All Chapters of Second Choice: Wife by contract: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

It starts stupidly normal.Like nothing in the world is about to shift.I’m behind the counter, pretending to care about how straight the napkins are. I’ve already fixed them twice. Nobody notices. Nobody cares. I just need my hands busy.The café is full in that soft way. Not chaotic. Just alive. Cups clinking. Someone typing too aggressively on a laptop. A couple whispering like the world will end if anyone hears them.I like this kind of noise. It doesn’t ask anything from me.My phone buzzes in my apron.I ignore it.It buzzes again.I press my lips together. Still ignore it.“Mara,” I call, not looking up. “If that’s you sending me another ‘you forgot to eat’ text, I’m fine.”No response.Instead, she appears in front of me.“Solene.”Mara’s voice.Too calm.I look up.She’s not smiling.That’s already wrong.Mara is always smiling. Or talking. Or doing both at the same time.Now she’s just… standing there. Holding her phone like it might bite her.“What?” I ask.She doesn’t answ

I wake up too early.Not the calm kind of early. The kind where your body wakes up before your mind agrees to it. My eyes open and I just lie there, staring at the ceiling, like something is already waiting for me.Sunny is sprawled across my legs. Heavy. Warm. Completely unbothered.I tap his side lightly. “You’re suffocating me.”He doesn’t move.Of course.I let out a breath and stare at my phone on the nightstand.I don’t pick it up immediately.I already know what I’m going to do.I’m going to check if he texted.I hate that I know that.I reach for it anyway.Nothing.No missed calls. No messages. Just… quiet.My chest tightens a little. Not dramatic. Just enough to notice.“It’s morning,” I mutter to myself. “Relax.”Sunny stretches, yawns, then finally gets off me like he’s doing me a favor.“Thank you,” I say flatly.He wags his tail.Idiot.—By the time I get to the café, I’ve convinced myself I’m fine.Actually fine.Not pretending.The place is already alive. Coffee machi

I wake up before him.I don’t open my eyes at first. I just feel.His arm is still around me. Heavy. Warm. Like he forgot I might disappear if he loosened his grip.My breath catches.I stay still.Because the moment I move, this becomes real. And real things… don’t always stay.I open my eyes slowly.He’s close. Too close. Close enough that I can see the faint line between his brows even when he’s asleep. Close enough that I remember everything I tried to forget.This is dangerous.Not in a loud way.In a quiet way.The kind that convinces you to stay.I shift slightly.His arm tightens instantly.Of course.“You’re moving,” he murmurs, voice thick with sleep.“I was trying not to wake you.”“You didn’t.”A pause.“You leaving would have.”That slices somewhere soft and sharp at once.I don’t answer. I just press my face into his shoulder for a second. Just to hide. Just to breathe.We stay like that.No talking.His hand moves slowly against my back. Absent. Familiar. Like his body

I hear the elevator.It’s such a normal sound. Just a soft hum. A ding. Someone arriving, someone leaving. Life moving.But my body reacts like it means something.Like it means him.My breath hitches before my brain can catch up.He’s leaving.The thought comes too fast. Too certain.Of course he is. You didn’t answer. You stood there like a statue while he asked you something real and you gave him nothing.So he left.Simple.I stay where I am.Right in the middle of my living room, like the floor is holding me in place. Sunny brushes against my leg, confused, like he can feel something off but doesn’t know what.“Go,” I whisper to myself.I don’t move.What if I open the door and he’s already gone?What if I see his back instead of his face?What if that’s the last version of him I get?My throat tightens.You’re overthinking. Move.The elevator dings again.That does it.I start walking.Fast now. No overthinking. No pausing.I’m halfway to the door when—A knock.I stop so abrupt

Mara does not even pretend to be subtle.She stands near the counter with her iced coffee and watches Ethan like he is some rare species that wandered into the wrong environment. Luca is flipping through contractor papers beside her, but every few seconds his eyes lift too.I rub my forehead.“This is not a zoo,” I say.Mara smiles sweetly. “It kind of is.”Ethan leans slightly closer to me and murmurs, “Do they always stare like this?”“Yes,” I whisper back. “You’re new here.”Sunny chooses that exact moment to trot proudly into the café like he owns the place. His tail swings happily as he sniffs the floor, then the tables, then Luca’s shoes.Luca crouches automatically and scratches behind Sunny’s ears.“So this is the famous Sunny,” he says.Ethan nods. “Yes.”“He’s a menace,” I add.Sunny immediately sits beside Ethan like he is personally offended by that statement.Mara watches the exchange and tilts her head.“Interesting.”“What is interesting?” I ask.“You,” she says, pointi