Chapter 3

The Contract

The sound wasn't a gunshot.

It was a camera flash.

Another one followed.

Then another.

I turned toward the window and my heart dropped.

Reporters.

At least twenty of them had surrounded the car, microphones raised, cameras flashing nonstop.

"Miss Angela!"

"Is it true your fiancé left because you were having an affair?"

"Were you pregnant with another man's child?"

"Who is the man you're hiding with now?"

My chest tightened.

How did they find me so quickly?

The car windows were tinted. They shouldn't have been able to see me.

Unless...

Someone had told them exactly where I was.

Damian remained completely still.

He didn't even glance at the reporters.

Instead, he spoke to the driver.

"Drive."

"But, sir, they're blocking the road."

"They'll move."

The driver pressed the horn once.

No one moved.

Damian sighed.

He lowered his window halfway.

The reporters rushed forward.

"Mr. Kingsley!"

"Are you dating the abandoned bride?"

"Did you know she was engaged?"

Without answering a single question, Damian looked directly at the crowd.

Then he wrapped one arm around my shoulders.

I froze.

"What are you doing?" I whispered.

"Trust me."

Before I could react, he gently pulled me closer.

The cameras exploded with flashes.

To anyone outside...

It looked as though I was leaning into him willingly.

The headlines were already writing themselves.

Billionaire CEO Spotted with Bride Abandoned Hours Earlier.

Damian released me as the window rolled back up.

The reporters erupted into louder shouts.

The road cleared instantly.

The car glided away.

I turned to him, furious.

"Have you lost your mind?"

"No."

"You just made everything worse!"

"I made them stop talking about your humiliation."

"What?"

He looked at me calmly.

"Tomorrow they won't remember the woman who was abandoned."

He paused.

"They'll remember the billionaire who took her away."

I opened my mouth.

Closed it.

As much as I hated admitting it...

He wasn't entirely wrong.

People loved gossip.

And they loved new scandals even more.

The car drove through the city in silence.

After nearly thirty minutes, we stopped in front of a mansion so enormous I wondered if I'd accidentally been driven to a palace.

The gates opened automatically.

The driveway seemed endless.

Fountains sparkled under golden lights.

I had never seen anything like it.

"You live here?"

"Unfortunately."

That wasn't the answer I expected.

Inside, the mansion was strangely quiet.

No servants rushed to greet him.

No family waited.

Just silence.

A woman in her sixties appeared at the top of the staircase.

The moment she saw me, her face drained of color.

"No..."

She gripped the railing.

"It can't be."

I frowned.

"Do... do I know you?"

She whispered something under her breath.

Then looked at Damian.

"You brought her here?"

There was something in the way she said "her."

Not my name.

Not "this woman."

Her.

As though she'd been expecting me for years.

Damian's expression hardened.

"I didn't have a choice."

"You always have a choice."

"Not this time."

The woman looked at me again, and for a split second, I saw tears in her eyes.

She walked down the stairs slowly until she stood right in front of me.

Her fingers trembled as she reached toward my face...

Then stopped.

"How old are you?" she asked softly.

"Twenty-three."

She closed her eyes.

"Oh, God..."

"What is it?" I asked.

She looked as though she'd seen a ghost.

Instead of answering, she turned to Damian.

"You promised you'd never let her find out."

Find out what?

My heartbeat quickened.

"What is everyone talking about?"

No one answered.

Damian walked to a nearby desk and picked up a thick envelope.

He placed it in my hands.

"This is the marriage contract."

I stared at it.

"You still want me to marry you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because it's the only way to protect you."

"From Ethan?"

"No."

His eyes locked onto mine.

"From the truth."

A chill ran down my spine.

Slowly, I opened the envelope.

The first page was ordinary.

The second page listed the terms of the marriage.

Then I reached the final page.

My breath caught.

Attached to it...

...was a photograph.

An old, faded photograph.

In it, a little girl who looked exactly like me was smiling beside a woman I had never seen before.

Standing behind them...

...was Damian.

Only he looked about sixteen years old.

My hands started shaking.

"What is this?"

Damian's voice was barely above a whisper.

"It's the reason your life was destroyed today."

The room spun around me.

I looked back at the photograph.

There was only one question echoing in my mind.

Who was I... really?