Love Contract

Chapter 23 Getting Into Trouble

The men were burly and fierce, intimidating to look at. They pulled the drunkard off the ground and turned to William, "You, brat! You're quite the skilled martial artist. Why not spar with us, give us a little practice ?"

"Or would you prefer to have a drink with us? AHA..." laughed another of the men.

William frowned at this, remaining silent. Mary felt a thick tension brewing in the air.

William, sneering, put his slender fingers on the buttons of his suit and began unbuttoning them one at a time.

"Mary," William leaned in to whisper in her ear, "we're going to run on the count of 3."

"What ?" She was a little scared and at the same time quite amazed at what he had just done. Knowing what he meant by those words, she gripped her high heels tight and nodded sternly.

"One," William began, standing in a powerful pose.

The fierce men were surprised, he seemed to be brave. "Two."

They rubbed their hands together and slowly approached them like hungry wolves eyeing their next meal.

"Three, run!"

William yelled before turning on his heels and sprinting away, pulling Mary along with him.

They ran towards the parking lot as fast as they could.

"You little brat! How dare you try and fool us!" The men they had left in their wake stood stunned for a moment before they realized they had been fooled. They all picked up weapons and charged at

the two of them screaming, "Stop!"

"You'd have to be a fool to stop now!" Mary yelled back at them, throwing her heels at them as she did. "You bastards! Come and catch me if you can!"

The two of them kept running, still holding each other's hands tightly.

"Get in the car!" They ran to the parking lot and William opened the car door, pushing Mary in. He then quickly got himself into the car as well.

The car squeaked to life and they sped off. The men threw a stool at them but it didn't even come close. William and Mary roared off into the distance, leaving the group of strong men beating their chests and screaming in despair.

"I'm so tired..." William said heaving. "A gang of bastards, ruffians and hooligans..." Mary added, out of breath as she collapsed in the front seat.

"You... You're quite a fast runner," William said, impressed and gasping for air.

"Yeah... I used to... Be the best runner in my school."

"Ha... I would have never said so before tonight, " William said in amusement.

"I'm old, old..." Mary said taking a bottle of water out of her bag.

"You've just finished running and you're already drinking," William said, incredulous.

"I just need it," she replied wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "Do you want a drink or not?"

William took a dry swallow and said, "I'll drink when we're back at the room."

"I know you're shy," Mary responded, "But we just went through a whole lot of trouble together, so don't mind it. Come on." ...

She put the bottle to William's lips and said, "Drink, I'll hold it for you."

His throat was dry and his chest burning, he couldn't refuse the water now. He opened his mouth and drank.

Beads of sweat began forming on his forehead and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed gulp after gulp. Some spilled out the corner of his mouth and slowly dripped down his neck, into his shirt and on his chest.

He was quite a romantic image at that moment.

"You're so beautiful," Mary said, staring at him like a depraved demon. "No wonder that drunkard flirted with you instead of me."

"Puff!"

William choked on the water and coughed some out as he glared at her intensely. "You want to die, don't you, Mary?" "No, I don't. I'm telling the truth. You really are beautiful," she said with a fawning smile.

"That's just because you're too ugly!"

Mary pursed her lips in annoyance and said no more. She just lifted her feet onto the dashboard, not knowing what else to do. Her feet were in pain from the strain of running so hard.

"Look at you, Mary!" William bellowed angrily through his frown, "You are a woman. What are you doing?" ...

"I... My feet hurt! My feet are dead. I ran so fast that I forgot to put my shoes on..." Mary said, massaging her feet. "You deserve it!" He was cursing and squinting at her, somewhat disgusted.

Mary then suddenly remembered that William was a bit of a neat freak. 'Oh my God!' she thought in horror. She immediately put her feet down and sat up straight.

They pulled into the hotel and Mary trotted into their room while William parked the car.

Without a care for anything else, she rushed for the bathroom and took a shower.

"Mary, don't be too long in the shower," William said once he'd gotten to the room. He then violently slammed the bathroom door. Original from NôvelDrama.Org.

"Hmm... Okay."

William's body was sticky after sweating profusely earlier that day. He was incredibly uncomfortable, all he wanted was to jump out of his skin and feel fresh once more.

"Click." The bathroom door opened at the perfect time and Mary limped out in a large bathrobe.

"Do your feet still hurt?"

"Yeah."

"You should go and buy some medicine for them."

"That's too much trouble." "Lazy."

The door clicked closed again as William entered the bathroom with a frown on his face.

Mary sat on the bed, casually drying her hair.

She heard the shower turning on and remembered her underwear was still in the bathroom. 'Would William see it?!

Would it be too forward to knock on the door now? Would he think that I'm trying to seduce him?'

Mary fell back onto the bed with a deep sigh. She had been really relaxed these last two days they had been in Shanghai. She should not forget that he was still a cruel and merciless man. 'I'm so stupid!' she thought, disappointed in herself.

As expected, William caught sight of Mary's underwear in the bathroom. How she could be so sloppy astounded him.

He kicked her clothes to a corner with frustration.

When he exited the bathroom, he found Mary asleep in an unflattering pose with her hair still wet. How could a woman be like this? Were all women nowadays so careless?

"Ring, ring, ring." ...

The phone rang tirelessly. "Hello." William walked to the living room with the phone in hand and spoke in a low voice so as not to wake Mary.

"Why did you take so long to answer the phone?"

"I was taking a shower."

"I see," the person on the other end of the line smiled. "Come to me as soon as you're ready."

William rubbed his temples, trying to ease the stress growing within him. He then remembered the appointment he had with Frank for dinner yesterday. "What time is it?"

"It's seven o'clock. Come quickly."

"Okay, wait about twenty minutes for me."

William changed and was about to leave when he glanced at Mary and noticed the soles of her feet were red and swollen.

He could not bear the sight of it and wanted to bring back some medicine for it.

But then he began to wonder why he was so good to her. Whether she was hurt or not was her own business.

"You should be punished for what happened today," he whispered to her unresponsive sleepy body. He snorted coldly, glanced at her feet and said with a devilish smile, "Your injured feet can be your punishment." The door snapped closed behind him as he walked out.

Mary dreamed a sweet dream, known only to her. She turned over with a smile across her face and continued to sleep peacefully.