Contract

Liam slept over everything the man said, and when he walked out of the room the next day, he felt like a completely new person.

He was summoned downstairs for breakfast with his father, Joseph Rowling, and when he arrived, the guy had not begun eating since he appeared to be waiting for Liam's arrival.

Liam found it strange to see the man so early in the morning. He was at a loss for words when he approached the man's seat. He wasn't sure whether to start with "Good morning" or "Hello."

He couldn't come to a conclusion before sitting down. He cast a glance to his father, who returned his gaze and nodded to him. He returned the nod, relieved that he didn't have to say anything to make things more awkward.

"You don't have to try to be free with me, I'm not free with you either," the man said Liam before he started eating.

"I won't try, don't worry," Liam said, pleased that the man had provided him with an escape route.

When he needed a father figure as a child, there was no one in his life to fill that position, so he learned not to require one. He'd turned twenty-two while in the coma, and he wasn't going to try to have a father now. He thought it would be stranger if the man tried to approach him.

"I know you want assurance that I will not abandon you like I did with my nephew, so I will have Sam and a few guards take you to see the place," he pushed an envelope to Liam. "It's yours; it's been yours since you were twelve years old and I witnessed you stand up to a bully. That was a present for you when I die, but it will now serve as an assurance."

Liam opened the envelope that Joseph Rowling had given him. There was a house deed in there, and even though it was his first time handling one, he could tell it wasn't a little property.

"I would like Sam to help you become the finest human you can be, and when you are ready, I will give you all of my shares in the firm as a gift to avoid any disagreement after my death. Isn't that appealing enough?"

Liam didn't need the man to say anything else. He planned to continue with the play the man was directing because he knew he'd have something to leave with even if things didn't go as planned. In reality, it wasn't one thing in particular he gets to take with him; anything he learns in this home will be something he can take with him into the world.

"Sam will tell you about your graduation and other important events," he began. "You may apply for an early graduation and I would pay back to the school whatever you were granted as a scholarship student so you don't have to go back there as a lecturer," the man reminded Liam of the deal the school made with all the scholarship students.

For the first time, Liam felt absolutely happy about what was happening, and he felt completely prepared to embark on the trip ahead of him with all the diligence he could summon at the time.

***

He went with Sam to view the house his father had mentioned, and he was unprepared for what he found. He had expected a two-bedroom home, but what greeted him was a mansion similar to the one he awoke in, if not identical to it.

He proceeded to the door and entered the house, which was neat and, according to Sam, was currently occupied by a group of content developers who rented it. Sam informed him that the house and the rent that would be paid belonged to him and that he could keep it for as long as he wanted.

That had to be God's compensation for everything he had to go through in what he now considers his past life. He had awoken to a completely new life, and he was embarking on it with optimism, for everything that came with it was positive and left no place for fear.

On the way back, Liam inquired, “So, when do I get to go to school?"

"I will handle everything for you; all you have to do is go take the exam. My boss has given me the go-ahead," Sam explained. "I know you must be wondering what awaits you, and I believe you should be mentally and physically prepared. As soon as you sign the contract, the training will begin formally on Monday."

Liam remembered not hearing anything about a contract, so he said, "What do you mean?"

"You have to sign a contract for my boss to be assured that you won't be like his nephew," Sam said naturally.

Liam sighed and turned to stare out the window. "Can I get a lawyer to help me with it?"

"I could be your lawyer, and I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about," Sam reassured Liam.

"I know you as a guard, not a lawyer, and I don't want you to try to claim that, it makes me feel a stronger urge to distrust you," Liam said, shaking his head. Liam prevented the man from persuading him any more.

"We will give you the entire weekend to go over the contract, and if there is anything that displeases you, we will change it to meet your desire, but I can assure you that you will not be signing off your kidneys, but only your time, as you did with the scholarship," Sam assured him as if they had always been trusted friends.

"I will read the contract first," Liam said, rejecting the man's promise because the man's attempt to assuage his fears gave him no comfort.

"In a world like my Boss has lived in for decades, they have to sign contracts to keep things civil, and you may be his son, but he can't trust you with everything he has until he is convinced that you will not throw it all away," Sam replied. "He needs an heir rather than a child to spoil."

"I don't need you to persuade me because that doesn't sound very civil to me either," Liam interrupted the man's efforts. "First, I'll look over the contract and decide whether I want to sign over my life to him."

