Chapter 9. The Discovery

Amelia remembered Stella the moment she saw her.

Four and a half years had passed since their last encounter—four and a half long, exhausting years in which Amelia had convinced herself that Stella had vanished from her life completely. It had felt as though Stella had disappeared into thin air, swallowed by time and circumstance. Amelia never asked about her, never searched for her. Some memories were easier left buried.

Yet here Stella was again.

Alive. Unchanged. Standing right in front of her as if time itself had looped cruelly back on her.

Amelia’s steps faltered for a brief second, her heart tightening in her chest. She forced herself to keep walking, her gaze fixed straight ahead. She had somewhere to be—work. She didn’t have the strength, or the courage, to deal with ghosts from her past.

“Amelia.”

Stella’s voice cut through the air, sharp and familiar. It sent a shiver down Amelia’s spine.

She didn’t turn around.

“Amelia, can’t you even greet me?” Stella called again, disbelief and irritation lacing her tone.

Amelia’s fingers curled tightly around the strap of her bag. Her pulse thundered in her ears. Words gathered at the back of her throat—anger, hurt, questions she had buried for years—but she swallowed them all.

She wasn’t ready.

Without saying a single word, Amelia quickened her pace and walked away.

Behind her, Stella stood frozen, her expression twisting from shock to fury. Being ignored had never sat well with her, and Amelia’s silence felt like a slap across the face.

“So that’s how it is now,” Stella muttered bitterly.

Her jaw tightened as she turned on her heel, her heels clicking sharply against the marble floor as she made her way toward the study—Ricardo’s study.

That was where he usually stayed.

The door was slightly ajar when she reached it. Stella pushed it open without knocking, her irritation bubbling dangerously close to the surface. She stepped inside and walked straight to the desk, dropping the files she had been holding with a loud thud.

The sound echoed in the quiet room.

She exhaled sharply, pressing her palms against the edge of the table. Officially, she had come to deliver documents—nothing more. That was what she had told herself.

But the truth was uglier.

Stella hadn’t accepted Ricardo’s marriage. Not truly. Not even now.

She had been certain—so certain—that she would be the bride standing beside him one day. She had imagined it for years: the wedding, the admiration, the position she believed she deserved. And yet, another woman had taken that place.

A woman like Amelia.

Her nails dug into the polished wood as resentment

burned in her chest.

“I should have been the one,” she whispered bitterly.

Straightening, Stella gathered herself and turned to leave. That was when something on the side of the table caught her attention—a thin folder partially hidden beneath a stack of papers.

It didn’t belong with the rest.

Curiosity tugged at her. She hesitated for only a second before reaching out and pulling it free.

The moment her eyes landed on the title printed boldly across the front, her breath hitched.

CONTRACT MARRIAGE AGREEMENT

Her eyes widened.

“No… this can’t be,” she murmured.

Her fingers trembled as she opened the folder and began to read. Each line felt like a blow to her chest.

A marriage bound by terms. A fixed duration. Conditions. Obligations. Confidentiality.

This wasn’t love.

This was a deal.

Stella’s shock quickly morphed into something darker—relief tangled with rage.

“So that’s what this is,” she whispered, a slow, cold smile forming on her lips. “A contract.”

She flipped through the pages faster, her heart pounding as the pieces finally fell into place. Amelia wasn’t Ricardo’s wife because he loved her. She was there because she had signed an agreement.

Because she was temporary.

Stella let out a sharp, humorless laugh.

All those years of bitterness, of jealousy—suddenly, they shifted direction.

“So you’re not special after all,” she said softly. “Just convenient.”

She snapped the folder shut and placed it carefully back where she found it, her mind racing. This changed everything.

Outside the study, footsteps approached.

Stella’s expression hardened instantly. She turned just as Ricardo stepped into the room, his presence commanding as always. His eyes flicked briefly to the files on the desk, then to her face.

“You’re here early,” he said coolly.

“I had documents to deliver,” Stella replied smoothly, masking her storm of emotions. “But it seems I interrupted something.”

Ricardo’s gaze sharpened. “Did you touch anything?”

Stella met his eyes, unflinching. “No,” she lied effortlessly.

He studied her for a long moment, as if searching for cracks in her composure. Finding none, he turned his attention away.

“If that’s all, you can leave,” he said.

Stella nodded, gathering her bag. As she reached the door, she paused and glanced back at him.

“You know,” she said lightly, “some things built on contracts are bound to fall apart eventually.”

Ricardo’s eyes darkened. “What are you trying to say?”

She smiled—slow, knowing. “Nothing at all. Just an observation.”

With that, she walked out.

Amelia didn’t stop walking until she was safely outside, the cool air hitting her face. Only then did she allow herself to breathe.

Her hands were shaking.

Seeing Stella again had reopened wounds she thought had healed long ago. Memories flooded her mind—things she had worked so hard to forget.

Why now? she wondered bitterly. Why did she have to reappear now of all times, and Ricardo that just left for work had returned probably to see Stella?

She pressed a hand against her chest, steadying her racing heart. She couldn’t afford to be distracted—not with everything at stake.

The contract. The marriage. Her fragile place in Ricardo’s world.

She had convinced herself that as long as she followed the rules, kept her emotions in check, she would survive this arrangement unscathed.

But Stella’s return felt like a warning.

A reminder that nothing about this life was truly safe.

Unbeknownst to Amelia, Stella now carried a dangerous truth—one that could shatter the fragile balance holding everything together.

And as the day stretched on, fate quietly began to shift.