Chapter 4 - TERMS OF THE ARRANGEMENT
Emily immediately pulled Noah closer to her side, her arm wrapping protectively around his shoulders while Lily held onto her leg, clutching her half-eaten sandwich. The dust kicked up by a passing breeze swept around them, but Emily’s focus was laser-locked on the dark-haired man before her.
"You’re serious?" Emily asked, her voice tight with disbelief, searching his eyes for any flicker of deceit.
"Entirely," Nathan replied. He did not step closer, respecting the boundary she had drawn around her children. "I do not make offers I don't intend to execute."
"Why?" Emily demanded. "You’re a man with three luxury vehicles and six bodyguards with guns under their jackets. You could have any woman in Arizona. Why would you offer a marriage proposal to a homeless woman stranded on the side of a highway?"
Nathan’s expression remained an unreadable mask. "Because you have no interest in my money, my position, or my world. You only care about surviving and protecting those kids. That makes you honest. And more importantly, you have no connections to my associates, my rivals, or my family."
He paused, letting those words sink into the cold air.
"Here are my terms," Nathan continued, laying out the parameters with clinical precision. "One year. That is the initial duration of our agreement. Separate rooms inside my estate. You will be legally married to me, carry my name, and appear at my side when official occasions require it. In exchange, your children receive immediate entry into private schooling, full medical care, trust funds, and absolute physical protection. You will never have to worry about rent, food, or safety again."
Emily stared at him, her pulse racing in her ears. One year. Separate rooms. Security. It sounded like a miracle wrapped inside a nightmare.
"And if I refuse?" Emily asked softly.
Nathan didn't threaten her. He didn't gesture to his armed men or lower his voice into a sinister growl. He simply glanced down at the dark, unlit highway stretching into the endless desert night.
"If you refuse, Marco will pack you a crate of food and bottled water, I will hand you five hundred dollars in cash, and we will drive away," Nathan said honestly. "You can continue walking toward Tucson. But you know as well as I do what happens to a mother and two small children out here when the temperature drops below freezing at midnight."
Emily looked at Nathan, then turned her head slowly to look at the six armed bodyguards positioned around the dark convoy. Their hands were crossed in front of them, their faces impassive, waiting for their commander's order. She looked down at Noah, whose small face was pale, his eyes wide with fear and confusion as he held onto her hand. She looked at Lily, who was wiping apple juice from her chin with the back of her sleeve, her small purple dress filthy from the road.
May you like
She looked back at the vast, terrifying emptiness of the dark highway behind them. There were no streetlights. No gas station signs on the horizon. Nothing but cold, black desert.
Nathan calmly waited for her answer, standing motionless beside his car, giving her the full space to decide her destiny.
