Chapter 3: The Proposal

Sophia's POV

My brow twitched in confusion.

"What?"

Damien leaned back slightly in his chair, his expression remaining unreadable.

"It is a contract. Both sides will benefit."

I stared at him for a moment, searching his face for any sign that he was joking. There was none.

I let out a slow breath.

"I am sorry, but if this is some kind of joke, I am not interested."

"It is not a joke, Sophia."

He paused, his gray eyes fixed on mine.

"I am asking you to marry me."

I nearly choked on my own spit.

Marry him?

Of all the things I expected him to say, that was definitely not one of them. I looked around the restaurant, half-expecting someone to suddenly appear with a camera and tell me this was some elaborate prank.

Nothing happened.

Damien simply sat there, watching me.

At this point, I wanted nothing to do with the Laurent family. I had spent three years believing Ryan was the man I would spend the rest of my life with, only to discover that he had been sleeping with my sister for three months.

And now his cousin was sitting across from me, asking me to marry him.

What kind of ridiculous day was this?

"Sorry," I said, shaking my head. "But I am not interested."

He acted as though I had not spoken.

"The contract marriage will last for five months."

My eyes narrowed. "Five months?"

"Yes."

He folded his hands on the table.

"You will live with me for five months, appear as my wife when necessary, and fulfill the responsibilities that come with the arrangement. At the end of those five months, the marriage will be dissolved and we will go our separate ways."

I stared at him. He said all of it so calmly, as though he were discussing a business transaction.

Then he added, "I will pay you every month."

I let out a short, disbelieving laugh. "Of course you will."

"Name your price."

I shook my head.

"With all due respect, sir, I am going to say this for the second time. I am not interested in your proposal."

I leaned back in my chair.

"I have never met you before today. I do not know you, I do not know why you suddenly want a wife, and I do not even know how you knew my name."

Something changed in his expression. It was barely noticeable, but I caught it. He looked away for a second before returning his attention to me.

“I need to get married 1 week from now, in other to inherit my grandfather’s will. otherwise,... my family will take it from me”. My brow furrowed. He stayed silent for a while.

"You do not need to know everything about me." He continued.

His jaw tightened slightly. "But you will know enough when the time comes."

I frowned.

What did that even mean?

"And why me?"

“Because you are the only person who can give me what I need.”

I frowned. “And what exactly is that?”

His expression remained unreadable.

“You'll find out.”

I waited for him to continue but he didn't.

That silence bothered me more than anything else. There was something about Damien Laurent that made me feel as though I was missing half of the conversation.

"You approached me," I continued. "You knew my name before I introduced myself. And now you are asking me to marry you two minutes after meeting me." I notice his fingers tighten slightly around the edge of the table.

“I make it a habit to know who I'm dealing with.”

I stared at him.

Cold.

That was the word Ryan had used whenever he talked about his cousin.

I had always assumed Ryan was exaggerating. He was not.

Damien reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out a black business card. He placed it on the table and slid it toward me.

"Think about it."

I glanced down at the card. His name was printed neatly across it.

Damien Laurent.

Nothing else. No explanation. No reason. Just his name and a number.

He pushed his chair back and stood.

"I will wait for your call."

I looked up at him. "I am not going to call."

He did not respond. He simply turned and walked toward the exit.

I watched him disappear through the restaurant doors.

For a few seconds, I remained completely still.

Then my eyes drifted back to the card.

Why did I feel like there was more to this?

I called the waitress, paid for my meal, and stood.

I was almost at the entrance when my feet suddenly stopped.

I looked over my shoulder.

The card was still sitting on the table.

I closed my eyes.

What are you doing, Sophia?

I should leave it there. I should walk away from anything connected to the Laurent family.

Instead, I walked back. I picked up the card.

By the time I reached Chloe's apartment, I was exhausted.

I dropped onto the bed and pulled the card from my bag. I studied it for several seconds.

Damien Laurent.

My fingers traced the edge of the card before I quickly pulled my hand away.

What was wrong with me?

I tossed it onto the bedside table and stared at the ceiling.

I did not want to think about him. I did not want to think about Ryan. I did not want to think about anything.

I just wanted my mind to stop replaying everything that had happened.

Eventually, sleep took over.

When I woke up, it was already seven in the evening.

For a moment, I forgot where I was.

Then everything came rushing back.

Ryan and Emma on the bed.

