Chapter 2 - The Contract and The Unwelcome Visitor
The ride to my apartment was silent but charged with an intense, unspoken energy. Giovanni had insisted on driving me in his black armored sedan. His driver, a quiet man named Marcus, kept his eyes strictly on the road. In the seat next to me was a beautifully boxed slice of Sophia’s wedding cake.
When we pulled up to my modest apartment building in a working-class neighborhood of Chicago, Giovanni looked out the window, assessing the dark alleyways and the flickering streetlights.
“I will walk you up,” he stated. It wasn't a question.
“Giovanni, you’ve done enough,” I said, holding the cake tightly. “You saved me from a panic attack and humiliated my ex. The game is over now.”
“The game has just begun, Jessica,” he said, opening his door.
Inside my tiny one-bedroom apartment, my best friend Camila was asleep on the sofa. She woke up groggily, her eyes widening to the size of saucers when she saw the massive, dangerous-looking man in a tailored suit standing in my tiny living room.
“Jess? Who is… wow,” Camila whispered, staring at Giovanni.
“Camila, this is Giovanni. He… helped me out tonight,” I said quickly. “Can you check on Lily?”
As Camila hurried into the bedroom, Giovanni walked to my small kitchen table. He took out a sleek black fountain pen and a piece of high-quality paper from his breast pocket. He wrote down a number.
“Tomorrow morning, a lawyer will arrive at your hospital,” Giovanni said. “He will hand you a contract. A marriage of convenience for one year. In exchange, your daughter’s education, your rent, and your medical debts will be paid in full. You will also receive a monthly stipend of fifty thousand dollars.”
I stared at the paper, then at him. “Why me, Giovanni? You could hire an actress. You could find someone from your own world.”
“Because you don't want my money, Jessica. You want to protect your daughter,” he said, his eyes drilling into mine. “And because when I looked into your eyes tonight, I saw a survivor. I need someone who won’t break when my family tries to destroy her. Because they will try.”
Before I could answer, he turned and left, closing the door softly behind him.
The next morning at the hospital was a whirlwind. I was in the middle of checking a chart for a six-year-old asthma patient when a man in a pristine grey suit approached the nurse’s station.
“Jessica Hale?” he asked. “I am Arthur Vance, legal counsel for Mr. Fierro.”
He handed me a thick folder. I took it into the breakroom, my hands shaking. The terms were exactly as Giovanni had said, but there was a clause at the bottom: The party must reside together at the Fierro Estate to maintain the appearance of a legitimate marriage.
My phone buzzed. It was an unknown number.“Sign it, Jessica. Your ex-husband just filed for an emergency custody amendment. He claims you are mentally unstable and living in poverty.”
My breath hitched. Tyler. He was trying to take Lily to satisfy Vanessa’s twisted sense of superiority. I didn't hesitate. I grabbed Arthur Vance’s pen and signed my name on the dotted line.
Two hours later, as I was walking out of the hospital shift, a sleek black SUV pulled up. But it wasn't Giovanni.
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The window rolled down to reveal Victoria Fierro, Giovanni’s aunt.
“Get in, Jessica,” she said coldly. “We need to talk about how much it will take for you to disappear from my nephew’s life.”
