Complicated bond

Helen was into a one year contract marriage with Gabriel for a sum of 20 million dollars which is half of the compensation reward.She needed the money to take care of her dieing mother merci while Gabriel needed the contract so that he can get promoted to become the CEO of his father's company in new york.His parents told him that he will not be promoted until he gets married.

Gabriel have had several bad relationships with women in the past and the hurts he had gotten from those past experiences made him not to believe in true love.In other to please his parents and quicky get promoted,he decided to go into contract marriage.

10 million dollars have already been paid to Helen,which she is using to take care of her dieing mother merci and she has been married to Gabriel on contract for six months now.Gabriel had already started developing true feelings for Helen while Helen is gradually developing just very little feelings of love for him.

Helen leaned on the kitchen island, barefoot, her arms wrapped around a warm mug of tea. She had charming eyes and a long black hair which ran down her back.Her fair smooth skin radiates the atmosphere.Her eyes wandered to the tall figure seated near the fireplace who was muscular in appearance and fair in complexion.His charming eyes and cute face makes him any girls dream man, his face cast in shadows, lit faintly by the flickering amber glow.

Gabriel throne, distant, always impeccably dressed-even now, in a crisp white shirt with the top button undone. He looked like he'd stepped out of a painting: handsome in a devastating kind of way, but unreachable, untouchable. The kind of man you admired from afar and avoided up close. But things were changing. Slowly, like snow melting under spring's first sun.

Helen hadn't expected him to be home this early.

She walked quietly toward him, unsure if she should say anything. This contract marriage had rules-boundaries. She was here for her mother, Merci, and the money the deal brought. He was in it for the promotion, for the power he'd been chasing all his life. They were partners in convenience, nothing more.But something had shifted.

"Gabriel?" she said softly.

He didn't respond at first. Then he blinked and turned his head slightly, acknowledging her presence. "Couldn't sleep?"

"No. You?"

He let out a bitter chuckle, running a hand through his dark hair. "Sleep and I haven't been on good terms for years."

She approached slowly, hesitating only a moment before sitting on the sofa beside him. The scent of his cologne-woodsy and clean-wrapped around her, stirring a warmth deep in her chest.

"I can leave you alone if you want," she offered.

"No," he said quickly, too quickly. Then, more gently, "No. Stay."

They sat in silence for a long moment, only the fire crackling between them.

"You've been... different lately," she said. "Not so... Gabriel Thorne."

Gabriel looked at her, eyes narrowing slightly. "Is that what you thought of me?"

"You were practically a glacier when we met," she teased, a smile tugging at her lips.

To her surprise, his mouth curved into something like a smirk. "I suppose I deserved that."

He stood and walked to the window, hands in his pockets, staring out into the night. Rain streaked the glass, the city beyond glimmering like a dream.

"I wasn't always like this, Helen."

She stood and followed him, resting a hand lightly on the window frame beside him. "Then tell me. What changed you?"

He hesitated. She saw the muscle in his jaw twitch, as though he were debating whether he should let her in. Then, to her surprise, he spoke.

"I used to believe in love, you know. In something real." His voice was low, rough, as though each word cost him something. "There was someone. Years ago. I thought she cared about me. She said all the right things-smiled at the right times. I trusted her."

Helen watched him carefully, her heart tightening.

"She married me for money. Manipulated my father into signing over shares of the company in her name. And when I found out..." He turned to her, eyes suddenly glassy. "She laughed in my face. Said I was naive. That love is for fools."

Helen reached for him instinctively, placing a hand gently on his arm. "Gabriel..."

"I swore I'd never be fooled again. Never open up like that. So I built walls. Ice, like you said." He laughed bitterly. "And now here I am. In another marriage that isn't real."

"But..." she whispered, "this is different."

He looked at her then. Really looked. "Is it?"

Helen's heart pounded. She felt it too. This slow, burning warmth that crept in when she least expected it. It had started with simple things-Gabriel remembering Merci's medication, buying her a book she casually mentioned, coming home early just to have dinner with Helen. Not out of obligation. But choice.

"Yes," she said softly. "I think it is."

They stood there, just the two of them, the rain their only witness.

