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CHAPTER 7: THE DECISION

ผู้เขียน: Charisma
last update วันที่เผยแพร่: 2026-02-02 15:11:46

**THIRTY-SIX HOURS LATER**

I hadn’t slept.

The digital clock on my nightstand mocked me: 3:47 a.m. In approximately fourteen hours, I’d have to face another family dinner—perhaps the last one before Grandpa’s birthday next month. With or without David Kane on my arm.

My phone sat silent on the bedside table. No calls. No texts. Nothing.

He was going to say no.

Of course he was going to say no. What sane person would agree to marry a near-stranger for money? What decent man would sell three year
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  • Billionaire Contract Marriage: Her Quest    CHAPTER 118: LOW TIDE

    Sophia's POVIsabella touched the ocean at eight-fifteen a.m.She approached it the way she approached most things she wanted badly but wasn't certain of. Slowly. With great dignity. Stopping every few feet to reassess.David and I walked behind her. The beach was empty. The morning was cold and bright, the kind of coastal morning that felt scrubbed clean overnight.She stopped at the wet sand line where the last wave had pulled back.Looked at the water.Looked at me."It moves," she said."It does.""By itself?""By itself."She considered this as a philosophical problem. "Why?""The moon pulls it. The wind pushes it. It's been moving since before anything else existed."She looked skeptical. "Before dinosaurs?""Before dinosaurs.""Before Bella?""Long before Bella.""Before Mama?""Yes.""Before Grandma Kane?""Yes.""Before—""Isabella. Before everything. The ocean is very old."She nodded slowly. Accepting this. Then she walked forward three steps and let the next small wave run

  • Billionaire Contract Marriage: Her Quest    CHAPTER 117: SALT AND STILLNESS

    Sophia's POVThe beach house was exactly what David had described.Private. Quiet. Three hours from the city and what felt like three decades away from everything else.We arrived on a Friday afternoon. David driving. Sarah in the back with the twins in their car seats. Isabella pressed against the window watching the landscape change from highway gray to coastal green, narrating everything she saw with the focused enthusiasm of a nature documentary presenter."Mama. Mama. MAMA. Cows.""I see them.""Why are they outside?""Because they live outside.""Bella lives inside.""You do.""Bella doesn't want to live outside.""That's good. We live inside."She processed this. "Mama. Mama. WATER."The ocean appeared between the tree line. Silver-blue and enormous.Isabella went completely silent.First time in three hours.---The house was cedar-sided, weathered to a soft gray. Wide porch facing the water. The kind of place that had been loved for decades by people who understood what still

  • Billionaire Contract Marriage: Her Quest    CHAPTER 116: THE WEIGHT OF ORDINARY

    Sophia's POVWeek eleven.Sarah called it the invisible milestone."Nobody celebrates week eleven," she said, adjusting Claudia's feeding schedule on her clipboard. "But it's when most parents stop just reacting and start actually living again."I wasn't sure I believed her.But something had shifted.---It was a Tuesday when I noticed it.Not a dramatic moment. No revelation. No crisis that resolved itself beautifully.Just Tuesday.David made coffee before I woke up. Left my cup on the counter the way I liked it — black, slightly cooled, next to my phone. Isabella ate breakfast without a single negotiation about whether cereal was acceptable or whether pancakes were a basic human right. The twins fed on schedule, burped cooperatively, and went back to sleep like reasonable people.Sarah arrived. Took over without needing instruction.I sat at the kitchen counter with my coffee and realized I'd been sitting for four minutes without anything requiring my immediate attention.Four min

  • Billionaire Contract Marriage: Her Quest    CHAPTER 114: FRACTURE POINTS

    Sophia's POVWeek ten.Sarah said it would get easier at twelve weeks.She didn't mention the part where everything else falls apart first.---It started with a board meeting I couldn't miss.Hartley Global had been circling one of our subsidiary accounts for three months. Marcus Chen — no relation to Detective Chen — was their lead acquisitions director, and he'd chosen today, specifically today, to push for a sit-down with Ashford-Kane leadership.Emma called at seven a.m."He won't reschedule. I've tried twice. He's flying back to Singapore tonight.""I'll be there by nine."I hung up. Looked at the twins in their swings. Alex staring at the ceiling fan with the focused intensity of a philosophy professor. Claudia making small fist movements at nothing in particular.Sarah wasn't due until eight-thirty.David had a deposition at eight."I can cancel," he said immediately, reading my face."You can't cancel a deposition.""I can delay it.""David. Go. I'll manage until Sarah arrive

