Page 10 of The Silence of Monsters

It took all my self-control not to send him a big fat NO. I tried to envision signing the paperwork, but my hands shook so badly, I could hardly scroll through the draft. I had no clue how I was supposed to go through with this farce if I couldn’t even handle the basic paperwork.

~ I’ll read through and approve it — eventually.

Because he left me no choice.

~ Approve it before tomorrow. We’ll take care of everything at once.

I wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or if I was too dumb to understand what he meant. I wanted to throw my phone against the ground and disappear.

~ What’s happening tomorrow?

I wracked my brain to remember if I’d made an appointment with him that I’d forgotten. Every interaction with Win felt like it was seared into my brain, so I doubt I’d forgotten. Even more so, now that I realized I unknowingly talked about the man, in great detail, to others.

~ Tomorrow we’re getting married. Meet me at the courthouse in the morning. I’ll have my assistant send you the details and final draft of the contract to sign.

I stopped breathing. I felt my knees get weak, and I nearly melted to the ground in a hysterical heap.

~ I don’t remember agreeing to that.

~ You didn’t. I decided for you, because you keep delaying the inevitable. What’s done is done, Harvey. Just get it over with so we can both move on with our lives.

~ How romantic. How could any woman resist the urge to fall at your feet with sweet words like that?

I hoped a slight fraction of my scorn and disgust would come across in my reply.

~ I don’t need you at my feet. I need you by my side. If you don’t show up when I tell you to, I’ll come and get you. You know how things go when you do things the hard way.

My teeth clenched together so hard, my jaw hurt. He knew damn well I didn’t want to do anything the difficult way ever again.

~ I’ll sign the paperwork and meet you at the courthouse. I still think this is a terrible idea. Your mother is going to kill you — or me. Probably both of us.

I flagged down a cab. I practically fell into the back and I stumbled over my words when I gave the driver my address. I felt a rattling sensation throughout my entire body.

~ I won’t let anything happen to you. See you in the morning, Harvey.

I didn’t realize until I got home and fell into bed that he hadn’t mentioned his own safety once his plan was in motion. Somehow, I was more alarmed by that knowledge than I cared to be.

Win

Channing was nearly an hour late.

I wasn’t surprised she was dragging her feet since she’d made it abundantly clear that she wasn’t a fan of her current circumstances. Then, her appearance took me off guard when she showed up. She emerged looking as if she rolled out of bed and headed directly to the courthouse. Her hair was a mess. Giant sunglasses covered most of her face. I was almost positive the black shirt she had on underneath an oversized blazer was a pajama top. She smelled like she’d rolled around on a bar floor and looked like she’d been rudely woken up after a bender.

“Nice of you to dress for the occasion.” The sarcasm was thick in my voice, but Channing didn’t even blink. Instead, she quickly put the giant sunglasses on top of her head, glancing between the notary, the lawyer, and my personal assistant Conrad, who were gathered around me. I never waited for anyone or anything, so the group naturally stared at the disheveled woman with a mixture of annoyance and curiosity.

Channing reached into her bag, pulled out the crumpled contract, and smacked the papers against my chest. She muttered loud enough for me to hear, “I should be dressed like I’m going to a funeral. Be happy I showed up at all.”

I handed the contract over to my lawyer, who blinked in surprise. “You could’ve authorized it digitally and emailed it over.”

Channing flushed in embarrassment and snapped, “This is my first time being blackmailed into marriage. You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t know the ins and outs.”

The lawyer frowned, then moved to huddle together with the notary to make sure everything was in order. While they had their heads bent together, Channing grabbed my elbow and pulled me a few steps away, saying she wanted to talk to me before we finalized the nuptials.

I had to bend my head down to hear her because her voice was low and shaky with suppressed emotion.

“I don’t care what you plan to tell your mother or the general public about this situation, Chester. But I care very much about how we explain things to Winnie. She’s not dumb. And you know how sensitive she can be. How do you plan to make her understand that you went from forbidding me to see her to moving me into the room next to hers? She’s only thirteen. She doesn’t deserve to be disillusioned about love and marriage at such a young age. Both of us are setting a terrible example for her. You for bullying me into this, and me for being weak enough to agree.”

Her bloodshot eyes had dark circles underneath them. It was easy to tell she was under a great deal of pressure and barely keeping herself together. Her dreary demeanor communicated that I was supposed to feel guilty and a touch remorseful for being the cause of her distress — but I didn’t.

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