The Contract With Her Father's Billionaire Rival-Chapter 53. A Bad Contract.

When Alaric had left for his family dinner, Nicolette had spent the night thinking.

Her thoughts wandered from the wedding to all the events that had happened. She moved to the bed, buried in thought, and stayed that way until morning.

Nicolette jolted awake. She paused, wondering if something had disturbed her.

She yawned and stretched. Her eyes caught the gleam of the ring on her finger, and she tensed up.

She was now Mrs. Allens.

The thought stirred a wave of emotion through her chest, but she brushed it off.

No sad thoughts today.

Today would be different. She would try her best to make it different.

Stretching again, she trudged out of bed. She entered the bathroom and took a cold shower. She was dressing when there was a knock on the door.

Her heart skipped, but she spoke. "Yes?"

"It’s Anna," came the reply.

"One second, please," she said, finishing up. Dressed in a blue gown, she walked over and opened the door. "Good morning, Anna."

"Good morning, Lettie," Anna replied with a smile. "I hope you slept well?"

"Yes, yes I did," she said, returning the smile.

"Your husband would like you to join him for breakfast," Anna said smoothly.

Nicolette’s stomach dropped. "Hmm..." she trailed off.

Was she really ready to see him? After everything that happened yesterday?

Her cheeks flushed, but she nodded, realizing Anna might take the fall if she refused. "Alright."

Anna’s smile widened. "Right now or... later?"

Nicolette glanced hesitantly at her room. With a sigh, she gave in. "Right now is good."

Anna nodded. "Come with me."

Nicolette locked her door and followed Anna through another wing of the house.

She had to give it to Alaric—his house was massive. There were still so many rooms she hadn’t seen. Then her thoughts drifted to the things the young maids had whispered about him.

His history.

His past.

She clenched her fingers as she walked beside Anna, a new mission forming in her mind.

She had to find out what Alaric was about.

"We’re here, ma’am," Anna said, stopping in front of a big black door.

"Thank you," Nicolette said with a nod.

She took a deep breath and pushed the door open. The room was smaller than she expected. She had anticipated something extravagant—something out of this world—but it was simple and classy.

The table had been laid with a modest amount of food: omelets, pancakes, bacon, and coffee.

Alaric was seated by the table and he looked up when she walked in. "Morning," he greeted.

She had expected a cold tone after yesterday’s argument, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t warm either. Just there.

"Good morning," she replied softly, pulling out a chair. She picked the one furthest from him.

He said nothing and began to serve himself.

She waited for him to finish before serving herself. Once the smell of bacon hit her nose, her stomach growled.

She flushed, embarrassed. "Sorry," she said quietly, but Alaric either didn’t hear or pretended not to as he focused on his plate.

She tucked her hair behind her ear and poured herself a cup of coffee. The silence stretched between them as they ate.

Eventually, Alaric broke it. "Do you have any plans today?"

Except digging up on his past.

"No, nothing at all," she replied, taking a bite of her pancakes.

"Anna will get your measurements later so she can get some new... dresses for you."

Her hand tightened around her fork. Was he trying to play another trick on her? Was she supposed to say something?

"Okay," she said flatly instead.

He opened his mouth like he was going to speak, but then closed it and focused on his food again.

This was getting awkward.

They sat there like nothing had happened. Like they hadn’t explored each other. Like they hadn’t argued the day before.

His behavior was making her simmer with anger, but she kept it in check.

"I came to your room last night, but you didn’t answer," he said, his voice deliberately even, like he was trying his hardest to hold a conversation.

And that pissed her off.

"We don’t have to force a conversation," she said, her voice tight with annoyance. "We can just sit here quietly and pretend like everything is cool."

Alaric dropped his fork loudly on his plate. "I’m trying to be cordial. I don’t want more issues. You don’t see me bringing up why you didn’t come with me to the dinner."

She dropped her fork too and turned to him. "But you were going to. That’s why you brought up coming to my room."

