The Billionaire Marriage of Convenience

cted some shift in their dynamic after their talk, some sign that things might change, but instead, the silence between them stretched even furthe

tened, and his eyes took on a faraway look, as though he were lost in thoughts he wouldn't share. When he allowed himself to engage wit

current of change. The more time they spent together, the more Jade found herself searching for the man beneath the cold exter

g Jade alone with her thoughts. But in these quiet moments, she found herself trying to piece together the fragments of his past-the part of

while, she felt restless. She couldn't shake the need to do something, to take control of her own life in a way she hadn't done since her wrongful conviction. It had be

ready brewed. Grayson's usual routine was to wake up before her, but today, she needed to find som

find Grayson standing in the doorway, his silhouette framed by the early morn

asked, his voice lo

slow sip of coffee. "No, jus

ements were deliberate, precise, as though he was operating on autopilot. There was

king. Jade wanted to say something, to break the stillness tha

tone softer than usual. "

lk, a passing comment about the day ahead, not something so

iness? No, that was something she hadn't felt in a long time. S

d honestly. "I think I'

ent longer, as though weighing her respo

id quietly. "I promised you a life here, and I've kept my wo

had built an empire, who had been so commanding and self-assured, was standing in front of her with a raw honesty th

m. "I'm not asking you to give me anything you're not ready for. But I need

his coffee, his expression unreadable. It seemed like he was

placed his cup down on the counter and

e had been waiting for-the moment when she would fina

meone I loved more than anything. I thought I'd never be able to move on, that I'd never be able to tru

around himself. He had loved someone so deeply that the pain of losing them had cut him to his core. No wonder he couldn't

n't keep carrying that burden forever, Grayso

ct in his eyes. He was torn-caught between the past that

his voice almost a whisper. "But I don't w

, the way he was holding himself back. She didn't know what to say to make him feel better, to make him und

But we do have to move. We can't stay stuck in this... pl

detachment. It was a glimmer of hope, faint but there. She didn't know if he was ready to let

ong way to go before they could truly understand each other. But for the first time, she felt like there was a chance for them

n the possibility of something more. Neither of them knew what the future held, but for th