Stories by NANA

💍 STORIES BY NANA

THE BRIDE RAN AWAY… SO THEY CHOSE HER SISTER

EPISODE 8 — A SMALL KINDNESS

Sometimes, it isn’t a grand gesture that changes everything.

Sometimes…

it’s simply someone asking,

“Are you okay?”

It happened almost by accident.

After another silent dinner, Amara couldn’t take the walls of the Cole mansion anymore.

She needed air.

She needed space.

She needed somewhere she could breathe without feeling like every room was reminding her that she didn’t belong there.

So she went outside.

The garden was quiet.

Moonlight spilled across the grass, and the old oak tree stood beneath the stars like it had been there long before the Cole family ever built their mansion.

Amara sat on a stone bench beneath its branches.

She tried to hold herself together.

She really did.

But before she realized it, tears were sliding down her cheeks.

Quiet tears.

Exhausted tears.

The kind she’d been holding back for days.

She quickly wiped them away.

She didn’t want anyone to see.

Especially not Ethan.

Then she heard footsteps.

Amara looked up.

A shadow fell across the grass.

“Amara?”

Her heart skipped.

Ethan stood a few feet away.

She quickly wiped her face again.

“I’m fine,” she said.

Then she added quietly,

“Just tired.”

She expected him to leave.

That would have been easier.

Instead, Ethan hesitated.

Then he walked toward the bench.

And sat beside her.

Not too close.

But closer than the careful distance he normally kept between them.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Then Ethan said quietly,

“You don’t have to talk.”

Amara looked at him.

“But you don’t have to pretend either.”

His voice softened.

“Not with me.”

Something inside her broke.

She let out a shaky breath.

“Everyone thinks I’m so strong.”

She stared at her hands.

“My mother. My father.”

A bitter little smile appeared.

“They call it ‘reliable Amara,’ like it’s a compliment.”

She swallowed.

“But sometimes…”

Her voice cracked.

“Sometimes I just want someone to ask if I’m okay instead of assuming I’ll handle it because I always have.”

Ethan was silent.

Then he asked the simplest question.

“Are you okay?”

Amara looked at him.

The question caught her completely off guard.

For the first time since she’d met Ethan, his face wasn’t guarded.

There was no businessman.

No cold husband.

No calculating expression.

Just a man sitting beside her.

Present.

Genuinely present.

Amara finally told the truth.

“No.”

She looked away.

“Not really.”

Ethan took a slow breath.

“Neither am I.”

Amara turned back toward him.

He surprised her again.

“I haven’t been for a long time.”

His eyes remained fixed on the garden.

“I’ve just gotten very good at looking like I am.”

Amara said nothing.

Neither did Ethan.

They simply sat there beneath the old oak tree.

Two people who had entered a marriage neither of them had chosen.

Two people carrying wounds neither had talked about.

And for the first time…

the silence between them didn’t feel like distance.

It felt like company.

After a long while, Ethan finally spoke.

“For what it’s worth…”

Amara looked at him.

“You didn’t ruin my life by walking down that aisle.”

She waited.

His voice became quieter.

“I was already living a fairly ruined one.”

He looked toward the dark garden.

“You just happened to be standing there when it collapsed a little further.”

Amara’s heart tightened.

It wasn’t quite an apology.

It wasn’t quite comfort.

But it was more honesty than he’d given her since the night he’d lifted her veil.

And somehow…

it was enough.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Ethan looked at her.

“For what?”

“For sitting with me.”

She smiled faintly.

“You didn’t have to.”

Ethan stood.

“I know.”

Then he extended his hand.

Amara looked down at it.

It was such a small gesture.

Almost unnecessary.

But she placed her hand in his.

He helped her stand.

For one brief moment, their hands remained together.

Neither of them moved.

Neither of them spoke.

Then they slowly let go.

Neither mentioned it again.

But something had changed beneath that old oak tree.

Something neither of them could see yet.

Something small.

Something fragile.

Something neither was ready to admit.

It was the first crack in walls that had taken years to build.

On both sides.

❤️ TO BE CONTINUED…

They were still married because of a lie.

They were still living together because of a contract.

And Ethan still told himself that this marriage had an expiration date.

But after tonight…

could six weeks really remain just six weeks?

👉 Follow Stories by Nana for Episode 9.