"That is the spirit," Sam agreed.

When he started reading the contract, Liam didn't give it much attention because practically every clause was in his favor and he didn't see the need in having any doubts about what he was offered.

When he went downstairs for breakfast with the contract, he was already determined to do everything in his power to obtain what was laid before him on a gold plate.

"I appreciate you agreeing to this. "I don't know what I would have done if you had turned down my offer," Joseph said as Liam signed the written agreement.

Looking at the man acting like a proud parent, Liam couldn’t help but be taken aback; he was confident that the man would find a way out even if Liam refused to work for him.

Despite the man’s pleasant expression, he was certain the man would not mind clearing his mind of all his memories in order to convert Liam into his own puppet. The man’s smile lifted the edges of his lips, making Liam feel even more defensive and wary about the arrangement he made with the man.

Liam was taken aback by the experience; he had never been in a significant interpersonal business relationship like this before, but he was certain that it felt entirely professional, with no hints of the blood they shared.

*****

A knock on the door came half an hour after he returned to his room.

It was the cleaning lady, with a message for him. "Young master Liam, Mr. Sam requests your presence in your study," the lady said, bowing slightly.

Liam accepted her message and dismissed her. He was going to the study anyway, so all he had to do was finish what he was doing. He opened the room door shortly before the cleaning lady knocked for the second time.

"Did he send you to come get me?" Liam asked, restraining the desire to ask the woman, what was so urgent that the man couldn't wait for him to get down before stressing the lady to come to him.

"Yes," the lady replied, bowing. Liam pulled his lips together, but he proceeded to the study, and Sam, who was waiting for him, shoved an envelope to Liam as soon as he sat down.

“Those are the rules; you must know and follow them for as long as you choose to learn,” Sam said. “I am your teacher from now on, and you must do as I say and as it is written on those papers until you pass the examination to prove your worth.”

When Liam observed the tone with which the man talked to him, he was obliged to raise his head to look at him. Previously, the man was not overly respectful to him, but his present tone demonstrated that he was a teenager to the man at this time.

"You have an hour to read it. You will have to spend another week in this training for every rule you break," Sam threatened when Liam continued to gaze at him in disbelief without reaching for the papers he handed him.

"An hour?" Liam inquired when he realized the regulations had to be more than ten pages.

"This is part of the rule; if you don't do it, you'll have to stay here for another week, regardless of when you finish training," Sam said.

Liam searched for a reason to assume or believe that the man was merely attempting scare him, but the longer he peered into the man's black eyes, the more he was certain that the man was not joking.

The Sam who had tried to persuade him to sign the contract and to whom he had spoken coldly had vanished, replaced by this serious man who clearly had no room for negotiation.

With the prospect of what he would gain from all of this, he opened to the first page, intending to finish it in less than half an hour.

The absurdity of the rules caused him to stop midway. He put down the papers and turned to face the man, who met his gaze with a slight arch of his brow.

"Does this also include my mother?" He had to inquire about a rule that stated he could not contact anyone outside the mansion or wherever the training would take place.

"Yes, it does," Sam replied before averting his gaze. "You have half an hour to go," Sam reminded Liam.

***

Liam examined his reflection in the mirror; if he had told himself a few years ago that he would be this way, he would not have believed it.

This was not the transformation he wanted. He felt as if he was losing himself in the role that Sam and his father had assigned to him. He scrubbed the blood from his hand before running his wet fingers through his hair. Wasn't it supposed to be all about business?

So why do they have compel him to kill someone with his bare hands? He met his reflection's gaze and asked, "Is this what you wanted?"

After a few seconds of silence, he shook his head firmly. Even though his physical appearance had changed, it was revolting that he was still innocent deep within, that the blood of the man he had tried so hard to wash off at the sink still felt so fresh on his palm.

He could still see the man's eyes well up with tears as he begged for his life, but Liam knew he had to do it as part of his training. He was not even informed of the man's crime.

It was too much to bear for someone who had been killed unfairly. The life of an executioner was not what the man had promised him.

Liam made up his mind to leave the premises with a final strong nod; it was the last thing he wanted to do. The months he spent in the mansion were enough time for him to devise an escape strategy that would work whenever he needed it, but he never imagined he'd have to use it.