Olivia's POV
Twenty-four hours later, Olivia is back in Adrian's office.
She didn't sleep. She didn't eat. She just sat in her childhood bedroom and thought about contracts and three years and the word "boundaries" which Adrian said like it was sacred. Like crossing it would destroy him.
Adrian is waiting for her.
He hands her the contract without greeting. Just slides it across his desk like they're doing business. Like he's not about to change her entire life.
Olivia's hands shake as she reads.
The first page is all legal language. Party of the first part. Party of the second part. Consideration of services. She skips past it and finds the actual terms.
Three years. Duration of marriage contract beginning upon legal marriage and ending on the three year anniversary. The language is cold. Clinical. Like she's signing on to work in an office, not marry a man.
She lives in his penthouse. Full time. No leaving without permission for more than forty-eight hours.
She attends all public events as his wife. Galas. Business dinners. Charity functions. Anywhere his board members might be watching.
Monthly salary of fifteen thousand dollars.
Upon contract completion, lump sum payment of five million dollars.
Then the section that makes her stomach drop.
"Physical boundaries," she reads out loud. "No intimacy beyond what is required for public appearances."
Adrian doesn't respond.
Olivia keeps reading.
"No romantic claims. No exclusive dating rights. No expectation of fidelity." She looks up at him. "You're going to see other people during this."
"I'm going to do whatever I need to do to maintain my life," Adrian says flatly. "You're not signing on for monogamy, Olivia. You're signing on for three years of performance."
The words hit like ice water.
She goes back to reading. There's a clause about discretion. Everything about this marriage stays private. No interviews. No confession to magazines. No truth bombs after the contract ends.
There's another clause about her family. They have to believe this is real. Complete fabrication of a love story. How they met. When they fell in love. All of it has to be believable.
The last section is titled "Conditions for Termination."
Olivia reads it carefully.
If she falls in love with Adrian, the contract is void. Immediately. No payment. No lump sum. Nothing. She walks away with nothing and her family's debt comes back.
If Adrian decides he's tired of the arrangement, he can end it early but he'll still pay the full five million.
If she tells anyone the truth about the contract, legal action will be taken.
If she tries to leave before three years are up, she forfeits all payments and the debt returns.
It's a trap wrapped in salvation.
"Why are you really doing this?" Olivia asks. Her voice sounds small in the huge office.
Adrian walks to the window. He doesn't turn around. He just stands there looking out at the city while she waits for an answer.
"My board questions my stability," Adrian says finally. "They think a man who's completely alone can't be trusted with a company this size. They think I'm unstable. Dangerous. A wife solves that problem. It makes me seem normal. Human. Like I have attachments to things that matter besides money."
He's quiet for a moment.
"You get your family saved. I get peace at work. Everyone wins," Adrian continues. "It's straightforward. Clean. Business."
Olivia wants to ask him if it will be hard. If pretending to love each other will break something inside him. But she already knows the answer. He doesn't have anything inside him to break. He's already broken.
She thinks about her father. About her mother. About Marcus working himself to death.
She thinks about the alternative. Losing the house. Watching her family collapse. Knowing she could have stopped it.
"There's one more thing you need to understand," Adrian says, still facing the window. "Don't fall in love with me, Olivia. That's the one part of this contract you can't break."
He finally turns to face her.
His expression is cold but his eyes are different. There's something underneath the cold. Something raw.
"If you fall in love with me, this ends," Adrian continues. "And when it ends, it ends badly. For both of us. So don't. Play the role. Smile for the cameras. Pretend we're building something real. But don't actually feel it. Don't let yourself believe that this is anything other than what it is."
Olivia feels something crack open inside her chest.
He's warning her. Telling her in advance that her heart will be in danger. That she shouldn't try to love him because loving him is forbidden.
And she's about to sign anyway.
Adrian walks back to his desk. He puts a pen in front of her.
"Sign it, Olivia. Or walk away. But choose now. I don't have time for hesitation."
Olivia picks up the pen.
Her hand is shaking so badly she can barely hold it. She looks at the signature line. She looks at Adrian. She looks at the contract that will trap her in his world for three years.
She thinks about her father's voice on the phone. Broken. Defeated. Like he'd already given up.
She thinks about her mother in bed. Getting sicker. Getting older. Losing hope.
She thinks about her brother. Twenty years old. Working nights. Giving up his future.
And she signs her name.
Olivia Chen.
The pen scratches across the paper and she watches her life change in real time.
Adrian takes the contract and signs it. His signature is sharp and precise. Like everything else about him.
"Welcome to your new life," Adrian says. "We'll have a wedding this weekend. Small ceremony. Just family and close friends. My assistant will arrange everything."
Olivia nods because she can't speak.
"You'll move into the penthouse Monday morning. I'll have the room next to mine prepared for you. We share a wall but separate entrances."
She nods again.
"We'll attend a charity gala Friday night. That's when the board will see us together for the first time as a couple. You'll need to look at Adrian like you've loved him forever. Do you think you can do that?"
Olivia meets his eyes.
"Yes," she whispers.
"Good," Adrian says. "Then we have a deal."
He extends his hand across the desk.
Olivia shakes it. His grip is firm. Cold. Professional. Like she's just another contract he's closing.
But his eyes hold hers for a moment longer than necessary.
And in that moment, Olivia understands something that terrifies her.
Adrian Kess isn't warning her not to fall in love with him because he's afraid she will.
He's warning her because he's afraid of what will happen if she does.
He's warning her because he already knows that three years of living together, of pretending, of playing husband and wife, might crack the walls around his heart.
He's warning her because he's terrified that he might fall in love with her too.
And if that happens, the contract says everything ends.
Olivia walks out of his office with the contract signed and her fate sealed.
She just married a man she's supposed to hate.
She just agreed to three years of pretending.
She just made the most dangerous choice of her life.
And somewhere deep down, in the part of her heart she's trying to protect, Olivia already knows she's going to break his most important rule.
She's going to fall in love with Adrian Kess.
And when she does, everything is going to burn.