"I agree." Befor she realised the words were already out of her mouth.

"So you agree to marry me?"

"Yes."

He relaxed in his seat again as a victorious smile touched his lips.

"Good. Then I will start with the arrangements."

"But how will this work? I mean you must have decided on a girl as your marriage partner."

"I am a man of my own will so I can choose whoever I want and at the moment we need to think about Sam. He is our priority." He said looking at the toddler who was busy talking to his new toy.

"Don't worry, I will not snatch away your rights or your freedom. You don't have to worry about the finances I will take care of it. If you still want to work it's your wish I won't stop you as long as Sam is cared for. You don't have to worry about his expenses either. He will get the best of everything in this world and I will pay the price."

She nodded her head as he continued, "I am a businessman so I need to keep up with the social appearances. You will have to accompany me if there is a business dinner. We will need to attend a few if not many and we will need to play the role of a loving couple or else it won't take Elsie long to find out about this contractual marriage."

''I understand."

"We will be staying in one house but don't worry your privacy will not be invaded. You will get your own room and I will have mine. My house is quite big so I don't think we will see much of each other."

"What if there came a time when you fell for someone? Would I still get the custody of Sam?" Lilly interrupted.

'' I have said it already and I am repeating it again I have never been in love and will never be. So you don't need to worry about that."

"Even so I need to know if I will get the custody - "

"Ok fine. If it have ever happens Sam will always belong to you." His words assured her a little.

"If you want to date someone in future or anything like that I will not stop you. Of course, it's your life but I would suggest you to refrain from all this for a few months or at least till the time we make Elsie believe that we are indeed a couple. I hope you can do at least that much for Sam's sake."

She looked at him with anger that was about to burst like a volcano but she was tried her best to hold back and said, "Of course, I can and I hope I can expect the same from you."

He raised a brow as he looked at her before finally speaking, "Yes, of course. Now that we have discussed all important things we can proceed to the next step. We will be leaving for New York tomorrow. Only pack the essentials the rest I will provide you there." He said standing up.

"Wait! What?" she looked at him completely baffled.

"We will be getting married two days later in New York. I will ask my lawyer to prepare the contract and -''

"You never told me that I and Sam would need to shift to New York!"

He walked to her side of the table as she still sat in her chair.

"My soon- to-be Mrs king," he said as he pinched her chin lightly between his finger and thumb. "Do you not know husband and wife live in the same house under the same roof? Who will believe in a couple who live in two different continents? Hmm?"

'Well, he's right.' she grudgingly acknowledged.

"As for this house you can either sell it or put it on rent, it's your decision and just tell my manager he will take care of it for you." He straightened and pushing his hands in the pockets of his trousers he said, "I will be here tomorrow. Bye, Sam." he kissed Sam's head and the toddler touched his beard with both his hands and replied in his incomprehensible language.

'Did I make the right choice?' a little voice in her head asked.

"Don't even think about getting back on your decision or else I will be the person you will come to hate more than Sebastian." Ashton said in her ear. It was when she heard the main door close that she realised he had left.

That night Lilly went to bed with her head in turmoil. She cried into her pillow as the old wounds of losing her parents and sister opened up again, as she realised how helpless she had become at this moment. She must have been stupid to agree to this marriage but the picture he painted of Sam if his stepmom raised him was so horrifying that it almost short-circuited her brain.

She laid on the bed red-eyed and sleepless. Her mind spinning at the thought of marrying Ashton king and becoming a part of his world. She hardly slept for three hours that night and woke up at 5 in the morning. She emailed the final draft of the translated documents and applied for a two weeks' leave.

She had never taken such a long leave because she always felt the need to earn more money so that she could save a lot for Sam's future. That's why as soon as her one project finished she would take up the next one. She never took more than two days' leave and now she was taking the leave for two whole weeks.

Closing her laptop she went to the nursery to check upon Sam. He was still sleeping soundly. He had calmed down a great deal after Ashton's visit. Maybe marrying him isn't that bad of an idea. If he is nice to Sam then there is nothing else she needed or wanted from him, she smiled.

"I will do my best. If all this can bring you happiness then I am ready."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

True to his words and always punctual Ashton had reached to pick them up on time. Their journey from UK to USA in his private jet was spent silently. The silence was broken only by the gibberish conversation of both the adults to the toddler.

Sam was the only one who had played a vital role in breaking the silence between them and during that long journey the other topics that they had talked on revolved majorly around Sam.

