The contract

Standing in the bright summer day. The wind was blowing through her hair. She looks up at the clear sky as she remembers a day from seven years ago

Elina remembered every second and every minute details of that day

They were just sixteen, barefoot on an almost empty beach two hours by bus ride from the city, wind in their hair and the smell of sea water lingering around them. She’d just finished a long rant about some literature teacher who refused to let her submit an essay late, and Oswal had laughed at the fuming face she had on her — really laughed, the kind that crinkled his eyes and made her heart ache for reasons she didn't yet understand.

Then out of nowhere he said. Carelessly, casually, the way only teenagers in love believed they had all the time in the world.

“One day, I’m going to marry you. You’ll be mine, and I’ll never let you cry over anyone else again. Elina one day I will make you my wife”

Elina softly smiled and hugged him tightly whispering “I will be waiting for it.”

It wasn’t a grand declaration. It wasn’t even a promise. Just a sentence casually made by him.

But she never forgot that sentence.

She remembered how warm and reassuring his hand had felt when he held hers. The way he looked at her like she was the only important thing in the world.

She remembered that day well because it was the last time she saw him before everything fell apart.

The young boy who had held his hand was gone

And now, seven years later, she stood outside this grand building which was a sign of majesty. He lifted her feet and made her way to the elevator. As she entered the elevator she looked at the polished walled elevator where the walls were reflecting her image like mirror with one side being a transparent glass through which she could see the view outside, Right in the center of the city in the grand building, watching her reflection flicker against the skyline, waiting to walk into a boardroom where she would meet that young man once again and agree to marry him again.

Except this time, it wasn’t for love.

It was a business .

And he had no idea that he had already broken her heart once.

Because Oswal Cooper—the cold, brilliant CEO who needed a wife for a PR deal—didn’t remember her.

Not their summer.

Not the beaches.

Nor the movies

Not the way he’d once whispered her name like a promise.

But she would still marry him. As she still can’t forget him.

........

Elina Riley nervously stood outside the frosted glass doors of Cooper Global, her fingers tightly clenched around the contract folder, she knew that once she stepped through the door she would be bound to Oswal by marriage. The city buzzed outside the building like a thousand unanswered questions, but in here, silence was all she could feel. Her heart was hammering against her chest as she thought about the reason for her visit.

She wasn’t ready.

Not for the man behind that door.

Not for the man who had once held her heart like it was fragile — only to let it shatter on impact.

Not for Oswal Cooper.

Her ex-best friend.

Her first love.

And now… soon-to-be husband.

Her feelings towards him were somewhat like a love-hate relationship. She loves him a lot but at the same time she hates him for breaking her heart.

The irony wasn’t lost on her. She would soon be married and it would be “A contract marriage”, negotiated like a business deal, between two people who couldn’t be in the same room for five minutes without burning something within them— usually pride, sometimes memories, always hearts. She had a variation of emotions swirling within her. She wanted to lash out at him and ask why he had forgotten about their promise, she wanted to cry and throw tantrums like in the past. She wanted to escape the entire situation. But on the outside she just looked calm with not much changes in her expression.

The assistant nodded towards her saying. “Mr Cooper is waiting. You may enter.”

Elina took a deep breath, smoothed the edges of her clothes, calmed her racing heart and mind, and stepped in.

Oswal stood by the window, tall and composed in a charcoal-gray suit that fit him like a glove. He turned at the sound of the door opening and the soft click of heels on the marble floor, and for a moment — just one flickering second — something unreadable crossed his face. Even though the flicker was only for a second, she had caught that change and them a haunting thought occurred in her mind

She wondered if he remembered.

Oswal quickly composed himself and didn’t let any changes show.

“Elina,” he said, smooth and businesslike, as though he hadn’t once kissed her breathless beneath a tree. As if he had never held her in his arms.

“Oswal,” she replied, looking straight into his eyes. She kept her voice equally emotionless and businesslike. “You look well.”

“You look… different.”

There it was. The pause. The catch in his throat. He had noticed. Of course he did. But he’d never say it, not first. Not anymore.

They sat across from each other like opponents across a chessboard.

Oswal looked at her and slid over a folder “The contract,” he said, tapping the folder. “One year. Public appearances as a married couple. Weekly press involvement. Discretion above all.”

She took the folder and flipped it open. The scent of ink and paper couldn’t mask the weight of what this meant to her.

She paused for a few seconds and then asked “And afterward?”

Oswal replied in a matter of fact tone “We part ways. Cleanly.”

Cleanly…..

Elina’s eyes lowered as she mentally thought that nothing about them had ever been clean.

Her fingers brushed the pen. “You’re sure this is what you want?”

His gaze darkened. “Are you not?”

She lifted her chin. “I just think it’s strange. You… me… after everything.”

After a few seconds of silence, just as Elina had started to have some hope.

Oswal said, “It’s just a name on paper, Elina. Let’s not pretend it’s anything else.”

Her smile was sharp. “Of course. Just a name. Nothing more.”

But her hand trembled slightly when she signed.

And his hand lingered too long when he passed her the ring.

After they finished signing the contract the two walked out of the office into the elevator.

The elevator ride down to the car park was tense, both facing forward, pretending not to feel the heat of memory brushing against their skin.

Oswal broke the silence first.

“You’re still angry,” he said.

She turned, startled. “Excuse me?”

“Don’t look at me like that. I'm just asking you on the basis that we would soon be husband and wife even though it's just on paper”

“I’m not angry,” she said coolly. “I just know better now.”

His jaw tightened and he clenched his fists at his side. “Know better than what?”

“Then to believe in fairytales. Or promises made on beaches you never intended to keep.”

Silence.

Long. Heavy Silence. Cracked only by the hum of descending floors.

Then, softly uttered, “I never broke that promise, Elly.”

She turned to him slowly, her voice barely above a whisper. “You left.”

Oswal hissed “You never asked why.”

She chuckled in a self mocking tone “You never gave me a chance.”

Their eyes met. Frustration. Regret. Hunger. Pain.

So much unsaid.

The elevator chimed.

The doors slid open.

And just like that, they stepped into the world again — two strangers bound by paperwork and past lives, each certain the other didn’t love them anymore.

But neither of them saw the way the other looked back when they thought no one was watching.

Maybe because they were afraid to look. Afraid that they would be disappointed once again.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***