Four

CHAPTER FOUR

Avery’s POV

I barely slept that night.

I sat on the edge of the bed in a room that still did not feel like mine, staring at the floor as though it could somehow explain how my entire life had changed so quickly.

Only one day ago, I had been standing on the ice, fighting for the championship and hoping that a victory would secure my future.

Now I was married to a man I barely knew.

Not a real marriage, I reminded myself.

A contract.

A temporary arrangement that would allow me to remain in the country and keep my life from falling apart.

Still, the words in that contract continued to replay in my mind.

No emotional attachment.

No interference in each other’s private lives.

No falling in love.

It looked simple when written on paper, but sitting alone in that unfamiliar bedroom, I realized that living by those rules might not be as simple as signing my name beneath them.

I kept telling myself that this was only about survival.

I needed to stay in the country.

I needed to protect my career.

I needed time to find a way to become independent again.

That was all.

Jordan needed something from the arrangement too, and once both of us got what we wanted, the marriage would end.

At least, that was what I kept telling myself.

I was still sitting there when I heard voices downstairs.

At first, I thought I was imagining them.

I had barely slept, so perhaps my exhausted mind was simply playing tricks on me.

Then I heard footsteps.

Several footsteps.

Heavy ones.

My body immediately became tense.

I slowly stood from the bed and listened.

The voices became clearer.

There were several people downstairs, and among them was a woman’s voice.

It was confident, calm, and familiar in a way that made my stomach tighten even though I had never heard it before.

I walked toward the bedroom door and opened it carefully.

The hallway was quiet.

I stepped outside and moved toward the stairs, keeping my footsteps as quiet as possible.

When I reached the top, I stopped.

A group of people stood in the living room.

Jordan was among them.

His parents were there too.

And beside them stood a woman who looked completely comfortable in the house, as though she had every right to be there.

She was beautiful, elegant, and perfectly dressed. Her confidence was obvious from the way she stood, and there was something about the way Jordan’s family looked at her that made it clear she was not a stranger to them.

My fingers tightened at my sides.

I suddenly felt like an intruder in the house I was supposed to be living in.

Jordan noticed me.

Our eyes met briefly.

Something unreadable passed through his expression, but he did not say anything.

His mother noticed where he was looking and turned around.

Her eyes landed on me.

She stared for several seconds before asking the question that immediately made the atmosphere uncomfortable.

“Who is this young woman?”

The entire room went quiet.

I looked at Jordan without meaning to.

Before I could say anything, he answered.

“That is my wife.”

Silence filled the room.

I could almost feel every person processing his words.

His mother blinked.

Then her expression changed completely.

“Excuse me?”

She looked at Jordan as though she had not heard him correctly.

“You cannot possibly be serious.”

Her eyes immediately moved toward the woman beside her.

“Harper is the woman our family has recognized for years. She is the woman you were supposed to marry.”

I lowered my eyes.

So this was Harper.

The woman my family had apparently been trying to force Jordan to marry.

The woman he had mentioned when he offered me the contract.

I had expected her to be angry.

Instead, she simply watched me.

Her expression remained calm, but there was something difficult to read in her eyes.

Jordan did not react to his mother’s words.

“She is my wife.”

His mother took a step forward.

“You cannot simply marry a stranger and expect us to accept it. Do you understand what you have done? You are the heir to this family, and every decision you make affects more than just you.”

Jordan’s expression remained unchanged.

“I understand exactly what I have done.”

His father finally turned his attention toward me.

The weight of his gaze made my throat tighten.

He walked toward me and stopped several feet away.

“Who are you?”

My mouth opened, but for a moment, no words came out.

I suddenly felt painfully aware of everything about myself.

My clothes.

My background.

My position.

The fact that I was standing in this enormous house beside one of the most powerful families I had ever seen.

I forced myself to speak.

“My name is Avery.”

My voice came out quieter than I intended.

“I am a professional hockey player.”

His father’s expression did not soften.

Instead, he studied me as though he were trying to determine exactly where I belonged.

“Who is your father?”

I hesitated.

There was no good answer to that question.

“I do not come from a powerful family,” I said carefully. “I am not from this country, and I do not have the kind of social position your family probably expects from someone married to Jordan.”

The change in his expression was immediate.

His mother looked at me with even more disapproval.

