The Billion Dollar Contract

Chapter One

Mia

Present

I had been staring at my computer screen for the past three hours, nonstop after running errands for Adam Auclair.

Adam Auclair, the perfect ten, the successful CEO. The exact same man who had interviewed me five years ago when he had offered me a job as a personal assistant—I didn't expect to become his personal assistant. All of my thoughts about him had gone out of the window as soon as I started working for him because I swear to God, that man was a devil in disguise.

He had never given me a break. He was always rushing me in everything; in getting his coffee every morning, the same hot latte. In searching for the files he had kept hidden on the shelves for three years. In making me set up a last-minute meeting. In picking up his mother from the airport every once in a while. In bringing his cat to the vet every month for a check-up. It wasn't just work-related but he had involved me in his matters as well.

Don't get me wrong, the pay was more than enough for everything but ever since working for him, I had never known to enjoy my life.

Even when I went to sleep at night, he was bound to call me to ask me and send him files. Even during the weekends, he was going to make me work overtime and stay up late at the office even though he knew I had an early morning the next day—he had made my life a living hell.

Yet, I have stayed as loyal as I could for the past five years. Never did I complain to him.

Except to Sam and Lily, my sister. They have been there for me for the past five years, always listening to my rants and my complaints—they saw how miserable I became. The only good thing that came out of me working at Auclair Enterprises was that I could finally afford my apartment and my car.

As for the mental torture, it was endless.

I never understood how Adam could work for more than eight hours every day. He was like a robot, excluding overheating. I could count the times he didn't disturb me during weekends and, trust me, it was less than ten in five years. I hadn't come home to visit my parents either, and had skipped Thanksgiving and Christmas. They were starting to wonder if I was working to save the world or working for a real estate company.

I was starting to wonder myself.

So, here I was, typing away and emailing to our clients as I kept glancing at his office—he seemed to be deep in thought ever since this morning as he sat quietly at his desk. He didn't ask me to do anything more than to check for updates which made me question if he was being himself or not. I had never seen him looking as troubled as he was today.

How could a rich person have problems anyway?

I knocked on the door of his office before pushing it open and stepping inside. He didn't bother to look up as he continued to look at his screen, ignoring my presence as he always did—it wasn't anything new, many of my colleagues had told me that I was never going to make it past a week but here I was, standing tall and confident after five years. They said Adam was bound to torture his assistant and they quit because they couldn't stand the pressure.

Maybe I was built differently. Maybe I had gotten numb.

"Mr. Auclair, do you want me to order your lunch as usual?" I asked, waiting for his response.

"No. We're going out for lunch," he replied.

"Alright, I guess I'll be—wait, did you say we?"

His hazel eyes looked up as he raised an eyebrow, "Did you not hear me?"

"I did. I just don't understand. Do we have a lunch meeting with one of our clients? I've looked at the schedule today and we don't have a meeting until after lunch,"

"My mother came back from London today, and she wants to have lunch. You're coming as well."

"Should I make a reservation?"

"No."

Then, I was slowly walking out of his office and straight to my desk. That was Adam Auclair, a simple yet confusing man—I never dared to question him whenever I was confused with something because he was going to look at me as I was a stupid little human. He had that stare that he wore perfectly whenever I began asking questions and ever since that, I stopped trying to put myself in any awkward situations.

I loved the salary and to keep the lifestyle I had, I needed to ignore all of the stress that came from work.

I spent the next half an hour finishing my report and as soon as I saw Adam walking towards me from his office, I knew it was time to stop working. Adam Auclair never waited for anyone which meant he never wanted to waste his time.

The words kept playing in my head every time I was with him; he gave me anxiety.

"Quickly."

"Faster."

"Why can't you hurry up?"

"You're wasting my time."

"The clock's ticking, Mia."

"Do I look like I care?"

Those were traumatising after a while and if I didn't knew any better, I had quit on my first day. Yet, I stayed and I pushed through all of the hard work and mental torture—he began to respect me a little even though his amount of little was equivalent to two per cent. Then again, I was thankful for how he had warmed up to me, slightly.

He stood tall in front of me, clearing his throat.

"Are you ready to leave?" I asked, picking up my handbag and quickly following behind him as he walked towards the elevator without giving me an answer.

