The Billionaire's Command

elle

. It's not a peaceful and silent m

ence that squeezes and weighs on you until your lun

tract resting on the polished

he sharp clicks of the cl

ling the hands of the clock to pause and then start over, pleading for only

there is n

neve

ably in his chair, his face showing no signs of his

te in handling himself. I can sense, however,

the contract, and the

says. His voice smooth with each word, edge clear wit

te h

saying that, as if this were no mor

that I can't a

is

my rea

n the desk gaz

avier than I

on paper: it was my

I knew it to be, and it was the concl

ng in my throat, a choking bit

ng and trembling. The pen sat in plac

forcing the words through my lips whi

. Yet I could not stop the

other way. We can n

ed, forcefully. "I

tween us, idly floating

im that he was ruining everything, b

push me and how he alm

ld fe

my fingers brushed the paper. "You have no

softer tone now, almost... sympathetic, "I'm offering you

you have ot

ou do

ow exactly what I want to say, and how badly I

at can

g, and every extra day that goes by without a soluti

l eventually lose it all. My mom. The people who work for us...

ice to make. I kn

sick ab

ate

nding a way to resist, but I

cheek, but I don't bother to wipe it

m, and not

f me?" I ask, my voice cracking with

know, Isabelle, that this is the only option we have. Two years of your life and your fami

ebellion, but I can feel the

robably

, it was not about love or lo

the contract, and the mot

into a new direction. I feel a constricting knot twist in

auses, all there in black a

ped, I'm

s no w

myself for the inevitable. M

t to r

t to r

with is too heavy

ive. "You're not weak. You're not giving up. You're just d

e like a sla

, and it's

- to stop acting like this i

e is right. I'm just not

ing as I do so. It feels as if my movements have gone

eally

ow I

ter I write, I'm s

ye

of this

living in a

on me as I'm writing, his e

s face, no look of winning, but o

what it

ands the c

the surface of the table aft

signed my f

tant, staring at me, his ex

nder if he would say

oes

ers brushing against mine and

e again back to being aloof with his wo

want to scream and tell him

at and choking me, and t

mb, while my life begins

up the official papers. You

le thing were something that didn't matter.I nod silently because I

. I'll see you

egs of jelly making it a most

le, he speaks again, his icy

mething... interesting, Isabe

e. The door clicks behind me as I drop into the hal

.......