James felt his legs shake.
’What does he mean by annul the contract?’
It was at this time that Shelby raised her eyes and looked at her stepfather’s. Meeting his eyes, she immediately averted it. Her heart did a quick flip on her, and she shrunk further into Ian’s embrace. He held her tightly as if he could feel her messy emotions.
James, despite his chick suit, she could see a few wrinkles in otherwise not glaring parts. That was not like James at all. What was synonymous with his personality was his bloodshot eyes. She wondered what had happened for him to look like that early in the morning as that was his ’evening look’.
James felt his mind start to cloud up, and one thing remained hooked in his mind, ’I need to snort for clarity.’
If he had been in his own company, he would have dismissed everyone from the room so that he could snort in peace. However, it was obvious that he could not have that chance as he was the visitor.
He looked at Alex and his wife, but other than the surprised looks, they still sat calmly with no indication to intervene.
’I’ll have to take matters into my own hands if they will not reign in their son.’
"What do you mean by that Ian Thornston?"
"Exactly what it means. I do not beat about the bush with my statements."
"And why would you like to do that? The contract has already been signed-"
The sarcastic laugh came from Currey who had been quiet throughout this time.
"And who is this clown?" James snapped.
"I am Chairman Thornston’s assistant, and your words sounded so ridiculous that I couldn’t help but scoff at it. My apologies if that offended you."
The corner of Ian’s mouth lifted slightly.
James could not believe his ears. It, however, appeared like everyone there thought it was normal.
He stopped whatever he was about to say as the identity of the chairman’s assistant was even so high up that he could not afford to upset this scrawny-looking man.
"A contract exists to be annulled. Any businessman should know this, and that is why there are penalties for contract breaches. I don’t think you need a whole lot of education to be taught this. Makes me wonder how you run your business till now. Or is it because you run an illegal enterprise that you have never encountered the conditions of a ’normal’ contract before?"
Shelby’s mouth dropped open as she looked sideways at Currey. If not for the voice difference, she would have thought Ian was the one talking. His mannerisms, the cold tinge to his voice, as well as the straightforward way, made it sound ridiculous yet factual. One would have even believed that James engaged in illegal businesses, but she was not clear on whether he did or not.
James could not do anything either. He felt so humiliated that he wanted the floor to open up for him to be swallowed up.
Ian never moved an inch, and had slipped his hand underneath his coat that still hung on Shelby and was tracing small circles at her bare back.
Even though the gesture was distracting, she still concentrated hard on what was going on before her. She half expected Alex or Geneva to snap and stop them, but the older couple were like invisible members of the room.
"Pay the penalty – no double the compensation for him and terminate the contract."
Ian’s strong voice boomed around the room.
"What? You were serious about this? You cannot do this. There are clauses-"
Currey held his hand up. It was like he was an extension of Ian, and they were so much in sync that it almost seemed like one person.
Currey opened the remaining file in his hand. He scanned it seriously, and then after a few minutes, his eyes met that of James’ almost desperate once.
"Contracts are so interesting, right? There is so much here, but all it really says is that your step-daughter, through the catalogue bride system, will be married into the Thornston family. She will have a year to birth an heir, after which she can be returned back to your family-"
Currey shook his head, and even Shelby sat upright.
That was what was in there? What was she supposed to do after that time? Leave her baby behind? And do what back at the Wendover mansion?
But knowing James, she had a hunch. Her stomach coiled at the thought. Was he waiting to see if another man could touch her so that he could have her to himself after that?
Shelby was not far from the truth with that thought. In fact, when Ian appeared with his hands around her, James had done all to maintain composure and not scream in surprise.
He had thought that the rumour of Ian being sick was because he could not touch her, and they needed to make some excuse to the public.
However, as the words of the contract were summarized out loud, James felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him. Drafting this in private was much different from having it read out loud to an audience.
Ian turned to his parents.
Alex immediately inputted,
"The bridal family stipulated all the terms. Your mother instated on that bride, so we went along with it."
He didn’t bother looking at his mother for any excuse.
James clenched his fists tightly and then said,
"Why are you playing the dutiful husband all of a sudden? You didn’t come for the wedding, and a little birdy told me that you have been neglecting her for some time. Why do you get to come in one day and talk to your father-in-law ? Aren’t you supposed to accord me a level of respect if you are with my daughter that I painstakingly raise?"
Those words brought him to his first shock he had felt when he came in that morning.
To say that seeing Ian had been a surprise was an understatement. And Ian had managed to mess everything up in the span of a few minutes. James had been surprised when he saw Ian....
’Wasn’t he supposed to be sick and out of the world’s eye? I can’t let all my work go down the drain because of a willful brat. Just because he is not an old-pot-bellied man is already a minus for me. He was supposed to be maltreating her but why was he trying to protect her? I have to find a way out of this.’
James had wanted to be the loving arms for Shelby after her year of ’bad treatment’ with her new family was up.
"Who told you?" Ian’s cold voice interrupted his thought.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Who told you about my work and what I did or did not do here."
"You are sidetracking, young man!"
"Katie, get all the workers in the estate here now!"
The look on Ian’s face was enough for Katie to mute up. Ian had been out for so long that she was forgetting how he was in his workings.
"I’m sorry for questioning your orders. I will get them here at once."
She moved to the side and brought out her phone.
"Get everyone off the fields and here in the next fifteen minutes, if not earlier!"
She did not wait for the person who had answered the call to speak and hung up.
The estate was huge. Many workers lived on the premises. In addition, most of them worked in the vineyards and the fruit plantations during the day except a handful; that was Katie and those who directly served the members of the family. But fifteen minutes was a stretch, so people started scrambling to get on their designated bus to return.
Never had they received an order like that before, so they were very apprehensive, and they were right to feel so.
"It might take about fifteen minutes for everyone to get here, master Ian."
Ian turned his attention back to James, who was gaping.
He could not comprehend what was going on.
Geneva was sipping her tea; Alex had his arm wrapped around her back and occasionally whispered to her, but their eyes were trained on what was going on. Shelby could feel the tension in the air, but Ian’s fingers were still circling around her back, and that gave her some calm.
The silence that had settled after Katie’s last words was broken by James. I have no idea if he was just dump or plain stupid. Maybe he was both.
"Let me understand this. You mean you want to pay double the sun to terminate the contract when you have already touched the bride? That means, - You mean you want to send her back when you have already ’used her’?" He scoffed at an internal joke that only he understood, adding, "Who would marry a tainted girl?"
Ian was out of his seat so fast that it was a blur. He went straight towards James, and in no time, he held the older man’s neck in a tight grip, mid-air with his legs dangling.
He said in a low voice that only they could hear, "Tell me one good reason why I should not snap your neck right now!... Especially when you have tried to kill my wife! And you better say it fast because I may be patient, but my hands are not!"
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