“So this is the woman you brought into our family?”

Her voice became sharper.

“Someone with no family influence, no wealth, and no status?”

I lowered my gaze.

I had heard people judge me before.

I had heard people call my hockey career a waste of time.

But somehow, standing in front of Jordan’s family made those words hurt differently.

His mother continued.

“You are supposed to inherit this family and everything your father has built, yet you have chosen someone who could bring you down instead of helping you rise.”

My chest tightened.

I wanted to defend myself.

I wanted to tell her that I had worked hard for everything I had.

That I had not married Jordan for money.

That I had not even wanted this marriage.

But my voice refused to come.

I stood there silently while they discussed my worth as though I were not even in the room.

Then his father spoke.

“In a few months, you will be taking over your father’s company. When that happens, you will need a woman who understands your position and knows how to represent this family. You cannot afford to make decisions based on emotion.”

He turned toward Harper.

Then back to Jordan.

“You know what is expected of you.”

Harper finally spoke.

Her voice was soft and controlled.

“If you truly want to take over the company without creating unnecessary problems, you should divorce her.”

The word struck me harder than I expected.

Divorce.

My fingers trembled slightly at my sides.

I knew this was a contract marriage.

I knew it was not supposed to last forever.

But hearing another woman tell Jordan to divorce me made something uncomfortable twist inside my chest.

I refused to look at him.

I did not want to see his reaction.

I did not want to know whether he agreed with her.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Then I heard Jordan move.

He stepped forward.

It was only one step, but the entire room seemed to change.

“No.”

His voice was calm.

His father immediately looked at him.

“Jordan, do not make a foolish decision because you are angry with your family.”

Jordan did not look away.

“I am not angry.”

He paused briefly.

“She is my wife.”

His father’s expression darkened.

Jordan continued.

“And she stays.”

I finally looked at him.

His face was completely serious.

There was no hesitation in his voice.

No embarrassment.

No sign that he was trying to defend himself.

He simply sounded certain.

His mother shook her head slowly.

“You are making a mistake.”

Her eyes moved toward me.

“This marriage will not last.”

Then she looked back at her son.

“You will eventually understand why we tried to stop you.”

She turned away.

His father followed her toward the door.

Harper remained behind for a few seconds.

Her eyes moved over me slowly.

There was no open hostility in her expression, but I could feel the questions behind her gaze.

She looked at Jordan.

Then at me.

Finally, she turned and followed his parents out.

The door closed behind them.

The house immediately became quiet again.

But it was not the peaceful kind of quiet.

It felt heavier than before.

Jordan remained standing in the same place.

I stood at the top of the stairs, still trying to understand everything that had just happened.

Someone with nothing.

Someone who could bring you down.

Divorce her.

The words continued replaying in my head.

I swallowed hard and looked down at my hands.

“I did not know they were coming.”

My voice sounded small in the silence.

Jordan finally turned toward me.

“They will come again.”

I looked up.

He walked toward the stairs, stopping a few steps away from me.

“They will say things like that because they do not understand why I made this decision.”

I hesitated.

“They were right about one thing.”

His eyebrows moved slightly.

“I do not belong in your world.”

For the first time, something changed in his expression.

“You do not have to belong in their world.”

His answer surprised me.

I looked at him.

He continued speaking in the same calm voice.

“You are here because of our agreement, and that is all that matters. You do not need their approval, and you do not need to prove anything to them.”

I stared at him.

His family had just insulted me in front of him, yet he had not allowed them to make me feel as though I had done something wrong.

“I thought you might change your mind after they came.”

He looked at me for a moment.

“I will not.”

My throat tightened.

“Even if it causes problems for you?”

“Yes.”

The answer came without hesitation.

I looked away, suddenly unsure of what to say.

He had made it clear from the beginning that this was only a contract.

There were rules.

There were boundaries.

There was no emotional attachment.

Yet standing there, listening to him defend me when he had no reason to do so, I felt something unfamiliar settle quietly inside my chest.

I did not know what it was.

I did not know whether I should trust it.

But for the first time since I signed that contract, I realized that this arrangement might become much more complicated than either of us had expected.

I was no longer just a name on a piece of paper.

I was Jordan Carter’s wife.

And his family had already made it clear that they would do whatever they could to make sure I did not remain that way.