Beyond the contract

Jessica's pov

I looked around the courthouse, yet there was still no sign of Collins. My heart began to beat faster as I wondered where he might be.

Today was our wedding day and he was running late.

A car drove in and I was rushed to look at who it was thinking it was Collins but to my disappointment, it was another person.

If situations were different, I would have loved to take my time in assessing the demigod standing before me but the situation I was currently in did not give me the luxury for that.

I brought out my phone and decided to call Collins. After the fifth ring, he finally picked up his call.

"Hello babe, where are you?" I asked him eagerly.

"Hello, who is this?" A female voice responded and I choked.

"Hello, I don't know who you are but can you please give the phone to Collins?" I asked the female voice.

"Sorry, but Collins is indisposed at the moment!" The female voice said with a note of finality in her voice.

I heard a male laughter in the background and I could swear that the voice belonged to Collins.

Many thoughts began to run through my head and I tried to hold them in.

I had always known that Collins was a flirt and I had been hearing news about people talking about him in such a way but I was never one to believe such things about the person I was dating.

The one time I decided to ask him about it, it was a disaster.

"Baby, how could you believe what people say about me?" He had asked me sounding hurt.

"I'm not saying that I believed what they were saying, I'm asking you so I could believe you." I tried explaining.

"Well, if you had not believed them, then there would have been no need of you asking me in the first place!" He said flaring up in anger.

"I'm sorry babe, please I'm not doubting you!" I immediately began to apologize.

Collins looked at me that day and walked away without accepting my apologies.

It took an entire week for him to finally start talking to me again and after that encounter, I never brought up the issue of him cheating again.

"Don't think I'm a fool, I could hear Collins in the background so please give him the phone," I said to the lady whose voice was also sounding familiar.

The other end went silent for a while and I thought she had ended the call.

When I was about to hang up the call, I heard Collins's voice in the background as he collected the phone from the female.

"Hello Jessica!" I heard his gruffly voice come up.

"Collins, where are you?" I asked him impatiently.

Something was already telling me that this was a disaster but I chose not to dwell on it.

"I'm at home." He replied nonchalantly.

"I don't get it, you are at home doing what?" I asked him.

"What else would I be doing at him if not to be relaxing? Today is Saturday remember? And I don't work on Saturdays." He answered me still using his nonchalant tone.

"Exactly Collins! Today is Saturday which was why we chose today as our wedding in the courthouse!" I almost yelled.

I was expecting different reactions but the reaction I got from Collins was not among them and it was just embarrassing.

The moment I mentioned that 'today was our wedding in the court,' Collins immediately burst into laughter.

It was not just normal laughter, it was one of immense mockery.

I believed that the call was on loudspeaker because I could hear the female voice laughing too.

It was then I remembered where I had heard the female voice and why it sounded familiar.

It was Jane, the woman he had introduced to me as his cousin.

I caught them together having a nice time at a restaurant and Collins told me she was his cousin.

"Collins, why are you laughing and why is your cousin Jane with you when you are supposed to be with me at the courthouse?" I asked sounding agitated.

"For your information, we are not getting married!" Collins informed me that it was a normal thing.

"But why?" I asked as my heart began to beat erratically.

"Simple! Because I don't love you!" He spat the words out with venom.

"If you don't love me, why ask me to marry you in the first place? Why engage me?" I cried out.

"Look, I just did that for fun, besides, only a woman as foolish as you would take seriously an engagement that you were asked to keep as a secret." He mocked.

My world shattered right before my very eyes and I was beginning to feel dizzy.

"So you mean to tell me that you were never in love with me?" I asked the obvious though I already knew the answer.

"No, okay, maybe at a point I thought I did, but you were too boring for me to keep as a side kick and you appeared too desperate to me," Collins answered.

Every word he said cut through me like a hot knife.

I had given my all to Collins and here he was telling me I was just for fun and being desperate.

If cruelty was to be a person, it would be Collins.

"So do you have someone else?" I asked just to be sure.

"Of course, it's Jane, Jane here is my only true girlfriend." He announced proudly.

I heard kissing sounds in the background but that was not the issue to me at the moment.

"Jane your cousin?" The moment I asked the question, I felt foolish.

Collins burst into laughter again.

"Oh no dearie, Jane is not my cousin." He answered.

"So you fooled me!" I cried out again.

"Like I have always had. You are foolish Jessica and I would love you to never approach me again! Our business together is done." He said.

"Collins!" I yelled.

"Enjoy your wedding day." He taunted and ended the call.

I was beyond distraught, I was devastated.

I was about to call him again when I heard the demigod I had met earlier asking someone on the phone to get him a bride.

