Chapter 3: The Star of Her Endless Darkness

At first, Kaya thought she was hearing voices but when she looked up, she was far more shocked to see the same well-dressed handsome man from the car standing before her.

Did he follow her here?

Wait, did he just call her by her name?

Kaya straightened up and wiped her eyes in a quick swipe. She met his eyes angrily. After the day she was having, she was not in the mood to deal with something more.

"I don't remember telling you my name," Kaya said dryly. He might have saved her and looked like the model on plenty of magazine covers, Kaya didn't have many reasons to trust strangers.

"You didn't," He said matter-of-factly then pulled out his phone. "And because of that, I needed to find everything myself. Kaya Sah, a 24-year-old college dropout, has three to four jobs, takes care of her ill mother, father missing, recently lost her house in a bank loan, and drowning in some informal debts. That man outside the hospital was one of the debt collectors."

The stranger listed everything about Kaya on his phone and added the last line looking back at her. Kaya tensed at his nonchalant expression. Exactly who was this man?

Kaya stood up too fast and winced holding her side. She didn't realize it before but the place where the car had collided with her, stung a little bit. The stranger eyed her side and the painful expression on her face but didn't say anything.

"Who are you?" Kaya asked composing herself.

"Sylvan Park," he stated as if his name alone could answer all of the questions Kaya had.

But Kaya frowned, she felt like she had heard the name before somewhere, but where she couldn't remember. After a moment she gave up and looked straight at him, standing a little taller despite the pain in her waist.

"What do you want?"

"To solve your problems," Sylvan Park walked towards her and she stepped back, only to realize he was walking past her to the railing.

"To solve my problems? What?" Kaya was confused as hell.

"Yes, I can solve all your problems. From your informal debts to your mother's surgery. You need to pay the hospital today, right? By the end of the day?" Sylvan spoke looking out at the city buildings surrounding the hospital.

Kaya blinked a couple of times, for a moment her heart almost stopped beating. A thrill ran through her body even at the possibility of clearing all her money issues. For a second she let herself think what it would be like before reality crashed on her. She narrowed her eyes at Sylvan.

"You may have helped me this morning out of the generosity of your heart but I am having a hard time believing you would give out millions just to help me. And since I don't have the time nor I'm in the mood to go round and round about this, so let me ask you very directly. What do you want in return?"

Sylvan turned to face Kaya. He looked still very serious as he spoke,

"Marry me."

"Excuse me?" Kaya's eyebrows shoot up because she was not expecting this answer. She thought he was going to say something along the line of pay with body and stuff, the ones she had heard before. But to marry her? Kaya couldn't help but look him up and down. Taking a closer look at his clothes, she confirmed they were designers, the suit probably cost thrice more than her three jobs' combined salary or possibly more. So he was rich and handsome, and nothing else looked that wrong with him then why did he want to marry a random girl of the streets?

"You don't look like someone who will have issues finding a girl to marry," Kaya said bluntly. "So what do mean by marrying you? Are you talking about just an elaborate form of physical relationship?"

Sylvan, who watched Kaya look at him up and down, did the same. His eyes glazed over every inch of her but the way he did it was very different from Kaya's quick once over. Kaya's stomach did a back flip against her will as his eyes slowly climbed back up to her eyes.

"Not that I think it would be a bad experience but no," He looked back at the landscape, and Kaya's cheeks burned at his answer. Kaya cursed her body for reacting like that. Yes, he was handsome but she told her body to get a grip. As Kaya tried to calm herself, Sylvan continued, "I'm not proposing any sort of physical relationship by asking you to marry me. Our relationship will be for the people's eyes only. For the world, I need you to pretend that we are in love and getting married. Our marriage will be real, the relationship behind doors not so much."

"So you want me to pretend to be in love with you and marry you for real?" Kaya gaped at him. "Why?"

"I have my reasons and I will not share those unless you agree to do this," Sylvan still talked as if they were discussing the weather.

But Kaya's head was spinning. She needed that money without a doubt but she would be marrying a total stranger for real. How would that end for her? He did say he wouldn't do something but what if he goes back on his words? But then again, was she really in a position to choose? Sylvan already knew her condition.

After her mother started to get sick five years ago, things were already messy in Kaya's house. Her father could never keep money with his gambling habits, he had taken loans from so many places and people. Some were far worse than others, but as her mom's health bills started to rise, her father couldn't give back money to those informal debt collectors, so he disappeared. Kaya never saw him after that and she had to drop out of her college and had to work three jobs a day and weekend jobs to help her mom's health bills and clear her father's debts. Still, it was not getting any easier and when they lost the house, she couldn't tell herself to tell her mom that while her mom was in the hospital, she was practically homeless. And today she lost her highest-paying job.

"What do you say, Miss Sah? Do you want me to solve all your problems?" Sylvan asked bringing Kaya back from her thoughts.

Kaya stared at Sylvan for a moment but his face gave away nothing. Kaya could easily read people but Sylvan was the type of person, who had learned to hide his emotions a long time ago. With a quiet sigh, Kaya cleared her throat.

"What if you go back to your words on the physical thing? How should I trust you?"

"You should not trust someone you just met. But this is not about trust. We will be signing a legal contract about this. One of the clauses would state that I would not do anything without your consent."

Kaya slightly nodded in understanding and turned to the view. The offer was good, she knew. Anyone in her place would have already jumped on and said yes by now, but Kaya hesitated. Since she was a kid, she saw things between her parents that a child should not. Her parent's marriage was toxic, there was no love or care. Not to mention, after seeing her father she promised herself that she would never be bought by money. But now —

Sylvan looked at her watch and his eyebrows wrinkled ever so slightly.

"You don't have much time, Miss Sah. The hospital would be calling you any minute now."

Startled Kaya checked her watch as well and gasped. It's been more than an hour since they took my mother for surgery. Thinking about her mother gave her stomach another twist as if telling her what to do. She took a deep breath and faced Sylvan, locking her eyes to his.

"Alright. I will do it."

For a split second, Kaya thought she saw Sylvan's lips curving slightly in a smile, but it was gone as soon as it came. He extended his hand and Kaya shook it, and without realizing it, she noticed how warm his hands were compared to her always shaky and cold hands. Kaya's eyes lingered for a moment too long on their joined hands before Sylvan pulled back his hand.

"My assistant will be here in fifteen minutes with the contract. But before you sign it, you should know I have just one condition for you. Throughout our relationship, you cannot fall in love with me." Sylvan said looking solemn and Kaya choked on her spit.

"I'm . . . sorry . . . what?" Kaya asked coughing.

"It's a safety measure. If you fall for me, it would complicate our relationship and situation, that's all," Sylvan's tone was back to casual but the way he said to made Kaya furious.

Yeah, he was handsome and rich but he was also rude and just too much, how could he think she would fall for a guy like him?

Kaya wanted to bite back but decided against it, she gritted her teeth and answered as casually as she could.

"Please, Mr. Park, I know how to stay professional. I was worried about you, actually. Please refrain yourself from any sort of romantic feelings toward me, because I want this relationship to be completely clean and professional."

"I see. Glad we are on the same page," Sylvan almost smiled again.

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