The Royal Contract

He had thought of driving away, but his curiosity got the better of him. Instead of returning home, he stayed for a few more minutes inside his car and watched the scene as it unfolded before him.

He could not believe what he had witnessed. The situation was confusing. What were two of his friends together?

He did not even know they knew each other as his eyes followed the two figures in a tight embrace, entering the building.

"Roseann, what are you doing here?" It was the question that entered his mind when he unexpectedly saw her. He did not even know they knew each other.

But, of course, he always thought this was a small world. Adam and Roseann might have bumped into each other at one point. Maybe this was nothing that should concern him.

"We should..." He was about to say go to his driver when something nagged at him.

Some weird feeling was urging him to investigate the situation. For some reason, it would not allow him to sit idly by.

Was Roseann in any danger? He doubted, especially not in the hands of his friend, Adam. His friend could not even hurt a fly, much less harm a girl.

Was there something he should know about Adam? Maybe that was it. His friend just swore how much he loved his sister. Then, what was she doing with his future sister-in-law?

"Sir, do you wish to leave?" His hired chauffeur for the night asked him. He usually did not drive when he knew he would be drinking. It had been one of his rules for safety reasons.

And he usually did not meddle with other people's lives unless they hired him to do it. But tonight, he could not scratch the image of the two entangled together.

"Just a minute." He answered the man in the front seat as he contemplated his situation.

He could not help but wonder what the relationship between the two was. Or if there was even one. But he never knew Adam as a womanizer. That was not his character.

"Nah!" He finally concluded, believing his assumption might be a mistake.

Maybe he was just drunk as he imagined things. That was also a possibility. He thought he saw something when there was nothing to see.

Maybe it was not even Roseann that helped Adam inside the building. It could be one of the tenants trying to be a good Samaritan.

But still, he felt the need to check it. He needed assurance that his friend was ok. His friend had reached his apartment safely. It was the least he could do after getting him drunk.

"Wait for me here." He instructed the driver before he exited the car, still debating whether to follow his friend upstairs.

He walked to the front door, wondering which floor and room his apartment was. He only knew the building but not the exact place.

He guessed he could knock on some doors and ask. Maybe someone from his neighbors might know which one was his friend's place.

But the first few doors he tried barely knew the other occupants of this building. Therefore, he had to try on the other floors, hoping someone might know him.

"Excuse me." He called on the attention of a young woman about to climb the stairs. He thought she might have met his friend.

"Would you happen to know Adam Mason? I am looking for his apartment." He immediately asked when she stopped and looked in his direction.

"Yeah, I know him. He lives on my floor but on the other side." She pointed to the next floor and on the left wing. "Follow me. I will show you."

He climbed the stairs, close behind the woman dressed in provocative clothes. He could only guess two things about her.

She just came from a party or a night job. But the latter seemed more appropriate since she did not seem drunk.

But, of course, that was just his assumption. But he was not here to judge the woman as he diverted his attention to the structure of the old building.

"He is two doors on the right." She pointed to him before she turned and left him.

His eyes scanned the place, thinking it was a decent place for a middle-income earner. What was Adam doing living in this condition?

"Thanks." He tried to tell her, but she did not care as she continued walking to the other end of the hallway.

He marched into the empty pathway, contemplating whether he had any reason to pry on his friend's business. But then again, he was just here to ensure his friend had gotten home without a hitch.

Soon, he stopped at his door. He poised his hand on the wooden panel and knocked on the door. But nobody answered him.

But then again, he noticed the noisy neighbor next door. He wondered how Adam could sleep at night with all the raucous coming from the other apartment. It was like there was a war going on in there.

He would not be surprised if the walls in this place were paper thin. It was probably why his friend did not notice the commotion at his door.

Or his friend might have already passed out. He was too drunk to notice that somebody was knocking on his door.

"Adam?" He tried one last time, attempting to catch his friend's attention, but still nothing.

Maybe he should leave and wait for his friend at the office to ask him about this incident. He believed it was the most sensible thing to do.

However, something kept him standing by the door. Was it something he heard coming from the other side, or was it just his gut?

Without another thought, his fingers wrapped around the doorknob and turned it. And by some luck, the damn thing turned. His friend must have forgotten to lock it due to his intoxicated state.

In this neighborhood, he wondered if that was wise. He could not discount the possibility of a high rate of criminal cases in a place like this.

"Huh!" Shocked was his initial reaction as his eyes landed on the two figures on the couch.

He wanted to turn away as he witnessed an ongoing private act. But his eyes fixated on the woman underneath his friend, focusing on her face.

Damn!

He knew her. And he confirmed that what he saw earlier was not a figment of his imagination. It was Rosella, lying on the sofa, half-naked underneath his friend, Adam.

"What is going on here?" He shouted at the same time that the two stopped as both looked paralyzed before his voice registered in their faces.

Soon, the two were directly looking at him with confused, frightened, and shocked expressions. They uttered words, but he was too far to hear them.

For a few seconds, the world seemed to stop from his standpoint. He could not say anything as the two scrambled to make them look decent.

"David, what are you doing here?" Finally, her voice reverberated in the four corners of the room.

And when it reached his ears, something in him snapped. Of course, he could not allow this. He could not tolerate something as despicable as this.

He strode further into the room without answering her, but he saw his friend stand up and say. "It is not what you think."

He almost laughed at those words. He remembered using those same lines when his previous relationship caught him with another woman.

It was a well-used line that never worked, but men still used it for some dumb reason. But he was not stupid to fall into the lie.

There was only one way he saw this situation. His friend was a lying asshole who was barely in a relationship with his sister but was already cheating.

"And what do you want me to think?" David finally shouted as fury raged inside him. He could feel every fiber of his body stretched to its breaking point as tension built inside him.

He only saw red as he approached his friend and grabbed him by his open shirt. And with one swing of his arm, his closed fist landed on his left cheek.

The impact threw Adam to the floor, where he landed on his ass. But David was not done with him yet as he walked to him menacingly, ready to give him what he deserved.

"David, stop that." Her hand attempted to stop him. But when it did not work, Roseann tried to block his path. "What is wrong with you?"

He had no choice but to divert his eyes to her. He knew she was an innocent victim in this. Roseann had no idea who this man was and what he had committed.

"Roseann, get out of the way." David tried to pull her to the side, avoiding not to hurt her but not letting her stop him from his plan.

He would teach his friend a lesson that he would never forget. Adam should never mess with him or his sister or his future sister-in-law.

He would not allow Adam to fool two of the most important woman in his life, even if he was his friend. He grabbed him and aimed to punch the cheating bastard.