The doorbell rang and Malora started with surprise.

There was always somebody Mika's door wanting to borrow a hairdryer, a pen, red lipstick, a sparkly handbag, or something. Mika was out getting groceries, and Malora was home alone. She wondered about who was at the door.

Malora walked to the door and looked out of the eyehole.

There was a woman standing outside. She looked to be in her early twenties. Her skin was very good, her lipstick was pale, and her golden blonde hair was held back by a large, black velvet clip. She was dressed as if she was going to a lawn party. In an elegant linen dress and black pearls.

Malora knew who she was.

She opened the door and, oddly, noted that that would never have thought to combine black pearls with such an outfit. From every pore of her flawless skin she exuded good breeding and finishing school class. She was pure style.

You could live in a fine home, wear the right clothes and even go to the right parties but you would never be one of us, her very being seemed to say.

Her mouth curved into a smile. 'Hello, I'm Aimee. May I come in?'

Malora could stop staring at her. So this was the woman that Titan was going to marry. This was the woman who would have his babies and live with him.

'Please,' she said.

Malora opened the door wider and stood back.

She entered and looked around the room curiously, but refrained from commenting. Malora preceded her into the living room and turned around to face her.

'You are prettier in real life.'

Malora didn't know if she should acknowledge the compliment. In the end she didn't. It was not sincere.

'May I sit?'

She nodded and she perched at the end of a sofa. Her movements were all dainty. She transfered the small pink purse from her hand to her lap and crossed her slim ankles.

Then she looked at Malora and smiled again. 'Will you sit too? You're injured.'

Malora flushed and sit. This was not the woman's territory and yet it seemed she had somehow taken charge.

'I know you are shocked to see me here and even more shocked to see that I neither hate nor feel angry with you. You see, our ways are different. You'll probably never understand so I won't try to explain too much. Suffice to say that I don't think it is ideal, especially from the women's point of view, but I am willing to concede that men must sow their wild oats before they settle down, so I allow it.'

'You do?'

'Yes.' Meredith's lips parted. 'I know what you are hoping for.'

She made a strangled sound in her throat. 'Really?'

'You are hoping for exactly the same thing that every woman who has signed one of these sordid agreements and who then falls in love dreams of. You want Titan to fall in love with you and marry you. Then have mini Titan's running around your mansion while you worry about what the guests would eat at the dinner party your husband would hold after every successful meetings and business contracts.'

Malora could not help it, wild color rushed up her throat.

Meredith's eyes flashed. 'But he never will. Men like him have been taught since they were knee high how to take, how to have their cake and eat it in every situation without making a mess out of it.' She stopped to make a little face. 'Marrying you or staying with you will not be that. This agreement with you, until he gets bored, and then, marrying me, will be the option most desirable to our men. And that is what Titan will do too.’

She looked at Malora innocently. 'Has he in any way suggested more than this arrangement? Perhaps given you hope for a different future with him?'

Woodenly, Malora shook her head.

She smiled with great satisfaction. 'I thought so. You see, the most important thing for us is to secure the right bloodlines for our children and ensure our wealth is not dissipated away into careless hands. Titan knows where his loyalties lie. Consequently, I fear nothing from you. If anything, I feel sorry for you and want to be fair to you. I can see that you are in love with him, and in the end, you will be left with nothing more than a broken heart. Which you already suffering from. You lost your baby before you even knew you were pregnant with him and found out your lover is already engaged to another woman.'

Malora had been staring at the carpet but at her words her head snapped up. 'What do you want?' she blurted out.

'Well, I guess I might as well come to the point. Nobody knows I'm here and Daddy would curse a streak if he knew I was.'

'So why are you here?'

'I know your contract will expire in six weeks.'

'How do you know that?'

'I have my ways. It is not important to our discussion today. Strange as it may seem, I am now your only friend.'

Malora couldn't imagine a scenario where this condescending, utterly self-obsessed woman could be her friend. Let alone her only friend.

'What is important to you must be that you are adequately compensated at the end of your time here.' She paused meaningfully. 'Of course, there is a possibility that Titan will extend or renew the contract for another three months. Then again there is the distinct possibility he will not, after he discovers that you killed his child.'

She waited for the words to sink in. Her smile remained polite, but her eyes gleamed with malicious intent. She was enjoying this.

'What do you want?' Malora repeated, wanting the woman to state her business and leave her sight.

'I am here to offer you five hundred thousand pounds for you to leave. . . not at the end of the contract, but today. Since there is no punitive action allowed in your contract if you end it earlier than its term you are within your rights to do so.'

Malora looked at her with shock. She glanced through the contract so fast she did not even register that clause. Yet this woman had perused the contract carefully and was here to bargain with her.

'I will increase the amount to six hundred thousand pounds if you will leave the country. No note. No goodbyes. No explanations. Just gone.'

No note.

No goodbyes.

No explanations.

Just gone.

Wow! Malora looked at the young woman who sat so brazenly before her and felt a bubble of hysterical laughter forming in her throat. Unsteadily, she stood up and walked to the glass wall. Far below there were small children playing with a dog in the park. With her back to the woman, Malora closed her eyes and tried to think, but her mind was blank with horror.

'Did you think that the billionaire's son would marry the poor girl from the council estate?'

Malora flushed. 'Of course not.'

Always from the start it has been made clear to Malora that it was a purely temporary arrangement based solely on sex. He had only ever wanted her for one thing and he had been brutally honest about it. There had been no protestations of love or flowery words. Just an animal craving for her skin. Malora would admit that she'd thought about it, but she didn't have delusions of grandeur.

As if the woman opposite her had heard Malora's thoughts she remarked quietly, 'Cravings go away.'

'Please leave,' Malora said, without turning around. She was glad to hear that her voice was firm and strong. She heard the woman stand.

'You will regret this one day,' she said. There was no malice in her voice. She was simply stating a fact. Unemotionally. 'If you change your mind, my card is on the table. Please don't mention my visit to anyone.'

Malora nodded.

After she heard the door close she stood before a beautiful gilded mirror and looked at herself.

How changed she was.

Her eyes were full of pain. There were bruises under her eyes, on her jaws,  her busted lower lip, and slightly crooked nose. Her hand moved to her belly. She once had a life growing in there. Malora thought of the woman. At the heartless determination hidden within the beautiful exterior.

Between them, they would kill what little will Malora had left to live. She loved Titan with all her heart, but for him she was only a wild oat.

Malora must stop being selfish and think only of her sister and nephew. While she'd been mourning about her dead baby and lost love, her family were missing. She pressed her good hand to her mouth and stopped the cry that threatened to escape. Tears were streaming down her face. Malora wiped them with the back of her hands and ran out of the door.

Meredith was waiting by the lift. She turned to look at Malora and for that one pure moment, she understood how murderers felt. She wanted to steal this woman's heartbeat, take her life and the man that fate has so arbitrarily assigned to her.

'I'll take. . .' Her voice broke. She forced herself to spit out the words, . . .the money.'

She smiled. It was not the smile of a victor. It was not malicious. It was not unkind. Neither was it pitying nor condescending. It was simply the lucky smile of a woman who had never been refused anything her heart desired.

But she was right. Titan never loved her, and he would never love her the way she wanted.

It was best this way.

Chapter dedication: didiqt

A/N:

We have come to the end of the journey people. Believe it or not, this is the last chapter before the Epilogue.

What do you think of this chapter?

About Meredith?

Did you expect Malora to take the money?

Would you have taken the Money if you were Malora?