All Chapters of Billionaire Contract Marriage: Her Quest : Chapter 91 - Chapter 100

Sophia's POVMonday morning, Emma called."I need to ask you something. In person. Can I come by?""Of course. Everything okay?""Yes. No. Maybe. I need advice."She arrived an hour later, looking nervous in a way I'd never seen her.We sat in the living room. Isabella was with Maria in the nursery. David was at a site visit."What's wrong?" I asked."Nothing's wrong. Something's... happening. And I don't know how to handle it.""Emma. You're spiraling. Just tell me."She took a breath. "Jake proposed."I blinked. "Jake? Your boyfriend Jake?""That's the one.""You've been dating for... six months?""Eight months. But yes. It's fast. I know it's fast. That's why I'm here."She looked at me with wide, uncertain eyes."Do you love him?" I asked."Yes. Completely. Ridiculously. He's smart and kind and makes me laugh and supports my career ambitions and genuinely likes that I'm smarter than him.""Okay. So what's the problem?""I'm twenty. Twenty, Sophia. People don't get married at twent

Sophia's POVIsabella turned eighteen months old on a Friday.Not a milestone anyone celebrated officially. No party. No cake. Just another month in the steady march toward two.But eighteen months felt significant.She was talking now. Real sentences. "Mama, juice please." "Dada, read book." "No want nap."That last one was her favorite."She's so verbal," Maria observed, watching Isabella lecture her stuffed elephant about proper sitting behavior. "Most eighteen-month-olds have maybe twenty words. She has at least fifty.""She gets that from Sophia," David said. "Never stops talking.""I'm selectively verbal.""You talk constantly. To me, to Isabella, to yourself when you're working—""That's different. That's processing out loud.""That's talking to yourself."Isabella looked up from her elephant lecture. "Dada silly.""See?" David said. "She agrees with me.""She called you silly. That's not agreement.""It's toddler agreement."---That afternoon, Dr. Patterson called.Isabella's

Sophia's POVThe call came at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday.David answered because I was deeply asleep. Isabella had been up three times with nightmares—unusual for her—and I'd just gotten her back down an hour ago."Hello?" David's voice, rough with sleep. Then sharper. "What? When?"I sat up immediately. Something was wrong.He was already out of bed, turning on the light."We're coming. Give us thirty minutes."He hung up. Looked at me with an expression that made my stomach drop."That was the hospital. My mom had a heart attack. She's in surgery."Everything stopped."What?""Heart attack. Dad's there. They don't know—they said it's serious."He was moving. Getting dressed. Hands shaking.I moved too. Autopilot. Jeans. Sweater. Shoes."Isabella," I said."Call Emma. Or Maria. Someone."I called Emma first. She answered on the third ring, groggy."Sophia? It's two in the morning—""Your mom's in the hospital. Heart attack. We need someone to watch Isabella.""I'm coming. Twenty minutes."S

Sophia's POVIsabella turned two on a Sunday.This time we had a party. Actual party. Twenty kids, chaos, activities organized by Emma who'd apparently become a professional event planner overnight."It's not that complicated," Emma said, setting up a craft station. "You just need activities every fifteen minutes so they don't destroy everything.""There are twenty toddlers in our apartment.""Twenty-three, actually. Some people brought siblings.""We're going to need a bigger apartment.""You have four thousand square feet. You're fine."She was probably right.Mrs. Thomas sat in a comfortable chair, supervising. Three months post-surgery, she was back to herself mostly. Slower. More careful. But present."This is excessive," she observed, watching Emma hang streamers."This is what you do for two-year-olds," Emma said. "Big celebration. Lots of chaos. Photographic evidence they can be embarrassed by later.""We didn't do this for David's second birthday.""That's because you were br

Sophia's POVTwelve weeks pregnant, and everything hurt.Not physically. Physically I was fine. Better than with Isabella, actually. Less nausea. More energy.Emotionally, though. Everything hurt.Old fears resurfacing. Old patterns creeping back.What if I couldn't do this again? What if two kids broke us? What if Isabella suffered because we divided our attention?What if, what if, what if.Dr. Morrison listened to me spiral during our session."This sounds familiar," she observed."I know. I'm regressing. Being ridiculous.""You're being human. Second pregnancies often trigger different anxieties than first ones.""Why?""Because you know what you're getting into now. With Isabella, you were terrified of the unknown. Now you're terrified of the known."She was right.I knew what sleepless nights felt like. Knew the exhaustion. The constant demand. The way a baby consumed everything.And I was choosing to do it again."What if I can't love them equally?" I asked quietly."That's the