The story continues… ❤️

💍 STORIES BY NANA

THE BRIDE RAN AWAY… SO THEY CHOSE HER SISTER

EPISODE 7 — Why she said Yes

Amara had always been good at disappearing.

Not physically.

Emotionally.

She had spent years making herself smaller whenever someone else needed the room.

And now, sitting alone in the quiet library of the Cole mansion, she wondered if that was exactly what had brought her here.

She stared through the tall window at the dark garden outside.

The house was silent.

Everyone seemed to be asleep.

But Amara’s mind wouldn’t stop.

She thought about Bianca.

The wedding.

The lie.

The contract.

Ethan.

And the strange way her life had changed in less than a week.

She had married a man who wasn’t supposed to be hers.

She was living in a house that didn’t belong to her.

And somehow, beneath all the fear and confusion, there was another feeling beginning to grow.

Something she didn’t want to acknowledge.

Something small.

Something dangerous.

But some small, honest part of her whispered back—

This one is different.

A creak on the stairs made her turn.

Amara’s heart jumped.

Ethan stood in the doorway.

Still dressed.

His tie was loosened, his shirt slightly undone at the collar.

He looked as sleepless as she felt.

“Couldn’t sleep either?” he asked.

Amara shook her head.

“Thinking too much.”

Ethan hesitated.

Then, instead of leaving, he walked into the library.

And sat in the chair across from her.

Closer than he’d chosen to sit at any dinner since she had arrived.

“About what?”

Amara looked down at her hands.

She could have lied.

She could have given him the safe answer.

Nothing.

I’m fine.

But for some reason, tonight felt different.

So she told him the truth.

“About why I said yes.”

Ethan watched her quietly.

“To the veil,” she continued. “To the wedding. To all of it.”

Her voice became softer.

“My whole life, I’ve been the daughter who steps back so someone else can step forward.”

She swallowed.

“My sister got the piano lessons.”

A sad smile touched her lips.

“My sister got the attention.”

She looked toward the window.

“My sister got to run away from a wedding she didn’t want…”

Her voice cracked slightly.

“And I got to clean it up.”

A small, humorless laugh escaped her.

“I don’t even know if I said yes for my family…”

She paused.

“Or because some part of me is just… used to disappearing into whatever’s needed.”

The room fell silent.

Ethan didn’t interrupt.

He didn’t offer some empty piece of advice.

He simply listened.

For a long moment.

Then he spoke.

“I know something about disappearing into what’s needed.”

Amara slowly looked at him.

His voice was low.

Different.

“Different reasons,” he continued.

“Same shape.”

Amara’s expression softened.

“What do you mean?”

For a second, Ethan looked like he might actually answer.

Like he might finally let her see the man behind the perfectly controlled businessman.

But then the walls came back.

Almost instantly.

His face became unreadable again.

“Get some sleep, Amara.”

He stood.

“Tomorrow’s a long day.”

He walked toward the door.

Amara watched him go.

Then the door closed behind him.

She remained sitting there alone.

But this time…

the silence didn’t feel quite as cold.

Because for the first time, Amara realized something.

Ethan Cole wasn’t as different from her as she had thought.

They had both spent years becoming whatever other people needed them to be.

They had both learned to hide behind silence.

And maybe…

that was why, despite everything that had brought them together—

he was beginning to understand her.

But there was one question Amara couldn’t stop thinking about.

What had happened to Ethan Cole…

that made him understand what it meant to disappear?

And why did he look so afraid of letting anyone see the man underneath?

❤️ TO BE CONTINUED…

Ethan has secrets of his own.

What happened in his past?

Why has he built such strong walls around himself?

And what will happen when Amara becomes the one person who starts finding cracks in them?

👉 Follow Stories by Nana for Episode 8.

The story continues… ❤️

💍 STORIES BY NANA

THE BRIDE RAN AWAY… SO THEY CHOSE HER SISTER

EPISODE 6 — THE SUSPICIOUS MOTHER

Mrs. Cole knew something was wrong.

She just didn’t know what.

Yet.

“There’s something different about you.”

Mrs. Cole said it lightly, almost like a compliment.

But her eyes told Amara otherwise.

Three days after moving into the Cole mansion, Amara sat across from her mother-in-law in the elegant sunroom, both hands wrapped tightly around her teacup to keep them from shaking.

“Different how?” Amara asked carefully.

