Ella's POV:
Sitting at a long, polished oak table, I couldn't help but feel like I was signing my life away. The stark fluorescent lights above hummed faintly, their harshness amplifying the tension in the room.
Across from me, Arec sat composed, tapping his fingers lightly on the table, while two lawyers, one on either side of us, shuffled through documents with the seriousness of surgeons preparing for an operation.
This was really happening. The contract marriage that had started as a bizarre idea was now about to be cemented in legal terms. And even though I had agreed, the reality was finally sinking in. Every word, every clause, would dictate my life for the next year.
I glanced up at Arec. His face was unreadable, his usual calm and collected demeanor firmly in place, but there was something different today.
