Chapter Three: The Contract
'Daddy?'
Aurora's voice was soft and strange, like a question suffocated in the air.
Isabelle turned her head toward the door just as another knock like a slam shook it on its hinges.
DUM! DUM! DUM!
Her heart jumped. Her grip on the letter tightened even harder. She looked at the twins.
They were side by side near the couch, forgetting their mugs. Neither looked scared.
They looked… expectant.
'Is that him?'
'He feels angry.'
'He's wet.'
Isabelle heard the twins' voices in her mind again.
That strange floaty sound, like a thought that didn't belong to her. She rubbed her temple with one hand and moved to the door with the other.
"This is not normal," she whispered. "None of this is normal."
She turned the knob and pulled open the door.
There he was...
"Reign Kraus?"
Just as she remembered him from years ago, only worse.
So tall and broad...He was wet from the rain. His dark coat hung on his shoulders. Reign's face was all sharp lines and shadowed eyes.
His face didn't look angry, but it was furious.
"Isabelle Munro?" he snapped, stepping inside without waiting for permission.
"Do I have a choice?" she said under her breath, backing up as he came in like a storm.
He reached into his coat pocket and slapped a soaked envelope onto the nearest table. Then he pointed at it like it had personally betrayed him.
"That," he said, "is from my brother. Who's dead, by the way. Just died last week. Now read it. And explain. Everything."
Isabelle stared at the envelope. She hesitated...
Then picked it up, peeled it open, and pulled out the paper inside. The ink had bled from the rain, but the message was still visible.
If anything happens to me, Reign must marry Isabelle Munro. She's the only one I trust to protect the children. She'll figure it out. And if you're reading this…then I'm already gone. Don't fail them, brother.
—Caleb
Isabelle blinked at the name.
"…Caleb?" she asked, looking up slowly. "Your brother?"
"Yes. My dead older brother. Your sister's secret boyfriend, apparently." Reign's jaw was tight, he sounded colder than the wind. "Now your turn."
Wordlessly, Isabelle handed him Charlotte's letter.
He took it, read quickly, then read again, slower. Then his eyes lifted and met hers.Silence hung thick in the room.
"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered. "They were together? Charlotte and Caleb?"
"They never told me," Isabelle replied slowly.
"They never told me either!"
They both looked at the twins.
The toddlers were now crawling under the coffee table, pretending to be cats. Their golden hair bounced as they played. One giggled, and the sound echoed gently through Isabelle's mind.
'She's mad.'
'He's yelling.'
'Where's our snack?'
"Okay, wait," Isabelle said, running a hand through her long red hair. "Let's just… stop for a second."
"Good idea," Reign agreed. He crossed his arms and stared at her. "Start with the part where your sister faked her entire life and then left me with the fallout."
"You? I'm the one who just found out she's dead. This morning. And then these two showed up on my doorstep like a magical horror movie."
"Don't forget," Reign said, holding up Caleb's letter, "you also have to marry me apparently."
"Oh, joy," Isabelle muttered. "Dreams come true."
Reign rolled his eyes. "Look, I don't want to marry you any more than you want to marry me, but something's wrong here. My brother doesn't write things like this for no reason. Especially not marriage."
"Same with Charlotte," Isabelle mumbled. "If she wrote that, then she knew something. And she was scared."
They both went quiet...
A faint squeal of laughter echoed from under the table.
'They're going to fight like Mama and Daddy.'
'No, they're funnier.'
Isabelle dragged her hands down her face. "I'm losing my mind."
"You're not the only one," Reign said. "I had to punch a man in the parking lot of a grocery store today just to make it here in one piece."
She blinked. "Why?"
"Because I was screaming into a banana thinking it was my phone. That's why."
Despite herself, she laughed, but just a little. Reign stared at her.
"Are you laughing at me?"
"No," she said, still half-laughing. "That's just… it sounds like something Charlotte would've done."
He relaxed slightly. "Yeah. Caleb, too. Stupid, dramatic."
A gentle silence fell between them. Not very peaceful, but this time not hostile either. Just confused…
Then the reality sank in again…Two letters. Two siblings…Two orphans. One insane request.
"You do realise this is ridiculous, right?" Isabelle smiled. "We can't just get married."
"Well," Reign replied, rubbing his neck, "we don't have to actually get married. Not like, emotionally. Just… legally. A contract."
"Excuse me?"
"Just listen. It's a way to protect the twins. You're their blood. I'm the only other adult they've been around, apparently. If we don't do this, someone from your company or my family will come sniffing around and take them. You want that?"
Isabelle frowned. No... She didn't…
"You're suggesting a contract marriage? A fake one?"
"Yes. Keep up."
"For how long?"
"Until we figure out who killed them," Reign said simply. "Charlotte and Caleb. They didn't die by accident. You feel it. I feel it."
Isabelle looked at the twins again. Aron had curled up on the rug, sucking his thumb. Aurora was giggling and drawing on the wall with the condensation from her milk mug.
They looked peacefully normal, but they weren't. She could hear every voice that never left their lips.
And something about it all…about them, about Reign, about this insane request felt strange.
She sighed. "Alright. But if we're doing this, we're setting rules."
Reign smirked. "Of course. I already started writing some down."
"You what?"
He pulled a folded piece of paper from his coat. "Rule one: no kissing. Rule two: no sharing toothbrushes. Rule three: no falling in love."
Isabelle rolled her eyes. "You're an idiot."
"Rule four: no name-calling."
She grabbed a pen from the coffee table and scribbled at the bottom. "Rule five: no bananas near phones."
His mouth twitched. "Fair."
They were standing there for a moment, unsure what came next. The twins had fallen asleep together on the rug.
Reign glanced down at them. "They're… something."
"Yeah," Isabelle agreed. "They're not just twins."
"You hear them too, don't you?"
"What?"
Reign hesitated. "You hear them. In your head. Don't lie."
She stared at him, throat dry. "You do too?"
He gave a single shake. "Just guessing…your sister once said…"
Isabelle felt the world tilt beneath her feet. So she wasn't going crazy...
She looked at the twins again, her heart started beating a little bit faster this time.
What were they?
And what had Charlotte and Caleb gotten themselves into?
Isabelle looked at Reign, who had already pulled out his phone and was searching for some kind of lawyer who worked past midnight. She sighed, touched her temples again, and sat down hard on the couch.
"Fine. Let's get married."
Reign didn't even look up. "You sound so excited."
"I might throw up."
"Please do it after we sign the papers."
Isabelle groaned. "This is going to be a disaster."
Reign finally met her eyes. "Probably."
But something told her… disaster was already here.
And it wore golden curls, talked without speaking, and had secrets that seemed deeper than any grave.
'Who killed their parents?'