In the middle of the small chaos that had ensued following Atlas' announcement, his phone buzzed in his pocket.
His eyes went to his bodyguards and then to Aveline.
They quickly understood his instructions. As he moved to the side, they moved forwards and formed a barricade, placing Aveline in their middle.
"Mum?" He answered the call.
"Where the hell are you? Why is it so noisy?" Nadia Sinclair asked.
"I'm working. If it's not important can we talk la—"
"No, it actually is. Tonight is your engagement party with Faiza. I just wanted to remind you."
He ran a hand through his hair. "I told you already. There isn't going to be an engagement with Faiza. And before you start, don't worry about it. I have someone else, and we'll be married by the weekend." His eyes went to Aveline, as he ended the call.
Atlas walked back to the gathering, and they all cleared the way for him to go through.
"You—" he stopped in front of Aveline. "You can stop the buildings from being taken down, if you agree to follow me right now," he said, putting her in a spot.
Every eyes turned to her. Their lips in unison, began to hound her.
"Aveline, go with the man!"
"Aveline, that's Atlas Sinclair you dumb girl!"
"You have five seconds to give me an answer. Five—"
"She'll do it," Charles, her boss, said on her behalf.
Aveline quickly turned to him, her eyes squinting in disappointment at how easily he sold her out.
"You will, won't you? Remember your loan? This is part of your repayment." He spelt out the words slowly so she could understand clearly.
Internally panicking, Aveline returned Atlas' gaze. "I'll come with you," she simply said.
He nodded, and in a heartbeat, had her in the back seat of his car.
Aveline's heart shuddered the second she sat inside the car.
First, the air was different. She had never sniffed anything so opulent. Perhaps it was the rich leather used in designing the seats.
She wondered if he would consider her weird if she started to sniff.
"Drive," he instructed his driver as soon as he climbed in beside her.
"Yes sir."
He turned to Aveline. "Why did you pretend not to know me? Are you embarrassed of me?" He asked.
Aveline's eyes widened, as she whipped her head to meet his gaze. "I—"
He cleared his throat. "That's not important right now. I have a request for you. It's all in here." He reached into the briefcase to his side, and pulled out a document he handed to her.
Aveline was about to open the document when his hand covered hers.
She froze, feeling the rough texture of his palms grazing hers.
He cleared his throat again, cutting through the thick tension that had suddenly formed, and pulled his hand away. "You can't open it just yet. My driver is going to take you somewhere. There you can open the document. But before you make any decision, I'll tell you what you stand to gain if you just say yes."
Aveline tried to study his face but he wasn't looking at her anymore. His side profile was nothing short of a visual blessing though.
The famous Atlas Sinclair. He was just as handsome as the social media gossip accounts who had never seen him before either, said.
Yet there was something so terrifying about him. Perhaps it was his lean muscular frame. Or maybe the fact that in the entire state, his family ranked number one when It came to wealth.
The thought of being in the presence of such wealth made her shudder, which caught Atlas attention.
"Are you cold?" He quickly asked.
"No," she shook her head immediately. "What's in the document?" She redirected the conversation, this time, purposely avoiding his gaze.
He observed her for a few more seconds, before he spoke again. "You left your purse at the bar—" and just like that, he had her full attention.
"Please, you have to give it back to me!" She grabbed his hand desperately, and pleaded with widened eyes.
He looked down at the spot she held-Soft, he mused internally.
"Important rule, never touch me except I touch you."
Flushed with embarrassment, she pulled her hand away with a quickness.
"Or except the occasion calls for it," he ignored her awkward reaction and continued. "I see you don't understand, so I'll summarize everything. All your loans, and debt, I'll clear off. You'll earn a million dollars for every month you successfully complete without breaking any rules. By the end of one year, you'll receive double of whatever you earned that year. All you need to do is say yes." The car stopped at that exact moment, and Atlas slipped out of the car before Aveline, whose mouth hung open, could get the opportunity to ask any questions.
"A million dollars monthly?" Kept ringing in her head, even as the car finally pulled to a stop in a big compound.
It happened so fast. One second she was trying to adjust her thoughts and eyes to her new surroundings, the next she was strapped into a chair.
"We're going to work on her hair first, and then she can take a shower," a woman tall enough to be an Amazon queen said, before placing the document on Aveline's body. "Read that as we work on you," she said, extending her a sweet smile.
Aveline had barely gathered enough zeal to finally read what was in the document, when she was dragged up, and pushed towards a room.
Immediately she stepped into the bathroom, she gasped loudly.
Never in her twenty-four years of living had she seen a bathroom so luxurious.
She was jolted a little by the rapt knock on the door.
"You have just twenty minutes. Start scrubbing!"
In twenty five minutes, she came out of the bathroom, and was pushed to a chair again.
Completely exhausted by the strange day which had only gotten stranger, she surrendered herself to the thorough hands of the women.
The next time she was able to open the document again, she was in the backseat of another luxurious car.
Her heart pounded heavily, as she opened the documents.
One thing was clear. From the exquisite treatment she had received the entire day, whatever was in the document had to be a slave deal of some sort.
"One million dollars monthly. I'll clear all of your loans and debts." Those words returned to her head.
Her eyes were moving to the document when she caught her reflection in the mirror above. She inhaled sharply, barely recognizing herself.
When the Amazonian woman had pulled her in front of the mirror to see her transformation, she had been at a loss for words. She was still at a loss for words.
Taking a deep breath, she brought her eyes to the words written boldly in the document.
"Sign a one year marriage contract, and become set for life. Here are the rules," her chest tightened as she read through. "Rule one, there's nothing like asking for too much. Money is the least of your problems."
The sky had darkened when Aveline touched ground.
Two hefty bodyguards stood by her side with her in the middle, as they escorted her forward.
The rules played in Aveline's head with every step she took.
"PDA's are just that. Affections can never happen off camera."
A familiar tune travelled into her ears, despite her gaze stuck to the ground.
"If you ever tell anyone about this contract, you'll owe me all of the money I promised you." This rule made her chest tighten some more.
They took a turn into a richly decorated garden with guests gathered all over.
"And the most important rule of them all-" Aveline's head finally lifted up, feeling everyone's curious gaze on the latest arrival who had two guards escorting her forward.
Her eyes quickly found the dashing Atlas. He was walking towards her too, wearing a dark suit that fitted his frame like a glove.
And now, everyone's gazes darted between the both of them.
"The most important rule, never fall in love. That's grounds for termination of the contract."
Atlas stopped directly in front of her. In the presence of everyone, the proud billionaire heir pulled out a diamond ring from his pocket, and dropped on one knee.
"Will you marry me?" He asked, staring directly into her eyes.
"One million dollars monthly- all your debts cleared-all you need to do is say yes," the words played in a loop in her head.
Aveline looked into his eyes, just as something shifted in hers.
Putting on a performance worthy of an Oscar, she gasped in shock. "Yes Atlas, I'll marry you!"
He slipped the ring into her fingers, and rose to his feet.
The crowd erupted in cheers, as Atlas Sinclair gently tilted Aveline's head behind, and brought his lips down on hers.