I’m the contracted bride of the billionaire

Amelia tossed and turned, the luxurious sheets tangling around her restless body. She glanced over at Philip’s sleeping form, his chest rising and falling with each deep breath. A pang of guilt twisted in her gut.

If only he knew the truth about her past that she had so desperately tried to bury and keep hidden. She loved this man with every fiber of her being. Yet, she couldn’t help but feel like a fraud, lying to him by omission about the darkest chapters of her life.

Giving up on sleep, Amelia slipped out of bed and padded to the ensuite bathroom. She flicked on the light and stared at her reflection, barely recognizing the worried woman gazing back at her. The joyful, carefree spirit that used to greet her in the mirror was nowhere to be found, weighed down by the secrets she kept.

“Get it together,” she muttered, splashing cold water on her face.

She knew Philip had already started noticing her unraveling over the past few weeks. The emotional distance she had been putting between them. The constant spacing out and getting lost in her troubled thoughts during conversation. He wasn’t an idiot, despite her best efforts to plaster on a fake smile and insist everything was fine.

How could it be fine when her entire relationship was built on half-truths and omissions? Amelia had been so desperate to escape her past and start fresh that she willfully kept it all from Philip. In her heart, she knew this enigmatic billionaire with the heart of gold truly loved her for who she had become.

But would he still love her if he realized who she used to be?

Ghosts from her past forever loomed, whispering that she would never be anything more than white trash from the wrong side of the tracks. Her History would always taint her, no matter how hard she tried to outrun it.

Emerging from the bathroom, Amelia stood watching Philip sleep, her throat burning. She had never intended to fall so deeply in love during their marriage of convenience. In the beginning, she simply saw it as a chance to survive, to pay off debts and get a fresh start in exchange for playing the role of devoted wife to Philadelphia’s most eligible bachelor.

But then she got to know the real Philip underneath the polished, aristocratic exterior. The wounded soul who had built an empire from nothing after enduring his own personal tragedies. The brilliant but haunted man who never failed to treat Amelia with utmost kindness and respect.

How could she not fall for someone whose core values mirrored her own childhood dreams for a better life? Philip represented the good and just path she had fought so hard to stay on after nearly being consumed by darkness.

Yet now, those same shadows crept up once more, threatening to smother the beautiful life they had built together in deceit.

Night after night, Amelia replayed Philip’s heated words from their last argument, where she first sensed him starting to piece together that she was hiding something big:

“Have I done something to make you feel you can’t open up to me? Don’t you trust me, Amelia? What are you so afraid of?”

Part of her was afraid of disappointing Philip and being viewed as a failure if he learned how deep her childhood scars ran. But she was more terrified of the prospect of shattering his illusions and losing the love and acceptance she had finally found.

So she kept quiet, binding up the truth in a tight little box, terrified of releasing the demons if she dared open it. Yet eventually, demons always fought their way free.

The evidence of Amelia’s turmoil was becoming impossible to conceal. She still vividly remembered the fear that gripped her yesterday when she caught Philip intensely studying her with a furrowed brow over their morning coffee…

Amelia stared blankly at the thick stems of the red roses Philip had surprised her with, her mind a million miles away. She didn’t even register his voice at first, until his gentle shaking of her arm pulled her from her daze.

“Lia? Are you alright?”

She startled, meeting his concerned green eyes. “Hmm? Oh… yes, I’m fine.”

“You’ve barely touched your breakfast,” he commented, eyeing her untouched plate of eggs and fresh fruit. “And you’ve seemed distant all week. Like your head is somewhere else constantly.”

Amelia quickly forced a reassuring smile, reaching across to squeeze his hand. “I’m just feeling a little rundown lately. But I’m okay, I promise.”

Philip didn’t seem entirely convinced, holding her gaze a little too long. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

That sincerity and openness in his expression caused Amelia’s stomach to twist with guilt. She leaned over and kissed his cheek, praying he couldn’t see the tornado of secrets swirling behind her eyes.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

“I know, Philip. You’re the most caring, supportive husband a wife could ask for.”

He studied her a moment longer before nodding, seeming to accept her answer. “Alright then. I’m holding you to that. No more shutting me out, understood?”

“Understood,” Amelia replied, trying not to let the shakiness show through in her voice.

All day, Philip’s words from that morning echoed in her mind on a sickening loop: No more shutting me out.

How could she possibly keep shutting him out when he deserved nothing less than her full truth and vulnerability? Amelia knew the man she loved was no fragile fool. Philip had endured his own share of pain and trauma, only emerging stronger and more resilient.

If he could overcome unthinkable adversity, surely he could handle learning about her past mistakes… right?

These battling thoughts and uncertainties swirled through Amelia’s mind as evening fell. She jumped at every creak of the luxurious penthouse, her nerves frayed in anticipation of Philip coming home to yet another evening of her emotional distance.

By the time he arrived home, Amelia had lost her appetite, staring down at the plate of uneaten linguine she had mindlessly pushed around for the past hour. The sound of his key turning in the lock made her flinch. She quickly composed herself, pasting on what she hoped was a natural, relaxed expression.

“Hey you,” she greeted as Philip entered, flopping gracefully onto the couch beside her. “Long day at the office?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” he groaned, loosening his tie. “I swear I’ll be thrilled to finally hand over the CEO reins to someone else once Father is ready.”