Contract Lover

Their meeting began with a contract.

He bought her, and she became his lover. He was cold and distant, while she was gentle, thoughtful, and stubborn.

His drunken murmur and his words, “I like you,” made her heart flutter. She fell for the harmony of their life together.

But the person who had disappeared for four years came back. When she saw her, she suddenly realized that all that tenderness and all those supposedly unintentional confessions had never been meant for her.

She was nothing but a substitute, taking the place of someone else in his affections.