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The Morning After.

Author: Preshy
last update publish date: 2026-05-02 15:35:55

~ Gideon ~

The sunlight hit the white ceiling with a brightness that felt like a physical attack. I didn't recognize the crown molding. It was too intricate and too expensive for the apartment in Linden Row. The air smelled of heavy floral perfume and expensive gin. It was a smell I had tried to scrub from my life months ago. I tried to sit up, but my head pulsed with a rhythmic ache. My stomach turned. The sheets beneath me were silk. They were cold. I looked to my left and saw a mess of dark
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  • Bullied Wife In A Contract Marriage    Scent of Betrayal.

    ~ Amara ~I did not leave the apartment right away. I stood in the small kitchen and watched Gideon. He stayed at the sink, rubbing his palms together under a stream of cold water. He used a thick layer of soap, but he did not seem to notice the bubbles. He looked like he was trying to wash away a stain that went deeper than the skin. The apartment usually smelled like the bakery on the corner, full of yeast and sugar. Today, that smell was gone. It was replaced by something heavy and floral. It was the scent of white lilies. It was Chloe Vance’s perfume. It hung in the air like a physical weight, pressing against my lungs. I walked to the chair near the pine table and picked up Gideon’s dark wool sweater. I held the sleeve to my nose. The scent was stronger there. It was sweet and sharp. It was the smell of a world I thought we had left behind."The water is cold, Gideon," I said. My voice was a flat line. It did not shake.He stopped scrubbing but did not turn around. "I know.""Why

  • Bullied Wife In A Contract Marriage    The Morning After.

    ~ Gideon ~ The sunlight hit the white ceiling with a brightness that felt like a physical attack. I didn't recognize the crown molding. It was too intricate and too expensive for the apartment in Linden Row. The air smelled of heavy floral perfume and expensive gin. It was a smell I had tried to scrub from my life months ago. I tried to sit up, but my head pulsed with a rhythmic ache. My stomach turned. The sheets beneath me were silk. They were cold. I looked to my left and saw a mess of dark hair on the pillow. Chloe was awake. She was propped up on her elbow, watching me with a look of calm victory. She wore an emerald silk robe that was open at the throat. The sight of her made the bile rise in my throat. The memories of the night before came back in jagged, broken pieces. I remembered the Grand Hotel suite. I remembered the whiskey. I remembered the feeling of my thoughts turning into a thick, gray fog. I remembered her touch. I remembered the moans. "Good morning, Gideon," Ch

  • Bullied Wife In A Contract Marriage    Midnight Whisper.

    ~ Chloe ~I stood by the large window in my suite at the Grand Hotel, looking out at the city lights. The emerald silk robe clung to my skin. A bottle of whiskey and two glasses waited on the low table. I checked my watch again. Gideon was late, but he would come. He always came when the board pushed hard enough.The knock finally sounded. I opened the door. Gideon stood there in his simple sweater and jeans. His hair was messy and his eyes looked tired. He stepped inside without a word."You wanted to talk," he said. His voice was low and rough. "So talk. Then leave Amara's business alone."I closed the door and locked it. I poured whiskey into both glasses. "Sit down, Gideon. You look like you haven't slept in days."He stayed standing. "The audits stop tonight. The zoning threats end. Kline Logistics is not your target."I handed him a glass. He took it but did not drink right away. I sipped mine slowly and watched him."You still think you can play the hero," I said. "Hauling brea

  • Bullied Wife In A Contract Marriage    The Cracks in the Foundation.

    ~ Amara ~The morning sun hit the warehouse floor in long, pale streaks. I stood by the window of my office and watched the dust motes dance. For months, this view had made me feel powerful. The blue trucks were lined up. The drivers were ready. We had three new contracts. Life in Linden Row was supposed to be the prize for surviving the Moore family. But as I watched a white sedan pull into the lot, I felt a familiar chill in my spine. It was followed by two more. They were government cars. Sarah burst into the room. Her face was pale. She was clutching a tablet to her chest like a shield."Ms. Kline, we have a problem," she said. Her voice was thin."What kind of problem, Sarah?" I asked. I did not move from the window."The City Safety Bureau is outside," she replied. "They have an injunction. They are halting all truck movements immediately."I turned around fast. "On what grounds? We just passed the state inspection two months ago.""They are already recording the license plates,

  • Bullied Wife In A Contract Marriage    A Breath of Poison.

    ~ Selene ~The plastic chair felt cold against my legs. I sat in the visiting room of the Ravenport Women’s Correctional Facility. The air smelled like old bleach and burnt coffee. It was a gross smell. It made me want to cover my nose with a silk scarf. But I did not have my silk scarves anymore. I did not have my designer handbags or my weekly appointments at the luxury spa. I looked at my reflection in the thick glass partition. My hair was flat and dry. My eyes looked tired and small. I was wearing a coat I bought at a common department store. It was not a Moore coat. It was a coat for a nobody. I hated the texture of the fabric. It felt like a punishment.I looked at the guard by the door. He had a heavy belt and big boots. He looked at me like I was just another visitor. He did not know who I was. He did not know that I used to run the social circles of this city. I hated him for that. I hated everyone in this building. But mostly, I hated Amara Kline. She was the reason I was s

  • Bullied Wife In A Contract Marriage    The Boards Ultimatum.

    ~ Gideon ~I adjusted the cuffs of a shirt I no longer wanted to wear. The starched fabric felt like a second skin I had tried to shed in the streets of Linden Row. I stood outside the Metropolitan Club, a gray stone building that breathed wealth and exclusion. The heavy brass doors were a barrier between the honesty of the bakery and the lies of my past. I took a slow breath. The Ravenport air was thick with the scent of rain and city exhaust. I pushed the door open. The silence inside was different than the silence of Amara’s studio. Her studio was peaceful, but this was a heavy, calculated stillness. It felt like a vacuum. I walked past the portraits of dead men who thought they owned the world. My work boots made a dull, heavy sound on the thick Persian rugs. I reached the private dining room at the end of the long, dark hallway.Rolan and three other board members sat around a long mahogany table. Chloe sat in the corner, her legs crossed. She wore a sharp black suit that looked

  • Bullied Wife In A Contract Marriage    The Drive Home.

    ~ Gideon ~The interior of the Maybach was silent, a vacuum of leather and expensive climate control that usually served as my sanctuary. Tonight, however, the silence felt different. It wasn't the productive, focused quiet I used to build empires. It was heavy.I looked at the empty seat beside me

  • Bullied Wife In A Contract Marriage    The Charity Auction.

    ~ Amara ~"You really should bid on the landscape, Amara. It matches your... understated personality," Selene said, her voice carrying across the silent gallery.I kept my eyes fixed on the oil painting in front of me. It was a study of a shoreline at dusk, the gray waves blending into a gray sky.

  • Bullied Wife In A Contract Marriage    A Secret Sanctuary.

    ~ Amara ~The wrought-iron gate of the Linden Row warehouse creaked as I pushed it open. The sound was rusted and loud, a sharp contrast to the silent, oiled hinges of Moore Crest. Here, the air didn't smell like expensive jasmine candles or floor wax; it smelled of diesel, old cardboard, and the m

  • Bullied Wife In A Contract Marriage    The Boardroom Breach.

    ~ Gideon ~ The glass walls of the executive boardroom at Helix Tower usually offered a sense of clarity. From this height, Ravenport City looked like a complex machine that I alone understood how to operate. I adjusted my cuffs, the silver links clicking as I sat at the head of the polished obsidi

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