The Billionaire's Contract Bride

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At midnight, a press release quietly climbed to the top of the trending list, and in an instant the dead of night turned loud with noise.

"Stephens Group's only heir, Keith Stephens, personally went to the airport yesterday to welcome the Chandler heiress home. The two will honor their engagement in the near future."

He was the business world's untouchable prize, and the moment the news dropped, the comment section erupted.

"No way, someone finally landed Keith Stephens?"

"They're a perfect match, childhood sweethearts. What's so surprising about it?"

"Didn't Keith Stephens have dating rumors with some actress a while back? And now he just up and gets engaged?"

"You mean Lois Short? She's just a kept bird in a gilded cage, a bit of fun. If she were something he could show off, he'd have gone public with her ages ago."

I scrolled through the comments, glanced at Keith sleeping beside me, and suddenly didn't know what to do.

"Yuki Chandler only got back yesterday, and the press release is out today? He couldn't wait half a second?"

"Of course not. They were engaged long ago. Yuki just went abroad and dragged it out this long. The whole reason Keith Stephens never dated anyone was that he was waiting for her."

"This photo of them together is honestly worth shipping. Childhood sweethearts reunited, so well matched even a random paparazzi shot looks like it. A drama come to life."

As a high-society couple who lived on the trending charts, countless people knew their history. I was one of them.

They were childhood sweethearts, evenly matched in every way, their lives overlapping almost ninety percent. The year they graduated college, both families leaned toward a marriage alliance. It should have followed naturally, but then Yuki suddenly left the country and it all stopped short.

Some said she'd gone abroad for further study. Others said she'd followed a man she loved.

But whatever the reason, now that the two of them stood together again, they were still the center of attention.

I stared at the photo in the comments for a long time.

In it, Keith bent down to open the car door for Yuki, and Yuki looked at him with a faint smile, the two of them so in tune there was no room for anyone else.

I thought of the way Keith looked at me, always cool, giving nothing away. He'd never once worn an expression that soft.

Just as the commenters said, I was an actress living off a benefactor, a kept bird in a gilded cage, a bit of fun.

Maybe from the very first day, anyone could have guessed there'd be no good ending for Keith and me.

……

In this industry, looks and talent aren't what matter most. What matters is the price you're willing to pay.

Three years ago, a role I took accidentally offended a hot young star, and I got blacklisted by the money behind her. I went from a sought-after actress to a ghost no one would touch, someone who couldn't land a single endorsement for months at a stretch.

There were mountains of penalty fees waiting for me to pay. I couldn't afford them.

That was when I happened to meet Keith.

With nowhere left to turn, I threw caution to the wind and went and knocked on his door.

I couldn't be sure he'd say yes. Everyone knew Keith Stephens never kept a woman at his side, and everyone said he'd never gotten over the Chandler heiress living overseas.

But I had no other choice.

Standing outside his door, I ran through what I'd say a thousand times over, but once I saw him, somehow it all became simple.

He didn't say much. Yet there was something in his eyes that had no business being there, a kind of lostness, as if the world had been set to mute.

He agreed to my request, and soon every block against me was lifted.

And so we signed an agreement. Three years. After three years, I would leave.

He'd give me resources and shelter, I'd give him company and my body. Clearly priced, each taking what we needed.

Over these three years, Keith did everything he was supposed to do, and never once said he loved me.

Money was never short. Food, clothes, a home, everything provided. If I so much as looked twice at a piece of jewelry, it would appear in the room the next day.

I knew people like me usually meet one of two ends. Either you save up enough money and leave, or you give your heart and end up with nothing. I chose the first.

But to say I never felt anything would be a lie.

Once, I took a role that, for the story, forced me to keep my weight under eighty pounds, and for a long stretch I never ate a proper meal.

We wrapped in the small hours of the morning. I was so exhausted I nearly fainted, and then Keith, who was supposed to be at a meeting overseas, suddenly appeared behind me and caught me.

He'd changed his flight, and the first thing he did was come to see me.

Maybe I was too greedy, craving something real in a relationship that was only ever about mutual convenience, until even I could no longer read my own heart.

That night Keith dropped his usual restraint and became something wild.

He said to me, "If you're tired, rest. It's not like I can't afford to keep you."

Of course I knew that. But what about after three years? What was I supposed to do then?

I looked into his eyes for a long time that night, trying to find some trace that he loved me too.

And now, watching him sleep beside me, I felt I understood him even less.

Countless times I'd thought about telling him how I felt. But looking at a screen full of engagement news, I suddenly felt that maybe it really was time for me to go.