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Chapter 15: Cracks in the Ice
Last Updated:
2025-09-18 00:39:51
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Contract Marriage: The Heiress Returns Chapter 22: Public Humiliation
The ballroom glittered with polished glass and golden light, but Lisa felt the weight of a hundred eyes on her with every step she took. She had barely taken a sip of champagne when Dane’s voice rose above the music.“Ladies and gentlemen!” The clinking of his glass rang out like a bell of doom. The crowd quieted, heads turning toward him, toward her. Lisa’s pulse spiked. She knew that tone mockery laced with charm, the kind of performance that made poison taste sweet.Dane strode into the center of the room, his grin stretched too wide. “A toast,” he declared, lifting his glass high. “To our radiant CEO, Lisa. The woman of the hour, the woman… of temporary power.”A ripple of laughter shot through the crowd. Lisa’s spine stiffened, but she forced her expression to remain calm, unreadable.Dane continued, savoring every word. “Oh, don’t look so surprised, the news travels fast. Isn’t it fascinating how the board moves quietly, preparing for change? Preparing, perhaps, for new leadersh
Contract Marriage: The Heiress Returns Chapter 21: The Gala Began
The chandeliers blazed overhead, their crystal arms scattering light across the ballroom like fragments of a thousand watchful eyes. The air shimmered with perfume, polished laughter, and the sharp clink of champagne glasses. Behind every smile, Lisa could hear the whispers low, hissing currents that twisted through the crowd like smoke.“She won’t last the year, the board has already lost faith.”Lisa’s heels struck the marble floor with deliberate rhythm, her back straight, chin high, every step a silent battle cry against the doubts that trailed her. But still, her stomach tightened with every glance thrown her way, every subtle shake of the head among board members gathered in small, judging circles.At her side, Joseph matched her stride perfectly. Impeccable in his tailored suit, he was more than a shadow, he was a shield. When he quietly bent his arm toward her, offering it without a word, Lisa hesitated only a breath before taking it. His hand was steady, warm, unyielding, an
Contract Marriage: The Heiress Returns Chapter 20: Gala Loom
The press releases for the upcoming annual gala stacked higher than the files on Lisa’s already cluttered desk. The gala was supposed to be a showcase of triumph, a night to reaffirm the company’s legacy under her leadership. Instead, it felt like a battlefield being polished for her public execution.Whispers followed her wherever she walked, she caught fragments of the gossip in the breakroom, in elevators, even in the corridors outside the boardroom. Dane’s coming, he’s going to make his move. She won’t last the night after this, she didn't know what to do if this turns out to be true.The thought of seeing her ex husband left a huge knot in her stomach. Lisa huffed as she thought about it, he had made himself quite popular in ruining her name and now he tends to follow her to the one gala that could save her company's reputation.What an Idiot! She hated his guts.And she tried not to allow any of the whispers to affect her, she totally ignored them with every ounce of strength s
Contract Marriage: The Heiress Returns Chapter 19: The Pressure
Lisa rose from her chair when the door to her office opened. Her assistant’s voice had already told her who was waiting, but her chest still tightened at the sight. Lauren. Perfectly dressed, every strand of her dark hair in place, a warm smile curving her lips as if she had stepped straight out of a portrait of elegance.Lisa’s first instinct was suspicion. Why now? Why come here, when every headline screamed her failures and the board circled like wolves? But she forced her features into calm neutrality, a polite daughter…docile, obedient, untouchable. She had to.“My assistant told me you’re here,” Lisa said with a faint smile, gesturing toward a chair. “I couldn’t help being surprised. Please, sit.”Lauren’s heels clicked softly against the floor as she crossed the office and lowered herself gracefully into the chair. “You shouldn’t trouble yourself. I just came to check on you.”Check on me, the words rang oddly in Lisa’s ears. Her stepmother had never been absent, but neither ha
Contract Marriage: The Heiress Returns Chapter 18: Hope
Morning light streamed across the skyline like liquid fire, catching on the glass towers that loomed around the Corporation. To the rest of the city, it was another bright day in the financial district, polished shoes, briefcases, and reporters gathering like hawks near the revolving doors. But for Lisa, it was the sound of her world cracking, one leak at a time.Her office smelled of ink and paper, the remnants of sleepless nights spent poring over reports. She stood stiffly behind her desk, holding a folded newspaper with trembling hands. Her jaw clenched as she read the headline again, each word sharper than a blade.“ Empire Bleeding: CEO’s Carelessness Risks Millions.”“No,” she whispered, as though denial could rewrite the ink. “No, this isn’t true. This isn’t….”Her eyes scanned the numbers on the leaked report reprinted beneath the headline. False, all of it. The projections had been twisted, the context cut out. She knew the original figures; she’d signed off the reports hers
Contract Marriage: The Heiress Returns Chapter 17: Maybe
Maybe they were right….Maybe she wasn’t strong enough. The thought chased Lisa up every stair, burning hotter with each breathless as stumbled into the rooftop which stretched wide and silent, the city lights spilling like scattered jewels across the dark. She opened her arms, wrapped around herself as if she could hold in the pieces threatening to come undone. The board’s voices still rang in her ears, merciless and cruel, but up here the sky didn’t judge. “What is there to want a better life?!” She yelled into the city. The wind seems to carry her voice. “What is there to want to be better, to feel loved?!” Lisa felt tears coming, they had wanted to remove her. She had never wanted this but now. it seems to be the only thing she could hold unto.And Joseph… She swallowed hard, her finger brushing against her lips as if the memory still lingered there. He had kissed her in public boldly, deliberately. To the outside world, their marriage looked like something to be envied, a perf
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