Bound By The Contract

Today marks three years since I married, but I never met my husband. Yes, it may seem strange to you. My name is Liz Navarro Andrade and I am 21 years old. As soon as I turned 18, I had to marry my guardian. I lost my parents when I was 16 in a plane crash. My father had already left a will in case something happened to us. The will stated that I would marry my guardian when I turned 25. My father wanted me to graduate, preferably in law, because my companies are all in this field. Only after graduating could I take control of the company and get a divorce. But things changed. My guardian passed away shortly after my parents. He had a heart attack, yes, at just 32 years old. With that, circumstances shifted. I married his uncle, who was only 27 when we got married. Funny, isn't it? The nephew, much older than the uncle, also seemed strange to me. But what could I do? On our wedding day, I didn't see him. He simply sent the documents through Bruno, the lawyer my father left to help me. I signed a document stating I was married to Henry McKnight, and that was it. Then I moved into a mansion, Henry's house. It's huge, with two floors and a garage with several cars. There are about ten cars in that garage. I've lived here for three years, only with the housekeeper, Sandra. She's about 50 years old, with fair skin, brown eyes, and some gray streaks in her hair. She is the one who takes care of me. I consider her like a mother. "Sandra," I called out. "Hello, Liz," she replied warmly. "Can you ask Bruno to come here?" We were having breakfast. "Of course, but may I know the reason?" "I want my divorce. I can't stand being married to a man I barely know." "Calm down, my dear, only three years left." I had never seen him before, except for a photo Sandra showed me once. He was blond, tall, with green eyes, and in the photo, his beard was unshaven. Yes, he was handsome. He would never have looked at a teenager who had just turned 18 back then. "No, Sandra, I want to live my life and enjoy things." She put down her coffee cup and just looked at me. "I can't do any of that while being married." "But you can. Go out with your friends, enjoy it!" "Mrs. Navarro," said Petter, who was my driver. "Sure, Petter, I'm coming." "Goodbye, Sandra." I grabbed my bag, kissed her on the forehead, and headed to the university. "Goodbye, my girl," she called after me. People called me by my parents' last name. I didn't like being called McKnight; I didn't think it was fair to use the name of a man I didn't know and had never seen in person. The household staff were practically my family; I truly saw them that way. I treated them as if they were my parents. They were always the ones who kept me company. Petter and Sandra had been dating for a while. They had both been married before and had been through a lot, so they opted for a casual relationship when they met. On weekends, they kept me company. When Henry came to New York, he stayed in a hotel. As soon as I arrived at school, I saw Ana right away. "Liiiiiz," she called excitedly. "What is it?" I asked as she pulled me by the hand, all excited. "There's a new teacher." "For our class?! That's exciting." "He's gorgeous." I laughed. Ana always thought the teachers were attractive. As soon as we entered the room, I came face to face with none other than Henry McKnight! "Damn!" I muttered under my breath. "I told you he's gorgeous, Liz," Ana whispered. Ana didn't know that I was married; she only knew that I inherited a fortune from my parents, which was true. She knew Sandra and Petter. "Good morning!" His voice was deep and sensual. "I'll be your new substitute teacher!" The girls started murmuring. "I'll be continuing with Civil Law classes." Damn! It was the one subject I was really bad at. We sat down and the class began. I didn't pay attention to anything he said; I just noticed his beauty and the fact that I was married to this man. He was well-composed. The girls kept whispering about him, but of course, he didn't let himself be swayed by the comments. He acted as if they didn't exist. Sometimes our eyes met. Did he know who I was? I didn't think so! I hoped not! "Come on, Liz. Class is over," Ana nudged me. "Oh, right!" "Now wipe that drool off and let's head to the next class," Ana laughed as she spoke. We headed to the door, and at that moment I tripped over my own feet and fell hard to the ground, dropping my books. Yes, well done, Liz! "Are you okay?" Henry approached as he asked. I tried to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. He crouched down and helped me with the books. Our eyes met for a fraction of a second. He extended his hand, and of course I accepted! Only then did I realize that Ana was frozen beside me, watching everything. "Th... thank you!" I told myself not to stutter. "Here you go! Be more careful next time," he said, his tone slightly dismissive. "Let's go, Ana!" I didn't say anything more to him, I just left, dragging her by the arm. "Did you see what he's like?" I asked Ana as soon as we were out of the room. "He's my type, Liz!" Anna sighed. "He's handsome." "And he's rude!" "No way. He helped you." The bell rang for the next class. "Let's go!" I pulled Ana again; she seemed hypnotized by him. I couldn't deny that I didn't pay attention in any of the other classes. All I could think about were those green eyes! He was even more handsome than in the photo, and besides, he was my husband. I was sure he had no idea who I was. I hoped it would stay that way until he signed the divorce papers. "Are you okay, Liz?" Ana's voice broke through my thoughts. "Yes, I am," I replied, snapping out of my reverie. "Then let's go, that was our last class." I looked around to see that the room was empty. "Let's go!" "There will be a party at Samantha's house today, okay?" "I'm not feeling well," I pulled a face. "Did the hot teacher leave you like that?" She started laughing. "Of course not!" I tried to lie. "I have cramps. I'd rather stay home." We left the hallway. "I'll try to kiss Igor!" Ana had always been bold and a bit cheeky, if you know what I mean. "Good luck with that." Igor wasn't attracted to her, but she couldn't understand that. "Okay. See you on Monday." Ana hugged me and headed towards the gate. I stayed there, watching her walk away. "Are you okay, Miss...?" I heard that husky, sensual voice behind me. My whole body trembled, and he didn't know who I was. "Navarro! Liz Navarro," I said, turning around with a defiant air. If he thought I had forgotten how rude he was to me, he was very wrong! "Sorry. It will take me some time to learn all the students' names," he said. What a wonderful voice that man had. And he treated me like just another student. I didn't say a word, just turned around and headed for the door. I didn't look back. "Miss Navarro? Miss?" I walked away, hearing him call after me. As soon as I stepped out the door, I felt both relief and a chill. I saw Petter's car and got in quickly. "Did something happen, Liz?" he asked, concerned. "No, Petter," I tried to play it cool. He kept looking at me through the rearview mirror. "I think I ate something that didn't agree with me." "Do you want to see a doctor?" "It's not necessary. Sandra's tea is enough." "Alright." He started the car, and we headed home. I spent the whole ride thinking about him. As soon as I arrived home, Bruno was waiting for me. "Bruno?!" "Hi, sweetheart," Sandra came to greet me. "You look pale. Is everything okay?" "I ate something that didn't agree with me," I grimaced to make it believable. "I'll make you some tea." Sandra went to the kitchen. "Thank you." I dropped my bag on the floor and sat on the sofa in front of Bruno. "Are you okay, Liz?" "I'm fine, Bruno. What brings you here?" "Mr. Henry wants to talk to you about the divorce." "There's no point," I said. This was ridiculous. "He was never interested in meeting me." He didn't even show up on our wedding day. "So, he doesn't need to see me to talk about the divorce." "He will come to the city to do it." "He's already in the city!" "How?" Well done, Liz, well done, you and your big mouth! "I saw in a newspaper that he had already arrived here," I tried to lie. "Ah, okay." He seemed to believe me. "Tell him to just sign the paper. I want to live my life. That's all." "Look, Liz, I'll try. I can't guarantee anything. Mr. McKnight has a very strong temperament." "That's because he's never seen me mad." "I'll see what I can do." Bruno looked at me with pity. "I'll call you." "Thank you, Bruno." Is my husband some kind of "demon"? Everyone who talked about him seemed to fear him. Bruno headed towards the door.