Chapter 3

Clara stayed with me for two more weeks. I still had about a month worth of money saved up in my bank account. After that I wouldn't be able to pay rent anymore, not to mention food. 

I had a backup plan in my mind, I could ask Max if I could move in with him. He lived further away from the city though, so it might be harder to find jobs over there. Not to mention the fact that I can't stand Liann, and that I hate relying on other people. 

When they did finally pick Clara up, we did not really get a chance to talk. Apparently they had taken in Liann's mother, so the poor woman was waiting in a car outside. Seeing as she grew up skiing in the alps and dinner with the mayor on Sundays, she did not like the neighbourhood I lived in and preferred to leave as soon as possible.

About two days later I got the phone call from Sarah, for my final interview. I wore the same pencil skirt I wore last time but this time paired it with a red blouse. The way to the King Building had gotten almost familiar, and I arrived ten minutes earlier than I was supposed to be there. 

I was brought to the same place as last time. I waited in the familiar waiting room when I realized that no one else was here. I couldn't allow myself to celebrate yet though. Something could still be off. Or, god forbid, they realized that inviting several people to be interviewed at the same time was stupid and they actually thought it through this time.

At exactly twelve o'clock the door down the hall opened, and Sarah came walking out. It was a long hallway, and I didn't really show her that I had seen her until she reached me, so we didn't need to go through that awkward eye contact but can't say anything yet. 

"Ms Adler." She shook my hand. Was it a good sign that she knew my name? 

"Ms Locke." I answered with a smile. 

"Follow me please." She sat. Much like last time, she led me through the hallway and into the room we had previously used for the lie detector test. They had taken the table out however, and replaced it with a simple desk, with a laptop on it, and a small waiting area. 

"Mr King is ready for you." She said to me, opening the door to his office with a key.

"Thank you." I said to her, before going into the familiar office.

They hadn't changed anything here.  The only real noticeable thing was that his desk was far more cluttered this time. Like last time, he got up and shook my hand.

"Glad you could make it." He said to me. Maybe it was just my imagination, but he looked more cluttered too. He didn’t have any bags under his eyes nor did he openly announce that he was tired with a yawn, but something about him told me he was tired and stressed.

"Glad to be here." I answered with a smile. I sat down in the chair that was across his desk and took a big breath, waiting for the future to hit me. 

"So," He started, shutting his laptop and laying it aside. "The doctor found something with you."

I'll admit, I wasn't expecting this.

Was he going to personally give me my medical news? If it was something truly bad the doctor would have done it right? I was slowly starting to freak out, which I guess he could tell by the look on my face.

"It's not bad." He quickly elaborated. "It's quite good actually, given our situation." 

"What is it?" I asked, relaxing a bit into the chair. 

"It's called Hyper-ovulation." He said. "A small percentage of women have it. Most of them have it because of the use of fertility drugs." 

"Which I have never used." I intervened. 

"I believe you." He quickly said. "It can be genetic as well." 

I didn't really know much about my family. My mom had been banished from her family since she got pregnant with my brother, and I never knew who my father was. Still, that wasn't something I was going to admit to him.

"But, as I said. It's good. It's why I ultimately decided on you." He said. "You have a bigger chance of conceiving twins or triplets." He handed me a folder. "That's a bunch of information on hyper ovulation, if you want to know more." Right now I wasn't interested in that however, I was interested in what he said before. 

"You decided?" I couldn't help but smile as I said it. 

"The contract is ready." He just answered. "Though we made... some modifications." 

I immediately raised my brows at him. He wasn't going to string me on like that and then say that it won't be a million. 

"We didn't really add a clause on twins when we wrote it." He said, flipping through the pages. "We changed it to a million per baby." I laughed.

"So if I turn Octomom?" I laughed.

"You'll make yourself eight million." He answered in all seriousness. He stood up and handed me the contract. 

"I'll leave you to read it. We can make modifications when I return." He just said and walked out.

