Reborn Into The Billionaire Ex’s Contract Wife

Aria The headlines were everywhere. I couldn't escape them. "Aria Chen: From Rising Star to Fallen Fraud" "Kael Morrison's Wife Exposed as Gold Digger" "CEO's Contract Bride Caught in Embezzlement Scandal" I stared at my phone screen, my hands trembling so badly I nearly dropped it. The comments section was worse than the articles. Thousands of strangers, all so certain they knew me, all so eager to tear me apart. My mother's call came at 6 AM. I knew before answering what she would say. "Aria." Her voice was ice. "Your father had a heart attack last night. The stress from your... situation. The neighbors won't stop talking. Our family name is ruined." "Mom, I didn't do anything wrong. Someone set me up. If you just listen.." The line went dead. I sat on the cold marble floor of the penthouse, the one Kael had bought but never lived in with me. He preferred his own place. This had always been my cage, beautiful and empty. My best friend Maya's text arrived an hour later. Just three words: "I can't anymore." No explanation. No chance to defend myself. Five years of friendship, gone. The apartment felt smaller with each passing second, the walls closing in. I pulled my knees to my chest, pressing my forehead against them. I wouldn't cry. I had learned not to cry. The sound of the door opening made me lift my head. Kael walked in, his suit perfectly pressed, his dark hair styled with precision. He didn't even glance my way as he headed toward his study. "Kael." My voice came out smaller than I intended. "We need to talk." He stopped but didn't turn around. "Make it quick. I have a meeting in twenty minutes." I stood up, my legs unsteady. "The news. The accusations. None of it is true. Someone accessed the company accounts using my credentials, but I never.." "I know." Those two words stopped me cold. "You... you know?" Kael finally turned, his gray eyes as expressionless as stone. "Of course I know. I'm not an i***t, Aria." Hope bloomed in my chest, painful and desperate. "Then you'll help me? You'll tell them I'm innocent?" "Why would I do that?" The hope died as quickly as it came. "Because I'm your wife." "You're a name on a contract." He checked his watch, bored. "Nothing more." "Kael, please." I hated how my voice broke. "My parents won't speak to me. I've lost my job. Everyone thinks I'm a criminal. If you just make one statement.." "The contract expires in two months." He straightened his cuffs. "I suggest you use that time to figure out your next move. This marriage served its purpose for my company's image. I don't need it anymore." "You don't need it?" The words tasted bitter. "What about what I need?" "What you need is irrelevant." His tone was so casual, like he was discussing the weather. "You got what you wanted. Money, status, access to my world. You should have been smarter about it." "I never wanted any of that! I only agreed to this because my father's company was drowning and you promised to save it if I.." "And I did." Kael moved toward the door. "I kept my end of the bargain. Not my fault you couldn't keep yourself out of scandal." "You could fix this with one phone call!" My hands balled into fists. "One statement from you, and this all goes away. You know I'm innocent, but you're choosing to watch me burn." He paused at the doorway, glancing back with something that might have been amusement. "Consider it a lesson, Aria. In this world, no one saves you. You save yourself. Or you drown." The door closed behind him with a soft click. I stood there for a long time, staring at nothing. The penthouse was silent except for the tick of an expensive clock on the wall. Each second felt like a hammer blow. My phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number: "Your father's medical bills are piling up. The hospital needs payment by end of week." Another buzz: "This is Attorney Park. Mr. Morrison has requested I draw up the divorce papers. Please review and sign at your earliest convenience." Another: A photo of me leaving a restaurant with a male colleague six months ago. The headline: "Kael Morrison's Unfaithful Wife: More Evidence Emerges." I scrolled through my contacts, looking for anyone who might answer. Every name felt like a stranger. My finger hovered over my sister's number. Don't bother, I thought. She made her choice at Mom's birthday dinner, when she pretended not to see me standing there. The sun was setting when I finally moved. I walked to Kael's study, the one room I was never allowed to enter. The door was locked, of course. But I knew where he kept the spare key. Inside, everything was neat and organized. Files stacked precisely. Computer password-protected. I wasn't looking for anything specific. I just wanted to understand. Needed to know if there had ever been anything real between us, or if I had imagined every soft glance, every almost-kind word. The file was labeled "Contract Marriage: Aria Chen." I opened it. Inside were documents. Plans. Timelines. Including one titled "Exit Strategy" dated from before we even met. Every step of our relationship, mapped out like a business deal. Because that's all it ever was. The page at the bottom made my blood turn to ice: "Frame for embezzlement: Month 22. Ensures clean break, prevents legal complications in divorce." My knees gave out. He hadn't just refused to help me. He had destroyed me on purpose. I don't remember leaving the penthouse. Don't remember walking to the bridge. The city lights blurred through my tears as I stood at the railing, the wind whipping my hair across my face. No one was coming to save me. Kael had made sure of that. I climbed over the railing. And I let go. The fall was peaceful. Then came the darkness. Then came the light.. ++++++++ I opened my eyes to fluorescent brightness and the smell of expensive leather. My body felt strange, lighter somehow. Younger. "Miss Chen, are you ready to sign?" I jerked upright, my heart hammering. An attorney sat across from me, a contract laid out on the mahogany desk. Behind him, floor-to-ceiling windows showed a city I recognized. But the calendar on the wall read five years earlier. The day I signed my life away to Kael Morrison. The day everything began..