Love Contract

Chapter 58 A Subtle Relationship

Knock, knock, knock.

Mary knocked on William's office door. She was a little uneasy. They had not spoken since their fight last night and she was unsure if he would be angry when he saw her.

"Come in," came William's voice from behind the door.

"This document needs your signature, boss," Mary said walking over to place the folder on his desk.

William didn't even lift his head or acknowledge her. He simply picked up a pen and quickly began browsing through the document.

He raised his hand unconsciously, and Mary noticed the wound on his left index finger.

"What's wrong with your hand?"

Mary asked without thinking, but then felt perhaps she had been too forward.

"I cut myself by accident," he said coldly.

Cut? Mary frowned as she considered this. Did he hurt himself cooking last night? This in mind, Mary hurriedly said, "Thank you for last night. And... You'd better wrap that wound."

The cut was so long and deep that it was hard to look at. It was enough to make anyone feel a little queasy.

William said nothing, he just signed his name on the document and handed it back to Mary.

She looked it over and mulled over his silence, embarrassed that she was the only one speaking. "Then... I'll just leave,"

she said before she turned and began making her way for the door.

William then raised his head and opened his mouth to speak several times, but could not find the words. Finally, he called out and stopped her at the door.

"Mary!" He yelled anxiously.

"Yes? Anything else?" Mary turned back and asked.

"Yes..." He hesitated uncomfortably for a couple seconds and then lifted his left hand and shook it in the air. "Well, wrap it... I don't know how to."

"Hmm?" Mary tilted her head and looked at him in confusion. When she saw his shy and embarrassed look, she immediately understood what he meant and quickly replied, "Oh, okay... I'll find something for you to wrap it in." "Okay," he said nodding slightly.

Mary went to borrow alcohol and band aids from Jane and returned to his office as fast as she could. William's mouth twitched in obvious dissatisfaction when he looked at the bright and colorful band aids.

"There's nothing else," Mary said before he could make a comment. "These are the only band aids there are... There's also no gauze, we'll just have to make do, okay?"

"..." William snorted and said no more as he sat on the couch and stretched his hand out for her.

She shook her head and wiped his hand with a cotton swab, cleaning the wound.

"The dinner last night," William said, breaking the silence.

"It was delicious," Mary replied without looking up, focused on her task.

William smiled and raised his right hand to touch her head, but he paused for a moment before putting it down again, not touching her in the end.

"Mary," William continued. "How was it... In your hometown?"

"Not bad."

"That's good to hear," William said, nodding. "You must have freaked out when you saw what you saw the other day. It's tough to accept..."

"What... What?" Mary said, unsure what he was referring to. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Frank and I..." William said slowly, looking into her eyes.

Mary pursed her lips and lowered her head again. The image of the two of them kissing that day appeared in her mind. She smiled bitterly and said, "Oh, you mean that day. Hmm, it's a little hard to believe or accept..."

"I didn't expect or want you to get involved in this," William said calmly. "But it's good that you know. It's the reason I asked you to sign a fake marriage contract with me. ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

A one-year contract... Because after a year, Frank and I are going to move to Norway."

Mary's hand holding the band aid paused at this sudden revelation.

So this was his plan; his future would not have her in it.

"Will you hate me? After all this?" William asked.

"Of course not!" Mary said brightly. She then smiled kindly and carefully placed the band aid on his finger.

"How could I hate you?" she asked, holding back so much more she wished to say. "What about Victor? Don't you hate me when you think of what I have done to Victor?"

"I..." Mary opened her mouth and started to speak but could not finish.

"Are you done?" William asked. With a faint smile, he shook his finger, testing its movement and changed the topic.

"Yeah, I'm done," Mary nodded.

The door clicked open before they could stand.

"William, you are not busy..." Frank burst into the room excitedly, but his voice turned hoarse and trailed off when he saw what was going on in the room.

Mary stood up immediately. "I'll be leaving now, boss."

"Sure. Go ahead," William said standing up and nodding in approval.

Mary passed by Frank and could feel the coldness radiating off of him.

"What's wrong with your hand?" Frank asked the second the door closed.

"I cut it by accident."

"Humph," snorted Frank. "It's so ugly. Next time I'll wrap it for you."

"Can you?" William couldn't help but laugh at the thought of this.

"No, I can't. But I can learn to do it."

"Sure, sure," William said nodding and smiling in amusement. Suddenly, he asked, "How's Nancy?"

"She..." Frank sat down on the sofa and said worriedly, "I don't know. We've been fighting a lot lately. It's so annoying. William, can we leave earlier? Now even!"

"Frank," William said seriously, slowing his fantasies before they got out of hand, "Nancy is pregnant. You should be good to her. It's only natural that at first she'll be unable to accept our situation. I mean, she is pregnant with your child after all..."

"Ah!" Frank shouted as if his heart was being ripped in front of him. "The thought of it makes me sick. William, don't say anything more of it. We can't keep that child. We can't keep it!"

"You..." William was about to yell at him for being ridiculous but thought better of it before he finished his words.

How could he blame Frank? He had once said the same thing to Mary with a stone cold face of his own.

"Then try to persuade her," William said trying to comfort him. "If she tells your father, you will suffer."

"Okay, I know. You're right," Frank said reluctantly.

"Jorge, what's going on?" On the tenth floor of the AJ Group building, in the actors' lounge, Victor was turning red in anger and pointing at the gossip printed on the newspaper.

"It's all your fault," Jorge responded helplessly.

A photo covered the entire page with a caption that read: 'More Gossip About Victor; A Private Late Night Meeting and Kissing in the Street with Vivian Qin'.

"When did this happen?" Victor had his hands on his waist. He clenched hard and said in a rage, "It was three months ago! What are they talking about? Yesterday? What yesterday? Are those

reporters crazy?"

"I don't know," Jorge said shrugging it off.

"Jorge, the new are coming. Would you like to have a look?" asked his assistant, Ben Zhao.

"Yes, I'll take a look," Jorge answered, distracted and barely paying attention. He turned to Victor and tried to comfort him. "Don't get all riled up over this. I'll sort this out when I get back."

Summer came in with a group of assistants as soon as Jorge had left.

The first thing she noticed when she entered the lounge was the newspaper that had been thrown on the table and Victor's twisted expression. She sneered and said, "Yo, Victor, are you in the gossip again?"

She strutted over in her high heels, her hips swaying as she walked and said with a smile, "Tut, tut. I wonder which senior officer you have offended, and what you have done that they dare to slander you like this."

"What do you mean? What senior officer?" Victor asked, his face an unwavering mask of seriousness. He could tell that she was implying something and he did not want to play any games to find out what it was.