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“No, I don’t. You have no right looking up my personal information,” I tell him, standing up and grabbing the file and walking toward the door.

“You walk out that door, and I will seize every asset you own, including your house,” Eli says, making me freeze.

What the fuck is he talking about?

“Excuse me,” I tell him, spinning around.

He walks to his desk, grabbing the forms I filled out the other day and handing them to me. I look at them before shrugging, not understanding why he is giving them to me.

“You signed a contract. We own you. You quit, and I will make sure you come running back. It is all in the contract you signed. You would know if you bothered to read it properly,” he says.

I flick through the pages, not finding anything that states I can’t quit my own job; seeing so many different clauses is making my head spin as the words jumble together.

“Take them. I don’t care. You can have my car,” I tell them, turning on my heel.

“You’re forgetting something, Addie. Your mother’s house is in your name, and her bank accounts are in your name. Your father left everything he owned to his daughters, and your sister signed her rights over everything to you when you took custody of her daughter. Therefore, you do have assets, and I will take them and run you bankrupt if you quit,” Eli says.

They wouldn’t, would they? But why would they? They could replace me easily.

Chapter Nine

Adeline

“That document. You’re under contract for the natural term of your life,” Cyrus says, flicking to a page and pointing to it.

I read it: “The signee of this contract will hereby work exclusively for Mr. Cyrus and Elijah Colten indefinitely. In case of failure or breach of this contract, the signee relinquishes all assets to the company.”

I gasp. I would never have signed this. What person in their right mind would?

“I will fight it in court. No judge would agree to this being upheld,” I tell them.

“With what money? We will clean you out long before it ever gets before a judge. We own you now, you belong to us, and we can do whatever we want with you. If you fail to comply, Adeline, I will ruin your family’s life,” Cyrus threatens me.

I look between them, shocked that they could be so cruel.

“Not to mention, I will make sure you are unemployable in the future,” Eli says, sitting on the edge of his desk and folding his arms across his chest.

“Why are you doing this? What have I done to you?” I ask with tears filling my eyes.

“Nothing. You are ours, and I won’t allow you to leave us,” Eli says.

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“It will in time. You will eventually come around to the idea once the mate bond kicks in,” Cyrus tells me, making me furrow my brows.

“MATE BOND?” I scream. What the fuck is a mate bond? I make a mental note to google it when I get home.

“You will understand in time. None of that matters right now. What matters is you are not quitting, and you will continue to work for us,” Eli tells me.

My tears spill over at his words, and Cyrus takes a step forward, reaching out his hand. None of this made sense; what they are doing makes no sense.

“Don’t touch me,” I tell him when he tries to grab my hand.

“Addie?” Eli says. His voice softens before he walks over to me. I flinch back from him when he suddenly pulls me against his chest, hugging me.

“Don’t cry,” he whispers soothingly.

They are crazy. Both of them are. How can they expect anyone to be alright with this? I push him away.