Mrs. Cole poured herself another cup of tea.

“When I met you at the engagement dinner, you were… livelier.”

She paused.

“More talkative.”

Then came the name Amara had been desperately trying not to hear.

“Bianca always had something clever to say.”

Mrs. Cole smiled.

But the smile never reached her eyes.

“You seem quieter now. More subdued.”

Amara forced a small laugh.

“Weddings are exhausting. I think I’m still recovering.”

It wasn’t exactly a lie.

Mrs. Cole studied her for several seconds.

Long enough to make Amara’s heart race.

Then, apparently satisfied for the moment, she changed the subject.

The foundation gala.

The seating arrangements.

The dress code.

The names of important guests.

A dozen little responsibilities Amara would now have to navigate as Mrs. Ethan Cole.

Amara listened carefully, memorizing everything.

But even while she nodded, she could feel it.

Mrs. Cole’s eyes kept returning to her face.

As though she were searching for something.

Something that didn’t make sense.

⸻

LATER THAT EVENING…

Amara found Ethan in his study.

He was sitting behind his desk, staring at a spreadsheet.

Except…

he didn’t seem to actually be reading it.

“Your mother suspects something.”

Ethan’s eyes immediately lifted.

“What did she say?”

“That I seem different.”

Amara crossed her arms protectively.

“Quieter than I was at the engagement dinner.”

She took a breath.

“Ethan, I’ve never met your mother before three days ago. I don’t know what Bianca said to her, how she acted, or what stories they might have shared.”

Her voice lowered.

“If she starts asking specific questions…”

“She won’t.”

Ethan’s answer came immediately.

Amara frowned.

“You sound very sure.”

His jaw tightened.

“Not directly.”

He closed the laptop.

“My mother doesn’t confront people.”

He leaned back.

“She circles.”

Amara stared at him.

“She’ll watch. She’ll wait. She’ll gather evidence before she ever says a word to me.”

Amara’s eyes widened.

“That’s not reassuring.”

“It wasn’t meant to be.”

For a moment, Ethan rubbed a hand over his face.

And for the first time, Amara saw something beneath the powerful businessman.

He looked exhausted.

Like a man carrying far too many secrets.

“We need to get our story straight,” he said.

“Our story?”

“Simple things.”

He began counting them off.

“Where you grew up. Your favorite color. How we met. Things a real couple would know without thinking.”

Amara stared at him.

“You want to rehearse a marriage.”

Ethan’s expression remained serious.

“I want to survive the next six weeks.”

He paused.

“There’s a difference.”

Amara studied him for a long moment.

This man spoke about survival the way other people spoke about the weather.

Matter-of-fact.

Resigned.

Finally, she sighed.

“Fine.”

Ethan looked at her.

“Ask me something.”

He blinked.

“What?”

“You said we need to know things about each other.”

She leaned back in her chair.

“So ask me something real.”

A pause.

“Something your mother might ask.”

Ethan thought for a moment.

Then he asked quietly:

“What’s your favorite color?”

Amara smiled faintly.

“Green.”

Ethan waited.

“Like the color of the hills near my grandmother’s house,” she explained, “before we moved to the city.”

She tilted her head.

“Your turn.”

Something changed in Ethan’s expression.

“Something real.”

He hesitated.

Almost as though the question had crossed into a part of his life where he didn’t allow visitors.

Finally, he answered.

“Black.”

Amara frowned.

“Why?”

“No particular story.”

He looked down.

“Just easier.”

Amara stared at him.

“That’s not a real answer.”

Ethan’s lips twitched slightly.

“It’s the only one you’re getting tonight.”

And somehow…

the quiet amusement in his voice made Amara smile.

Not the polite smile she had been giving everyone since she entered the Cole mansion.

A real smile.

Unplanned.

Unprotected.

For the first time since their wedding…

they both smiled.

Ethan noticed it.

And Amara noticed that he noticed.

For one brief second, the tension between them disappeared.

There was no contract.

No six-week arrangement.

No deception.

No Bianca.

Just two people sitting across from each other…

talking.

Something shifted between them.

Something neither of them was ready to name.

But they weren’t alone.

Outside the study…

Mrs. Cole had stopped walking.

She stood silently near the door.

Listening.

She heard the low murmur of their voices.

Then…

quiet laughter.

Her expression hardened.

She didn’t knock.

She didn’t enter.