Take it as a moment of impulse or whatever you want but at that moment, I was not thinking straight.

I marched right to him and said.

"I will be your bride!"

***

Xavier's pov

"Grandfather! You cannot do this!" I half screamed.

"Of course I can and that is exactly what I am doing!" My Grandfather replied.

I looked at the old man and felt like wriggling his neck.

Mind you, I love my grandfather to a fault.

After my parents died in a plane crash, he was the one who took me in and groomed me to be the man I turned out to be.

My grandfather had always been somewhat of an extremist but I still loved him like that.

He was as mischievous as he was formidable when it came to business.

He taught me everything I needed to know to grow and succeed in the business world till I became the billionaire CEO that I am today.

Let me not bore you with such dreary details as that would be a story for another day because right now, this old man was at it again.

"Grandfather, please let's try to reason this thing together." I pleaded.

"There is nothing to reason about! It's either you get married and give me an heir in one year or you forget to take my position as chairman!" The old man insisted.

"Grandfather, this is not fair!" I protested.

"Life in itself is not fair my boy, how many times have I taught you that?" The old man asked.

I could see the change in the tone of his voice and I knew the next thing he was going to bring up.

"Grandfather not now please." I tried to stop him but it was too late.

"Oh, how different things would have been if your parents were alive!" He wailed.

The conniving bastard and emotional blackmail were two sides of a coin.

My grandfather was a grandmaster when it came to the act of emotionally blackmailing people.

Sometimes I began to wonder if emotional blackmail was a part of his business success strategies.

My grandfather could move from being strict to weak to pitiful to wicked in seconds and mind you, people usually say I am much worse.

I placed my palm on my face and began to rub my forehead with my index finger.

"Grandfather, it's okay!" I begged.

"Nothing is okay, at least your parents would have had other children by now so I would not be stuck with you as my only option." He continued wailing.

"Alright grandfather, I will get a bride." I conceded.

I could see the instant change in his demeanor and I could not help but snicker.

"And also an heir." He added.

I rolled my eyes in frustration.

It was obvious this man wanted to turn me into a breeding ground.

"Grandfather, you seem to forget that I cannot determine the sex of a child, it could be male or female." I tried explaining to him.

"And nobody is disputing that fact with you, and I don't care if the child is a male or female, I just need an heir to continue the bloodline." The old man insisted.

"Alright, if you say so, then I will get myself a bride and give you an heir!" I said as I made to walk out.

"I need you to get married in a month and she must be beautiful!" He shouted after me.

"I don't want an ugly heir." He muttered under his breath as I angrily slammed the door and walked out.

***

"Get me a bride in the next month!" I said to my friend and partner in crime.

Mike looked at me like I had just gone crazy, we had come to our usual hangout lounge owned by Mike when I suddenly blurted out what was in my mind.

"Don't tell me that your grandfather had finally gotten through to you!" He laughed.

I looked at Mike sternly but it was obvious my sternness did not affect him at all.

Mike was also from an influential family of lawyers and doctors and all the big-shot careers in the world.

His father was a well-known politician and Mike and I have been friends since childhood.

Our parents were friends so we practically grew up together.

"The old man keeps getting on my nerves!" I sighed in frustration.

"Can you imagine that the other day, he asked me if we were dating each other?" I revealed and Mike almost choked on his drink.

"What?" He exclaimed.

"Exactly! He said we were both single and so it was not hard for him to conclude on it." I explained.

Mike burst into laughter and I could see him thinking of something mischievous to do.

"Kill that mischievous glint in your eyes this instant before I take out the light in your eyes." I threatened causing Mike to enter into another fit of laughter.

"It's not funny because now he is threatening not to hand over the chairman position to me if I don't get married and give him an heir," I confessed to Mike.

"Then, at this junction, I say it's Operation Get Xavier a Bride!" Mike said with much flourish and I could see just how much he relished the idea.

***

It was one month already and Mike had finally gotten me a bride.

I had been open with my grandfather and told him the truth that it was just a contract marriage.

The marriage would be annulled after the lady gave me a child and he agreed.

"I don't care what you do, I just want it registered that you married and have a legitimate child." He had said.

Now today was the wedding day in court and my said bride was nowhere to be found.

I had made it a very quiet wedding with just the bride and me and Mike's uncle as our witnesses.

I did not reveal my main identity as Mike was the one who had been talking to her.

After the wedding, I introduced her to my grandfather but I made sure Mike told her the rules and she agreed.

"Mike! Where the hell is my bride?" I asked Mike.

"I'm sorry Xavier, I'm trying to look for a replacement because she said her mother had an emergency so she can not leave her," Mike explained.

"But I need a bride!" I screamed in frustration.

