Mistakenly Yours: Contract Marriage With The Billionaire-Chapter 139: The first three months

Chapter 139: The first three months
"They are in Italy!?" Mathias’s head snapped up, his gaze narrowing as he processed the news delivered by his secretary.
"Yes, sir. Our sources confirmed they landed in Rome yesterday," the secretary replied with a brisk nod.
"Alright. You’re dismissed." Mathias waited until the door clicked shut before scrawling his signature on the final page of the merger file. He tossed the pen aside and reached for his phone, his thumb hovering indecisively over Luca’s contact name. The digital glow reflected the conflict in his eyes.
"He won’t answer," Mathias muttered to the empty, shadowed office. "Why would he?" He remembered the sting of Sara’s rejection, the way she had stood by Luca’s side, making it clear where her loyalties lay.
He had been a fool to think he could simply walk back into her life and reclaim a bond that had already evolved. "Childhood friends who turned into lovers... that’s a history you can’t just erase with a few grand gestures."
With a frustrated sigh, he dropped the phone onto the mahogany desk and leaned back in his swivel chair, pressing his palms against his closed eyelids.
"Sir, I’m sorry to disturb you again," the intercom crackled, "but Miss Frida is here. She’s insistent on seeing you."
Mathias’s lips curled into a snicker as he opened his eyes. "Of course she is," he whispered to himself. "She’s like a shadow that refuses to fade when the sun goes down. I’ve never known a woman so relentlessly persistent."
He straightened his tie, bracing himself for another round of her games. "Send her in."
Frida glided into the office a few moments later, her designer handbag draped elegantly over her wrist.
Mathias straightened his posture, clasping his hands together and resting them on the mahogany surface of his desk. He didn’t bother offering a greeting; he didn’t have to. Without waiting for an invitation, Frida pulled out the chair across from him and settled in. She placed her handbag on the desk like a claim of territory.
"Since you decided to hang up in my face, I thought I’d save you the trouble of ignoring my next call and come here myself," she said, her voice smooth and entirely unbothered by his previous coldness.
"I have to hand it to you, you’re remarkably shameless," Mathias stated with mockery.
"Not shameless, Mathias. Opportunistic," she countered, leaning forward slightly. "I was under the impression that our interests were perfectly aligned. But it seems you’re intent on playing the martyr rather than keeping a good woman like me in your life."
Mathias didn’t just smile; but wryly laughed. The idea of Frida being a "good woman" in the traditional sense was as absurd to him.
Mathias’s gaze was sharp as he leaned forward, his voice dropping to a dangerous level. "You planted your own boyfriend as a mole in your sister’s life just to dismantle her from the inside. You aren’t just far from being a ’good woman,’ Frida, you’re nowhere near the category."
Frida’s composure flickered. A frown creased her forehead as she internally scrambled to figure out his source. How does he know? Did Diego tell him about it?
"I never once seriously considered marrying you," Mathias continued, ignoring her sudden tension. "The only reason I agreed to sit across from you was out of respect for your father. My parents have made it clear they don’t want you as their daughter-in-law either. Now that you have your answers, the door is right there." He leaned back, his posture deceptively relaxed, watching her with cold indifference.
"I’m not exactly dying to become the daughter-in-law of a mafia family, either," Frida spat back, her eyes flashing. She reached into her handbag and slid a file across the mahogany surface. "However, I’m here to remind you of the memorandum you signed a month ago. Your design team was desperate to collaborate with my fashion brand."
Mathias, who usually left the minutiae of the design branch to his subordinates, felt a muscle in his jaw twitch. He picked up the file, his brows knitting together as he scanned the signatures.
"This must have been a mistake by the department head," he stated. "I have no intention of collaborating with you."
"You can’t just walk away," Frida countered, a smug smile returning to her lips. "Read the clause. The contract can only be terminated after the first three months of active project development. If you’re so intent on ’cleaning up’ your family’s reputation by running a legitimate business, then do it properly. Don’t start by scamming companies smaller than yours. We have a meeting tomorrow to discuss the launch. I’ll send the location and time."
Mathias felt the trap closing in, but he wasn’t ready to concede. "If you’re looking for a payout to break the contract, I’ll write the check myself. I’m certain there’s a buyout clause in here somewhere," he affirmed, flipping through the pages with aggressive intent.
"No. I don’t want money, but the start of the project, Mathias. Be a professional in business, who will keep his personal grudges aside," Frida told him.
Mathias didn’t argue. Instead, he decided to consult with a lawyer later to end this collaboration.
Frida grabbed her handbag and put on the shades. "I’ll see you tomorrow then," she again reminded him and walked out of the office.
Mathias called his secretary and ordered him to call the lawyer. A frown appeared on his forehead as he felt Frida must be wanting something personal from this project.
~~~~~
Sara and Luca returned in the evening from Rome. They went straight to her father’s house and by the time sun set down the horizon, they were outside the mansion.
The driver put their luggages out of the trunk and drove away.
"Miss Sara!"
The housemaid’s voice was filled with genuine warmth as she hurried toward them, her face lighting up with a mixture of surprise and joy. "It’s good to see you after such a long time! You got married so suddenly. I was only on leave for a short while, and it feels like a lifetime of events happened behind my back."
Sara offered a soft, tired smile, instinctively leaning into the man beside her. "Yes, Aunt Nilima, a lot has certainly happened," she agreed. She placed a possessive, gentle hand on Luca’s arm, looking up at him with eyes that held a new kind of depth. "This is my husband, Luca De Augustino. Luca, this is Aunt Nilima; she has been the heart of this house for twenty years."
Luca, usually the imposing figure of authority, softened his stance. He gave a respectful, slight bow of his head. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Nilima."
"Oh, such a handsome gentleman!" Nilima beamed, ushering them toward the grand entrance. "Please, go in. You both look exhausted from your travels. I’ll have the servants bring your luggage up to your room immediately."
The living room was cast in a soft, amber glow, but the atmosphere was heavy with the scent of old paper and lingering tension. Adam looked smaller than Sara remembered, hunched over the tattered edges of his favorite business novel—a book that had always been his silent sanctuary during the storms of the corporate world.
When he looked up, the exhaustion etched into the lines of his face was unmistakable. For a man who had built an empire on stoicism, seeing him this fragile was a jarring realization for Sara.
"Sara!" He breathed her name as if it were a prayer, rising unsteadily. He stood there for a heartbeat, his hands trembling slightly at his sides, caught between the instinct of a father and the guilt of a man who had let his family drift into chaos.
"Good evening, Dad," Sara said softly. She didn’t hesitate. She crossed the room and pulled him into a firm embrace. Feeling him exhale, a long, shuddering breath of relief, she realized just how much he had been carrying.
As his hand patted her back, she tightened her hold, silently promising that he didn’t have to carry the weight of the family name alone anymore.
From the doorway, Katherine watched the scene, her eyes misting over with a rare warmth. She had seen this family at its strongest and its most broken; seeing the bridge being rebuilt in the middle of their living room was the first sign of hope she had felt in weeks.
Sara pulled back just enough to see the weariness in Adam’s eyes. "I am sorry," she whispered. Before he could protest or apologize in return, her gaze shifted to the doorway.
"Grandma!" Sara cried, the tension finally snapping as she rushed into Katherine’s open arms.
Katherine planted a kiss on Sara’s forehead and then glanced at Luca.
"Won’t you give a hug to your grandmother?" Katherine pointed.
Luca laughed a little and walked to her. He side-hugged her while Sara moved to her father’s side.
"It seems she’s going to forgive your son," Luca whispered to Katherine. She smiled and nodded at him.