She simply stood there, listening.

Then she slowly walked away.

Her mind already working.

Something was wrong.

Bianca had never behaved like this.

And Mrs. Cole intended to find out why.

❤️ TO BE CONTINUED…

Mrs. Cole is suspicious.

But what will she do when she starts digging into Amara’s past?

Will she discover that the woman living under her roof is NOT Bianca?

And if she does…

will she expose Amara before the six weeks are over?

👉 Follow Stories by Nana for Episode 7.

The story continues… ❤️

💍 STORIES BY NANA

THE BRIDE RAN AWAY… SO THEY CHOSE HER SISTER

EPISODE 5 — MOVING IN

She had married a man who didn’t love her.

Now she had to live under the same roof with him.

The Cole mansion was less a home and more a monument.

Amara stood in the marble-floored entryway, a single suitcase beside her, staring up at the sweeping double staircase.

A crystal chandelier hung above her.

Portraits of stern-faced Cole ancestors watched from gilded frames.

Everything about the house whispered money that had existed for generations.

The kind of wealth that made her family’s modest comfort look like poverty by comparison.

“This way, Mrs. Cole.”

The title made Amara flinch.

A housekeeper named Greta led her down a long hallway, her heels clicking against the marble.

No small talk.

No warmth.

Just cool, professional silence.

Amara had expected the staff to be curious about her.

Instead, she felt their eyes following her like she was an intruder who hadn’t yet been caught.

“Your room,” Greta said.

She opened the door to a beautifully appointed guest suite.

Amara stepped inside.

Then she noticed something.

It was separate from what she assumed was Ethan’s wing of the house.

“Mr. Cole keeps a private schedule,” Greta explained. “Breakfast is at seven, should you choose to join him. Otherwise, meals can be brought to your room.”

“Thank you,” Amara said quietly.

But somehow, the offer didn’t feel like kindness.

It felt like a boundary.

Stay out of his way.

The door closed.

Amara was alone.

She stood by the window for almost an hour, looking out over gardens that stretched farther than she could see.

Everything was beautiful.

The house was magnificent.

The grounds were breathtaking.

Yet somehow…

nothing felt like it belonged to her.

She felt like a specimen placed carefully behind glass.

By evening, hunger finally drove her downstairs.

Following the smell of food, she thought she was heading toward the kitchen.

Instead, she found herself standing in a formal dining room.

And she stopped.

A single place had been set at one end of an impossibly long table.

At the other end sat Ethan.

His laptop was open beside his plate.

He wasn’t looking at her.

“You can sit,” he said without glancing up.

Then, almost casually:

“I don’t bite.”

Amara hesitated.

Then she took the seat closest to her own place setting.

Dozens of feet separated them.

The distance between them felt deliberate.

Symbolic.

They ate in silence.

For several minutes, the only sounds were the soft clinking of silverware and Ethan’s occasional typing.

Amara glanced down the enormous table.

Then back at him.

“You don’t have to work through dinner,” she said finally, mostly to fill the unbearable silence.

“I don’t have to do most things,” Ethan replied, still typing.

“I choose to.”

His fingers continued moving across the keyboard.

“It’s efficient.”

Amara stared at him.

Then the words slipped out before she could stop herself.

“It’s lonely.”

Ethan’s fingers stopped.

Silence.

Slowly, he looked up.

And for the first time since their wedding night…

he really looked at her.

Something flickered behind his eyes.

Something Amara couldn’t name.

But it disappeared almost as quickly as it came.

“You get used to it,” he said quietly.

Then he looked back down at his laptop.

Amara said nothing.

She finished her meal in silence.

But as she watched the man sitting alone at the opposite end of that impossibly long table, one thought kept returning to her.

For someone who had everything…

Ethan Cole seemed remarkably determined to have nothing at all.

And Amara didn’t know it yet…

but that was about to change.

❤️ TO BE CONTINUED…

She had entered the Cole mansion as a stranger.

But what happens when Ethan slowly begins to see the woman behind the deception?

Will the six-week arrangement remain nothing more than a business deal?

Or will living under the same roof begin to change something neither of them expected?

👉 Follow Stories by Nana for Episode 6.

The story continues… ❤️

💍 STORIES BY NANA

THE BRIDE RAN AWAY… SO THEY CHOSE HER SISTER

EPISODE 4 — THE CONTRACT

She had married a stranger.