I turned and watched a girl in a wedding dress march right to me.

"I will be your bride!" She said.

***

Xavier's pov

"Mike put the search on hold, I will call you back," I said to Mike and ended the call.

I looked at the woman in front of me and was confused.

"Why?" I simply asked.

"Because you need a bride and I need a groom." She said waving her hand all over her wedding gown.

"Where is your groom?" I asked her.

"He stood me up." She replied.

She looked tough and her voice was strong and steady but I knew she was not in any way steady.

I had dealt with a lot of people as a businessman, man so I could easily read people's emotions

She was indeed beautiful.

Perfectly structured body, Hazel eyes with long wavy brunette color hair.

It made me wonder who would have been so stupid enough to stand up to a woman as gorgeous as she. Even my supposed bride was nowhere near her when it came to beauty.

I also began to wonder why I was acting interested in her.

My getting married was strictly for business reasons and I had no intentions of getting to know anything personal about whoever I was getting married to except if she was fertile enough to get me an heir.

"Alright, I will agree to marry you on one condition," I told her.

"And what is that?" She asked me.

"Our marriage is a contract marriage and it will last only for a year during which you must give me a child," I stated the rules.

"And what if I am unable to give you the heir before the one-year expires?" She asked raising her eyebrows.

"Then the contract gets annulled and you will pay me a compensation fee of twenty million dollars," I said.

I watched her eyes widen in shock at the amount I called.

She looked at me and swallowed hard as she began to weigh her options in her mind.

"And if I give you a child, what happens?" She asked again.

"Simple, the marriage would still be annulled and you will be given a compensation fee of a hundred and fifty million dollars and you will be well settled with a house and car of your choice and even after that, you will be put on a monthly payment of five million dollars for five years after which our agreement comes to an end," I explained to her.

She breathed in and out as she thought about it again.

"But there is a clause," I told her.

"And what is that?" She inquired.

"You will sign an agreement form not to have anything to do with me or the child after the one year and you will never lay claim to the child else you will be slammed with a lawsuit that you will never be able to win," I revealed to her.

"Wow, so businesslike." She commented.

"Exactly! Everything between us would be strictly business even when we sleep together, it would be strictly for the sake of childbearing." I said.

I watched her blink her eyes rapidly as her face suddenly turned red.

Somehow, it felt so cute watching her blush in such a manner and I had to resist the urge to scoop her into my hands and kiss that redness away.

I shook my head in annoyance to clear my head.

"Are you okay?" She asked me.

I'm sure my change in expression must have caught her unawares and made her feel uncomfortable.

"Yes, I'm okay," I said as I flashed her smile.

I wondered what was wrong with me and why I was so bent on making her comfortable.

This was not part of the plans and this strange beautiful goddess here was making me feel like a teenager again and I was not happy with it.

I tried to be stern and businesslike with her but still, something in me wanted to draw her into my arms and take away her pains with kisses and cuddles while I listened to her story.

"When do I sign the contract?" She asked startling me.

"Don't worry, the documents are with the judge and we will sign them together as we sign the marriage form," I explained to her.

When I told my grandfather about my plans, he had decided to draw up the contract by himself and one of Mike's uncles was the judge who would be in charge of the wedding.

"Alright! Let's do it." She agreed.

"What is your name?" I asked her.

"Jessica, my name is Jessica Blackwell." She said.

"I'm Xavier McCartney."

***

I decided to call Mike to tell him to stop the search since I had already gotten a bride.

"Hey, man! I'm so sorry I have been unable to get a replacement." Mike panted immediately when he picked up the call.

"It's okay Mike, I forgive your incompetence, I already got myself a bride," I announced to him.

"Wow, really, so fast? Where did you meet her?" He asked in a rush.

"Here at the courthouse but it's a long story and I will explain it later," I said.

"Alright, so how is she? Is she beautiful?" Mike asked.

I took a look at Jessica again and answered Mike.

"She is stunning and gorgeous," I said.

***

When I ended my call with Mike, I gestured to Jessica for us to enter the courthouse.

Uncle Fabian was the judge.

He was my favorite amongst all of Mike's uncles and he was the closest to all of us.

My grandfather chose him as the judge to oversee the wedding because he was the one we trusted to keep it confidential.

"So let's begin!" Uncle Fabian said with joy as he ushered us into his office.

As I said earlier, it was a very private wedding so there was no need to use the main hall.

We exchanged vows and rings and it was time to sign the documents.

Without going through it, Jessica and I both signed the documents.

I was about to hand over the documents to Uncle Fabian when Jessica caught a clause in it and she drew my attention to it.

The duration of our marriage arrangements had been changed from one year to...

"Five years!" Jessica and I both screamed.

***