The Contract With Her Father's Billionaire Rival-Chapter 27. Just A Contract Marriage.

When Nicolette had first been brought out of the small room Craig had placed her in, panic had taken over her body, wondering what he was going to do to her.

Craig hadn’t locked her up or anything, but he had made it clear that her freedom had been stripped away, and she had been expecting worse.

But when she saw Alaric in the room, relief swept away her panic.

He had found her!

The tiny voices in her head cheered.

Except now, the excitement, the relief—had all been ripped out of her at Alaric’s words.

He had called her a bitch.

The words hit her harder than she had expected, freezing her in place.

When Alaric looked at her, his eyes shone with indifference, the smirk on his lips widening as he turned to Craig.

Her stomach dropped, and her chest squeezed with pain.

"I can’t wait, Alaric Allens," Craig said, his excitement evident in his voice. He stood up, walked over to them, and extended his hand. "Nice doing business with you."

Alaric shook his hand, his voice firm. "See you soon."

Craig laughed, the sound irking Nicolette as she closed her eyes. When she opened them, Craig’s eyes glinted with lust as he winked at her.

She turned sharply to the door, irritation building up inside her.

"Let’s go," Alaric said in a soft tone that made her heart flutter.

Stop fucking reacting!

She chided herself as she followed Alaric out. He didn’t even look at her or speak to her, like he was repulsed by her presence, like coming here had been a big inconvenience.

Her heart tightened with annoyance, but beneath it was hurt—hurt by his actions, hurt by his words.

She shook her head, stifling the pain before it turned into stupid tears.

He was a stranger, after all, and as he had implied, he was only doing her a favor.

Don’t let him hurt you.

It’s just a contract marriage.

One year, and it would all be over.

Nicolette clenched her fists as fresh determination surged through her. She followed Alaric silently until they stepped outside.

A car was waiting, and Alaric opened the door for her and waited till she got in. She exhaled, steadying her emotions as she slid in.

"Hello, ma’am," the driver greeted as he started the car.

"Hi," she replied calmly.

"Take us home," Alaric said, his voice expressionless.

She shifted in her seat, refusing to look at him. "I don’t want to go to your house."

"You don’t have a choice. We can’t have—"

"I want to see Suzie," she said, interrupting him harshly.

Seeing Suzie wasn’t her priority, but she wasn’t going to let him know that. More than anything, she craved a cold bath, food, a body massage, and a deep sleep.

She knew she shouldn’t fight going to Alaric’s house—that was the only place she could get all of those things—but she couldn’t make it easy for him either, not after the names he had called her.

Alaric sighed before speaking. "Suzie and her son are safe. You don’t want to compromise their location. Besides, your father’s men are still looking for you, and with me is where you will be safer. You know that."

Of course, she knew he was right, but still—

"I protected myself all this while, didn’t I?" she shot back, injecting just the right amount of coldness into her tone.

He cocked his head, giving her a look. "Did you?"

She bit her lip, her cheeks burning as she turned away.

"See," Alaric said, his voice soft again. "I know you’re mad about what I said in—"

"I don’t care," she snapped, pain oozing from inside her. She didn’t need any more reminders of his harsh words. "It doesn’t matter. You’re paying me to do a job, and I will."

"Nicolette..."

It was the first name he was calling her name, and it... sent shivers down her spine. Her blush deepened, and she pinched herself to stop reacting to it.

Alaric placed a hand on hers, and she quickly nudged it away, refusing to let the emotions settle inside her stomach and form into something.

She watched as he clenched his fist, pulling his hand back. The car ride was thick with silence, and Nicolette shifted uncomfortably.

After a solid minute, Alaric spoke again, his voice slightly filled with concern. "Why did Craig take you? What did you do?"

His question dragged her back to the moment, and hurt tightened in her chest again. She swallowed it down, replacing it with anger.

"Since you were all friendly and all, why didn’t you ask him yourself?"

He caught the jab and looked out the window. For another moment, he went silent.

Despite the cold air in the car, Nicolette felt suffocated, her heart pounding with each stretch of the silence.

"I did what I had to," Alaric said finally, his voice cutting through the tension, uneasiness lacing his words. "Craig Walsh is a dangerous man—"

"And I said I don’t care," she interjected again.

"Alright, whatever," he hissed, annoyance rising in his tone.

Nicolette swallowed down the hurt again. "Thank you for paying the debt. Let me know what I have to do to repay you."

She braced herself, waiting to hear something ridiculous. Unfortunately—or fortunately, she didn’t know which—he only nodded.

She had been expecting an argument, a reason to lash out again, but Alaric didn’t give her one. And somehow, that hurt more than his earlier words.

Accepting that she might never get what she wanted from him, she forced herself to settle into her seat. She was already lost in thought when he spoke again.

"Where’s your ring?"

She jerked, looking at him. "What?"

He gestured to her bare fingers. "Your ring."

Her body stiffened as she remembered how her father had hit her for it. She curled her fingers as if nursing its absence. "It’s... gone."

Alaric’s jaw clenched, his voice turning cold. "Okay."

Should she explain to him?

Or let it go?

Before she could make a decision, he turned to her, just as the car came to a halt.

A frown on his face, his tone colder than before. "For misplacing the ring and having me pay for whatever you owe Craig, the contract would go on for six more months."

She blinked, disbelief racing through her. "What? You can’t do that! That’s not part of the deal!"

He turned sharply to her, his eyes shining with annoyance. "You signed the contract, and that means you also agreed to play by my rules. I made the contract, I made the rules, and I can change it anytime. And if I’m paying your debts, I set the terms."

Her confusion deepened. "But... you can’t just change a legally binding contract whenever you feel like it. It’s against the law!" she said, her voice sharp.

"I risked my reputation going into Craig’s domain with no security of my own!" He shot back. "I don’t think you have a say here, sweetheart."

He had a point, but Nicolette wasn’t going to make it that easy for him.

"You think you own me now just because you bailed me out?!"

But Alaric didn’t reply to her. He just stepped out of the car, leaving her behind.

"Fuck!" Panic surged through Nicolette, followed immediately by anger.

Alaric had joined the list of people who had hurt her.

And she would make him pay—big time.