Alistair felt Zora’s gaze.
He tilted his head slightly, just enough to see her expression, then his eyes went back to the road.
“It’s past midnight, the hospital is closed.”
Zora nodded.
“Oh.”
But in reality Zora was surprised that both of them were talking peacefully.
The next second she heard,
“You should stop working.”
“What?”
She wasn’t sure she had heard him clearly.
Alistair of course wasn’t going to repeat himself.
“You heard me.”
Zora laughed dryly.
“And why should I?”
Alistair’s eyebrows drew together, but he did not stop driving.
“You don’t know why?”
“If it’s because of what you saw a few minutes ago, you don’t have to worry…”
Alistair hadn’t really seen what happened between Zora and her mother.
He had not even seen the woman’s face.
He thought she was looking for a cab.
“What did I see?”
He asked, a frown forming on his face.
Zora looked at him.
“I’m not in the mood to play games.
If you did not see anything that’s fine, but I’m not quitting my job because some stranger asked me to.”
A smug smile formed on his lips.
“Ahh, stranger.
That’s new.”
Zora glared at him from the corner of her eyes.
“Tsh.”
Alistair finally became serious.
“You signed the contract.”
That wasn’t a question and Zora knew it.
She couldn’t stop the rush of adrenaline down her spine.
She pretended not to understand him.
“Wha… what contract?”
“Did you read it before you signed?”
The thin hairs on Zora’s body stood.
Her hands unconsciously gripped the seatbelt tightly.
Alistair arched an eyebrow.
He took her silence as confirmation.
“Wow, you really did not read it.”
They got to a traffic jam and the car slowed to a stop.
He opened the glove compartment beside him and brought out a neatly folded paper.
“That is no problem.
I have a copy here, you can go through it.”
He handed it to her.
Zora took it with trembling hands. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
She opened it.
Despite her hatred for boring fonts and long paragraphs in contracts she still managed to read it.
Her eyes grew wider at each word.
Slowly the words escaped her mouth.
“I hereby agree to be a purchase to Alistair Morgan, and to listen to his command….”
Her eyes went to the breach of contract clause.
‘Party B must pay two hundred percent of all that Party A spent during the period of contract, including legal fees, and all the debts Party A paid to claim Party B.’
Tears rolled down her face.
She quickly searched for the part Viktor had shown her.
‘Clause twenty, transaction between both parties.
Party A Alistair Morgan shall pay to Viktor Rolf all that Zora Anderson owes, and when the transaction is made Viktor Rolf shall no longer claim Zora Anderson and will never return to ask for payment or marriage from Zora Anderson.’
Zora could not continue.
Her lips trembled as she tried to cover them with her hand so she would not scream.
Her mind went back to the canteen when she had pretended to read the contract.
How calm Viktor was.
It dawned on her that Viktor knew her better than she had thought.
She looked down at her signature and then at Alistair, who was growing impatient because of the traffic jam.
She spoke softly but her voice still came out hoarse.
“I… never agreed to this.”
Alistair finally looked at her.
“I never forced anyone to sign anything.
You should have read it.”
Although Alistair said that calmly Zora read another meaning into it.
Her eyes turned red.
“You’re a bastard!
You… you are all demons!”
“I never agreed to this.
You can have as many girls as you wish.”
“Why?….
Why did it have to be me?”
Finally the road cleared and Alistair started driving again.
“There’s always a way.
Just ask him to return everything he received during the transaction… and then you pay back what you owe me.”
Zora looked at him, tears glinting on her face.
“I owe you?
I never borrowed money from you or took anything from you with the promise of payment!”
Alistair’s hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“Should I remind you?”
“Who paid for your hospital bills, your physiotherapy sessions?”
Zora’s hands went cold.
“You paid for my auntie’s bills?”
Alistair frowned.
“What auntie?
I’m talking about you.”
Zora sighed in relief.
At least he was not involved with her auntie.
“If I owe you for hospital bills why did you not ask me to pay back directly?
The car finally stopped.
“Shouldn’t you thank me instead of yelling?”
Zora clenched her fist, holding in the urge to punch him.
“Thank you for owning me without my consent?”
Alistair leaned back on his seat.
“You buy things without their consent, for example pets.
You buy a dog without asking the dog if it wants an owner, because you know it needs one.”
He slowly closed his eyes.
“I took you away from him.
All you have to do is allow me to be your owner.”
Zora took a deep breath to calm the storm rising in her chest.
“How much are the bills I owe you?”
Alistair’s eyes were still closed and a playful smug smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
“A night in the VIP ward is one million dollars, and you spent four nights, which is four million dollars.”
“A session with the physiotherapist is thirty thousand dollars and you had about eight to nine sessions, which is two hundred and forty thousand to two hundred and seventy thousand dollars.”
“The electronic wheelchair cost six thousand dollars.”
“The premium ergonomic crutches are three hundred dollars.”
“And let’s not forget about the scans and tests you did, which cost about ten thousand dollars.”
He opened his eyes and tilted his head to look at Zora.
“In total, four million, two hundred and eighty six thousand, three hundred dollars.”
Zora bit the inside of her lip.
“Who… asked you to do all of that?”
“You’re welcome.”
Zora looked at him.
Her eyes met his deep blue ones.
She couldn’t hold his gaze so she looked down at her clenched palm.
“I did not say thank you.”
Alistair sighed.
“Just let me be your owner and you can forget about the breach of contract.”
Zora shook her head.
“I am not a dog, and I refuse to be owned!”
Alistair clicked his tongue.
“So do you prefer paying me back?”
She’d rather pay him back than be owned.
Her gaze shifted to look straight into Alistair’s eyes.
“I’ll pay you every coin you spent.”
Alistair unconsciously clenched his fist.
“And how do you plan on doing so?”
Zora looked out away.
“It’s my business, you shouldn’t have to worry about that.”
Alistair’s expression changed but then a smile appeared on his face, the kind that had hidden cruelty beneath it.
‘I’ll watch you try’
He opened the car door and got out.
Zora was left alone in the car.
A bitter smile appeared on her lips.
“Well done Viktor, you’ve shown me another side of you.”