All Chapters of Billionaire's Dead Wife Returns As His Contract Bride: Chapter 11 - Chapter 19

ABELAbel blinked his eyes open, disoriented by the harsh, fluorescent lights humming above him. The first thing he felt was the ache in his neck; a sharp, stiff pain that traveled all the way down his spine.For a second, he didn't know where he was.He wasn't in his bed at the estate. He was sitting in a hard, blue plastic chair that was digging into his back.The stinging smell of rubbing alcohol and antiseptics hit him next and reality crashed back into him like a tidal wave.He was in the hospital.He sat up straight, his heart giving a painful pinch in his chest. He must have dozed off. He looked at the digital clock mounted on the wall of the waiting room.3:42 AM.How long had he been asleep?His tuxedo jacket was draped over the chair next to him, his tie loosened around his neck. He rubbed his face with his hands, feeling the rough hair on his jaw, and forced himself up, his legs heavy, like they were filled with lead.He walked to the large glass window of the waiting area

ABEL(FLASHBACK TO THE NIGHT THEY MET)The sweeping of the Phantom’s wipers did little to break the suffocating silence inside the car. Rain-streaked city lights bled across the windshield, painting the black leather interior in shifting colors.Abel kept his eyes on the road, but his head was constantly being tugged to the woman in his passenger seat.She hadn’t said a word since he’d found her shivering on a bench in the park, her face pale and her clothes damp. Now she just sat still, staring out the window, and breathing so shallow.He tried hard to focus on the road, but his gaze kept sliding to Olivia every chance it could, like a part of his brain needed to confirm she was still there, that she wouldn’t dissolve into mist and memory like she was supposed to.“What were you doing at a place like that?” he finally asked, his voice a bit rough.He watched her profile, saw her throat move as she swallowed and her lips part, but her voice was so low, it got swallowed by the horn of

OLIVIAThe stinging sensation in her hip was the only thing keeping Olivia grounded.She sat on the edge of the hospital bed, pressing a cotton ball against the spot where the nurse had just given her the shot.Just to calm her nerves, the nurse had said.But her nerves didn’t feel calm at all. They still felt like live wires that had been stripped and left sparking.She stared at the wall opposite her, but she wasn’t seeing the white paint or the x-rays hanging on the wall.She was in the ballroom again.She was seeing the lights, the beautiful chandeliers that she had been so convinced were balls of fire dropping from the ceiling. She could remember her own screams, tearing through the elegant music.She closed her eyes and let a wave of nausea roll over her.She had ruined it. She had ruined everything. The contract. The deal. The five million dollars. It was all gone.At least it had to be.Abel had hired her for one specific purpose: to pretend to be his perfect and stable wife.

ABEL“I’ll wait here,” he said, his voice echoing through the foyer. “You, go get your things.”Olivia nodded and walked toward the stairs.He waited till she was gone before he turned toward his study, half dragging his leg with him. He needed to get this over with. He needed her out of his house. Out of his head. Every second she stood there, he felt his resolve break.He pushed the study door open to find Mrs. Gable inside dusting.“Mr. Abel!” she startled as she saw him. “You’re back early. Is everything alright?”“Everything is fine,” he lied, the words tasting like ash in his mouth. “I need you to go upstairs to the Blue Room and help Miss Delaney pack her things.”Mrs. Gable paused, her expression confused. “Pack her things? Are you going on a trip, sir?”“No. She is leaving.”Mrs. Gable froze. “Leaving?”“Yes,” he said coldly. “And please, no more questions.”“But, sir,” Mrs. Gable took a step forward. “She seemed so nice. And you know she looks so much like—”“Don’t,” he bit

ABELThe storm had passed, both literally and metaphorically.As he drove away from the airfield, the gray clouds that had choked the sky all morning began to break apart and reveal a blue sky.He rolled down the window of the Range and took a deep breath of the air; it smelled like a fresh start.For the first time in months, the invisible weight on his chest felt lighter. It wasn’t gone, not exactly. But that anger? That constant, burning rage at the world? That had quieted down.He reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, feeling the envelope there.Thank you for standing up for me.He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips without his permission.She had actually left the money; fifty thousand dollars.For him that was nothing, less than pocket change even. But for her?“Unbelievable,” he breathed, leaning over to turn on the radio.Usually, he drove in silence. But for today he could let a soft jazz fill the car.He tap