  • Billionaire Contract Marriage: Her Quest    CHAPTER 114: SYNCHRONIZED

    Sophia's POVDay seven of synchronized scheduling, and something miraculous happened.Both twins slept for four hours straight.Not separately. Together. Simultaneously. Four hours.I woke up in a panic at 3 a.m., having gone to sleep at 11 p.m.Four hours. Uninterrupted."David," I shook him. "Something's wrong.""What?""The twins haven't woken up."He checked his phone. "It's been four hours.""Exactly. What if they're—""They're fine. Sarah said this would happen. Once they synced, they'd start sleeping longer stretches.""But four hours—""It's normal. Go check if you need to. But they're fine."I went to the nursery. Both babies sleeping peacefully.Claudia was on her back, arms spread wide. Alex curled on his side.Both breathing steadily. Both fine.Both actually sleeping.I stood there watching them. Afraid to disturb this miracle.Four hours of sleep. Actual sleep.We'd survived the week. And it had worked.---By week eight, the twins were fully synchronized.Feeding every

  • Billionaire Contract Marriage: Her Quest    CHAPTER 113: SIX WEEKS LATER

    Sophia's POVSix weeks postpartum, and I had my first appointment with Dr. Patterson.Checkup. Physical exam. Making sure I'd healed properly from delivering the surprise twins.Sarah had the twins. Maria had Isabella. David was at work—his first full day back in three weeks.I was alone in a car. Driving. By myself.It felt surreal."How are you feeling?" Dr. Patterson asked after the exam."Physically? Fine. Everything's healed. No complications.""And mentally?"I hesitated. "Tired. Overwhelmed.""That's honest. Are you experiencing any postpartum depression? Anxiety?""I don't know. How do you tell the difference between postpartum depression and just normal exhaustion from having three kids under three?""That's a fair question. Tell me what you're experiencing.""I cry a lot. Usually while feeding one of the twins. Sometimes both. I feel like I'm failing constantly. Isabella won't talk to me most days. The twins are on different sleep schedules despite everyone's best efforts. I

  • Billionaire Contract Marriage: Her Quest    CHAPTER 23: SOPHIE'S SECOND STRIKE

    Sophie's POVThe headline landed like a slap I’d been waiting to deliver.**Ashford Heiress Buys Her Way to Love? Sources Say Sophia Ashford's Sudden Fiancé Is a Paid Prop**I refreshed the page three times before breakfast, watching the view count climb. Two million already. Comments pouring in—so

    last updateปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2026-03-19

  • Billionaire Contract Marriage: Her Quest    CHAPTER 19: CHOSEN FAMILY

    Sophia’s POVMonday morning felt different.Not because the sun was brighter or the city quieter—it wasn’t—but because for the first time in twenty years, I woke up without the familiar knot of dread in my stomach. David was already in the kitchen, humming off-key to whatever song was playing throu

    last updateปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2026-03-19

  • Billionaire Contract Marriage: Her Quest    CHAPTER 24: THE HOSTILE TAKEOVER ATTEMPT

    Sophia’s POV**The boardroom felt like a battlefield on Tuesday afternoon.I walked in at 2:00 p.m. sharp—charcoal suit, hair pulled back, no jewelry except Mother’s diamond necklace. David waited outside with Mr. Thomas. He’d wanted to come in. I’d asked him to stay close but let me handle this al

    last updateปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2026-03-19

  • Billionaire Contract Marriage: Her Quest    CHAPTER 15: EMMA AND TRUST

    Sophia's POV Emma showed up unannounced the following Saturday afternoon, exactly one week after the nightmare that had cracked something open inside me. The penthouse doorbell chimed while I was still in yoga pants and an oversized sweater, hair in a messy knot, pretending I hadn’t spent the morn

    last updateปรับปรุงล่าสุด : 2026-03-18
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