Chapter 5

• Silence reigned in Lucas’ car until Lucas finally spoke first.
• “How did it go?” he asked, breaking the silence. I looked down at my fingernails as I rubbed them together. I couldn’t bring myself to admit it.
• “I’m pregnant.”
• It was the first confession that made me feel like killing myself.
• “Whose child?”
• Lucas’ question made me turn to him immediately, looking at him with my eyebrows furrowed. I thought he would understand quickly.
• “You think I’m a woman who would sleep with a lot of men for leisure? My life is already so hard I don’t have time to hook up with any man.”
• “But you went to that auction,” Lucas concluded, and I quickly replied.
• “I went to that event because a friend at work wanted to pay me if I would go there in her place. At first, I didn’t know what the auction was, I thought it was a charity auction, so I just accepted, after all I needed the money for my mother’s treatment.”
• I hate admitting my weaknesses to strangers, especially someone like Lucas. He seemed suspicious, I thought.
• “So, it’s all about the money?”
• The question insulted me. I exhaled, trying to contain my anger.
• “You don’t have the right to judge my life, I’ve worked hard to live but I’ve never done anything despicable. You’re a man who has everything, while I’m the other side of your life, Mr. Cassano. Even if I had known at the time that my friend was offering me that invitation to come to the women’s auction, I would have turned it down.”
• We were enveloped in silence once again. I stared out of the window with my mind half empty.
• After this, what? What should I do? I have two people to support while struggling to make ends meet.
• “There is no choice for you, Mrs. Alexandra but to agree to your contract with me.”
• I squeezed my skirt at the top of my thighs. My heart sank, and tears quickly gathered in my eyes. However, I tried not to cry; I didn’t want to look weak. I forcibly swallowed my saliva to gather my remaining strength and pride.
• “I have three requirements as well as a request.”
• “What do you want?”
• “We must limit the personal matters between us. Secondly, I will give this child to you after he is born but, you must be willing to bear my mother’s medical expenses until she recovers from her coma. Third, the relationship between us is limited to a business relationship, nothing more than that.”
• I ventured to turn to Lucas and looked at him, waiting for his response.
• “No problem. I will include those three requests in the list of our agreement documents, but you must be willing to fulfill the things and obligations as mine that are stated in the contract.”
• “I will,” I said with a heart like a knife. We left the hospital and headed to Lucas’s house to discuss the contract.
• This time, it wasn’t in the living room like last time, but in his study. When the woman I saw brought a cup of tea last time, I remembered the last time I’d seen Lucas. It made me anxious because I’d left a wrong impression on us, and now I was stuck with him in a situation I didn’t want to be in.
• I exhaled and tried to understand, but it took me a while. Then Lucas came, sat on the sofa opposite me, and handed me a document in a paper folder.
• “Read all the points written here, don’t miss a single one, and then sign the document,” Lucas ordered, to which I responded by pressing my lips into a straight line. I wouldn’t say I like being ordered around by arrogant people, and Lucas is one of them. Even though he was my boss in the office, he was in the top position of a boss in a company, and he wasn’t directly involved with me.
• After reading all the points listed, I was pretty relieved with the rules of our sexual activity. There was no compulsion to do so but no prohibition to do so. However, I had to behave like a mistress. Well, mistress, and keep a secret.
• “Secret?” I asked, wanting to clarify the meaning of ‘Secret’ here. I looked at Lucas, waiting, and he looked at me with his black hawk-like eyes.
• “Whatever you see in me and it’s out of your normal human limits, you must keep it a secret.”
• Lucas’ answer left me confused but half-understanding. I just nodded weakly and went back to reading the remaining points. I also had to accept all the facilities Lucas gave me as part of his obligation to look after his future child. I swallowed dryly as my mind thought of the future fetus in my womb right now. My chest feels like a blunt object hit it, the guilt slowly creeping up on me, but I try to brush it off.
• The fact that I sold my flesh and blood to live. A sad irony. However, if only Lucas hadn’t known everything from the start, I would have raised him alone, but maybe not. My mind raced as I was about to sign the document.
• My hands trembled as I signed the document, and my tears almost fell on the paper; I quickly wiped them away before they worsened.
• “Can I go home now?” I asked after Lucas had also signed the document.
• “No, you have to have dinner before you go home. Tomorrow, you have to get ready to move into your new apartment.” Lucas said, and I looked at him surprised.
• “Isn’t it too soon?” I asked, feeling a bit panicked.
• “The sooner you accept all the facilities from me, the better for your pregnancy. Try to be obedient from now on, Natalia, or I will make you obey me in my own way,” Lucas said as he raised his eyebrows while looking at me. I looked down and nodded, feeling like I had no power to resist him.
• “W-well, I’ll be ready tomorrow, but after work.”
• I was still allowed to work under the contract according to my current job, given that our relationship was to be kept secret and we didn’t have to interfere in each other’s personal affairs.
• Lucas takes me to dinner at a five-star restaurant. It’s my first time eating in such a luxurious place, and I feel awkward about it. As a result, I just stayed silent while staring at all the dishes served with a feeling of hunger.
• “Why don’t you eat? Don’t you like the food?” asked Lucas, who I saw starting to fill his plate with some food. I shifted my gaze to the spoons and forks arranged on either side of my plate, honestly not knowing about table manners.
• “I’ve never eaten in a place like this,” I replied in a low voice, embarrassed, and Lucas exhaled loudly.
• “Well, you just pick the food and you can take it home.”
• Embarrassed and awkward, I picked out a few dishes. A male waiter took the food I picked out and returned it for me to take home. Meanwhile, Lucas ate quietly without being bothered by my behavior. I took the opportunity to watch him for a moment.
• I’d only seen him a few times at the office, and even then, not too close. I’d only seen him in business magazines the rest of the time. However, his figure was more handsome this time than I had seen. The male waiter who had been handling the food I was going to bring came over and then didn’t wait long for Lucas to finish his dinner.
• “Come on, I’ll take you home.”
• I was surprised at how much food was still left.
• “You’re not going to eat all of this?” I asked curiously and also felt disappointed. There was still food left.
• “No, why are you going to take it all? No problem; you need to eat a lot. For a woman, you’re too skinny, but I liked it when I found out I was your first man,” Lucas said, which made me blush almost all over my body, mainly when he talked about our hot night. I closed my eyes as I exhaled loudly. Finally, I ended up taking the remaining food home.
• “Thanks for dinner,” I said sincerely before leaving the car. However, Lucas grabbed my wrist, so I turned to him. Unexpectedly, he kissed me, and I could only stay silent in surprise.
• “Good night, my omega,” Lucas said in a tone that, for the first time, made me touched by a man’s words.