Her Return : The Billionaire's Contract Wife のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 10

PastNova“I’ll be right back, Mom,” I said, smiling as I stepped out of the hospital room. I sat on the edge of the stiff hospital chair. The air in the room felt heavy, too clean, and too white. Every second stretched like an eternity until the door finally creaked open.Dr. Patel stepped in, his face unreadable, and instantly my stomach twisted. I already knew. News like his didn’t need words; I’ve spent so much time in this hospital that I could always tell from the look on his face.“How bad is it?”“Nova,” he started softly, lowering himself into the chair across from me. “Her cancer has progressed more aggressively than we anticipated. The tumors are spreading quickly.”My heart stuttered, then dropped straight through me. “Is there a chance?” My voice cracked, the words barely making it past my throat.“Yes, but we need to operate as soon as possible. Surgery to remove what we can, followed by intensive chemotherapy.” He paused, his silence doing more damage than anything he

KillianI knew my grandmother was up to something shady. For the past two weeks she visited the hospital, so when she came back and said I would marry someone, I knew I had no choice but to do it. I knew she was doing it to stop the rumors that were being spread about me and Tanya.The truth was Tanya was a friend, my childhood best friend who lost her parents at fourteen, and I've been her only support all these years. Nova Vale was now a new development. The name sounded soft, but the woman was anything but soft. I had expected someone pliable, maybe nervous, ready to sign and retreat. I expected an accessory. I got a fucking paradox.She was short; her 5′0" made her seem impossibly small against the backdrop of this estate, but her stature was instantly irrelevant. Her hair was a fierce, slicked-back platinum blonde, emphasizing the delicate but sharp angles of her jaw.When her eyes met mine, the air shifted. They were a vivid, impossible pale amber, like a predator's, and she di

KillianI wasn’t used to being thrown off balance. Not in business, not in life. But Nova Vale did exactly that. She’d looked me dead in the eyes, her voice sharp with anger, and told me she’d sell her soul for her mother. And I believed her. Hell, I saw it in the way her hands shook when she spoke, in the way her chest rose and fell like she was holding back everything inside her.She wasn’t lying. She wasn’t playing a role. She was just… raw. And I hated it. Because raw emotions were dangerous. They made people weak. And weakness had no place in my world. Still, I couldn’t shake her words. “She means that much to you?” I had asked like a damn fool. As if the answer wasn’t obvious.Of course she did. Nova had nothing, no one, just her mother. And yet, she stood here in my house like she belonged, chin up, eyes unflinching. She didn’t bow and didn’t scramble for approval like everyone else around me.She was different. Too different. I sat in my office the next morning, staring at th

NovaI just sat there, leaning against the headboard, watching him pace the room like a caged lion. Honestly, he was a sight, in a tailored charcoal suit and coiled tension, looking like he wanted to punch a hole through the floor. I was just soaking up the drama, because right now, he was trapped, and I was holding the keys, or at least, his grandmother was. I had no idea she would lock us in."There needs to be some boundaries," he'd said, all serious and cold. And then he launched into his list, treating me like I was a wayward employee, not the woman he was forced to marry to stop his best friend from trying to climb into his bed."One, you do not conspire with my grandmother to get close to me. Two, you stay as far away from me as possible..."I swear, I could feel my eye starting to twitch. I cut him off, dropping the fake respectful tone he seemed to think he deserved."Stop right there, Killian," I said, pushing off the headboard and standing up. I might be five feet of fury,

Tanya was sitting close to him, naturally. She was wrapped in some ridiculously luxurious cashmere shawl, even though the house wasn't that cold. She was playing the delicate victim, sipping slowly at a tiny cup of tea, looking utterly bored but determined to stay put. I knew she was in the house because her place had some kind of problem, and Killian, being the great protector, had obviously let her move right in. Whatever. Her problems were not my problems.I didn't try to sneak in or be quiet; I just walked straight up to the breakfast table. I grabbed a plate and loaded up on the essentials: scrambled eggs, some perfectly crispy bacon, and a few small sausages. I needed fuel.I poured myself a mug of the strongest coffee available, which, given this house, was probably some fancy bean that cost a fortune. Then, I headed for the table. I chose a seat in the middle, giving myself a good 5 feet of clear space between me and their little soap opera down at the end.I sat down, took a