The Contract Marriage.

Chapter 1: Two Needs, One Deal

The Contract Marriage

Jay stood outside the iron gates of the Watson Group building, staring up at the glass tower like it might swallow her whole.

Inside those walls sat the only solution to her problems... or the beginning of something far worse.

Her father's business was collapsing.

Debts stacked like a mountain. Investors pulled out one by one. And the final notice had arrived just yesterday-if they didn't repay the loan within a week, everything would be gone. Their house. The factory. Their reputation.

Everything.

Jay clenched her fists tightly.

"I just need a chance," she whispered to herself. "Just one way out."

---

Across the city, in a completely different world, Keifer Watson sat in a cold, silent boardroom.

The kind of silence that didn't feel peaceful... but dangerous.

At the head of the table was a sealed envelope-his grandfather's final condition.

The lawyer spoke carefully.
"To inherit the Watson Empire, Mr. Keifer must fulfill one requirement."

Keifer didn't blink. "Say it."

The lawyer opened the envelope.

"You must be legally married for one year."

A pause.

Then chaos-board members shifting, murmurs spreading.

Keifer leaned back slowly, expression unreadable.

"A marriage," he repeated flatly.

"Yes. One year. No divorce during that period."

If he refused, the entire company would pass to a distant relative he barely even knew.

The empire he had built his life around... gone.

Keifer's jaw tightened.

"So I need a wife," he said coldly.

---

Later that evening, fate pulled two completely different lives toward the same point.

Jay entered the Watson mansion for the first time, nervous and out of place in her simple clothes. Every step felt heavier than the last.

And then she saw him.

Keifer Watson.

Tall. Calm. Intimidating in a way that made silence feel natural around him.

He looked at her like she was a problem he hadn't agreed to solve.

"She's the candidate?" he asked the lawyer.

Jay frowned immediately. "Candidate?"

The lawyer cleared his throat. "Miss Jay... is here regarding a proposal."

Keifer's eyes narrowed slightly.

A pause stretched between them-sharp, testing.

Then he said the words that would change everything.

"I need a wife for one year."

Jay blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I don't have time for emotional complications," Keifer continued. "This will be a contract. Strict terms. No attachment. No interference in each other's lives."

Jay almost laughed, but nothing about this felt funny.

"And why would I agree to that?" she asked.

Keifer's gaze dropped briefly-calculating, controlled.

"Because I can solve your financial crisis."

Silence.

That landed exactly where he intended.

Jay's expression tightened. "You don't know anything about my situation."

"I know your father's company is about to collapse," he said simply.

Her breath caught.

He continued, calm as ever. "And I know you're running out of time."

Jay hated how correct he was.

Hated how trapped she suddenly felt.

Keifer placed a document on the table between them.

"A contract marriage," he said. "One year. No love. No jealousy. No real emotional involvement."

He paused slightly.

"Do we have a deal?"

Jay stared at the paper.

One signature could save her family.

Or destroy whatever peace she had left.

Slowly, she picked up the pen.

Outside, thunder rolled faintly across the sky.

And inside the Watson mansion...

The contract marriage began.