Love Contract

Chapter 10 Stay Away From Him

"Why did you marry William? Did he force you into doing it?" Sitting beside her on the driver's seat, Victor peered into Mary's eyes to desperately seek the truth as he spoke in a resentful tone towards William.

"No, he didn't," Mary retorted in response to his direct question. "I did it willingly. Whatever the case may be, Mr. Qiao. I don't owe you any explanation for it, we don't share that kind of a relationship. With all due respect, please stay out of my business."

Mary's words seemed to have struck a nerve in Victor, as he went silent. 'She's right. Why am I so concerned about her? Is it because I want to sympathize with her over the situation she has been put through? Or am I just afraid that she would be forced into doing something she doesn't consent to like myself?'

"Nothing else to say? In that case, I'll just get off the car," Mary said as she hurriedly gathered her things and unlocked the door to exit herself from the interrogative atmosphere.

"Wait, please. I'm sorry." In a moment of desperation, Victor subconsciously grabbed Mary's hand to stop her from leaving the car.

As soon as he realized what he had done, he immediately let go and took a deep breath to calm his racing heart.

"Is there anything else you want to ask me?" Mary fixed her awkward posture as she sat right back next to him. She wanted to get this confrontation over with since she feared Victor would see right through the ruse they were putting on.

"Well... Do you know a guy named Frank?" Victor kept his eyes focused on Mary's face to read even the slightest change in her expression after his inquiry.

"Frank? Are you talking about the Frank from the Intoxicating South Restaurant Chain?" Mary asked as she tilted her head in confusion.

"Wait. You know him!?" Victor blinked a few times in shock, still gazing at Mary.

"Yes, I do." Mary nodded to confirm. Frank belonged to an elite family and was closely connected to her company in terms of business. Of course, she knew about him. But why did Victor act so surprised at this confession?

"So you do know... I guess I'm guilty of having an officious nature," Victor lightly chuckled as he rubbed his neck with his hands. 'You are already aware of the relation between Frank and William...' he thought

Mary shot Victor a questioning look as she raised her eyebrows. "Since everything is sorted now, I'll be getting off the car." "Come on. At least let me drive you back." As Victor requested, he turned the key in the car and started the engine.

"Alright, thank you." After seeing that Victor had started the car, Mary relaxed back in her seat and put on her seatbelt without protest.

"Please don't take this the wrong way but, keep your distance from Frank. That guy is bad news. " Victor couldn't help himself and ended up voicing his concerns to Mary.

"I see... Okay, I will." Mary nodded to him, reassuringly. 'I should just do what he says, so Victor refrains from asking more questions, and the suspicion dies down.'

Since then, the atmosphere of the car was choked up with a lingering awkward silence as Mary turned her back towards him to stare at the outside scenery. She watched the neon lights fly past her eyes and reflect through her clear skin.

"By the way, can you please avoid getting into so many scandals in the future? The Public Relations Department gets exhausted from having to cover up them." Mary subdued the silence with her statement as she turned away from the window to look at him.

"Huh? The Public Relations Department?" Victor's eyes widened again in shock as he maintained his focus on the road. "You work in the Public Relations Department of the AJ Group? Then how come I've never seen you before?" "You haven't seen me, but I do know you." Mary continued, sounding more upset by the minute, "I have dealt with a lot of problems, whose root cause was you. But I would usually meet with the reporters to clear up the mess you made. So I never got the chance to meet you."

"Oh, I see." Victor couldn't help but smile in amusement at Mary's reaction. "Nowadays, the paparazzi are getting more dedicated than usual. They would show up just about anywhere... I'm sorry for causing you trouble, I will be more careful in the future."

"I sure hope so..." Mary folded her arms and shook her head in disapproval. She barely believed he could keep his impulses under control.

"Well, here we are," Victor said as he pulled the car over. He then turned to face Mary and gave her a heartfelt smile as he said, "It was nice meeting you! I'll see you around."

"Likewise." Mary returned his smile earnestly and waved him goodbye after getting out of the car.

As Mary walked away, Victor remained in his car and stared at her back, which seemed to get smaller as the distance between her and himself grew each passing second. Once she was out of sight, he slumped back into his seat and sighed to himself as he thought, 'Whatever happens to you, has nothing to do with me. But I will become a better person, just this once.'

The next morning, Mary went to her office as per her usual routine.

As she was debuting as the CEO's assistant, she had a lot of work on her plate.

"Good morning, Mrs. Lan." At half-past seven in the morning, Kevin greeted Mary with a smile as he arrived in the office.

