She Hired Him as Her Fake Husband… He Never Expected to Fall in Love
Chapter 14
Fifteen years after their first agreement, Charlotte was forty-six.
Ethan was forty-eight.
Their daughter was twelve.
Bennett Holdings was stronger than ever.
But Charlotte was no longer obsessed with proving herself.
She had learned to delegate.
Trust.
Rest.
Live.
One evening, she and Ethan returned to the restaurant where they had first met.
The table was still there.
Charlotte smiled.
“You looked terrified.”
“I was.”
“You almost walked away.”
“I considered it.”
“Why didn’t you?”
He looked at her.
“Your eyes.”
She laughed.
“That doesn’t sound like you.”
“It wasn’t.”
They ordered the same dessert they had shared on their first night.
Then Ethan pulled out the old contract.
Charlotte laughed.
“You brought that again?”
“Yes.”
He opened it.
The first rule was still there.
No lying between us.
He took a pen.
Crossed out the words.
Then wrote beneath them.
No pretending, either.
Charlotte smiled.
“I like that.”
He folded the contract.
“Good.”
A waitress walked over.
“Would you like anything else?”
Charlotte looked at Ethan.
He smiled.
“No.”
They left the restaurant holding hands.
Outside, the city lights reflected off the pavement.
Charlotte looked at him.
“Do you ever think about how strange this is?”
“Yes.”
“Fake husband.”
“Real husband.”
She smiled.
“Best mistake I ever made.”
“Mine too.”
They kissed beneath the lights.
No cameras.
No family.
No contract.
Just love.
