My Sweet wife;The CEO’s contract bride

Chapter 4 - The Ex's Warning

The woman at the door was everything I wasn’t.

Tall. Blonde. Diamond necklace. And the kind of smile that cut.

"Ava, right?" she said. "I’m Sophia. Ethan’s ex."

My throat went dry. Clause 7. No emotional involvement.

"Can I help you?"

She walked in without being invited. Like she owned the place.

Maybe she did, once.

"I just wanted to warn you," she said, looking around the penthouse.

"This is all temporary, you know. Ethan does this every few years.

Finds some poor girl, signs a contract, gets Grandpa off his back."

I hugged myself. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"Don’t you?" She laughed. "Ask him about the last ‘wife’ he had.

She lasted 3 months. He paid her and sent her away."

My chest tightened. "We have a contract."

"Exactly. A contract." She stepped closer. "He doesn’t love you, sweetie.

He loves his company. The moment the 6 months are up, you’re gone.

And he’ll forget your name."

Before I could answer, the door opened.

Ethan.

His eyes went from me, to Sophia, to me again. Cold.

"What are you doing here?" he asked Sophia.

"Just being friendly," she purred. "Welcoming the new Mrs. Blake."

Ethan walked straight to me. Took my hand. His palm was warm.

"This is my wife," he said, voice like ice. "If you have anything to say,

say it to me. Not to her."

Sophia’s smile fell. "You’ll get tired of her, Ethan. You always do."

"Not this time," he said. And he squeezed my hand.

After Sophia left, the penthouse was silent.

Ethan let go of my hand like he’d been burned.

"Don’t listen to her," he said. "She’s lying."

"About what?" I whispered. "The contract? Or the other wife?"

He didn’t answer. He just walked to his office and shut the door.

That night I didn’t sleep.

Clause 7 was ringing in my head.

No emotional involvement.

But when he’d held my hand... it didn’t feel like a contract