The CEO'S Contract Bride

ast G

yn's

s a hea

ugh your veins, your breath, your thoughts

e a second heartbeat. Other times, it presse

ed on my should

of denial could drown it. The man who built a legacy out of grit and ambition-

as to inheri

Enter

nents, billions in assets

lders. On a daughter who was

't capable-but bec

rayal, and secrets. My unborn child, my fake

every time it su

ly, it a

ackseat of my car, staring out at t

very billboard with our company logo

my stomach. My child moved ben

ver meet thei

d never know

I tol

ength to say the name

nr

e a ghost slipping into my th

t take

ast day

en three

wrapped in that rare stillness that only

sunlight spilling through the

hand beneath his cheek. His chest rose an

s it. Maybe I finally found someone

s hair, and whispered, "Y

leep-drunk and beautiful. "That

ose, kissing my forehead like

e burned the eggs, I spilled the orange juice. We

ld him he had no taste in music.

ike somet

like a b

at the clouds. He talked about visiting the Amalfi Coast. I talked about m

dn't

said. "You don't ha

way his hand tigh

the inside of my wrist an

elp me-I be

ade love like it

t woul

uture waiting just

on his chest, lulled by t

morning...

o call and

sil

disconnected. His email vanished. All hi

hed eve

even hired investigators. No

ed disappeare

ehind... was this

in front of the hospital. The driver opened th

hrough the corridors. Nurses nodded p

lyn Monroe-the heiress. The p

m saw the grie

red. Machines beeped gently beside

his bed, ta

, D

flutter

as a whisper now, a bre

aid, smiling th

a long time, his e

that look agai

t lo

used to wear when s

led sh

o carry everythin

ave me the keys to the kingdom,

rasping sound. "You w

to beli

uilt gnaw

out Henry. About everything I'd buried

uldn't.

hand. "Rest now. I'l

eyes with a

r he fell asleep, heart h

ied to forget... Henry's name w

and stood in the middle of

ce was su

ne, then stopped, set it down

him," I

talking to myself or

and opened the drawer I

enry smiling during a video call. His eyes cr

of the photo wit

to me," I

be he

for believing love coul

.. I neede

ther went, or why he left. I couldn't live my life h

ded c

couldn't

ld ma

t the file my investigato

ing solid. But a few leads. An offshore b

An encrypted phone line

done sit

eans. I had

vanish, he underestimate

oe wasn't just a br

d an emp

to a

waiting to b