All Chapters of Beloved Wife Of A Contract Marriage : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The ride back was smooth and silent. The car was filled with the soft noise of Elise tapping the screen of her phone, and the even breathing of her sleeping daughter.The car arrived at the security gates where she had to stop. After saying a word of thanks to the driver, she carried her sleeping child and stepped out of the car. She covered the short distance between the gate and the house in small steps, not wanting to wake the sleeping child."Welcome back, ma'am. Let me help with the child," the housekeeper, Sarah, reached out to carry the child as she walked into the house."Thanks, Sarah."Elise watched the housekeeper carry the child up the stairs, her eyes lingering only as far as she could see until their figures disappeared into the hallway. She pulled her gaze away and pressed her fingers against her tensed shoulders.Elise picked her steps and walked into the kitchen. She grabbed a glass and filled it with water. Talking for so long with her best friend had made her throat

The rest of the week rushed by very quickly, and soon it was the weekend. The "family" of three sat at the dining table, enjoying a warm breakfast, when Elise paused in between helping little Evie grab the dishes that were not within her reach.She placed a slice of fish on her daughter's plate, then lifted her head to look at the man who was elegantly eating off his own plate. Knowing that he had never been a fan of speaking while eating, she cleared her throat twice.Declan, who had been noticing the woman's effort in trying to get his attention, finally wiped the corners of his mouth with a towel and looked in her direction. His brows arched as he fixed his gaze on her."If you have something to say, just say it," the man uttered.A smile immediately spread across Elise's face. She pushed the plate of food in front of her further away and tilted her body to fully face the man."I waited all night for you to return last night, but you got home late. Nora mentioned you had a dinner m

“Speaking of which…” Temah's teasing smile slowly faded. She glanced over her shoulder, making sure Evie was still absorbed in her blocks across the room, then she moved closer to Elise, lowering her voice until her voice could only be heard by them. "Have you gotten any clues yet? About Evie's father. It's been so many years, did you find anything?" The cheerful air between them dimmed at once. Elise's eyes moved slowly across the room and fell on her daughter who was busy playing house all by herself. She let out a long, tired sigh. "No. Nothing." She shook her head slowly. The two ladies glanced at each other quietly, both sighing simultaneously. One other grave matter that they had to face over the years is the issue about Evie's birth. After Elise had given birth to the child, they waited and waited for someone to show up, claiming that the child was theirs but, no one showed. There was not even a single clue pointing to anyone that could be the potential father either

"Why are you still here? I thought you'd already left," Elise could not help but complain as soon as the car started moving. Declan raised his head from the document resting on his leg and stared at the woman. "We're already here, why would I leave?" he questioned, his voice even, unbothered. Elise sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm starting a new job today. I wanted to find my own way there, you know," she said, trying to keep the edge out of her voice. "Well, it's on the way," Declan answered simply, as though that settled the matter entirely. The driver, who had overheard the man casually claim it was on the way, looked bewildered for a moment. From the address the lady had given him that morning, her workplace and the company headquarters sat in nearly opposite directions across the city. There was no version of the route where one was "on the way" to the other. But it was not his place to question his employer. His job was simply to drive where he was told and

The car arrived in front of the kindergarten just as the school day was ending. Children and their families streamed hand in hand through the gate, the afternoon light catching on backpacks and windswept hair."Please wait here for me. I'll be back," Elise said to the driver, who nodded with a kind-hearted smile.She climbed down from the car and walked toward the school gate, completing the sign-out formalities with practiced ease before heading in to collect her daughter.As soon as Elise stepped through the adjoining hallway and into Evie's classroom, she spotted her child at once, standing between two other children, the three of them murmuring together in hushed, conspiratorial tones. No one else seemed to know what the little ones were discussing, but seeing her daughter so free, so unguarded and happy among the other kids, Elise's face softened into a gentle smile. There had been a version of this afternoon she had rehearsed in her mind all day – Evie clinging to the classroom