It was the first time she flew in a private jet and she couldn't deny that she was actually impressed. She looked at Aston as he tried to talk to Sam. Trying and failing miserably to understand his gibberish- mixed sign language. His efforts in trying to understand the toddler made her smile. She had read somewhere that the guys who played with kids look the most handsome and desirable ones and she realised maybe that wasn't a lie. An involuntary smile touched her lips which soon turned into a scowl as she realised where her thoughts were headed.

Stopping her train of thoughts she turned to her right on the bed stretching her aching body. His villa in Brooklyn was quite big but she was so tired after the journey that she had no power to explore the villa.

She was surprised when she was shown Sam's nursery. It looked the same like the one back in England.

"If his room will look the same then it will be a bit easier for him to adjust with this new environment." That was what Ashton had said.

And if she were to be honest this small gesture of his towards Sam had touched her heart. Every time she started having second thoughts about this marriage Ashton did something way too nice for Sam that she just couldn't bring herself to say 'No' to his proposal.

Sighing, she hoped she was doing the right thing. Just then she heard a knock at the door. She sat on the bed and found a maid standing at the door.

"Good morning, Ms Jones."

"Call me Lilly, please."

Maid acknowledged her request with a smile as she said, "Your breakfast is ready."

"Ok. I'll be there thank you."

Lilly went to Sam's nursery to check up on him. She lightly touched Sam's cheek and he stirred in his sleep. For a moment she felt jealous of the little boy who was sleeping like a log while she on the other hand had developed eyebags.

Was it the strange surroundings or the stranger who had barged in her life that was responsible for her insomnia. But then she ended up blaming all this on jet lag. She had to get herself and Sam adjusted to the new life especially the clock here, she decided.

"Hey, Sam. Get up now." she smiled as she helped the little sleepy head out of his crib.

Rubbing his eyes he placed his head on her shoulder as he took yet another yawn. "Come on, we will eat our breakfast now." Lilly said as she carried him to the breakfast table.

The breakfast table was covered with all sort of delicacies but Ashton was nowhere to be seen. Placing the boy in his chair she took the seat beside him trying not to care about the whereabouts of their host.

'Maybe he left after dropping us here yesterday.' she thought warily. Lilly cut the pancakes into small pieces for Sam and started feeding him.

"Miss Lilly," the maid called for her attention, "Tomorrow is your wedding day. So today after the breakfast your gowns will arrive and you can select one from them."

"But there is no need for all this." she muttered slowly.

"It's Mr King's order that you have to select a gown for the wedding.''

"Ok thanks." Lilly simply nodded her confused head as she put a piece of pancake in her mouth.

Her appetite which had growled looking at the delicacies now disappeared at the news of wedding. Soon after the breakfast she found herself surrounded with all kinds of wedding gowns. All styles and designs. Some of the wedding dresses she had seen in magazines and she wondered if they were having a grand wedding. But then again Ashton hadn't said anything about the visitors.

'If it's just the two of us then why does he even need to spend all this money? It's not like we are getting married out of love.'

Nevertheless she chose a gown simple but elegant. It had a small golden belt around the waist and from there it flared on the floor. She tried the gown she had chosen and looked at the toddler who was sitting on the sofa sippig on his juice.

"Hey Sam, how do I look?" She asked.

With the help of the maid Sam got down from the sofa and ran to her on his unsteady feet. She picked him up in her arms and hugged him tightly.

It would have felt so nice if her parents and sister were here too. Maybe then this wedding ordeal wouldn't have felt this tedious, Lilly's heart clenched at the thought.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Better part of it was spent in trying to explore the new surroundings along with Sam and the other half in looking at the colourful butterflies at the back of the villa. She noticed Ashton had installed a small swing and slide for the sake of Sam.

Even though the guy looked cold and unaffectionate but the amount of care he was showing for Sam was really heart touching. She sat on the stairs at the back of villa with Sam on her lap. Once she was sure no one was around she looked at the little guy who was both her safe heaven and secret keeper. He was the only one to whom she disclosed her every secret, her every thought and every fear. Though she always wondered if he actually understood the depth of all this.

She held his small hands in her soft palms as she voiced out her confusion, worries and fear.

"You know Sam, I don't like him. I am not even sure if I hate him. I mean, I hate him but the way he treats you with so much love it just melts my heart for him and that makes me think that maybe this marriage won't be that bad of an idea. If he treated you nicely then I won't mind these shackles of marriage. As long as I have you I'll never be sad." She smiled touching his cheek.

The toddler listened to her quietly. A small tear left her eye and the little boy stretched his chubby hand and touched her face. He said something in his incomprehensible language which made Lilly laugh.

" I'll take that as you are trying to console me. Thank you, my little angel. You always make everything alright." She said as he kissed his little hands.

Next is the wedding day. You all are cordially invited to be a part of this wedding. 😊❣️