The CEO’s Contract Bride

The chandelier in the private dining room swayed, casting dizzy shadows across the walls.

Sophia Taylor's slender fingers carefully peeled the garlic butter tiger shrimp, the rich aroma filling the air around her.

Daniel Wilson's favorite dish—she'd spent five years perfecting it just for him.

"Sophia..." her friend tugged gently at her sleeve.

Sophia looked up to see Daniel stroll in with his arm around the new intern secretary, Mia Brown.

Mia wore a figure-hugging business suit that showed off her long legs and curves in all the right places.

"Congratulations on closing the big deal." Daniel pulled out the head chair and settled Mia onto his lap, raising his glass toward Sophia. "Thanks for all your hard work, Sophia."

The shrimp shell pierced her fingertip, and Sophia felt a pang in her chest.

The room fell silent, all eyes on her.

"Oh God," someone whispered.

Everyone at the company knew Sophia was Daniel's girlfriend. To bring his sexy secretary to the celebration dinner and flaunt their relationship so openly—wasn't this just a deliberate humiliation?

Everyone also knew Sophia was a prodigy in jewelry design, internationally acclaimed despite her young age.

But she'd given up an opportunity at the industry's top design firm to help Daniel build his business.

For this latest deal, she'd worked seven straight days of overtime to create designs that satisfied their clients, leaving her visibly exhausted.

Sophia ignored the pitying stares and stood calmly. "It was a team effort. I'll go open some wine."

Outside the private room, she leaned against the wall and suddenly laughed.

"Sophia, how much longer are you going to degrade yourself?"

After taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open again, just in time to see Daniel and Mia kissing while everyone cheered them on.

"Come on, guys..." Someone noticed her return and tried to intervene.

The room instantly fell quiet.

Daniel's voice was casual. "Just a game."

"Right." Sophia sat down and pushed the peeled shrimp toward him.

Daniel fed it to Mia instead.

Sophia watched silently, her heart breaking.

She wiped her hands and drained her wine glass in one gulp.

"Daniel, let's break up."

Dead silence filled the room.

Daniel nodded lazily. "Fine. We'll still be colleagues. Feel free to come to me if you need anything."

"I won't. I'm resigning tomorrow."

She picked up her purse and smiled at everyone. "The bill's taken care of. Have a great time, everyone."

With that, she turned and left.

The remaining guests exchanged bewildered glances.

"Daniel, I think Sophia's serious this time."

Daniel pulled Mia closer, unconcerned. "What's the panic?"

"Yeah, remember the drama at last year's company party? She came crawling back within three days."

"I bet it won't even take a week this time."

"Three days max!"

Daniel glanced at the half-open door, his lips curving into a smirk. "Two hours. She'll be back in under two hours, guaranteed."

Amid the laughter, he checked his watch and raised his glass confidently.

...

After leaving the restaurant, Sophia watched the neon lights blur past her car window as she called her aunt, Ella Taylor. "Aunt Ella, I agree to the arranged marriage. Please set it up."

"Wonderful! The family only wants what's best for you, dear. I'm so glad you've come to your senses." The excitement in her aunt's voice was palpable. "I'll arrange for you to meet him tomorrow to discuss the wedding details."

"Sounds good."

This marriage arrangement shouldn't have fallen to her originally—after all, the Williams family was Silverlight City's most prominent family.

This marriage was arranged by the older generation, and she was the only suitable candidate in the Taylor family.

For years, she'd avoided this responsibility because of Daniel. She'd thought she'd found her soulmate and was willing to defy her family's arrangements, giving up the Taylor family's wealth and status to support Daniel through his entrepreneurial struggles.

Unfortunately, she'd been completely wrong.

Now, she was completely disillusioned with love. She returned to fulfill her responsibilities, exchanging the marriage for the stability of the Taylor family, which could also be seen as repaying the family's support over the years!

The next day, Sophia sat in the luxurious private dining room, lost in thought, when the door was gently pushed open.

A tall figure entered—a man in an impeccably tailored dark suit, his features sharp and commanding, radiating an undeniable presence.

As he approached, she caught the scent of his cologne, crisp and sophisticated.

Sophia started slightly, looking up to meet his gaze.

His face seemed vaguely familiar, though she couldn't quite place where she'd seen him before.

Wasn't today supposed to be her meeting with Ethan Williams to discuss their marriage? Who was this man?

Before she could voice her question, he settled into the chair across from her with practiced ease. His voice was deep and pleasant. "Ms. Taylor, I'm Benjamin—Ethan's uncle."

The name hit her like a thunderbolt. Benjamin Williams, the current head of the Williams family, was known in business circles as the "Financial Devil."

She hadn't expected the Williams family to take this arranged marriage so seriously that they'd send him to handle the negotiations.

"Ethan had an urgent matter to attend to, so I'll be discussing the details with you instead." Benjamin's tone remained steady, his dark eyes fixed on her face. "I trust you have no objections, Ms. Taylor?"

"No, none at all." Sophia straightened in her chair, forcing herself to meet his intense gaze.

Benjamin's eyes flickered slightly, his voice maintaining its cool distance. "Since there are no objections, we'll set the wedding date for the eighth of next month."

He slid a document across the table toward her, their eyes meeting briefly. "I'll handle all the wedding arrangements. You only need to..."

His gaze lingered on her lips for a moment before he concluded in a low voice, "Show up on time."

—

The next day, as Sophia prepared to leave her apartment, she found two gift boxes at her door.

The first bore the Wilson Group logo and contained a diamond-studded bracelet. The attached card read in Daniel's messy handwriting: [Baby! Stop being silly! —Daniel]

Sophia snorted at the message. Such a cheap, thoughtless gift—Daniel definitely hadn't chosen this himself.

The second box was deep purple velvet. When she opened it, her breath caught.

A Buccellati moonlight flower bracelet lay nestled in black satin, each petal set with premium purple crystals.

The card contained a single line: [I'll pick you up tomorrow. —Mr. Williams]

"Ethan?"

She whispered his name, her fingertips tracing the bracelet. This was the museum-quality piece that had sold at auction two years ago for fifty million dollars.

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't moved. A fiancé she'd barely met was showing such thoughtfulness, while Daniel, after five years together, couldn't even muster a sincere apology.

How pathetically ironic.

She pulled out her phone and scrolled to the very bottom of her contacts, finding Ethan's number.

They'd politely exchanged information a year ago but never communicated since.

Who could have predicted they'd become engaged?

Sophia sent her first message to him: [Thank you, I love it.]