The Secret Contract Marriage

too quickly. "You

sn't flinch.

here-tall, cold,

d unless you'd prefer to walk away

u're offering me a

stepping toward me, "y

" I fire back. "Unregister

"Funny how you remember onl

e words hitt

the media. A courthouse ceremony with no photos, no witnesses. I'd onc

verything

d now her

e that still smells like the

now?"

a wife. Publicly. For thirty

re in

He gestures toward the velvet c

can't. My legs

come her

or money. And no

sy for me? You think I wanted to walk

ind me, Elena

tops m

do you

ndom? I own half the staffing agencies in the state.

h opens

s was a

ce. Doesn't matter. You need money. I n

stretches

," I say finally. "Wh

d. You walk

d y

what

ich

sn't a

ze-he doesn

when he leaves me alone in the study

r page of

in the g

l public funct

my wedding

othing to

his wife

the panic risin

s dang

ital bills. His oxygen tank is due for a refill. The clinic

my head

p, but I finish the sign

na

t signed next t

ky. The guesthouse glows warm with low lights and

ner pieces in my size. The bathroom shelves

eels like a life

been cast in-wi

n the ring he gave me the night we ran from his famil

till

mach t

ere's a knoc

a staff

s A

in withou

hand. The ring gli

ial," he says.

Until the clo

ser. Just stands th

Elena," he murmurs.

nha

ause loving you felt like dying. Because

es me in

't," he says,

behind him and

ce the gold ba

lie we both

e real

ause I was

man I

ow owns me fo

a that his