"I know this started as a contract," Gabriel said, voice trembling, "but I... I've started to care about you, Helen. And I don't know how to stop."

Her breath caught. Those walls of his-they were cracking.Helen had only develop little feelings for him.

She said"You're not the cold man you pretend to be. I've seen the real you. The one who brings my mother flowers. The one who sat beside me all night when I was crying. The man who's afraid... but still tries."

He closed his eyes, and for the first time since she'd known him, tears slipped down his cheeks.

"I'm scared," he admitted, voice shaking. "Scared that if I let you in, you'll break me too."

She reached up, gently wiping a tear from his face with her thumb.

Helen spoke out of compassion and out the little feelings of love that she has for him "I'm not her, Gabriel. I won't hurt you."

Their eyes met. Something unspoken passed between them-a fragile, flickering promise.

He took her hand, slowly, as if afraid she might vanish. "Stay with me tonight. Not because of the contract. Just... because."

Helen nodded, lacing her fingers with his.

"I'm not going anywhere."

And in the quiet warmth of that stormy night, surrounded by shadows of the past and the glow of something new, two broken hearts began to heal together.

The next day Helen went to visit her friends named Elizabeth, Anita and Vivian.They went out to a restaurant.

As they were eating Vivian said "I think it's better you stay with him after your contract expires because he needs you to help him heal his past wounds gotten from his past relationships.

"No Helen, don't do that,since you don't love really love him it's better you live after your contract expires.You don't marry someone because you pity the person but you marry who you love".Anita replied.

Elizabeth said"Anita you are right,Helen needs to marry a man she loves deeply not a man she pities".

Alright friends I will think about all what you have said.i feel Anita and Elizabeth were right but I will look into it.

HELEN'S MOTHER MERCI DIES OF TERMINAL CANCER

Helen's mother merci dies of terminal cancer despite the medical treatments. Three days had passed since the last time Merci opened her eyes.Three days since she smiled at Helen and whispered, "I'm proud of you."

Helen could still hear the words echoing in the quiet halls of the penthouse-empty now in a way that had nothing to do with size or space.Merci was gone.The nurse had found her in the early hours of the morning, her breathing slowed to stillness, her expression peaceful-like she had simply drifted into sleep and never woken up.Helen had sat beside her for hours, holding her mother's lifeless hand, refusing to believe that the warmth wouldn't return.

Now, the house was too quiet.Helen sat curled on the corner of the bed in the guest room where Merci had once lived. The oxygen machine had been packed away. The scent of lavender still clung to the sheets. Her mother's shawl lay across the pillow, untouched. Forgotten.She held it to her chest and cried.

Not the quiet kind of crying she had mastered over the years. Not the hidden sobs behind locked bathroom doors.

She cried like a daughter who had lost her mother. Like a girl who was suddenly alone in a world too heavy to carry on her own.

And then-soft footsteps behind her.

She didn't have to turn to know it was Gabriel.

She felt the weight of his presence, warm and steady, as he moved behind her. Then the bed dipped under his weight, and his arms wrapped around her from behind. Strong. Protective. Unspoken.She didn't fight it. She couldn't.

She let herself collapse into him, turning and pressing her face into his chest, tears soaking into the fabric of his shirt. He held her tighter, his chin resting on her head, one hand moving slowly up and down her back.

"I can't believe she's gone," Helen whispered, voice hoarse. "She was everything. My reason. My strength."

Gabriel didn't speak. He just held her as if trying to absorb her pain.

"I feel like I'm falling apart," she said, clutching at his shirt, her voice breaking. "Like I'm hollow now."

"You're not," he whispered against her hair. "You're still here. And I'm here with you."

Something in his voice cracked. Emotion-real and deep. This wasn't just comfort. This was his heart opening again, fully, completely.

She pulled back to look up at him, her eyes red, her face damp. "Why are you doing this?" she asked, searching his face. "Why do you care so much?"

"Because I love you."

The words stunned them both. Not just for what they meant, but for how true they felt.

He reached out, gently brushing a tear from her cheek. "I don't know when it happened. Maybe it was the night you made me talk. Or when you smiled at me like I was worth loving. Or every time you took care of your mother like the world stopped for her."

