The Billionaire's Contract Bride

1: 1

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.

2: 2

When I woke the next morning, Keith was already out of bed.

I stepped out of the bedroom to find him at the dining table, reading a financial report while he waited for me to eat.

He was frowning, as if the numbers on the page troubled him.

I sat down across from him and pushed back the urge to ask about the marriage alliance.

When he saw me, he set aside what he'd been reading and bent his head to his breakfast.

No small talk, no real conversation, no explanation of any kind.

After a long silence, I finally couldn't help myself. "Do you have work later?"

He nodded and said, flatly,

"Things have been busy lately."

I nodded and said nothing.

All these years, I'd been everything a kept bird in a gilded cage should be. Sweet, obedient, never prying into his work.

And yet now I heard myself ask, "Is it because of the Chandler business?"

He seemed a little surprised. He looked up at me. "What is it?"

Before I could answer, he went on, "Once this stretch is behind us, everything will be settled, and you"

Right. The three years were up. Everything was meant to go back to the way it was before, and I was meant to leave.

He seemed to keep talking, but I couldn't catch a single word of it. Before he finished, I stood. "I've got filming later. I'll head out first."

Even after I got to set, Keith's words were still turning over in my head.

My timing was badly off today. A simple scene took take after take.

We ran it over and over until the director finally couldn't stand it and let out an irritated sigh.

"Take a break. We'll shoot someone else first."

I knew he hadn't lost his temper not out of any regard for me, but because of the man behind me.

I was sitting off to the side, staring at nothing, when a ripple went through the crew.

"Oh my God, are you seeing this? Keith Stephens just walked in with Yuki Chandler."

"Why would the two of them come here?"

"You don't know? Stephens is this show's biggest investor. Probably here to check on things and get in some couple time while he's at it."

That was when I noticed people glancing my way.

"That leading lady of ours, isn't she the one who was supposedly with Mr. Stephens? How'd she end up out in the cold?"

"This is the industry. You still don't get it? It's just for fun. Who knows how many people he's run through. When he actually marries, he'll pick someone who matches him."

I lowered my eyes, not wanting to dwell on what they said.

While I sat there blank, a woman came and stood in front of me, her voice sweet in my ears.

"You're Lois, aren't you? I love watching your shows."

"I remember one you did a while back... the one where the lead girl does whatever it takes to marry into money, right? Your acting's so good. It didn't look like acting at all."

I lifted my head and met a pair of sweet, innocent eyes.

Keith stood beside her, holding an umbrella over her. He frowned, but said nothing.

He didn't explain what they were to each other, and he didn't stop her plain, open malice either.

I wasn't surprised. In all these years, Keith had never made our relationship public in front of anyone, never once introduced me to a soul.

A few times the media had caught us in the same frame, and he'd buried every one of those photos clean.

But with Yuki, he could let the engagement news fly everywhere, let anyone speculate in broad daylight.

I forced out a smile, made an excuse about needing to reshoot a scene, and turned and walked away.

The director had clearly seen all of that too, and, as if certain now that the marriage-alliance story was real, his attitude flipped a hundred and eighty degrees on the spot.

"Are you sleepwalking? I want a choked-up sob, not some corpse gasping for its last breath!"

"Don't play dumb when you know exactly what I mean. Why do you think this production keeps you around? No leverage, then keep your head down and do your job!"

The director went on cursing, but not a word of it landed. My head was full of the image of Keith holding that umbrella over her.

Choked up? I really was about to cry.

Every time I told myself this was just a relationship where each of us took what we needed, Keith would give me some extra illusion to cling to.

But the world's verdict, and his own attitude, told me I had no right to think any of it.

I only wanted to know what, in his eyes, I even was.

3: 3

Maybe it was because my feelings had hit their peak, but the last take came out well.

When I got back to the villa, Keith was sitting on the couch, drinking.

He was an extremely controlled man. He never let too much emotion show in front of anyone, and he never let alcohol dull him.

Maybe it took Yuki showing up to make him lose his composure like this.

"You're back. Why so late?"

"Cast dinner. We ate late."

