All Chapters of The CEO's Untamed Contract Bride: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Vivienne POV~•~The hospital corridors had become too familiar to me. The smell was always the same—a mix of bleach and something faintly sweet, like they were trying too hard to cover up the truth that sickness lived here. The fluorescent lights above were harsh, draining every bit of warmth from the space. My heels clicked against the tiled floor as I walked, a sharp sound that reminded me of who I was supposed to be outside of these walls—professional, polished, in control. But here, I wasn’t the rising executive people admired in meetings. I was just a mother trying not to fall apart.My phone buzzed in my hand. For a moment, I thought about ignoring it, but the subject line caught my eye: “Congratulations, Director Hartley.”My chest tightened. I froze in the middle of the hallway, staring at the screen. Director. The title I had chased for years, the recognition I had bled and sweated for. It was here, finally. I should have felt joy, maybe even pride. But instead, my stomach t

Both William and Olivia froze at the sound of my voice. His head snapped toward me, Olivia gasping as she pulled the sheet to cover herself.“Viv—” he started, scrambling for words.But I wasn’t listening. The sound of my own voice still rang in the room, heavy, jagged, impossible to take back.I tore open my closet door, yanked clothes from hangers, ripped open drawers, and threw everything into a suitcase. Each slam of fabric, each snap of wood echoed the storm in me. But under it all was the deeper wound, that he touched Olivia the same way he once touched me. The same hands. The same gestures that once felt like love.My stomach twisted as I shoved another armful of clothes into the case. My fingers trembled so badly I could hardly zip the side pocket.Then his voice cut through.“Vivienne.” Smooth, calm, like he hadn’t just destroyed me. He leaned against the doorframe, half-dressed, arrogant as ever. “What the hell are you doing?”I didn’t look at him.He chuckled. “Oh, come on.

The boardroom emptied fast. Chairs scraped and papers shuffled as feet hurried toward the door. No one looked at me, no one looked at him. They just left, as if the air itself warned them not to linger.I could feel his presence before I even looked up. He closed a folder, adjusted his cuff, and then finally turned toward me.His gaze locked on mine. Cold, unreadable. Like he was peeling me apart piece by piece.He spoke first. His voice was even, measured. “Tell me, Ms. Hartley. Why did you think it wise to defy me in front of the board?”My throat tightened, but I forced my words steady. “I wasn’t defying you. I was defending myself.”His brow lifted slightly. “Defending yourself from correction?”“From humiliation,” I shot back. Heat rushed into my chest. “You knew exactly what you were doing when you called me out like that. You wanted to make an example of me.”He didn’t blink. “You were late and I addressed it. That is all.”“That is not all,” I said, my voice sharper now. “You

Vivienne POV~•~The morning came with a pounding headache that pressed behind my eyes and sat heavy in my chest. I lay there staring at the ceiling, wishing for even a moment of peace, but it didn’t come.I couldn’t tell if it was Damon’s insane words still echoing in my head, or if it was the anger I had carried into sleep. Maybe both. Either way, I felt weighed down, like my life had tilted off balance and refused to steady itself.I rubbed my temples, whispering to myself, “What am I even doing anymore?”The job I thought would be my escape—my way to rebuild after William, after everything—had only dragged me deeper into chaos. With Damon in my orbit, it wasn’t work anymore. It was a battlefield.But it wasn’t just Damon. It wasn’t even the proposal, as sick as it made me feel. No, what gnawed at me, what ached sharper than any of it, was Liam.I hadn’t seen him since that his birthday evening, the night everything fell apart. The memory of his face, his small smile, his voice ask

For a moment, I considered ignoring him, pretending he wasn’t there. But courtesy and habit ruled me faster than impulse. I rose from my chair, smoothing the front of my skirt with steady hands. Not because I wanted to, not because I feared him, but because respect for hierarchy was ingrained in me. He was my CEO. Whatever else he had been the night before, whatever words he had thrown at me, I refused to drag that into this room.“Good morning, Mr. Langford,” I said evenly.He accepted it like it was owed to him, not even a flicker of surprise crossing his face. His lips curled faintly, pride tucked into the edges of his expression. His dark eyes narrowed, sharp and probing, before he murmured, almost amused, “What’s gotten into you this morning? You seem awfully submissive.”The barb lingered in the air, daring me to rise, to snap back, to meet fire with fire. I pressed my lips into a thin line and chose silence. He wasn’t going to drag me into a fight.The longer I held my tongue,