Chapter 2 Who Falls in Love with Their Boss

I was an orphan, and I was broke. Five years ago, when I was still panicking over how to pay my college tuition, I met Grant. At the time, he'd just broken up with Sylvia. She had dumped him to chase her dream abroad. Grant went off the rails and started looking for a substitute. I caught his attention because my eyes looked a little too much like Sylvia's. He handed me a contract. The contract listed Grant as Party A and me as Party B. My role was clearly defined. I was to play Grant's lover and live in the apartment he designated, staying on call at all times. I was expected to accompany him to any events he required. In return, I would receive 500 thousand dollars a month, with room and board fully covered. I would also receive comprehensive benefits and a year-end bonus. The contract term was set at five years. The breach clause was unforgiving. I was forbidden from falling in love with Grant, interfering in his private life, or resigning of my own accord before the contract expired. Any violation would trigger liquidated damages amounting to ten times the total compensation. ... I had taken one look at all those zeros in the contract and signed without hesitation. This hadn't been a romantic arrangement. It had been an offer too good to refuse. For the past five years, I worked like my life depended on it. I treated this role like a career. Grant liked Sylvia's long hair, so I grew mine out and kept it smooth and silky with meticulous care. Grant liked Sylvia's gentle temperament, so I buried the temper I used to have and learned to speak gently, never raising my voice. Grant's stomach was sensitive, so I went and got certified as a nutritionist. I constantly came up with new ways to cook meals that wouldn't upset him. To prepare for the banquets Grant would take me to, I signed up for etiquette classes and learned wine tasting, floral arranging, and tea ceremony. I made sure I never embarrassed him. People in that circle loved to sneer at me. They called me Grant's doormat. They said I loved him pathetically, without a shred of dignity. Even Grant's close friends couldn't stand watching it. They'd pull me aside and try to talk sense into me. "Elodie, don't take it so seriously. In Grant's heart, you'll always be Sylvia's shadow." Every time they said that, I'd put on a devastated expression. I would sway like I was about to collapse and whisper, "I know, but I can't control my heart. As long as I can stay by his side, I don't mind being a shadow." Then, I'd turn around, head straight to the restroom, open my banking app, and check my balance to calm myself down. Dignity? Dignity didn't mean a damn thing next to an eight-figure savings account. Did I love Grant? Just the thought alone made me chuckle. Who would fall in love with their boss? I would never have fallen for someone so temperamental and demanding, especially someone who treated me as a substitute. What I felt for him wasn't love. It was reverence for money.