He Paid a Million for One Night, and the Contract Was Signed by My Mother novel · Chapter 21 of 24
Chapter 21: The Last Page
I had the contract in my bag.
I had carried it there on Thursday, folded in four, with my three lines of shorthand showing through the back of page four.
I took it out in front of the whole dock.
The captains were still on the planks.
They had not gone, though Cormac had.
They stood in knots with their caps in their hands.
They went quiet when they saw the paper.
I unfolded it.
Page one named the money.
Page two was my mother's, in her dropped e.
Page three said I could leave when I chose.
Page four held paragraph six, and the margin, and my three lines with M.L. and S.V. beside each.
At the bottom were two names.
I held the last page up between two fingers.
"Soren," I said.
"Yes."
"You signed first," I said.
"I did," he said.
"You didn't write a word of it."
"No," he said.
I looked at the page.
"And you kept every line."
"Every line," Soren said.
I looked past him.
My mother stood in the back row.
She had come forward one step when I stood up with the machine, and no further.
I looked at her across the length of the dock.
She did not look away.
I took the last page in both hands and tore it down the middle.
The sound was small and dry, and it carried down the planks.
I tore it again.
I let the four pieces go on the river wind.
They turned over once and fell on the brown water.
The current carried them off toward the bridge, and my shorthand went with them.
No one said a thing.
The deputy at the rail took off his hat.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of He Paid a Million for One Night, and the Contract Was Signed by My Mother are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
← Chapter 20 · All chapters · Chapter 22 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend