Chapter 6: A Wife By Morning

~SHARON

After Xavier left the room, I remained standing in the same spot for a long while, still holding the marriage certificate in my hand as though it might disappear if I loosened my grip.

The room was quiet, but my mind would not rest. Everything had happened so fast that I still felt as though I was trapped in a dream I had not fully entered. Just a little while ago, I had been downstairs signing papers with trembling hands. Now I was alone in a room that looked too beautiful to be real, staring at a name that had become mine overnight.

Mrs. Sharon Combs.

I looked at it again and again, unable to make sense of it.

I had not even had time to feel like a wife. I had run from James in fear, stepped into Xavier’s car with nothing but desperation in my chest, agreed to marry him without thinking it through, and by morning my life had completely changed. Part of me felt relief because I was no longer in James’s house, but another part of me was too frightened to trust peace so easily.

I sat on the edge of the bed and placed the certificate beside me. The room was elegant in a way that almost made me uneasy. The bed was large, the curtains were soft and expensive, and everything around me looked polished and untouched. It felt like the kind of place that belonged to another woman, not someone like me who had spent two years being reduced to fear, silence, and pain.

Then my eyes settled on the door.

Without even thinking much about it, I stood and walked over. I placed my hand on the handle and turned it carefully, half expecting it to resist me. But the door opened with ease. There was no lock holding me in from the outside, no angry voice waiting for me, and no danger standing on the other side. Even so, I could not move away immediately. I just stood there, staring, because my body had not yet learned that not every door led back to fear.

I checked the bathroom next, then the closet, then the windows. I did not even know what I was looking for. I only knew that some part of me still believed safety could vanish the moment I stopped watching for danger.

I had just stepped away from the window when I heard a knock.

The sound startled me so badly that I spun around at once.

“Mrs. Combs?” a male voice called from outside.

The name caught me off guard. For a second, I could not answer. Then I cleared my throat and said, “Yes?”

The door opened gently, and Xavier’s assistant stepped in with a tray in his hands. I recognized him from the car. He looked calm, well dressed, and careful in the way he carried himself.

“I hope I didn’t frighten you,” he said politely.

I shook my head, though I knew I must have looked startled. “No, it’s fine.”

He placed the tray on the small table near the couch. “Mr. Combs asked me to bring this to you. He had to attend to a few urgent matters downstairs, but he said you should eat something.”

My eyes moved to the tray. There was tea, toast, eggs, fruit, and water. It was such a simple thing, but it made my throat tighten. Nobody had placed warm food before me with kindness in a very long time.

“Thank you,” I said quietly.

“You’re welcome, ma’am. My name is Joe. If you need anything, please let me know.”

I nodded, though I could not imagine myself asking for anything at all.

As he turned to leave, he paused and looked back at me. “And congratulations, Mrs. Combs.”

I almost told him that the title still felt strange, but the words stayed inside me. Before I could think of any reply, he gave a small nod and left the room.

The silence returned once more. I walked to the table and sat down, forcing myself to pick up a piece of toast. I had barely taken one bite when my phone lit up from where I had left it on the bed.

The sound alone made my hand stop.

I turned slowly and stared at the screen. My heart began to pound before I even reached for it. The moment I saw James’s name, my stomach dropped.

For a few seconds, I just held the phone in my hand. I knew I should ignore him, but fear has a way of dragging your eyes exactly where they should not go.

I opened the message.

You really think you can hide from me?

My fingers tightened around the phone.

Another message came in right after that.

When you get hungry, you’ll come back. You always do.

I could hear his voice as clearly as if he were standing beside me. Calm. Cruel. Certain. He still believed I would return to him. He still believed he knew me well enough to predict my weakness.

The food in front of me instantly lost all meaning.

Then my phone buzzed again, and this time it was not James.

It was a news alert.

I frowned and opened it, but the moment the headline appeared on the screen, all the air seemed to leave my body.

Billionaire CEO Xavier Combs Marries in Secret

My eyes widened. I scrolled down and saw another one.

Former Singer Sharon Miles Emerges as Xavier Combs’ New Wife

There was a picture attached to the story. It was not perfectly clear, but it was clear enough. Anyone who knew me would know it was me. Anyone looking for me would know where to start.

My breathing turned uneven.

More headlines followed beneath the first two, and they were even worse.

Who Is Sharon Miles and Why Did Xavier Combs Marry Her?

Washed-Up Star or Lucky Bride?

The Mystery Woman Behind the Combs Marriage Shock

I sat down heavily on the bed, gripping the phone so tightly that my hand began to ache. This marriage had happened only hours ago, yet it was already becoming gossip for strangers to tear apart.

James would see it.

If he had not seen it already, he would soon.

The thought made my chest tighten all over again. I pressed a hand against it, trying to steady my breathing, but it was no use. The room no longer felt quiet. It felt exposed.

“Sharon.”

I looked up sharply.

Xavier was standing at the door.

His eyes moved from my face to the untouched tray and then to the phone in my hand. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

He did not ask too many questions. He simply held out his hand. “Let me see.”

I gave him the phone.

He read the headlines in silence, and though his face remained calm, I noticed something colder settle in his expression.

“The news got out faster than I expected,” he said.

I swallowed hard. “Everyone knows.”

He looked at me. “Not everything.”

“But enough,” I replied, unable to steady my voice. “Enough for James to know where I am.”

For a moment, he said nothing. Then he placed the phone beside me and came a little closer, though not so close that I felt cornered.

“Look at me, Sharon,” he said gently.

I forced myself to lift my eyes.

“No one gets close to you without going through me first,” he said in that same steady voice. “You are here now, and while you are here, no one is going to lay a hand on you.”

His words hit me harder than I expected.

I wanted to believe him, but belief had become difficult for me. Promises from men had once sounded sweet before they turned into fear, bruises, and silence.

Maybe he saw that struggle in my face, because his expression softened.

“You are safe here,” he said again.

I nodded, but I still could not speak.

Safe was such a simple word, yet it still felt far away from me, as though it belonged to a different woman and not to the one I had become.

Xavier glanced at the tray and then back at me. “Try to eat something,” he said quietly before turning toward the door.

I watched him leave, then stared at the closed door for a long time after he was gone.

For the first time in years, a man had looked at me and promised protection without asking for anything in return. I did not know whether that should have comforted me or frightened me more.

All I knew was that I had become someone’s wife by morning, and I still had no idea what that would make me by night.