When The Contract Ends

When The Contract Ends

Gavin

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For five years, I was Liam Walker, a hired husband and father in a grand mansion, my very existence hanging on Victoria Sterling' s whims and my sick mother' s need for life-saving treatment. My days were a relentless cycle of enduring Chloe, Victoria's ten-year-old daughter, who saw me as an intruder and a perpetual punching bag for her grief, often turning physical. Then came the car crash, and as the world exploded around us, I watched Victoria tend to her late husband's handsome lookalike, Julian, leaving me, her 'husband,' slumped and bleeding in the wreckage. At the hospital, I heard Victoria coldly prioritize Julian' s life, and Chloe whisper, 'Let him die, Mommy. Then Julian can be my new daddy for real.' My agony deepened when Victoria, in a chilling display of power, ordered my other hand broken, the one I played guitar with, all while Julian reveled in her affections and poisoned Chloe' s mind with lies about me. What was I really to them? A ghost, a prop, a punching bag, meticulously broken down and discarded, with no worth beyond my fleeting utility. But as my body healed, a quiet fury hardened my resolve. My contract was almost up, and this time, no amount of money or manipulation would stop me. I would escape, take my mother, and build a life free from their toxic grasp, a life so genuinely happy, their future remorse would be utterly meaningless.

Introduction

For five years, I was Liam Walker, a hired husband and father in a grand mansion, my very existence hanging on Victoria Sterling' s whims and my sick mother' s need for life-saving treatment.

My days were a relentless cycle of enduring Chloe, Victoria's ten-year-old daughter, who saw me as an intruder and a perpetual punching bag for her grief, often turning physical.

Then came the car crash, and as the world exploded around us, I watched Victoria tend to her late husband's handsome lookalike, Julian, leaving me, her 'husband,' slumped and bleeding in the wreckage.

At the hospital, I heard Victoria coldly prioritize Julian' s life, and Chloe whisper, 'Let him die, Mommy. Then Julian can be my new daddy for real.'

My agony deepened when Victoria, in a chilling display of power, ordered my other hand broken, the one I played guitar with, all while Julian reveled in her affections and poisoned Chloe' s mind with lies about me.

What was I really to them? A ghost, a prop, a punching bag, meticulously broken down and discarded, with no worth beyond my fleeting utility.

But as my body healed, a quiet fury hardened my resolve. My contract was almost up, and this time, no amount of money or manipulation would stop me.

I would escape, take my mother, and build a life free from their toxic grasp, a life so genuinely happy, their future remorse would be utterly meaningless.

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My wedding to Ethan, the man I’d loved for five years, was weeks away. Everything was set for our future, a beautifully planned life together. Then the call came: Ethan’s high school sweetheart, Chloe, was found with severe amnesia, still believing she was his girlfriend. Ethan postponed our wedding, asked me to pretend to be his brother Liam’s girlfriend, insisting it was "for Chloe’s sake." I endured quiet agony watching him relive their past, his every loving gesture now for her. Chloe’s Instagram became a public shrine to their "rekindled" love, #TrueLove emblazoned everywhere. I even found a groundbreaking clinic for Chloe, hoping for an end, but Ethan brushed it off. Then, I overheard him: I was just a "placeholder," a "good sport" who would wait, because I had "nowhere else to go." Five years of my life, my love, my loyalty, reduced to a disposable convenience. The cold, calculated betrayal punched the air from my lungs. He thought I was trapped, that he could use me at will, then return to me, expecting gratitude. Numb, I stumbled. And then, I met Liam, Ethan’s quiet brother. "I need to get married, Liam. To someone. Soon." The words escaped me. Liam, who had watched silently, responded: "What if I said I'd marry you, Ava? For real." A dangerous, desperate plan ignited within me, fueled by pain and a fierce desire for reckoning. "Alright, Liam," I declared, a new resolve hardening my voice. "But I have conditions: Ethan must be your Best Man, and he must give me away at the altar." The charade was about to begin, but now, it was on my terms. And Ethan had no idea the bride was truly me.

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