The Royal Contract

"Oh. I'm happy for the two of you." She heard Tyra said to both of them.

"Thanks." She replied hesitantly, suddenly feeling mortified for what she just did.

When she saw the defeated look on Tyra's face, she realized that Tyra was genuinely hurt by her action. Tyra must have real feelings for Alex and she just crushed it with her lie. She felt such a horrible person for purposely hurting another person.

Then, it came to her attention what her actions signified. She just confirmed to Alex that she was agreeing to the contract by acting as his girlfriend in front of her ex. She might not have signed the contract yet, but she was already bound by her honor when she started playing the part tonight.

On the other hand, Alex took this as an opportunity to get what he wanted. A card that he could use against Dani and a way to ward of Tyra's advances. Everything was falling into place and he could not be happier.

"By the way, I just received your invitation this morning. I'll see you on your birthday then." Tyra made her excused and return to the people she came here with on the other side of the restaurant.

Alex was the first to spoke with a grin on his face as he assisted her back to their seat. "This means that you finally accepted to be my girlfriend." He stated it as a fact and not a question. He already caught her in the trap and he was not going to let her get away from him.

"Your fake girlfriend. Don't forget that." She corrected him and finally conceding to her fate.

She could not back out now after making a claim on him, which was a very uncharacteristic behavior of her. In a normal circumstance, she would never act this irresponsible. But she was not acting normal at the moment.

She did not need the complication of putting love in the equation. She just wanted to treat this as if it was a business transaction. After six months, and the contract expired, she would be back to her normal life while he would be out of her life for good.

"Of course, I have not forgotten that. I hope you will also keep it in mind." The last thing he wanted was to put emotional drama into their arrangement. "Just make sure that you will not fall in love with me." He warned her, but based on Marcus, it was not likely to happen.

Maybe Marcus was correct, he had seen her in action and she could freeze an entire city with her iciness. He laughed remembering what Marcus called her. The Ice Queen.

"I assure you that it will never happen. You are certainly not my type." She reacted to his statement and his laughter with annoyance.

She suddenly regretted agreeing with the arrangement. But it was her fault for acting so impulsively. She blamed it on temporary insanity. She was undergoing a lot of stress lately that her brain malfunction for a few minutes and made some stupid decision for her.

"That's good to hear. It would not be a problem then." Although he was not entirely convinced with her claim, he was willing to ignore it in the meantime. The important thing now was that she had finally agreed. The only thing left was for her to sign the contract so that it would be official.

"So, what now?" She questioned, having no clue, what would happen next.

He discussed the full extent of her obligations as her fake girlfriend. He would need her to be available to him on important social functions, which she thought was reasonable. He also told her about going on occasional dates for public exposure.

Because he was sure that either his father would be monitoring his action or someone else in the palace. If they would pass as a real couple, they would have to play the part correctly.

"I will let you discuss with Marcus whatever you wished to add to the contract." He instructed as finished the remaining wine in his glass. "One more thing, during the duration of our arrangement, we can't date anyone else."

She already read that clause on the contract and she had no issue with it. "Don't worry about that because I don't date. I think you should be telling that to yourself." She felt it was him who needed to listen to his directive.

He was not sure why he felt satisfied after hearing her answer. "I assure you that I will only have eyes for you." He winked at her, giving her, his boyish grin.

She disregarded his last statement because she was not about to believe his charms.

"Then, if you have any more questions, this would be the best time to ask them." He continued.

He needed a guarantee that there was no misunderstanding in their roles in this farce relationship. No one should suspect that it was all a lie. But based on Tyra's reaction earlier, they seemed to be doing great so far. They just had to keep up with the façade.

"I think we covered most of what we needed to know. If ever I have further questions, I'll just ask you later." She checked her phone, looking at the time. It was getting late and all she wanted to do was go home.

She remembered him, taking her home after that dinner, with his arm possessively holding her in her back as he guided her out of the restaurant. As he insisted, they had to appear to be together when they were in public.

Her attention went back to the present when her phone rang. It was a message coming from her fake boyfriend. He just sent him a temporary itinerary of their schedule for the week. In five days, it would be his birthday according to the planner.

That would mean more of what just happened earlier. Could she keep up with the act? Was she capable of fooling her family and his? She began to question what she just entered into. Then, she began to imagine what they had to do during the six months of their contract.

She was beginning to doubt her decision. She was not sure if she could act as if they were lovers in front of people. Because that would certainly include some public display of affection.