A contract Wife

Sophia Kingston stepped out of the jewelry store with a smile she couldn't hide.

“Miss, I'm sorry for keeping you waiting,” the receptionist had said moments earlier as she handed Sophia a small velvet case containing the silver wristwatch she had reserved months ago.

Sophia held the case carefully against her chest.

Inside it was more than a watch.

It represented every takeout meal she had skipped, every late night she had spent freelancing, and every little luxury she had denied herself just so she could afford something special for Damian.

She ran her thumb over the ribbon tied around the velvet case, her stomach fluttering with excitement.

In less than two hours, she would be Damien's fiancée.

At least, that was what she believed.

He had promised to propose to her.

A month earlier, she had accidentally discovered something that made her heart race.

She had been in Damien's bedroom searching for her favorite hair clip when she bumped into his bedside table. A framed photograph fell to the floor.

She bent down to pick it up and noticed a receipt sticking out from the drawer.

Curious, she pulled the drawer open.

It was a receipt for a diamond ring.

A very expensive diamond ring.

And the date on the receipt was the same day Adrian had promised to propose to her on her birthday.

Warmth had spread through her chest as she stared at the tiny piece of paper.

She had read every detail twice.

Then three times.

Damien had never been careless with important things. Finding the receipt had felt less like an accident and more like destiny giving her a tiny glimpse into the future.

Their future.

He had always been good at noticing the little things about her.

Whenever Sophia felt down, Damien somehow knew before she said a word. Whenever she became anxious, she would unconsciously twist the ring around her finger, and he always noticed.

He listened whenever she talked about her dream of becoming a jewelry designer.

He celebrated every small victory.

Even when she received another rejection email and felt like giving up, Damien would look at her and remind her that rejection didn't mean she wasn't good enough.

“You just haven't found the right person willing to recognize your talent yet,” he would tell her.

Those words had always made her believe in herself again.

Just a week ago, Sophia had felt an overwhelming desire to take their relationship to the next level.

They had been together for three years.

Three beautiful years.

She had finally gathered enough courage to tell him that she wanted more.

Damien had only smiled.

He had gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face before pressing a soft kiss against her forehead.

“I don't want to rush us, Sophie,” he had said. “I want to wait for the right time.”

She had smiled.

She had trusted him.

And that night, Sophia had gone to bed believing the right time was coming.

She just hadn't realized how wrong she was.

Today was their anniversary.

Their third anniversary.

And Damien was supposed to pick her up from her apartment, just like he always did.

But he hadn't.

Now, Sophia sat in the back of a cab heading toward his apartment, her phone clutched tightly in her hand.

She glanced at the screen again.The fifth time in less than an hour.

Nothing.

No missed calls.

No message.

Not even a simple I'm on my way.

It was unlike Damien.

He was always punctual when it came to her.

A small crease formed between Sophia's brows.

Maybe he was busy preparing something.

Maybe he was setting up a romantic dinner.

Maybe he had ordered her favorite flowers and was arranging them around the table.

Or perhaps he was standing in front of his mirror right now, trying to decide which shirt to wear.

Sophia smiled at the thought.

She clung to those possibilities, repeating them inside her head like a soothing rhythm.

She refused to let the uneasiness in her chest ruin the evening.

She closed her eyes.

Immediately, Damien’s face appeared in her mind.

His sharp jaw.

His charming smile.

Those mesmerizing dark-blue eyes that had captivated her since their college days.

She remembered the first time he had looked at her across the university cafeteria.

She had never imagined that one look would lead to three years of love.

Ariana smiled softly.

Tonight was going to be perfect.

“Miss, we have reached your destination.”

The cab driver's voice pulled her from her thoughts.

Sophia opened her eyes.

They had arrived.

She quickly paid the fare and stepped out of the cab.

She was about to walk toward Damien's apartment when her phone suddenly rang.

Her heart jumped.

Damien.

She answered immediately without checking the caller ID.

“Hey, Sophie!” Fiona's excited voice came through the phone. “Have you reached his apartment yet? How's the proposal going?”

Sophia laughed softly.

“Calm down. I barely answered your first question before you asked another.”

“So?”

“I just got here,” she replied, glancing toward the building entrance. “I'll tell you everything when I get back.”

“Okay...” Fiona dragged out the word. “I'll be waiting.” she replied.

Sophia smiled. “Are you back from the bakery yet?”

“No. Not yet. I still have a lot of orders coming in.”

“You work too hard.”

“Coming from the woman who practically lives on coffee and freelance work?”

Sophia chuckled. “Fair point.Anyway, I have to go. Bye.”

“Bye.”

The call ended quickly while Sophia slipped her phone into her purse and took a deep breath.

