Chapter 10 — The Choice
480 Words
Damian grabbed Amelia's hand.
“Run.”
They rushed downstairs.
Harrison disappeared through the back door.
Outside, several security officers were waiting.
“Sir!”
“Find him!”
Damian pulled Amelia toward the car.
She held the ledger tightly.
“What are we going to do?”
“We take this to the police.”
“What about Victor?”
“We'll deal with him after Harrison.”
They drove straight to the police station.
For the first time in twenty years, the truth about the two families began to come to light.
Harrison was arrested.
The evidence in the ledger was enough to reopen the old investigation.
Victor Cross disappeared before the police could find him.
And Amelia's father finally told her everything.
Her family had never betrayed Damian's family.
They had both been victims.
After leaving the hospital, Amelia sat quietly in Damian's car.
“So the contract marriage is almost over,” she said.
Damian looked at her.
“Why?”
“Harrison is arrested. Your family name is cleared. My father's company can be restored.”
“That doesn't mean the contract is over.”
“It was supposed to last one year.”
“It still can.”
Amelia looked out the window.
“You don't need me anymore.”
Damian's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“That isn't true.”
She turned toward him.
“Then what is true?”
He was silent.
“Damian?”
He stopped the car.
Then he looked directly at her.
“When I asked you to marry me, it was business.”
“I know.”
“But somewhere along the way, it stopped being business.”
Amelia's heart raced.
“What are you saying?”
Damian reached for her hand.
“I don't want a contract wife anymore.”
She stared at him.
“I want my wife.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Are you sure?”
“I've never been more certain about anything.”
Amelia smiled through her tears.
“But what if I don't want a contract anymore either?”
Damian smiled.
“Then we'll tear it up.”
He took the marriage contract from the glove compartment.
Amelia looked at him.
“You kept it?”
“I wasn't ready to let it go.”
He tore the contract in half.
Then again.
And again.
The pieces fell between them.
“For the first time,” Damian said, “I want to choose you without a contract.”
Amelia smiled.
“Then I choose you too.”
He pulled her gently into his arms.
Their fake marriage had begun with a business deal.
But somewhere between secrets, danger, and broken family ties, something real had been born.
Love.
And neither Damian Cross nor Amelia Carter knew what the future would bring.
But this time, they would face it together.
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