Day 3 in the penthouse and everything was already going wrong.
Amara was arranging white lilies in the living room when a loud shout tore through the house.
"Get out! Now!" Adrian’s voice was sharp, furious, and cold.
The office door slammed open. A woman in a tight red dress stumbled out, mascara running down her face. She saw Amara and laughed bitterly.
"Oh wow. The contract wife. He really replaced me fast, huh?"
Amara opened her mouth but no words came out.
Footsteps. Adrian appeared behind the woman. White shirt, sleeves rolled up, jaw clenched. He looked like thunder.
He ignored the woman and turned to Amara instead.
"What are you doing here?" His voice was low but dangerous.
"I... I was just arranging flowers," she whispered. "I heard shouting and I—"
"Rule 2!" he snapped. "Don’t come near my office. Don’t listen to my conversations. Don’t involve yourself in my business."
"I wasn’t!" Tears burned her eyes. "I was scared, okay? Is that a crime?"
The room went dead silent.
For one second, the anger in Adrian’s eyes shifted. Something softer. Something like guilt.
He saw it too. And he hated it.
Without another word he turned, walked back into his office, and shut the door.
Amara stood there shaking, holding the vase so tight her knuckles went white.
She broke Rule 2.
And for the first time since she signed that contract, she wondered if the coldest man in the world was hiding something warm inside.