Wrong contract marriage, right husband

walked into Thorne T

NDA, completed the offboarding pa

y. "You walking out like th

ice rang out from

this was coming

lass-walled office.

as loose, and his eyes were blood

you staying

of your busin

g against his desk. "When are you coming back? I have a

ust a tactic. He couldn't fathom

tted my resignation this morning. A

moment, blinked, and t

rategy? You paid an actor to

, it

d. "To whom? Some homeless guy? A

ne who re

p lying, Clara. It's pathetic. You want to ma

about you to make y

my eyes and saw nothing. No lo

" I said. "Don't try

d noticeably lost its confidence. "You have no m

as been unlocked

he just always assumed I'd never have the guts to

did get married

ped, jealousy instantl

to give him Hayes' name, given how terrible

my arm. "Tell

or bur

loral arrangements!" Chloe r

d in her tracks

wed as she saw Lia

oing on here?" she

free and smoothe

cé," I said. "

t without l

into his chai

nything. She slammed the magazine ont

ubbing his temples. "Honey, she's trying t

ell that if I was married, the Van

be out on

ext m

l of my rental sedan, I dr

up the steps. The housekeeper, Mrs.

sly. "You shouldn't be here. Your mother

st her into the grand foyer. "I'm here for m

East Wing," Mrs. Gable sta

t step of the grand s

the marble. I reached the second-floor landing and heade

to eavesdrop,

aggerated m

a low, husky

e of nausea hit me, and I had to g

in my room

swung open, hitting th

But on the bed were two tangled bodies.

g backward and pulling up the duvet. But he

A flash of embarrassment crossed his face before his trademark arrogance qu

heartbreak, just a profound, suffocating sense of filth

round herself. "Liam just wanted to see wher

writing desk. On it sat a massive crystal vase holding withered hydrangeas that had b

d up th

ng?" Liam asked,

on, I swung my a

ing directly onto the bed, over the pillows, across

he freezing, rotting water hit her. The ste

rom his cheek, his face turning purp

d Cleaning Services? I need a Level 3 decontamination crew at the Vance Estate. East Wing, second

m dead in the eye. "Get

s out," Liam snee

him off. "I am the homeowner.

there in a silk robe, her face a picture o

ed in slime, she raised her hand

st mid-air. My g

d fury. "Don't touch me. If you dare touch me, I

oze, starin

ate girl she once kne

nutes to get your guests out of my house.

truck rumbled up the driveway with "Ex

watching two men in full h

aring an ill-fitting tracksuit borrowed from Arthu

ize mattress out onto the second-floor balcony. With a

thud right next to Liam's Aston Martin,

the doorway, clutching a mud

t me. "I'll sue you for property dam

s shareholders would love to see the discovery documents detailing how their

I was right. A PR crisis like that

ard his car. "

ed onto the porch. "Clara... you di

gged several questionable fund transfers over the past few years. With my authorizat

He knew exactly what the audit would find-e

Le Coucou this Friday, with the Hayes family. I'm plannin

an H

I fake

heart pounded, but I kept

ould absolutely expect my fake hu

actually showed up, the

out I married a

e there, and my lie would be exposed

; I couldn't show any sign of we

to collide head

here," I s

use, and I h

as going to have to