His jaw clenched. "Let’s not do this. Please."

"Do what?"

He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Let’s just eat. Please."

She narrowed her eyes but she returned to her food, only because she was hungry.

"What place would you like to go for the honeymoon?" he asked after a pause.

She turned to him, confused. "What?"

He took a sip of his coffee. "You know, honeymoon. A place where newlyweds—"

"I know what a honeymoon is!" she snapped. "I’m just surprised you’re asking. It was never mentioned. We never discussed it."

"Well," he sat straighter, "I just thought it would make sense. If we’re going to paint a proper marriage, don’t you think having a honeymoon would sell it?"

"I’m not disagreeing. I’m just surprised you didn’t include it in the contract, that’s all."

She expected him to argue, but to her surprise, he didn’t.

"Yes, I should have mentioned it earlier," he said calmly. "And I’m sorry for that."

She furrowed her brow slightly but quickly composed herself.

She cleared her throat and nodded. "Okay."

"So we’ll be leaving tonight."

She blinked. "Tonight?"

"You don’t have anything planned for today, so why waste time?"

His casual tone, the way he said it like she was just another arrangement got to her and she flared. But before she could protest, he raised a hand.

"I’m not trying to fight, Cole. Please."

"I’m not fighting either," she snapped. "I’m just surprised you made that decision without even asking me—"

His eyes darkened. "This is me asking you."

She stood up, her chest tight with anger. "You already made the decision. Just because I signed the contract doesn’t mean you own me!"

"You think this is easy for me?" he muttered, not meeting her eyes.

She blinked, surprised by his statement.

He cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair, his eyes unreadable. "I found out yesterday that you didn’t invite Lucian Crawford to the party. I found the person responsible."

Relief replaced the anger in her chest. It was as if someone had switched off the fire and replaced it with ice.

"I told you I wasn’t lying," she managed to say. Her voice shook, but she didn’t look away.

"Yes," he said with a nod. "But the news got out. We have to debunk it."

Anger surged into her veins again. "That’s it?" Her hands clenched and her mouth twisted into a frown.

His brow lifted, confusion written all over his face. "If we don’t debunk, my reputation is at stake. I can’t afford—" 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"You gave me a hard time about it and that’s all you have to say? No apologies?"

She stared at him, stunned by his coldness. She couldn’t believe he just wanted to walk over the event like he didn’t almost rip her head off about it.

"I apologize," he said. But the words were flat. Hollow. Unconvincing.

"You can’t even swallow your pride and admit when you’re wrong." Her voice shook with disbelief.

"I am sorry. I shouldn’t have given you a hard time about it."

She shook her head, her stomach knotting with a mixture of anger and pain.

How could he be this emotionless after they had made love?

It was like she was staring at a stranger—he was still a stranger, but she thought yesterday’s intimacy would have wiped off some of the unfamiliarity.

The anger turned inward now. Mostly at herself. She couldn’t believe she had let her body lead and now she was pissed she wasn’t getting any emotion from him.

What was she expecting?

"Enjoy your meal," she said, turning to leave.

"Nicolette!" he called. "You can’t just decide not—I’m sorry. Is that it? I have a reputation to protect, please."

She ignored him and walked out of the dining room, gritting her teeth.

She should’ve known he would say something like that. His awkwardness, his silence, it had all hinted at it.

She groaned as she entered her room, her nerves fraying.

"Honeymoon?" she scoffed to herself. "Reputation? He just—" She froze as a thought crossed her mind.

His reputation.

What was that about?

She lunged for the bedside table and picked up her phone. Until now, she hadn’t questioned why he wanted a contract marriage in the first place.

She typed in his name and news articles popped up. She scrolled through them.

Wedding. Business. More wedding coverage.

Then one headline caught her eye. She clicked on it, and gasped.

"What the hell!" she cried, immediately dialing Suzie’s number. When Suzie answered, she slumped on the bed, her heart hammering in her chest.

"Oh, Suzie. I have signed a bad contract."