The Billion Dollar Contract

Chapter Six

Mia

How could someone focus on their work when there was a lot of things in mind? As far as I knew, I couldn’t focus even if I wanted to. All I could think of was my deadline at five.

The ultimate deadline.

It was either a yes or no answer yet I kept having trouble trying to decide. My fingers were frozen on the keyboard and my eyes were glancing at Adam’s office, trying to see if he was looking at me too. However, he was busy settling his work because by the looks of it, he seemed pretty occupied.

He wasn’t the one with a big decision to make.

Well, that was wrong. He had a big decision to make before he decided to introduce me as his fiancée to his mother. That was like a death sentence—there was no turning back even if he wanted to.

I continued to do my work until it was time for lunch.

“Mia?” A familiar voice called out my name which caused me to turn around, meeting the familiar pair of green eyes. It was none other than my future ‘mother-in-law’.

“Mrs. Auclair. I didn’t expect to see you here,”

“Nonsense with the Mrs. Auclair. I’ve told you so many times to call me Jean.” She replied, smiling. “Is Adam in his office? I thought to stop by for a surprise. He didn’t know I was here.”

“Yes, he’s in. He would be surprised to see you,” I said, smiling back.

Jean was by far the loveliest woman I had ever met. She looked incredibly young for a woman her age and she always seemed to be smiling. Maybe, that was why her skin had a fair glow; other than the fact that she told me about her treatments in Korea, she was always a happy person. I never once saw her frown.

Maybe, that was how she even maintained a wrinkle-free skin. She was beyond gorgeous, too.

“Come, let’s surprise him together.”

That was awkward. Yet, I stood by and walked beside her. When we reached Adam’s office, it was on instinct for me to knock but she pushed the door open, getting inside.

Adam was talking on the phone but as soon as he saw me and most importantly, his mother, he decided to end the call and turn towards us.

“Mother? I thought you’re already back in Chicago.” He said, trying his best to control the tone of his voice.

He tried to make it seem as if he was thrilled by his mother’s presence but I knew he was finding ways to avoid this situation especially when things could get awkward, knowing the fact I never gave him the answer he needed yet.

“I was. I thought I’d stay the weekend here to spend time with you two,” she replied with a smile. She took a seat on the sofa, the smile never fading away from her face while Adam and I stared at one another.

Adam cleared his throat, placing his phone on the desk as he made his way towards me.

I slightly tensed when his hands went to my waist, gesturing for me to walk to his mother. We walked and I took a seat beside Jean as he stood, looking at us. “Mother, nobody knows about us yet. We wanted to keep things as professional as we can at the office. We don’t want unnecessary gossips.”

“Oh, I didn’t know about that. I’m sorry,” she shook her head. “Should I head to your house and just wait for you guys to come back for dinner?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, my eyes widened at Adam. Luckily for us, Jean had her back facing me. Adam tried his very best to remain calm, pretending not to notice the panic in my face.

“Dinner?”

“Mmhm, dinner. I was wondering if it was okay for me to stay the weekend at your house. I just miss you so much and I can get to know Mia better,” she replied.

Adam couldn’t reject his mother. The look on his face said it all—he wanted to think of other things to say. As he stood there like a statue, he quickly regained his composure and nodded. “Where are your luggages, mother?”

“Oh, yes. I completely forgotten. I’ve booked for a night at the Aman. Should we reschedule dinner to tomorrow, then?”

I tried to hide the relief. Yet, I was more than happy to make sure she wasn’t expecting dinner tonight. Adam and I needed to settle and clarify our situation first before we could continue this act. At least, for me, that was how I wanted.

“I think that would be better, mother. Besides, we’re actually a bit tired today. We’ve been busy at the office.” He said, looking at me.

“No worries. I completely understand,” Jean turned to look at me as she grabbed my hand, “Make sure you get enough rest tonight and you don’t need to worry about dinner tomorrow either. I’ll be the one to cook everything. Okay?”

“That’s really nice of you, Mrs—“

She was already glaring at me when I was about to call her by her last name. “Jean. That’s really nice of you, Jean.” I spoke.

“We’re soon going to be a family. I’m just really more than happy to have you in Adam’s life,” she smiled. Then, she gave Adam a quick peck on the cheek before walking out, leaving us alone.

I breathed out, didn’t realise I had been holding my breath.

“Mr. Auclair—“

“I didn’t know.” He cut me off, making it clear he had no idea. "If I knew, I would've told you."

"Now what?"

"I guess you're going to have to give me an answer now. It'd be too late to wait until five," he replied. I stayed still as I watched him walk towards the windows, overlooking the city of New York—I was always amazed by how beautiful New York looked like every day, especially at night. He had the best view every day but I guess when you could see it on a daily basis, you would've taken it for granted. "We can run through the terms and conditions again once the weekend is over and she's back in Chicago. For now, all I need is your consent."

"How long does the contract last?"

"A year. Six months at least,"

"Okay."

"Okay?"

I nodded, putting aside all of my worries. What could go wrong?

"The game begins, dear fiancée."