Then she walked toward Damien's apartment.

She pressed the doorbell.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Nothing.

The smile slowly disappeared from her face.

She had expected to hear his familiar footsteps approaching from inside.

Instead, there was only silence. Sophia pressed the bell again.

Still nothing.

She tried the door.

It opened.

Her brows lifted.

Damien never left his door unlocked.

“Damien?”

No answer.

She stepped inside.

The familiar scent of his cologne lingered in the air, making her relax slightly.

She walked through the living room and toward the dining area.

Then she stopped.

Her excitement faded.

There was no romantic setup, no candles, no flowers and no beautifully prepared dinner.

The dining table was completely empty.

Sophia stared at it.

For a few seconds, she couldn't understand what she was seeing.

Had he forgotten?

Had he forgotten their anniversary?

Her heart sank slightly.

“No,” she whispered.

He couldn't have forgotten.

Damien remembered everything about her.

He knew her coffee order.

He remembered the exact brand of chocolate she liked.

He even knew which side of the bed she preferred.

Surely he remembered today.

Sophia shook her head.

Maybe the surprise was somewhere else.

She was about to head toward the bedroom when something caught her attention.

A white button-down shirt lay crumpled on the floor near the hallway.

She bent down and picked it up.

Her eyes widened.

It was the shirt she had bought Adrian for his birthday.

“Seriously, Damien?”

She shook her head with a small smile.

He must have gotten home late from work and tossed it there.

That was one of his many bad habits.

For a man who remembered every tiny detail about her life, Damien was surprisingly terrible at keeping his apartment tidy.

“A man will always be a man,” she muttered.

She decided to put the shirt away herself.

As she walked toward his bedroom, she heard something.

A faint sound.

Laughter.

A woman's laughter.

Ariana stopped.

Her fingers tightened around the shirt.

For a moment, she convinced herself she had heard wrong.

Maybe it was the television.

Maybe someone was talking outside.

But then she heard it again.

Clearer this time.

A woman's voice.

“You're really good at playing your game, Damien.. What if she finds out?”

Sophia’s heart began to pound.

She?

Her mind immediately went to her.

Who else would the woman be talking about?

Sophia slowly moved closer to the bedroom.

She couldn't understand what was happening.

Then Damien's voice floated through the slightly open door.

“She won't.”

He chuckled.

“She’s too dumb and naive. I have her wrapped around my finger.”

Sophia froze.

Her blood turned cold.

She knew that voice.

She had heard it whisper goodnight to her countless times.

She had fallen asleep listening to it. She had trusted it.

Then the woman laughed again.

“Aren't you worried she'll eventually find out?”

Damien laughed. “Why would I be?”

There was a brief pause.

Then his next words shattered everything.

“A few guys put up fifty grand and dared me to make her fall in love with me before the semester ended.”

Sophia's breathing stopped.

“I won.”

The shirt slipped slightly from her fingers.

Damien continued.

“She was just a bet I won years ago. I was done with her the moment I got the money.”

Sophia stared at the door.

Her mind refused to process what she had heard.

Her lips parted, but no sound came out.

A faint, shaky gasp escaped her before she covered her mouth with both hands.

Her knees weakened.

She pressed her back against the wall, desperately trying to stay upright.

“No...” she whispered.

She wanted to believe she had misunderstood him.

She wanted to believe there was another Damien.

Another voice.

Another story.

But she knew better.

She could never mistake his voice for anyone else's.

That was the voice she had trusted with her heart.

The voice she had believed would soon ask her to become his wife.

The voice that had just reduced three years of her life to a meaningless game.

Her eyes burned.

She swallowed hard.

Then she heard the woman's laughter again.

Something inside Sophia broke.

She couldn't stand outside that door pretending anymore.

With trembling hands, she pushed it open.

The door swung wide.

Sophia froze.

Her jaw dropped and her entire body went numb.

For a moment, she couldn't breathe.

The man she had come here expecting to propose to her was sitting on the bed with another woman.

Together.

In his bedroom.

The same bedroom where Sophia had spent countless nights believing she was loved.

Her gaze moved from the woman to Adrian.

Their eyes met.

His expression changed instantly.

The confidence disappeared from his face.

“Sophia...”

Her name sounded foreign coming from his lips.

She stared at him.

The diamond ring receipt suddenly flashed through her mind.

The watch inside her bag suddenly felt impossibly heavy.

She had spent months saving for the perfect gift for the man she thought was going to become her fiancé.

She had spent three years loving him.

And now she finally understood.

There had never been a proposal.

There had never been a future.

There had only been a lie.

Sophia stood frozen in the doorway as the truth crashed over her.

The man she had come to marry had never loved her at all.