đ Chapter Four: Emma Begins to Uncover the Secrets
The morning after the gala, Emma sat at the breakfast table alone, sipping coffee from a porcelain cup so thin it looked like glass. The kitchen staff moved like ghostsâpolite, efficient, and quiet. No one asked how she slept. No one asked anything at all.
Alexander had left early, as usual.
But last night's message haunted her:
"Be careful. Not everyone here wants you to succeed."
Emma didn't know who sent it. But she knew what it meantâthis marriage wasn't just cold, it was dangerous.
She began to notice things.
Folders on Alexander's desk with names blacked out.
The way his mother, Catherine, watched herânot like a mother-in-law, but like a queen judging a pawn.
The sealed room in the penthouse Alexander told her never to enter.
"It's just storage," he'd said.
But storage didn't need biometric locks.
Later that week, Emma visited the hospital quietly, using the car Alexander had assigned her. Her mother was stable, asleep. But Emma overheard something from a nurse as she stepped out to get water.
"âŠthe bill's been paid in full again. Wolfe money, I assume. Strange arrangement."
Emma's heart twisted. Alexander was keeping his wordâbut why was that starting to feel more like chains than help?
That night, she stood by the penthouse window as rain streaked the glass, her fingers brushing the contract she'd secretly copied from Alexander's drawer.
One clause stood out:
"In the event of betrayal, the contract shall be terminated immediatelyâwith full forfeiture of benefits."
But it wasn't betrayal she feared.
It was the growing feeling in her chest when Alexander looked at her.
It was the fire behind his coldness.
And worst of all, it was the secret she was now determined to uncover:
Why did Alexander Wolfe really need a contract wife?