CHAPTER 3
1152 Words
JACE’S POV
As I stepped out of my father’s office, my mind went back to the maid from earlier.
I didn’t know why, but I couldn’t stop thinking about her. The way she looked at me without really looking at me. Like she wanted to disappear into the walls.
After a moment of hesitation, I changed direction and walked toward the staff quarters.
From his office window, I knew Davis was watching. I didn’t care.
When I reached the female wing, I ran into someone I hadn’t thought about in years.
“Jace. Hi,” Kate said, already shifting her weight and smiling like she used to. “Didn’t know you were back. Want me to come to your room later?”
I stared at her without blinking, just long enough to make her shift. I wasn’t in the mood to play.
“No,” I said flatly. “I’m not back. I’m looking for the new girl.”
Her smile dropped. “Oh… Sophia. Fourth room on your right,” she mumbled, pointing to the blue building like it had betrayed her.
I didn’t bother to thank her. I just walked away while she stood there seething. I could feel it behind me like heat.
When I reached the door, I almost kicked it open but stopped myself. I knocked instead. Politeness isn’t my thing, but something about her made me pause.
She opened the door, and there she was. Smaller than I remembered, almost delicate, with wide eyes that refused to meet mine. I took a step in before she could speak.
“I’m his son,” I said. Her eyes jumped to my face, searching for something. I knew what she was thinking. I don’t look like him. Good.
“I know I don’t look like him. Small brain,” I added, smirking as I stepped into her tiny room. I felt like a goddamn beast in there.
“My name is Sophia. Not small brain,” she said, closing the door behind me.
“Could’ve fooled me. Your head’s so small I’m not sure how a big brain fits in there.”
“Why are you here?” she asked. “I owe your father. I don’t owe you anything.”
“I’m here to make a deal,” I said, sitting on her bed like it belonged to me. “To get you out of here. To give you your freedom.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Is this Davis’ idea?”
I almost laughed. “See? Small brain. Why would that old bastard want you free? He’s the reason you’re here. He may have gotten my mother pregnant, but that’s all he is to me. A sperm donor.”
“What do you get out of this?”
“My mother off my back and a seat in the company. She wants me married. I want her to stop talking about marriage. We both win.”
“Mister, I don’t know who you are but I think you’re insane,” she said.
I chuckled. “I personally thought it was genius.”
She folded her arms. “So what’s your genius plan?”
“You marry me,” I said simply. “I pay whatever you owe Davis. You can name a price if you want. Money, car, property, whatever. We marry privately first. Then we stage the love story. A fake engagement, a public wedding. A year later, we divorce and you walk away free. I walk away in peace.”
She looked at me like I had grown horns. “Why me? Don’t you have a bunch of women around?”
“Girlfriends are exhausting. Mistresses are easier but that’s not the kind of girl my mother would approve. You don’t strike me as the type to get attached.”
She looked like she was giving it a thought. She didn’t have any other options but to accept. Today she could be just a maid but tomorrow, she could be a s*x slave to Davis.
“If I say yes, we lay down ground rules,” she said. “No physical intimacy. You’re free to sleep with your mistresses and the rest and I’m free to see whoever I want.”
“Fine by me. Do you have anyone?”
“None of your business. As yours isn’t my business too,” she said quietly. Like it wasn’t just a fact but something she lived with.
“Good. Makes it easier.”
I pulled out my phone and sent a text. “You will come with me. We’ll go to my lawyer now. He’ll have the contract ready by the time we arrive.”
“You’re serious.”
“I don’t lie. I don’t need to.” I turned to face her. “How much did your father borrow?”
“Hundred thousand. For eye surgery and a kidney transplant. He refused to let me donate.”
I nodded and sent a transfer. “Done. My father won’t come near you again.”
She stared at me like she didn’t know whether to cry or slap me. I stepped closer and tilted her chin up.
“You look soft, small brain. But softness gets eaten alive in this world. My father could sell you to one of his perverted friends if the mood hit him. You’re safer with me. And even at that, you need to sit up. The world you’re about to enter is nothing you’re used to.”
“Then I want a funeral. For my father,” she whispered, eyes wide, voice even smaller than her room.
I met her gaze and said, “Consider it done. Let’s go, small brain.”
“Just like that?” she asked me.
“Just like that. Don’t bother packing up. You won’t be needing those low quality clothes anymore,” I said.
She nodded but walked to her dresser and picked her father’s picture.
“You seem pretty close to your dad. What about your mother?” I asked her, my curiosity piqued.
“I never knew her. She died giving birth to me,” Sophia replied as she walked out of the room after me.
That was sad.
As we got to where my car was parked, I spotted my father at the window. I gave him a smirk and this brought a frown to his face.
I drove out of my father’s mansion with a proud smirk. I had managed to quirk my father even more and that brought me joy.
I couldn’t wait to start digging into his past and find out what horrors it held. I turned to my side and saw Small Brain biting her lips and twisting her fingers and I inhaled sharply.
My father was a terrible man and I would make him pay. Starting with reporting his earlier escapade with that girl to the authorities.
- Writer