Helen's heart clenched, her breath catching in her throat.

she felt like saying something but she kept mute because she had only little feelings for him even though Gabriel looked charming and attractive.

And then he kissed her.

Soft at first. Reverent. His lips lingered against hers like a question he didn't know how to ask.

She answered with her touch-pulling him close, threading her fingers through his hair, needing him in a way she had never needed anyone before.

Grief melted into passion, not in a way that erased the pain, but in a way that made it bearable. Together, in each other's arms, they found something whole inside the shattered pieces.

He carried her to the bed, laying her down gently, reverently, as if she might break. They undressed each other slowly, carefully, every movement a promise. And when they came together-skin to skin, heart to heart-it wasn't just about desire.

It was about healing.

His hands memorized her curves like a prayer. Her mouth spoke his name like it meant something more now. Something sacred.Their bodies moved in rhythm, wrapped in grief and love, comfort and release. And when she cried again, it wasn't just for loss.

Afterward, they lay tangled in the sheets, Gabriel's arms around her, his lips pressed to her forehead.Neither of them spoke.They didn't need to.That night, in the wake of sorrow, love was born as they had sex.

HELEN DISCOVERS SHE IS PREGNANT

Helen sat motionless on the cold edge of the bathtub, a trembling hand clutching the pregnancy test. The two pink lines stared back at her like a verdict-final, irreversible. Her breath caught in her throat, her heart pounding so loudly it drowned out everything else.

She was pregnant.

Tears welled in her eyes, but not from joy. Not entirely. The echo of her mother's last words still haunted her. "Helen, I want you to be happy..." That call from the hospital, the quiet voice of the nurse saying "she's gone"-it had shattered something inside her.She felt ashamed of herself because of how friends will feel when they hear that she is pregnant for the man she claims she has little or no feelings for.

She had been hollow that night. Numb. And in her grief, she'd found herself wrapped in Gabriel's arms. She didn't know how it started-just that he was there. Solid. Warm. Quietly protective in the way only he could be. She remembered the way his lips brushed her forehead, the way he whispered her name like a promise. And she had let herself feel-just once.

One night. One moment of weakness.

She let the test clatter onto the sink. Her reflection in the mirror looked like a stranger-wide eyes, pale skin, tangled hair. One month left in the contract marriage. Thirty days, and she'd be free. That had always been the plan. No strings. No complications. Gabriel had agreed to that. They both had.

This baby... wasn't part of the plan.

"I'll leave when it ends," she whispered to herself. "I'll disappear."

She pressed her hand over her belly, and her lips trembled.

I'll protect you. I promise.

Even if it meant lying. Even if it meant breaking Gabriel's heart... or maybe her own.

Scene: The Final Morning at Gabriel's Mansion

The early morning light streamed through the grand windows of Gabriel's estate, casting a golden hue over the marble floors. Helen stood by the door, a suitcase by her side and a silence hanging heavy in the air. She wore a soft cream dress, her long hair falling over her shoulders like waves of goodbye. The moment had come. One year. One contract. One goodbye.

Gabriel stood a few feet away, his hands tucked into his pockets, his posture tense but his eyes-those dark, once-cold eyes-softened, conflicted. He looked at her like a man trying to memorize every detail of someone he may never see again.

"You're really going," he said quietly.

Helen nodded, her lips pressed into a pale, almost determined line. "That was the deal."

Gabriel stepped closer. "I wanted to tell you something... before you go."

Helen looked away.

"I-" he hesitated. "I didn't marry you just for the contract. Not really. Somewhere along the way, I started needing you. Your laugh, your warmth, the way you looked at me like I wasn't broken."

Her eyes flickered to his, but she said nothing. The truth weighed heavy on her too-but a different truth. She was carrying his child. A secret growing in her belly. A life that had no place in this kind of goodbye.

"I'll... call you," Gabriel said instead, deflated, watching her retreat further into her own sadness. "If that's okay."

Helen nodded slowly. "Sure."

With $10 million and a heart tangled in emotion, she walked toward a future that was uncertain-one where she would raise her child alone, build her boutique, and try to forget the man whose love had come too late or at the wrong time.