just for a bloody contract | Roman Godfrey au

ch. 2 • in for a long ride

I twisted and turned on the hard mattress of the king-sized bed I slept in until I jerked up. I was still in that wedding dress. Thank goodness I had a week-long break from med school- specifically physician's assistant or PA school. Fucking med school. That was what got me here, in some random room at Roman Godfrey's house. If it weren't for my father's wish since I was three for me to someday be a doctor, I wouldn't be here. But I knew that was a lie. It wasn't just him. It was me too. Elliot Blinds was a respected doctor, and I wanted to be a one just like him. Every time he brought me to the hospital, I got fascinated with just about everything. And now he was gone. And the only thing left was his memories, the antiseptic smell from his white coat, and his wish for me to follow his footsteps. Money was tight, so dreams of being a physician changed to becoming a physician's assistant. Still good enough. But was it worth this? 

I didn't realize I was crying until I heard knocking on the door. I wiped my tears and said, "Come in."

Shelley came in with a rack of clothes. "I figured you wouldn't like to wear that for the rest of your life, as pretty as it is."

Truth is, I wanted to burn that wedding dress. I wanted no memories at all of getting married to that arrogant mess of a man.

"Yeah, thank you so much," I told Shelley. "I don't really know what to do."

"In that case, you can just spend time with me. In my room. Mother has nothing planned for me today, I don't think, and I can always use a friend."

"Me too," I muttered silently.

I got changed into a knee-length, half-sleeved, blue dress, and Shelley approved of my pick.

"Where'd you even get clothes that fit me so well?" I smiled and asked Shelley.

Before she could answer, Comway stood by the doorway.

"Sir wants to see you," he said in a deep, tired voice. I looked at Shelley.

"Liana, he isn't as bad as you think."

I nodded, unsure of what to say and followed Comway into another place in the house. I stood by a big oak door. Comway cued for me to go in.

It was a study. Roman stood by the desk holding his head. Hangover probably. He looked at me and sat down on his chair and motioned for me to sit on the opposite side.

"Good morning," I said. Roman didn't respond. I bit my tongue in embarrassment and looked down.

"Let's go over the contract," he said like it was a casual comment.

"Wait, like right now? Why?" I asked.

"My turn to talk. We're going over the contract." Roman opened up a file and placed it in front of me. Then he took a copy out and started summarizing it.

"Since last time, only Olivia and you talked, I figured I'd read it between ourselves." Sure, because Olivia gave me plenty of time to speak. I rolled my eyes. Thankfully Roman didn't notice. He skimmed his eyes through the few thick pages inside the file.

Then he sighed and said, "Okay I understand that the bottom line is I pay for you to finish up med school. You pretend to be my wife for two years. You get your degree. I get a reliable image and my company is safe from investors withdrawing their money. Part of you being my wife is you attending events with me, sometimes coming to see me just so others can know we're a thing now. To the outside world, we're a perfect couple. Inside this house, I don't give a fuck about you. I hope you remember that. Stay out of my sight. You can go now."

I bit my tongue even harder to try to stop any emotion from showing. This is going to be hard. I got up to leave when Roman said, "Oh, one more thing."

"Lucky for you, Olivia's leaving tomorrow for some," he stopped to think, "business. She has to handle something. But as long as she's here, it's best you avoid her too and don't listen to anything she says."

I said a quick thanks and walked away. That went wonderfully.

Very lucky for me because as soon as I came out of Roman's study, I almost ran into Olivia.

"Liana, I am sure Roman told you I will be leaving tomorrow. Before that, I wanted to talk to you as well."

I internally groaned. What's she going to do? Olivia seemed sweet, but I knew for a fact she was not. There was something very off about her. Olivia led me downstairs to the kitchen. There was bread, butter, eggs, and Shelley waiting. I guess if Shelley was there, it wasn't going to be as harsh as Roman's little monologue.

"You, though temporarily, are a part of this family. Make yourself at home. If you need anything, Comway will be there. And I see you have already made a friend in Shelley," Olivia smiled.

I smiled back and nodded. Olivia then slammed her palm in front of me, making my heart stop for a second. "Just telling you to not get too comfortable. You're here for the money, and you're getting it. I hope you remember that with whatever you do for the next few years." I shuddered.

 Olivia then went back to smiling. "Now, who wants some toast? Shelley dear?" 

Thank goodness my new mother-in-law was going to be gone. I didn't care at all where she was going or what she was going to do. The point is she was going to be gone. That's one less heartless human to deal with.