The air smelled like smoke and old leather. The music was slow. People laughed low. I walked in and sat at the bar. I ordered a drink that I didn't finish. My hands shook, my eyes were so dull with tears, and my throat burned. But I stayed

That's when I saw him

He was sitting in the corner. Alone. Not drinking. Just watching the room like he didn't belong in it. He was tall. Dressed in black. Clean. Cold and handsome. His eyes were sharp and unreadable. His face was calm but not kind

He looked like money. He looked like danger. He looked like he had never begged for anything in his life

And for some reason, he walked straight toward me

He didn't smile. He just stood there. Then sat beside me. I didn't move. I didn't speak. He asked me if I was okay. I nodded. He said I looked like someone carrying too much burden. I stayed quiet

Then he asked what I needed

I stared at my hands for a long time

Then I told him the truth

I need money. My dad is dying. I'll do anything. I mean anything.

He looked at me. For a while. He was Silent.

Then he asked me one thing, Are you a virgin?

I looked him in the eye and nodded.

He said Alright..

He didn't ask my name. I didn't ask his. He paid for the drink. Told me to follow him. I did.

We walked to a hotel down the road. The front desk man didn't ask questions. The room was clean and cold. I stood by the window. My hands are shaking. My chest is tight. He took off his jacket. Unbuttoned his shirt. He moved like a man used to getting what he wanted. I had never been this close to a man before. Not like this

I lay down. I closed my eyes. Told myself to breathe. Told myself this was for my father. Just money. Just one night. Just survive this and move on.

It hurt. But I didn't cry. My eyes were full of tears and pain but I didn't speak.

And when it was over I stood up. Got dressed. He handed me a thick envelope. I took it. No words. No goodbyes

I walked out into the cold air with weak legs and burning skin. The street was quiet. My body felt heavy. But the money was real. And my father would live

So I told myself it was worth it. I told myself it was over.

But I had no idea what I had just started.