Chapter 49

“I’m sorry. I’m going to do what next month?” Emma’s mouth fell open.

​ “We’re getting married,” he said. His tone was so even, and collected that Emma was frightened by it. “I won’t say it again.”

​ “You’re serious,” she breathed and led herself to a chair. Her legs went dead from shock.

​ “I am.”

​ “Why?”

​ Will was indifferent to her shock.

​ “You don’t need to know why. You need to make a choice. Do this, and I’ll end our former agreement. Right away.”

​ “What?” Emma leaned forward, her eyes like saucers. “I won’t be your ‘pet’? Your ‘thing’ anymore?”

​ “That stops the second you agree. And I will also do you one favor. Anything you want. That’s outside of caring for your father. I already promised I would do that. This is a marriage of convenience. I’ll pay you the previously agreed upon amount after twelve months.”

​ “A year? This is a lot to process.”

​ “You have an hour to decide,” Will was impatient. He stood and began to walk out of the room. “Keep in my mind that there will be consequences if you refuse.”

​ “Consequences? What consequences? For who?”

​ “One hour. Then I need your decision,” he ignored her and left the room. Emma head swam with the conversation. Will wanted to marry her, but it wasn’t the fantasy she had envisioned. There was no proposal, no ring, no romance. This was a new agreement he had propositioned to her. Another business deal. Agree or suffer.

​ But he had offered her something she wanted for a long time. An end to the pet contract. It was something she would be a fool to refuse that. She didn’t want to marry him, to belong to him in any way. But this new arrangement was far better than the one that she was currently a part of. On the one hand, she would still be attached to Will. But on the other, she would be freer. And as much as he would deny, he needed this more than she did.

​ There was no way to know for sure. Emma was so conflicted. There was no winning for her in either scenario. So she’d have to decide which was the better way to lose. It was a dilemma, a problem she felt she could never solve.

​ Before she could spiral too far, her phone rang. The number was unknown, but she answered anyway. No conversation could be more baffling than the battle in her mind.

​ “Hello?”

​ “Hello, Emma dear.”

​ “Conrad? Hello!” she was surprised by his call, but happy to hear from him. “How are you?”

​ “I’m well. But how about you? Will has proposed by now, I’m sure? Please tell me everything. I do hope that grandson of mine did it right. Tell me, my dear. Was he romantic?”

​ Conrad was so excited, Emma didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth. She assumed this was part of the deal. To the outside world, they had to appear to be happy and in love. That would include lying to Will’s grandfather. But Conrad noticed her hesitation.

​ “What’s wrong, Emma?”

​ “I… well, I truly wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t think Will wanted to marry me.”

​ Conrad chuckled.

​ “Don’t worry about that, my darling. He’s upset because I’ve been pushing him to get married for a long time. He’s been fighting me, but when I heard about what he did at Grace’s wedding, I was glad he finally made the right decision. I know he can be cold, but I know him. He has trouble expressing his feelings.”

​ “Yes, he does,” Emma agreed, although she doubted his true feelings were anything that would benefit her at all.

​ “He may have waited longer, but now that all of the tabloids and magazines have reported, he had no choice to make it official,” Conrad laughed. He sounded happy, and Emma had no heart to tell him that she knew why Will did what he did at Grace’s wedding. It had nothing to do with his true feelings for Emma, but everything to do with his true feelings for Grace. Will was still in love her.

​ “You two will be perfect together. And you will make a beautiful bride,” Conrad gushed.

​ “I… I’m not sure…” Emma stammered.

​ “Are you happy about this? Do you love him?” Conrad asked. When Emma couldn’t answer, he sighed. “My darling, you are the one for him. I know it. You are exactly what he needs, and I hope you both realize that soon. But if you don’t want to marry him, I can understand. He can be difficult to deal with.”

​ “Thank you, Conrad. Speaking with you always seems to help.”

​ “Anytime, dearest. I suspect that the wedding will be soon. Within a month or so I believe. While I’m doing well now, my health isn’t what it used to be. My dream was always to see my beloved grandson get married to someone like you. I know you can make him happy.”

​ A vice grip took hold of Emma’s heart. Conrad was like her own grandfather. She couldn’t tell him the truth and risk him having another heart attack. She understood why Will was being so pushy about the marriage. He was doing this for Conrad because he loved his grandfather so much.

​ “You’re right,” she said after a deep breath. “We will be happy together,” she lied.

​ “Yes, you will be! We’ll be in touch soon.”

​ “Good bye.” Emma hung up on the phone and sat with her thoughts. It was nice to bring joy to Conrad, Emma couldn’t lie to herself. Agreeing to this was more than that. She had to get out of the pet contract. Entering into a marriage agreement would get her out of the pet contract. While it wasn’t ideal, it was better than what she had. As Will’s wife, she wouldn’t have to hide their relationship in public. And he said he’d grant her one favor. She knew what she would ask for.

​ She left the room to find Will, but found him in the living room sitting on the couch with his head in his hands.

​ “I’ll do it,” she said. Will didn’t respond, waiting for her to continue. “I have one condition. Call it the favor you owe me, whatever. I’ll only ask for one thing.”

​ “What do you want?” he sighed without looking up at her.

​ “For this year, we can’t have sex.”
The Billionaire's Contract Pet
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