All Chapters of One Contract, Two Hearts : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Elara Quinn had mastered taking in rejection in style.She sat in her corner office which was soon someone else’s, staring at the rejection email until the words blurred together.“We regret to inform you that Quinn Interiors does not align with our current investment portfolio…”Translation: Your father’s legacy is dying, and we don’t care.She slammed her laptop shut, the click echoing in the empty office. Tears welled up in her eyes as she rubbed her temple seeking for an ease. Outside, her staff pretended to work, pretending they didn’t know the company was three weeks from collapse.Her phone buzzed and she opened it to check the message notification. Of course, it wasn't a pleasant one too.HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATION: Final notice. Payment extension expires in 72 hours. Please contact billing immediately to discuss your mother’s care.Seventy-two hours.Elara pressed her palms to her eyes. She could not afford to cry right now. She needed something within three days to pull off a m

The Blackwood Tower was everything Elara expected. It was a building made of steel, glass and intimidation all in one.She was dressed as though going for a cooperate war, a charcoal suit she'd bought for better days, heels that gave her three additional inches of height, hair pulled back in a severe bun. The elevator to the 47th floor required a key card and the receptionist who was beautiful, cold, dressed in designer black had escorted her, it should have been flattering but she felt more like she was being delivered."Mr. Blackwood is expecting you," the woman said, opening double doors to an office that felt less a workspace and more like a room for dominance.The room was massive with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the entire city. Morning light flowed in and the furniture was minimal; a desk that looked expensive in craftsmanship and details, chairs that probably cost more than her car and two modern arts that she recognized from auction catalogs.Behind the desk, sat Lu

The nursing home was nicer than most people's houses. Nicer than where she lived before.Elara sat in the back of Lucien's car, a sleek black Mercedes that drove smoother than anything she'd ever experienced, watching expensive neighborhoods roll past through the tinted windows."Your grandfather lives here?" she asked."He refuses to live with me," Lucien said, eyes on his phone. He'd been answering emails throughout the entire drive. "Says he'd rather be around people his own age than watch me 'ruin his legacy with spreadsheets and soullessness.'""Sounds judgmental.""He is. By the way as a fair warning, he's going to hate you."Elara turned mortified. "Excuse me?""Not you specifically but like the concept of you." Lucien finally looked up. "He wanted me to marry Victoria Chen. Or Anastasia Rothschild. Or literally anyone from the list of pre-approved society families he's been maintaining since I turned twenty-five. But you? You're an outsider and that's going to be a problem.""

The engagement party was done at the plaza. Which was not surprising considering Lucian was a man didn't like doing things halfway.The announcement of his engagement will be a big deal and of course he would chose a place that screamed money and power.Elara standing in front of the mirror, admired the dress she wore. She mused on how the dress was more expensive than her first car. It was a midnight blue spike gown that seemed to caress her body before falling to the floor. It was simple but elegant, a theme that will sell perfectly to the press and also make her feel comfortable.She touched the ring on her finger, Emma's ring and wondered if the woman who'd worn it for sixty-two years had ever felt as much as a fraud as she did now. A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts."Come in."Lucien entered, and she sure forgot how to breathe.He was always attractive in a way that was undeniable, but now in a tuxedo, hair slightly disheveled like he'd been running his hands through i

Elara didn't sleep.She lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling, watching shadows shift as the city lights flickered through her windows. Somewhere in the penthouse, Lucien was probably doing the same thing, lying awake, calculating, trying to find a solution to an impossible problem.They had forty-eight hours before Vivienne released the contract.Forty-eight hours before their carefully constructed lie became public humiliation.Forty-eight hours to decide if they were going to fight or surrender.At 3 AM, she gave up on sleep and padded into the kitchen for water. She found Lucien already there, sitting at the island in the dark, laptop open, files spread around him."Can't sleep either?" she asked.He looked up, and in the dim light from his screen, she could see the exhaustion etched into his face. "I'm going through everything. Looking for leverage. Something we can use against her.""Find anything?""Nothing concrete. She's covered her tracks well." He closed the laptop with mo