Take Control

"How about a year? Our agreement is only a year, after that, we can divorce and we live separately. I got what I wanted, and you were free from the invitation to betrothed, right?"

Noah chuckled. "That's right."

"Good."

Noah's attention was drawn to Alice, seeing the way the girl spoke. It looks very stubborn, from the way he doesn't want to be cut off during a chat. Alice took something out of her bag; an agreement letter.

"You can read our contract marriage agreement. If there is something you want to revise, please let us discuss it until we find the endpoint."

"You're always to-the-point like this, aren't you?"

"More precisely, I don't like to stall for time. Because time is money and precious to me. So the faster, the better right?"

Noah chuckled and immediately opened the letter of agreement. His name was on the second side, and Alice's name on the first. "So your name is Alice Grizelle?"

"Yep."

He crossed out the part, "If the Second Party agrees to a contract marriage, it will get a nominal amount of 100 million".

"Why was it crossed out?"

"We have a win-win solution, right? I benefited from not being matched, you also benefited from successfully withdrawing funds from the will. I don't think there's any need to repay me nominally." Inwardly, Alice cheered, which meant she didn't need to spend money to pay. Noah signed the crossed-out section.

"May I know, why did you agree so soon?"

"Because we both need each other and are in a tight position, it's a natural reaction for humans to do things when they are on the edge, right?" Noah's answer is quite reasonable, although it does not explain logically his reasons for agreeing to be involved in a contract marriage. Alice only knew that Noah would get married while the man didn't want to get married his whole life, to that extent, Alice thought that she had meddled in private if she asked why he didn't want to get married. So it's better not to know each other.

Noah reads another point. Do not touch each other's bodies without the consent of both parties. Do not commit immoral or violent acts. Do not carry sharp weapons in the house. Do not interfere in the private affairs of both parties. "The second party will stay in the first house?"

"Yes, you live in my house. Don't worry, I have a guest room for you to stay in. Can't I move house? Because the position of my place is very strategic from work," said Alice.

The man nodded his head. "Okay, all points are ok." Noah immediately signed the agreement on stamp duty, followed by Alice's signature.

The man took a cup of coffee in front of him, sipped slowly.

"So, when do we start getting married? Next week?"

Hearing Alice's shriek, Noah immediately choked.

****

"OH EM JIIII HELLOW, ARE YOU CRAZY, YES?" that was the first reaction Rachel gave when she called to come to Alice's house and Alice told her that she was getting married to Noah as soon as next week. "It's like mating with a cat, you know, if a cat wants to mate, there's an approach. Roll first, bite, then hap! Marry! Are you? I've only met you twice and have asked you to marry, what a crazy girl!"

"Oh come on, why are you procrastinating?"

"No, it's not like that Alice, even though it's just a contract but right, yes, he has a family."

"The day after tomorrow he will invite me to meet his family, after that I take him to meet my family. Finished. What's there to complain about, anyway?"

Before the conversation between the two of them had finished, Sofie appeared at the door carrying high heels. Her eyes stared intently at Alice. "You damn woman, you surprised me! I almost hit someone's car you know? Because of the VN you sent in the group and said you wanted to get married. Are you crazy? Alice, you're asking someone else to marry you!"

"What's your reaction, both of you are lazy." Alice rolled her eyes and made her two friends refrain from hitting her head with the fancy flower vase on the table. "What's the matter with delaying marriage anyway?"

"You know, I'm tired of talking to you."

Alice smiled while looking at Noah's signature on the paper. "You have to hurry because I'm in a hurry."

"So, Noah, will you?" Rachel asked confused.

"Yeah, who can resist my charm."

"Huh, it's a man, it's really hard to say no. His habits are yes or no, very people pleaser. But please, Alice, I feel a bit guilty about matching you with Noah. Don't worry about him, Noah is a good man." Alice immediately slapped Rachel with a sofa cushion. "Huh, why did I even get thrown anyway?!"

"How good is he to get you like that? Where in the world is there, Ra, a good man." Alice's words sounded cynical. In Alice's life, good men exist only in fairy tales.

"Noah is good. You know how good he is, when we were still close I got drunk when there was an official event. He was the one who helped me get to the house, at home… I was clingy like that, banging on him. It's intentional, but basically, he's a good guy. He didn't bother me at all."

"Gay maybe?" Alice with her mind that is sometimes too wild is indeed difficult to predict. "It's time for gay men."

"If he's gay, he won't want to be close to me."

"Yes, just a guise!" Alice still couldn't bear to stick to the principle that there weren't any good men alive in the world she currently lived in.

"Anyway, don't do anything, kid, yes, still innocent Al!"

"What kind of girl am I?"

"You're a bad girl who likes to manipulate," said Sofie.

Alice was just a whimper. Even her two friends did not deny it. The main reason Alice met them at first was not purely because they wanted to be friends, but because Rachel and Sofie were smart students who were easy to cheat on exams. See? Alice's habit of manipulating has been honed long ago.

"Alice, please, don't harm Noah later, okay? Okay, Alice? If you want to be mean to me, you remember my face. I'm a friend of Noah."

Alice took a deep breath and exhaled heavily into the air. "You're too much!"

****