The Heir's Contract Wife: Rescued from a Wedding Cruise

"What… are you doing?"

On the rumpled sheets, her fiancé lay over another woman, their bare bodies pressed together.

His arms braced on either side of the pillow as he kissed her. The woman's arms were wrapped around his naked back.

At Serena Whitmore's voice, Adrian Mercer went still.

But he didn't pull away. He merely turned his head toward her, slowly, and frowned.

"Why did you come in?"

That came before any apology.

The woman slid her arms around Adrian's neck, her fingers slipping into his hair without a moment's hesitation.

Chloe Bennett looked at Serena over his shoulder.

She didn't seem surprised. Once she realized who stood in the doorway, a smile actually spread across her lips.

Still looking at Serena, Chloe pressed another kiss to Adrian's cheek.

Then she gave his shoulder a light push. As he raised himself, she slowly got out of bed.

Chloe wasn't wearing a thing.

She made no attempt to cover herself as she walked toward the bedroom doorway.

She was tall and slender, with generous curves. Standing straight, she had the presence of an actress at center stage.

Glossy hair slipped off her shoulder, revealing a smooth, pale neck without a single crease.

Serena closed the hand she had almost lifted to her own neckline.

Was she supposed to be the one to look away?

Chloe stopped within arm's reach.

"Well, now that you know, Serena, you'll have to accept us."

Serena stepped back and caught the edge of the door.

Chloe smiled at the movement.

She returned to the bed and picked up the thin silk robe she'd discarded.

Facing Adrian, she slowly slipped her arms into it.

Adrian leaned back against the pillows, still bare-chested, following her with his eyes.

A satisfied smile played on his lips.

Even with Serena watching, he didn't so much as try to sit up.

Behind Serena was the door to the sitting room. Across the corridor beyond it lay the bridal suite prepared for her.

With fittings and family obligations to attend to before the ceremony, the bride and groom had been given separate suites for the voyage. Adrian's was a little farther along the same floor.

The suite directly opposite Serena's had been assigned to Chloe.

The Grand Lumière. A luxury cruise ship.

Suites overlooking the sea. Lounges glittering with chandeliers. From the private deck reserved for a select few passengers, the ocean stretched as far as the eye could see.

Serena and Adrian were supposed to marry on the sixth day aboard.

The ship would return to port the following day.

Relatives from both families, friends, and people they had known for years had joined the cruise to celebrate with them.

Today was the first day of the voyage.

Adrian had hosted that evening's welcome party.

Until just a little while ago, Serena had stood beside him, accepting their guests' congratulations.

When he disappeared in the middle of the party, she went back to the suites to look for him.

The door opposite hers was open. She heard a familiar voice.

Calling out, she walked through the sitting room—and found this bed beyond it.

"What do you mean, accept you?"

Her voice was hoarse. Chloe sat beside Adrian and tied the belt of her robe.

"Adrian and I were each other's first love. We were in love long before you were engaged. You can't expect our feelings to change overnight just because your parents and his arranged the engagement. Surely even you understand that, Serena."

They were childhood friends. Their families had always been close.

That was what Serena had been told whenever Chloe touched Adrian's arm or the two of them went out alone. If she questioned it, she became the only woman who couldn't understand an old friendship.

So she had never pushed further. She had tried to believe that she was the one Adrian had chosen to marry.

Tonight, the explanation was that they were each other's first love.

"Adrian. Is that how you see it, too?"

He turned only his face toward her, glanced at the bedside clock, and sighed impatiently.

"Go back to the party. Everyone's waiting."

Serena remained standing, her hands clenched. Her nails dug into her palms, but she couldn't make her fingers loosen.

Adrian's brows drew together.

"This is what happens when you stick your nose where it doesn't belong."

Serena looked at him.

"Where it doesn't belong? I only came to find you."

"You walk into a room without being invited and make a scene. If you're my woman, you should know where to draw the line."

It wasn't simply that he had no intention of apologizing.

He spoke as though, if she hadn't come here, neither of them would have done anything wrong.

"We're getting married, aren't we?"

"Yes. So stop blowing this out of proportion."

Chloe leaned against him. He didn't reject her; he put an arm around her back.

Serena touched her own neck.

Her fingers met thin fabric. Pale blue, covering her throat even on a summer night.

Beneath it lay the burn scars that reached her shoulder.

Scars she had suffered saving Adrian.

He knew.

He knew why she no longer wore clothes with an open neckline.

Why she adjusted her collar over and over in front of the mirror.

She had never regretted saving him. Whenever she saw the scars, she had tried to tell herself that all that mattered was that he was alive. Yet here he was, waiting for her to leave the room.

"So as long as you marry me, I'm supposed to keep quiet, no matter what you do?"

"Don't put it like that."

Adrian's voice was low.

"There's no reason to bring what I have with Chloe into our marriage."

To him, they were separate things.

Serena couldn't separate the sight of this room from the prospect of sharing his table tomorrow, or taking his arm in front of everyone. The sweetness of the champagne she'd left unfinished at the party rose in her throat.

Chloe rested a hand on Adrian's arm.

"Please don't fight because of me. It's all so sudden. Serena's just shocked."

Her voice had softened. Only her eyes, fixed on Serena, held no warmth.

"Don't blame her right now, Adrian. She was looking forward to the wedding, too. Let's give her a little time to calm down, all right?"

Chloe looked up at him, her brows slanting with concern.

Seven years had passed since their parents arranged the engagement. Even after he stopped telling her he loved her so often, Serena had thought of him as the man she would spend her life with. The faces of the people she'd sent wedding invitations to rose before her.

At the welcome party, she'd thanked them again and again.

You make such a lovely couple. I hope you'll be very happy.

While she was accepting those wishes, Adrian had come here. Directly across from her room.

"I can't… marry you like this."

Chloe's hand stopped moving.

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

Chloe drew away from his arm.

"Should I leave? Serena's so angry. I'm scared."

She lowered her voice and held her robe closed at the chest.

The woman who had walked right up to Serena a moment ago now shrank behind Adrian, as though she couldn't bear Serena looking at her.

"Stay here, Chloe."

His answer was immediate.

Chloe was the one he wanted to stay.

Serena let go of the door.

She didn't want to spend another moment in this room watching him choose whom to protect.

"Wait."

The command stopped her.

Even then, she turned back. Perhaps, just once, he would tell her this wasn't what he had meant to do.

Adrian looked at her with his arm still around Chloe's shoulders.

"Apologize. To Chloe!"