Chapter 5

Chapter 5

POV: Amelie

My head suddenly began spinning violently. The pressure from Mrs. Hana’s contemptuous gaze, Reyvano’s revelation about the contract marriage, and the realization that Amora had been hiding countless secrets made my chest tighten instantly. My body trembled, and my breathing became shallow.

This was my chance to escape from this suffocating situation.

"Rey... my head... I’m dizzy..." I whispered tensely, deliberately making my voice sound extremely weak.

Before Reyvano could respond, I squeezed my eyes shut and let my body go limp to the side.

"Amora!"

Reyvano’s panicked voice echoed through the room. In an instant, his pair of strong, muscular arms caught my body before I could hit the cold kitchen floor. Without paying any attention to his mother’s angry cries that continued behind him, Reyvano immediately lifted my plus-size body into his arms with incredible ease.

He carried me half-running up the spiral staircase toward the master bedroom. I kept my eyes closed, feeling his rapidly pounding heartbeat, filled with worry, right beneath my chest.

As soon as my body was laid down on the soft mattress, I heard hurried movements. Reyvano pulled the blanket up to my chest, then his footsteps moved away toward the vanity.

"Hello, Dr. Jane? Come to the house now! My wife has fainted!" Reyvano ordered firmly, his voice filled with panic over the phone.

I slowly opened my eyes a little, pretending to have just adjusted to the light in the room. "Rey..." I called very softly.

Reyvano immediately grabbed his phone and knelt beside the bed. His stern face was filled with undeniable concern. His warm hand held my cold fingers.

"Darling, you’re awake? The doctor is on the way. Don’t move too much for now."

"I-I... I’m thirsty," I whispered softly. "Could you please get me some warm water?"

"Of course. Wait a moment. I’ll get some from the kitchen," he said without hesitation. He gently stroked my forehead before hurriedly leaving and closing the bedroom door tightly behind him.

As soon as his footsteps faded down the corridor, I immediately sat upright. My fake weakness vanished in an instant, replaced by panic burning in my chest. With trembling fingers, I reached for Amora’s phone lying on the bedside table and quickly searched for her contact in the international messaging app.

I pressed the voice-call button. It took only three rings before Amora’s relaxed voice came through on the other end.

"What’s wrong, Amelie? I just checked in at a hotel in Paris," she called casually.

"Amora! What is all this?!" I exclaimed, keeping my voice from carrying outside the room. "Your mother-in-law just came here with another woman! She demanded a divorce because your one-year contract marriage has expired!"

On the other end of the phone, a cheerful laugh immediately reached my ears. A laugh that was completely relaxed and showed no guilt whatsoever.

"Ahahaha... oops, so the old lady has made her move, huh?" Amora chuckled wildly. "Sorry, Amelie. I forgot to tell you about that."

"You lied to me, Amora!" I said firmly, my breathing becoming rapid as tears of frustration began to gather in the corners of my eyes. "You said he was a controlling monster! But the truth is, you two had a contract marriage! What actually happened?!"

"Listen, Amelie," Amora interrupted, her tone becoming somewhat indifferent. "Two years ago, our family was drowning in an enormous debt to the Blackthorne family. We were almost bankrupt, and our family could have ended up in prison. In exchange, Reyvano’s family offered an agreement: I had to marry Reyvano for one year, at least until I gave birth to a baby boy who would become their heir."

My world felt as though it had been struck by lightning. "Then why did you run away?!"

"Because I refused!" Amora replied sharply. "I had never known Reyvano before, and I didn’t love him at all! But that crazy man... he actually said that he had liked me since we were children! He gave our family a huge amount of money, but he refused to divorce me when the one-year contract ended! He wanted to bind me to him forever as his wife!"

Amora took a deep breath on the other end of the line. "I don’t want to be tied down, Amelie! I want to be free, I want to become an international model! That man is completely obsessed with me. So yeah... you happened to lose your baby, you have plenty of breast milk, and you needed an outlet for your grief, so there you go! Your position was perfect for replacing me there. Just take care of his child and indulge my husband, after all, he’s filthy rich!"

Beep... beep... beep...

The call was abruptly ended by Amora.

The phone in my hand almost slipped onto the floor. My body froze completely on the bed. Amora’s confession echoed violently inside my head like a nightmare.

She had sold her position to me. She had exploited the trauma of losing my baby to escape from the man who loved her, leaving behind an innocent baby and a sincere husband who had absolutely no idea that the woman he had been holding since last night was someone else.

Reyvano’s hurried footsteps could once again be heard coming up the stairs.

I quickly placed the phone back on the bedside table and lay down, staring blankly at the ceiling. Tears of confusion slowly rolled down my cheeks.

What should I do now?

The bedroom door opened. Reyvano hurried inside, carrying a glass of warm water in his hand. His handsome face still clearly showed concern as he sat on the edge of the bed and gently helped me sit upright.

With tenderness, his hand supported the back of my head, guiding the rim of the glass to my lips. I drank the warm water little by little, but my eyes could not leave his face. This man’s gaze was so sincere, filled with intense affection and protectiveness.

"Rey..." I called softly, my voice slightly hoarse. I looked directly into his dark eyes. "Why... why do you love me so much? And why do you still want to keep me as your wife even though our contract has already expired?"

Reyvano stopped his movement. He placed the glass on the bedside table, then took both of my hands, gently stroking the backs of them with his warm thumbs. A faint yet profound smile appeared on his lips.

"Darling, haven’t I already explained it to you?" he whispered in an incredibly gentle yet firm tone. "The contract marriage was merely a scheme I came up with so you could become mine. I had already liked you for a long time, long before our families discussed the debt. I never intended to let you go from the beginning."

He leaned forward, pressing his forehead against mine. "It’s alright. Just stay calm, okay? Don’t think about what Mother or that woman said. I will continue to keep you as my wife. Forever."

That honest declaration struck my chest and consciousness with full force. My world trembled even more violently.

Reyvano didn’t love me. This man loved Amora very, very much—the selfish woman who was now enjoying herself in Paris and taking her husband’s sincerity for granted. Every sweet gesture, warm kiss, and gentle caress I had received since last night had actually been meant for my twin sister. An overwhelming sense of guilt surged through me, wrapping itself around my heart until it felt cramped. I was stealing someone else’s love, playing with the feelings of a sincere man who knew nothing.

Should I just run away from here? my frightened inner voice whispered. Before I became even more deeply immersed and trapped in this insane lie?

But suddenly, the image of Ardhana—the little baby sleeping soundly in the room next door—flashed through my mind. My chest tightened, and my breast milk began leaking warmly again. My maternal instinct strongly rejected the idea of simply leaving.

Then... why had Amora asked me to stay for two years just to breastfeed? Why two years? Was this merely Amora’s strategy to build her career overseas until the child was weaned, then return and reclaim her position once everything was safe?

Or... had I merely been turned into a temporary shield in their complicated game?

I lowered my head deeply in Reyvano’s embrace, allowing confusion and a profound dilemma to consume every last trace of my logic.