All Chapters of His Contract Wife's Secret Twins : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Armando's POVI returned from my morning meetings to find the house quieter than usual...the kind of quiet that had nothing to do with peace, and had everything to do with people trying very hard not to be noticed.Marta greeted me in the entrance hall with a carefully arranged face, the kind she wore when she had information she had been trying hard to hold back; and I did not press her for it.I had learned long ago that staff who volunteered information too easily, could not be trusted to keep anything to themselves when it mattered.***I found Zahara in the study a short while later, standing near the window with her arms crossed; staring out at the drive with an expression I recognized…because I had worn it myself more than once.Something had rattled her badly enough that she had not heard me enter."You had a visitor?" I said.She turned, and for half a second, she tried to resettled her composure; but I saw something close to fear behind her eyes."News travels fast in this h

Zahara's POVI sat with the name for a long moment. Before I finally made myself move, with my thumb hovering over the screen as though the letters might rearrange themselves into someone else if I looked away and back again.Fiona Ivas.The same woman who had held my hand after the ceremony, and told me she hoped I would find something real underneath the contract I had signed.The same woman in the locked room I had once overheard a voice, through a half open door in my own home…faint and clipped. Warning about— Poison. Levels climbing. Running out of time.I closed the file and told myself I still had a choice here.I could send a polite message back to Ellery. Claim a scheduling conflict, while I let another specialist take the case as I keep the careful distance I had spent five years building between this hospital and the house I now lived in.It would have been the safer decision but it was not the one I made.I pulled my mask into place and walked to the private wing.Ellery m

Armando's POVI called the investigator back before the elevator doors had fully closed behind me. The message still glowing on my screen like something I could not quite look away from."Explain!" I said, without preamble. Stepping into the empty conference room and shutting the door behind me."I do not have full details yet, Mr. Ivas, only a partial match. Your wife's name surfaced in a licensing database search I ran as a routine step…checking whether she held any professional credentials that might explain her connection to the children in Riverside. The search flagged a medical license issued five years ago under a different legal name, tied loosely to records that intersect with hers; showing education history, dates, and a partial match on identifying information. But It's not confirmed yet, I need another day. Possibly two more days, I need to verify it properly before I put a name in front of you"His voice was careful...just like the tone of a man who had learned the hard w

Zahara's POVI did not have the luxury of falling apart after Armando left the room. Because almost immediately, Marta appeared in the doorway, reminding me about the Lawson Foundation gala starting at eight pm.It is one of the few obligations neither of us could avoid without inviting exactly the kind of questions we were both trying to keep buried.A newly married couple skipping their first public appearance together would draw more attention than either of us could afford right now.I dressed in silence. Choosing a deep green gown, Susan had not selected for me this time, grateful for at least…one small decision that remained entirely my own.My hands had finally steadied again by the time the car pulled up at the estate steps, though the calm felt— Thin. Borrowed. Just like the kind that could crack the moment someone pressed too hard against it.Armando met me in the entrance hall, looking immaculate in his dark suit. His expression schooled back into the composed stillness he

Armando's POVI found Zahara again near the windows once the auction concluded. Standing alone with a stillness, that did not match the warmth of the room around her.Whatever color the evening had lent her earlier had drained from her face entirely, and when she noticed me approaching she arranged her expression quickly; into something more composed…though not quickly enough to hide what I had already seen."You look like you saw a ghost! Are you alright?" I asked."Long night, I think I would like to go home now, if that is all right. I just need a rest." She managed something close to a smile. I studied her for a moment. Weighing calmly, whether to press her the way I usually did, but I decided against it.Whatever had unsettled her in the last hour; had visibly cost her something to recover from, and I found myself against my better judgment, more inclined to get her out of that room…than to interrogate her about it in the middle of a crowded gala.The drive back home, passed in