I didn't want to say anything more to him. I was afraid that if I said a few more words, I wouldn't be able to hold back the question buried in my heart, afraid of hearing the answer I dreaded.

I walked straight toward the bedroom, but I'd barely taken a step when Keith caught me from behind.

Three years together, and he'd rarely held me like this.

The gesture was too warm, too tender for what we were.

This embrace was too gentle, and too heavy, like the last bit of tenderness before a storm, plainly marking the end of this relationship.

Before I could react, his voice came from behind me.

"You've been in a bad way lately. Nothing you want to say?"

I shook my head.

Say what? Ask him when he planned to send me off, or ask what day his wedding was set for?

"I'm tired. I'm going to bed." I pushed out of his arms.

Keith didn't say anything more. But that night, he kissed me, again and again.

I answered his kisses, but inside I felt like some piece of me had gone missing.

When I woke the next morning, Keith had already left. All he'd left on the table was breakfast and a note.

"Breakfast is on the table. Don't forget to eat."

He was always this thoughtful. So how could he not see the news flying everywhere, how could he not sense that I was falling apart?

I sat in a bedroom full of my own things, and felt no sense of belonging at all.

I'd never been one to fight for anything. In middle school I always waited for everyone else to finish eating before I went to the cafeteria. In college I refused to compete for any award or honor. In this industry I wouldn't claw myself bloody over a role.

I'd never pursued anyone, either. If I fell for someone who had many admirers, I'd give up without hesitation.

Whatever fate gave me, I took. Whatever it wanted to take away, I let go.

I always felt that fighting someone for something was too humiliating, too ugly.

But with Keith, for the first time, I wanted to fight for myself.

I went to his company, thinking of all the things I wanted to say the whole way there.

I wanted to ask if he was really going through with the marriage alliance with the Chandlers, wanted to ask if he still couldn't let go of Yuki.

But turning it over and over, what I most wanted to ask was whether, in these three years, he had ever liked me at all. Even a little. Even that, and I wouldn't want to let go.

4: 4

I went to his company, a place I'd barely set foot in these three years.

The old me never knew what standing I had to walk in, or what reason I had to meddle in his affairs.

This was the first time I worked up the courage.

When I reached the office door, it stood open, and I saw Yuki inside.

Keith's voice came from within.

Even now I still care. I'll take responsibility for you.

All at once I couldn't think at all.

I've arranged everything, so don't worry. If nothing else comes up, let's make it next month.

Next month. Just like the media said.

Then have you told her? I heard Yuki's voice from inside the office.

Not yet. There's no rush.

But I'll find the time. You don't have to worry about that.

Then Yuki wrapped her arms around him from behind.

I knew it. You're still the one I like best.

Something buzzed in my head, and before I'd even caught up to it, my body had already moved and carried me away from there.

I drifted through the whole way back in a daze, no idea how I even got home.

Keith didn't come back that night. I didn't ask. I knew I had no right to.

I was only a kept bird in a gilded cage. What right did I have to question anything he did?

And soon enough, even that place would be gone.

I slept, and in the dream Keith held out a bouquet and a diamond ring and asked me to marry him.

But when I woke, there was nothing beside me.

The sky was already turning gray, and I couldn't sleep anymore.

I rolled over and felt something under the pillow digging into my head.

I pulled it out, and the dream and the waking world folded into one.

It was a ring box.

I opened it. The ring was beautiful, almost exactly the one I'd pictured in the dream.

Engraved inside the band was a P&Y, plainly meant for him and Yuki.

I gave a small laugh. She'd been back in the country only a few days, and Keith had already arranged the wedding and prepared the ring.

I didn't want to guess anymore, didn't want to hang my future on this hollow, weightless thing. I gave up.

Just then I heard footsteps outside the door.

I put the ring back under the pillow, wiped my eyes dry, and pretended I knew nothing.

Keith was back. He looked a little tired, but I still caught that faint trace of perfume on him.

The moment he saw me, he spoke You came looking for me yesterday? Why didn't you wait for me? You just left.

Is there nothing you want to ask me? Let's talk

Calmly, I said the words I'd never had the courage to say before.

Let's break up.