The contract was several pages long, and reminded me of the one from Fifty Shades of Grey, except this one was probably even more fucked up.

For a split moment, I thought I made a mistake. I wasn't an emotional person, but I loved Clara like she was my daughter, not my sister. Could I really give my children away?

But then I thought of Clara. Sweet Clara who goes to school with holes in the clothes that aren't even properly washed. The same sweet girl that has been taking cold showers since she was old enough to realize that we did not have the money to fix the piping. Even when she was with Max and Liann, she never got what she truly deserved.

The first page was about the general information on where to find everything in the contract. The second page was the main stuff. In exchange for one million I would give one child up. What I didn't know, because no one told us, were the rest of the money related things.

They would be taking care of everything during the pregnancy. From my living expenses to my doctor's appointments. I had half expected that, especially the part about the doctors, but I hadn't expected the rest.

For the remaining years of my life, I will be paid two thousand dollars a month, to keep my mouth shut and never look up my child. If I were to break this part of the agreement and make contact with the child, I would have to repay all the expenses they had made on me.

Two thousand dollars a month. My mouth watered at the thought of it. I would be able to buy us a good life with that. 

I read through the rest of the contract quickly. The final page was the scariest. It ended with a line about how I could go to jail if I breached the contract. following that were two lines, one already had his signature on it, the other was awaiting mine. 

I walked over to the window, hoping to clear my mind. They had chosen me. Even if it was just because of the hyper ovulation thing, I was happy about it. I was happy about the contract. But why did I feel this tension in my stomach?

Oh right, maybe because I'll be giving birth to babies from a man I know nothing about.

No, I put the thought to the back of my mind. It's a business interaction, that's all it is. A baby for a million. Now would be a good time to turn that cold self on I have been accused of so many times and forget about what the morally correct thing to do was.

I am nothing like my mother, I thought to myself. 

The door opened, and Robert returned. He had a bottle of champagne in his hand, and two glasses in his other one. He looked nice today. He wore a grey suit with a black tie. Both looked like they were worth more than my entire existence, not even talking about the bottle he held. 

"I figured a celebration was in order." He said to me. He easily opened the bottle and poured the champagne into the two glasses. He stood beside me next to the window and handed me mine. 

I took a sip and looked upon the city that was below us. Normal people, who were rushing to work and to their families. They weren't with a billionaire in his high office talking about selling babies.

"Did you agree with everything in the contract?" He asked me. His voice was heavy and easily carried itself around the room. I could see why he was a CEO, instead of a lower-paid employee. He had a certain charisma, a way he carried himself.

"I did." I answered. 

"Great." He answered, and quietly we both took another sip. "Another reason why I chose you, you don't seem like much trouble to work with."

"Why make life more difficult?" I smiled at him. He let out a short laugh.

"I do wonder why people do that sometimes." He said, looking over at me and leaning against the window. 

"I did have one question," I said, seeing as it is better to ask now rather than I already signed. "The impregnation part," I felt a pang of awkwardness just by the word. "How will that be done?"

Robert did not seem mildly impressed or uncomfortable by the question. "I left a lot of things in the contract vague for this reason. You do have a say in certain things, though I would like to remind you that in the end they will be my children."

"So if I were to say that I am a religious fanatic that doesn't believe in anything but straight-up missionary to make kids?" I asked him. A smile broke through his cold facade.

"Well, I wouldn't believe you." He answered. "but if you want to do it the conventional way, I wouldn't object."

I turned to him, finally done imprinting the peaceful scene in my head. "How much involvement are you going to have personally?" I asked. 

"A lot most likely." He answered immediately. "You might not see me every day, but I expect you to answer me quickly, through this." He fished a brand new phone out of the pocket of his jacket and handed it to me. 

"It's yours. You can keep it afterwards." He said. 

We finished the champagne and moved back to the desk, where the contract was waiting for my signature. I took one last glance towards it, and signed.