Chapter Eight: When the World Is Watching

The scandal broke at exactly 9:17 a.m.

I knew the time because my phone wouldn’t stop vibrating, the screen lighting up again and again like it was possessed.

I was still in bed when the first headline appeared.

BLACKWOOD’S CONTRACT WIFE EXPOSED: BILLIONAIRE MARRIAGE A SHAM?

My heart dropped.

I clicked before I could stop myself.

Photos of me stepping out of the mansion, Vanessa walking in days earlier, Lucas looking cold and distant beside me. The article was long, detailed, and cruel. It talked about a marriage agreement, unnamed sources, and a woman who had “sold herself for security.”

That woman was me.

My hands started shaking.

Another notification came in.

Did you know about the contract?

Were you paid?

Are you pregnant or just pretending?

I threw the phone onto the bed like it had burned me.

The door burst open seconds later.

Lucas.

His jaw was tight, his phone clutched in his hand. “You’ve seen it.”

“That was fast,” I said hollowly.

“I’m handling it,” he said immediately. “The lawyers are….”

“Handling what?” I snapped. “My reputation? Or your image?”

He stopped short.

“This is not the time…”

“When is the time, Lucas?” I demanded, getting out of bed. “When I’m completely destroyed?”

His voice softened. “Amara, listen to me.”

“No,” I said sharply. “You listen to me.”

I picked up my phone again and shoved it toward him. “Did you tell anyone about the contract?”

He didn’t answer fast enough.

That was mistake number one.

“You did,” I whispered.

“Only my legal team,” he said. “They’re bound by confidentiality.”

“And yet,” I laughed bitterly, “the entire internet knows.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“But it did,” I said. “And I’m the one bleeding.”

Silence filled the room, thick and suffocating.

“We can release a counter statement,” he said finally. “Say it’s all lies.”

“And when they ask why I moved into your house overnight?” I shot back. “When they ask why Vanessa keeps showing up like she owns you?”

He flinched.

That hurt more than I expected.

A knock came at the door.

Mrs. Collins peeked in nervously. “Sir… the press is outside. They’re asking to speak to Mrs. Blackwood.”

Mrs. Blackwood.

I swallowed.

Lucas turned to me. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, I do,” I said quietly. “Because hiding makes me look guilty.”

He studied my face. “Then we do it together.”

Outside, cameras flashed the moment we stepped out.

“Mrs. Blackwood! Is your marriage real?”

“Did you sign a contract?”

“Are you just another paid companion?”

My chest tightened.

Lucas reached for my hand.

I hesitated.

The world seemed to pause in that second—between holding on and pulling away.

I took his hand.

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

“I’ll make a statement,” Lucas said firmly.

“No,” I interrupted.

Every head turned to me.

Lucas looked at me sharply. “Amara—”

“I want to speak,” I said.

The microphones shifted in my direction.

I took a breath. “I didn’t marry Lucas Blackwood for money. I married him because I was given no choice.”

A murmur spread.

“But I stayed,” I continued, my voice steady despite the chaos inside me, “because I believed there was more to this marriage than paper and signatures.”

I looked at Lucas then.

“And I am still deciding if that belief was a mistake.”

The silence that followed was deafening.

Lucas stared at me, something raw flashing across his face.

Before he could speak, a voice cut through the crowd.

“So you admit it was a contract?”

Vanessa stepped forward.

My blood ran cold.

“Tell them,” she said calmly. “Tell them everything.”

Lucas released my hand.

That was mistake number two.

I felt it immediately—the distance, the choice, the hesitation.

And in that moment, standing in front of the world, I realized something terrifying.

The contract wasn’t the biggest lie in our marriage.

The truth was.

And I didn’t know if Lucas Blackwood was brave enough to tell it.