“The contract,” he said.“I suggest you read it carefully.”
I picked it up.My hands were steady, which surprised me.Inside, everything was shaking.
The first page was standard legal language.Parties involved.Date of agreement.Purpose of contract.I skimmed through it, catching phrases that made my throat tighten.Personal services agreement.Exclusive arrangement.Duration of one calendar year.
The second page outlined the financial terms.Upon execution of this agreement, the Party of the First Part shall remit full payment of twenty million dollars to Apex Lending, satisfying all outstanding obligations.The debt would be paid off immediately.Completely.The hotel would be free and clear.
Twenty million dollars.Gone with the stroke of his pen.In exchange for twelve months of my life.
I turned to the third page and stopped breathing.
The Party of the Second Part acknowledges and confirms that she is virginal at the time of signing, and agrees that this status will be surrendered exclusively to the Party of the First Part during the contract term.
He knew.Of course he knew.He’d said as much.But seeing it written down, in cold legal language, made it real in a way his words hadn’t.My virginity, reduced to a clause in a contract.A term to be fulfilled.
I looked up.He was watching me, expression unreadable.
“This clause.”I pointed to it, my finger trembling despite my best efforts.“I want it removed.”
“No.”
“It’s humiliating.It has nothing to do with the debt.”
“It has everything to do with what I want.”He leaned back in his chair, utterly at ease while I sat there with my dignity bleeding onto the pages.“That clause stays.”
“Why does it matter?Whether I’m a virgin or not, the arrangement is the same.”
“It matters because I want it documented.”His voice was silk over steel.“I want a legal record that when I take you, I’ll be the first.The only.I want your signature confirming that you understand exactly what you’re giving me.”
My face burned.“That’s… that’s perverse.”
“Perhaps.”He didn’t sound troubled by the accusation.“Sign it anyway.”
I flipped to the next page, desperate to move past the humiliation.Non-disclosure agreement.I couldn’t discuss the arrangement with anyone, under any circumstances.Not that I was planning to announce to the world that I’d sold myself to a billionaire, but the formal prohibition was another chain around my neck.
“The non-disclosure applies to you as well?”
“Of course.I have no interest in advertising our arrangement.”
Small mercy.I kept reading.
And then I reached the penalty clause.
In the event that the Party of the Second Part breaches this agreement or terminates the arrangement prior to the completion of the full contract term, she shall be liable for immediate repayment of the full twenty million dollars plus a penalty equal to fifty percent (50%) of said amount.
Fifty percent.Ten million dollars on top of the twenty he’d already paid.
“This is unreasonable.”I looked up at him, my heart hammering.“A thirty-million-dollar penalty?If I break the contract for any reason?”
“There is no reasonable reason to break the contract.”
“What if I get sick?What if there’s an emergency at the hotel?What if?—”
“Then you’ll deal with it and return to me.”His expression didn’t change.“The contract is absolute.There are no exceptions.”
“And if you break it?If you decide you’re bored with me after six months?”
“I won’t.”
