The Ceo's contract wife

Chapter 37: The Truth Behind the Contract

The silence in the penthouse was deafening

Li stood in front of the fireplace, her fingers clenched tightly at her sides. The paper—the contract—lay between them like a loaded gun, its contents bared and undeniable.

Ethan's expression was unreadable. "So you knew," he said finally, his voice low, controlled—but laced with something darker underneath. "All this time."

"I found it yesterday," Li replied, her voice trembling despite her effort to stay composed. "You told me this marriage meant nothing. Now I know just how little it meant to you."

Ethan's jaw clenched. "It was business."

"No," she snapped. "You made me believe it was more. You made me more."

He took a step toward her, eyes narrowing. "And yet you stayed. You acted like everything was fine. You let me hold you, kiss you—"

"Don't you dare," she said, her voice shaking now, but louder. "Don't you dare twist this around. You offered me a contract, Ethan. You said this marriage would be temporary. But you—" Her voice broke. "You never said you'd make me fall for you."

Ethan stopped, as if the air had been knocked out of him. "Fall for me?"

Her eyes glistened. "Isn't that what you wanted? Control me, own me? Is that what you do to all your acquisitions?

"That's not fair—"

"What is fair then?" she shouted. "That I came into this thinking I could protect my heart, and ended up losing it to someone who only saw me as a convenient wife?"

"You weren't just—" He stopped himself.

Li laughed bitterly. "Say it. I wasn't just what? A pawn? A signature on a deal?"

Ethan's voice dropped dangerously low. "I never planned for this to happen."

"That makes two of us."

A heavy silence settled between them, like the moment before a storm breaks. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, eyes locked on his. She had never felt so vulnerable—and yet, so furious.

Ethan looked away, and for a moment, she saw something flicker in his expression. Guilt? Regret? She couldn't tell anymore.

But whatever it was, it was too late.