I got used to him ignoring me every single time I tried to initiate a conversation. At first, I took it quite serious but then I began to ignore all of those bad treatments and kept our relationship as professional as ever. He knew I could get the job done and he showed me that he appreciated all of my hard work. None of my efforts were ever unnoticed.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we walked straight inside to our table.

"Mr. Auclair and Ms. Madden, please take a look at our menu and I'll be back when you're both ready to order." The waitress smiled, walking after receiving a response from me—Adam was being his usual self, ignoring everyone including me and went straight to use his phone.

He spent a couple of minutes typing on his phone before placing it on the table and taking a quick glimpse at the menu.

"Do you already know what to order?" He asked, without even sparing a single glance at me.

"The steak seems nice,"

Then, the conversation ended. As always.

"Oh my, I've missed you." Jean came walking in her high heels and went straight to hug her son. Her free hand was rubbing on his back when he pulled her in while holding onto her Birkin with her free hand. She was stunning as always, even though she was in her fifties, she never looked a day older than forty.

She shared her secrets with me about staying young, never caring too much about the world and always spend her husband's money.

"How are you, darling?" She asked, smiling up at Adam.

Adam nodded, slightly smiling—which seemed more like a twitch, "I'm fine. How are you? How was London?"

"Please don't get me started on how great I felt the whole time I was in London. Endless shopping spree. If you're asking me how I'm doing now, I'm alright." The smile never faded away from her son as she landed her eyes on me, slightly surprised to see me here but she also seemed excited at the same time.

"I know. I was keeping track of your spending." Adam replied, raising his finger to call for the waitress.

"You see, Mia, that's my son. He monitors how much money I spend even when it's not his money. Not even his father cares about how much money I spend because, with every money that leaves his bank, he gets them back but triple the amount." She laughs, shaking her head. "I never knew I birthed and raised such a nuisance."

"Well, too bad I'm your only son."

"Only child. That's why I love you too much,"

Once the waitress had came to take our orders, she left and Jean was taking her sweet time to stare at her son. The adoration in her eyes was too visible as she smiled, slowly rubbing the back of his hand. Adam didn't bother looking at his phone ever since his mother came and it was one of the things I respected about him, he knew to give his fullest attention to the woman he loved.

"How are you, Mia? Is it just me or do you look even better every time I see you?"

I chuckled, "I'm doing alright, Mrs. Auclair."

"No, no, no, enough with Mrs. Auclair. I get sick and tired of hearing that for the past thirty-four years. You need to call me Jean and we've been through this before to never call me Mrs. Auclair," she shook her head.

"Okay, Jean. I'm sorry," I smiled.

"Don't be. There's always an exception with you. You've taken care of my son more than I could,"

"I'm just doing my job."

"More than you should, honey. When was the last time you went on a holiday?"

Adam cleared his throat, "Please don't question how I treat my employees."

"And Adam, when do you think it would be possible for me to have grandchildren? I'm not getting any younger here." She changed the topic as quickly as she could, causing Adam to take a sip of his drink—I knew it was his way of showing how much he wanted to avoid the question but this time, he couldn't run away and pretended he was busy.

"You can always adopt another child if you want to play around with little kids," he replied.

"I want to play around the house with my grandchildren. My friends are all happy grandmothers and I'm here, stuck at wondering why I'm just still a mother." She sighed, leaning back on her seat. "Your father and I gave you freedom during your twenties, we gave you everything we could in your studies and in your career path. We were both lucky when it came to you, sweetheart. But you're turning thirty-three soon and you don't even have a girlfriend that lasted a week."

"That's not true."

"What is true, then? Do you wish to die alone? Don't you want to continue our bloodline? Where would all of the money go?"

I kept quiet, listening to their conversation but pretended not to participate. I was trying to pay more attention to my phone as I scrolled endlessly down my calendar—I didn't know what else to do. Adam never liked talking about marriages or kids, but he wasn't running away from this one. He could always end the call but he could never walk away and leave.

He cut her off, "I proposed."

"That's wonderful news, sweetheart. Do I know her?"

My body froze as Adam grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it, "Meet my fiancée, Mia."