"Um..." Mary turned to Kevin as she fumbled with her fingers nervously. "Kevin, can you

please not call me Mrs. Lan? It's just... I find it a little awkward, you can refer to me as Mary instead."

"Alright." Kevin smiled warmly.

"Ding..." The door of the elevator opened,

revealing an expressionless William standing

behind them as he stared blankly ahead.

He loosened the noose of the tie around his neck as he raised his head up slightly and made his way out of the elevator one step after

another.

"Mr. Lan."

"Mr. Lan."

"Good Morning." Just as he stepped out, he was greeted by Mary and Kevin. He nodded towards them to acknowledge their greeting before his eyes fell on Mary. "You? Why did you come so early today?" Mary frowned at his remark and went lost in thought, trying to deduce what he meant by that. He had already begun to assign the tasks for the day to Kevin.

Suddenly, Mary's thoughts wandered off towards where William had slept last night...

'Oh my God, what are you thinking Mary? It's none of my business, we're not married for real.' She quickly turned her gaze away and plopped down on her chair with her head resting on her hands.

"Mary, could you please go and copy these documents for me?" Kevin came over, bearing a pile of documents in his arms as he dropped them on Mary's desk and gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let you do this."

"No, it's okay. Don't worry about a thing." Mary spoke in a resolute tone as she lifted the documents off the desk and into her arms. She gave her chest a light pat to show off her enthusiasm. "It's not a big deal! You can count on me without hesitation."

"Thank you so much."

"You're welcome! I'll get these done right away!" Mary flaunted him a big smile before she went ahead with her work and started copying the documents one by one.

William observed Mary through the glass window of his office and watched her perform the tedious task.

She seemed to be in a good mood. Did something happen to her and Victor last night? Or was it because she liked doing this job?

"Excuse me, Mr. Lan." Kevin knocked at the door and allowed himself inside as he walked over to William, interrupting his train of thought. "These are the company's financial statements for the first half of the year." William switched his gaze from Mary to Kevin as he took the documents from his hands.

"Alright, I'll look into them," William said as he gave the documents a short glance.

"I'll be going out now."

"Wait a minute," William stopped Kevin short in his tracks as he spoke. He then continued in a polite voice as he versed his words slowly, "Kevin, you need to recruit someone else to be your assistant."

"What?" Kevin stood stunned in place at William's sudden request, then nodded as he understood the next minute. "Okay, I'll arrange for someone else then."

"Alright, you can go out now."

"Yes, sir." Kevin smiled faintly to himself as he thought, 'It seems Mr. Lan does care for his wife after all.'

After a while, it was almost time for the lunch break. The staff canteen was bustling more than usual with hushed whispers echoing through the walls and quenching the thirst of curious ears.

"Doo, Doo, Doo..." The internal line connected to Mary's office began to ring at 12 o'clock before she drowned the sound by raising the receiver to her ear.

''Hello?''

"Pack up right now. We're heading to the staff-canteen for lunch."

William's cold voice wrung through her ears from the other end as he blurted out the briefing to their next act as a fake couple.

Mary kept the phone close to her ears as she moved back to stare at William awkwardly, who sat in his office.

At the same moment, William raised his head to glance at Mary from his office. Both of them made eye contact with each other, but neither of them smiled.

Mary and William soon became the center of attention when they walked into the staff canteen, arm in arm. They caused a lot of heads to turn their way, and their presence gave birth to lots of remarks being made from the awestruck crowd.

"Wow, it's the CEO and his wife..."

"That is so romantic, they look so happy together..."

"Wow! The CEO is so handsome! He looks so elegant walking by his wife's side..."

'It's all fake! Look past the deception of my smile and wipe your eyes clean from the false image you're all being forced to see and believe in! Can't you see what's going on here?'

Mary continued to sigh in her heart at every compliment the staff threw their way that only made her feel more guilty and upset.

"Why do you look so out of it, what are you thinking about?" William asked Mary in a hushed tone that was only audible to her.

"Ack... Nothing, it's nothing." Mary shook her head and forced on a bright smile to fool the people around them.

"By the way," William spoke after being lost in thought for a while, "From now on, avoid any means of contact with Victor as much as you possibly can."

'What? But why?' Mary stared at William's profile to make out his intentions as she pondered over his words. 'Victor asked me to stay away from Frank, but you're asking me to stay away from Victor. What should I do?' Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

"Oh... But why?" Mary finally mustered up the courage to ask William the reason directly.

"No reason." "Hahaha... Of course...." The corners of Mary's lips twitched as though she was mouthing the words, "I knew you wouldn't tell me."