I closed my eyes again.

I did not want to cry. Not again.

I forced myself out of bed, took a shower, and changed into some of Chloe's clothes.

When I returned to the bedroom, I picked up my phone.

One missed call.

From Dad.

I stared at his name for several seconds.

He was the first person from my family to call me after what happened.

That should have meant something.

Instead, it only made my chest hurt.

I ignored the call and dialed Chloe.

She answered almost immediately.

"Hey, babes. I hope you have had enough sleep. And please tell me you did not spend the entire time thinking about that bastard."

A small laugh escaped me.

"Well, that is the spirit!" she exclaimed. "At least you laughed."

I smiled faintly.

Then her voice softened. "Get comfortable in the apartment, okay? Everything there is yours. You can use whatever you want. If you need money talk to me. I figured since you did not want to go home and you did not bring any clothes, you could wear mine."

"You have already done so much for me."

"So?"

I swallowed. "I am really grateful to have you, Chloe. You have always stood by me since we were kids. I honestly do not know what I would do without you."

"Awwn. You are going to make me cry."

I smiled. For a moment, everything felt normal.

Then she sighed. "Anyway... have you thought about getting a job and what you are going to do?"

My smile faded. "What I'm gonna do about what?"

"You know what I mean. Ryan."

I looked away. "I do not want to think about him."

"I know. But eventually, you are going to have to decide what you want to do, we are not gonna let him slip away with it."

I remained silent. My eyes drifted toward the bedside table. The black card was still there.

Damien's card.

"Actually..." I picked it up. "Do you remember Damien Laurent?"

"Damien Laurent?" she repeated. "The one Ryan talks about?"

"Yeah."

"What about him?"

"I met him today."

There was a brief silence. "You met him?"

"At a restaurant."

"What did he say?"

I hesitated. "He made me a ridiculous proposal."

"What kind of proposal?"

I looked down at the card in my hand. "He offered me a contract marriage for five months and I get payed."

Silence. Then— "Oh my God."

I frowned. "What?"

"This is all you need in one place. You get paid, and u can finally get your revenge."

I rolled my eyes. "Chloe, you are being ridiculous."

"No, I am serious."

"You want me to marry Ryan's cousin?"

"Exactly."

I stared at the ceiling. "You cannot be serious."

"Why not? You said it is only for five months and I'm sure the pay is gonna be good. Besides, you can use the money before you get another job."

"That does not make it normal!"

"But think about it, Sophia. Imagine Ryan finding out that the woman he cheated on is now married to his cousin, AKA, his enemy." I heard her release a devilish laugh.

I did not answer.

"Exactly," Chloe continued. "You do not even have to do anything. Just live your life. Find a job and let him see that you are no longer waiting for him."

I swallowed.

Part of me wanted to dismiss the idea immediately. Another part of me couldn't stop thinking about it.

Five months. That was all Damien had asked for. Five months and then we would walk away from each other.

It sounded simple.

But marriage was not something I could enter into simply because I wanted to hurt Ryan or the money. I had already trusted one man with my heart. Look where that had gotten me.

"I do not know," I whispered.

"You do not have to decide right now."

I looked down at Damien's card again.

"But if you do decide to accept, do it because it is what you want. Not because Ryan deserves to suffer."

I was quiet.

For once, Chloe was not joking. She was right.

I did not want my entire life to revolve around Ryan anymore.

Maybe this was not about revenge.

Maybe it was about taking control of what happened next.

The conversation continued for several minutes before we finally ended the call.

I remained on the bed, staring at the card.

My heart was pounding.

I knew this was crazy. I knew marrying a man I barely knew was the last thing a sane person would do after being betrayed.

But there was something else I knew.

I could not go back to Ryan.

Not after what he had done.

I picked up my phone.

I check my bank balance. $341 dollars. That's not gonna last me long.

I took in a deep breathe

My thumb hovered over the number on the card.

Then I dialed it.

I hesitated for a second.

Then I remembered Emma lying on that bed. Ryan touching her. My parents' faces.

Even so, I told myself I was only doing this because I needed the money.

My fingers tightened around the phone.

I pressed the call button.

The phone rang once.

Then his voice came through.

"Damien Laurent."

I closed my eyes. For a moment, I could not speak.

Then I took a deep breath.

"I accept the offer."

There was silence on the other end.

And somehow, I knew that the moment I said those four words, my life had changed again.