The cold night air struck Amara hard enough to bring her fully awake. She ran down the winding driveway of the Pennington estate, her cheap wedding dress tearing on gravel, one high heel clenched in her hand.
By some miracle, a yellow cab appeared on the empty road. She waved it down and fell into the back seat.
"The Plaza," she said.
Thirty minutes later, she entered the hotel through a service door. In the late-night rush of staff and deliveries, no one paid attention to her torn dress or bare feet.
She needed answers.
Near the lobby corridor, she saw Leo, Carter's nervous assistant, hurrying toward the VIP wing. Amara stopped, then followed him in silence. He paused outside the men's VIP restroom, checked his phone, and walked away.
The door had been left slightly open.
Amara pressed herself against the wall and held her breath.
Bella's giggle drifted out first.
Then Carter's voice followed, low and thick.
"Finally," Bella purred. "That pathetic housekeeper's daughter is out of the picture. Shipped off to that monster."
"I only ever wanted you, Bells," Carter said. "The engagement to Amara was business. Her research data was the last piece I needed for the merger. She was useful, that's all."
For a moment, Amara could not feel her own body.
Five years. Every promise. Every careful plan. Reduced to research data and convenience.
She forced herself to look through the gap.
Carter had Bella pressed against the marble vanity. His jacket was gone. Bella's dress was hiked up, her hands in his hair, her face bright with triumph.
"She was so boring," Carter muttered. "A cold fish. Not like you."
Bella laughed. "Of course not. She's trash. I'm a Beaumont."
Amara bit the back of her hand until she tasted blood. She would not make a sound.
With trembling fingers, she took out her phone, opened the camera, and recorded. Their voices. Their faces. The proof.
When she had enough, she stepped back. Her body shook, but the tears dried before they could fall. Pain remained, raw and deep, yet it hardened into something colder.
She saw Carter clearly now. He did not love Bella. He loved the Beaumont name, the money, and the ladder it gave him.
They deserved each other.
She walked out of the hotel with her back straight and hailed another cab.
"Where to?" the driver asked.
"Back," she said. "To the Pennington estate."
She found Atticus in the library. A single lamp lit the massive oak desk. He sat in a leather chair, a glass of amber liquor in his hand. The scar was gone.
"The runaway bride returns," he said. "Did you get lost?"
Amara walked to the desk and looked down at him. His legs were crossed casually, one polished loafer resting on his knee.
Not crippled. Not even close.
His eyes followed her with cool interest. "Are you tired of living? Is that why you came back?"
She transferred the video to a secure cloud server, deleted the local copy, and placed her phone face down on his desk.
"I have a proposal," she said. "A business proposal."
His eyebrow lifted. "You are in no position to propose anything. You know my secret. That makes you a liability."
"It makes me an asset," she answered. "You need a wife with no powerful family, no connections, and no agenda. Someone the board can dismiss. Someone who makes them believe you have truly retreated from the world."
His expression did not change, but he was listening.
"You are pretending to be injured to draw out your enemies," she continued. "You need a wife who will not interfere. I need a place to disappear. They betrayed me, sold me, and left me with nothing. That makes me safe. I have no one to be loyal to except myself and our contract."
Atticus studied her for a long time. His gaze was deep, unreadable, and clinical.
"You're smarter than your sister," he said.
"She is not my sister."
A cold smile touched his mouth. "A contract, then. We maintain the public appearance of a devoted couple. In private, we lead separate lives. We do not interfere in each other's business."
"Perfectly."
In the shadowed library, surrounded by the ghosts of the Pennington dynasty, they sealed the pact without warmth and without illusion.
Not with a kiss.
With a calculated meeting of the eyes.