Now she was being asked to sign a contract that would decide exactly what their “marriage” meant.

Amara didn’t sleep that night.

She sat curled up in an armchair by the window of the guest room she’d been shown to, still in her wedding dress until the early hours.

She stared at the manicured gardens below as the sky slowly turned from black to gray.

Somewhere down the hall, behind a closed door, her husband was doing the same thing, she imagined.

Awake.

Furious.

Recalculating a life he had never agreed to.

Then, at seven in the morning, there was a knock.

Amara straightened.

She expected Ethan.

But it wasn’t him.

A sharply dressed woman stood at the door, holding a tablet. Her expression was unreadable.

“Ms. Reyes,” she introduced herself. “Mr. Cole’s assistant.”

Amara frowned.

“Mr. Cole would like to see you in his study,” the woman continued. “There’s a document.”

Amara’s stomach dropped.

A document?

She followed Ms. Reyes down a long hallway lined with cold modern art and closed doors.

They entered a study that smelled of leather and old paper.

Ethan was already there.

Dressed for the day.

Standing behind a large desk.

A folder lay open in front of him.

“Sit,” he said without looking up.

Amara sat.

Ethan slid the folder across the desk.

She stared at the top page.

A formal contract.

Dense with legal language.

And at the top, typed in black letters, was her name.

Where Bianca’s name should have been.

Amara looked up.

“What is this?”

“Terms,” Ethan replied.

He leaned back slightly.

“Since we’re stuck with each other for the next six weeks, at minimum, I’d prefer everything to be clear.”

His eyes met hers.

“No ambiguity. No misunderstandings.”

Amara began reading.

Her eyes moved down the page.

Public appearances as required.

No physical intimacy implied or expected.

Financial obligations to the Okafor family voided upon completion of the merger period.

And then—

Confidentiality regarding the circumstances of the marriage, permanent and binding.

Amara slowly looked up.

“You’ve thought of everything.”

“I run a company,” Ethan said calmly.

“I think of everything.”

For the first time that morning, Amara really looked at him.

Without the anger of the previous night, Ethan looked different.

Not softer.

Just tired.

There were dark circles beneath his eyes.

His jaw was tense.

He looked like a man who had suddenly been handed a problem he couldn’t control.

“And if I don’t sign it?” Amara asked.

Ethan didn’t hesitate.

“Then I make a phone call.”

He paused.

“And your father’s debt becomes due in full, effective immediately.”

Amara’s heart sank.

“I imagine you understand what that means for your family better than I do.”

It wasn’t a threat.

That was what made it worse.

It was simply a fact.

Delivered without anger.

Without malice.

Like a man stating the weather.

Amara looked down at the contract.

Then at the pen.

She reached for it.

But before signing, she stopped.

“One condition.”

Ethan raised an eyebrow.

“You’re not really in a position to negotiate.”

“Maybe not.”

Amara looked directly into his eyes.

“But I’m going to anyway.”

For the first time, Ethan was completely silent.

“Whatever this is,” Amara continued, “a contract, an arrangement, whatever word you want to use…”

Her voice remained steady.

“I won’t be treated like staff in this house.”

Ethan’s expression changed slightly.

“I made a mistake walking down that aisle in my sister’s place,” she continued.

“But I am still a person.”

She placed her hand firmly on the contract.

“Not a line item in your merger paperwork.”

Silence filled the room.

Ethan studied her.

His expression was impossible to read.

For a moment, Amara wondered if she had gone too far.

Then he finally spoke.

“Fine.”

Amara blinked.

“You’ll be treated with the respect due to my wife,” he said.

“Publicly and privately.”

He paused.

“That’s the one thing I can promise you.”

Amara nodded.

“Then we have a deal.”

She picked up the pen.

And signed her name.

Amara.

Beneath the terms of a marriage that wasn’t real.

In a house that wasn’t hers.

Bound to a man who had made it painfully clear this was nothing more than a business transaction.

She placed the pen down.

Neither of them spoke.

But Amara didn’t know something.

Something even Ethan himself hadn’t fully understood.

Buried inside his carefully worded contract was one particular clause:

NO PHYSICAL INTIMACY IMPLIED OR EXPECTED.

A strange clause.

A deliberate clause.

Almost as if some quiet part of Ethan Cole already knew he would need to protect himself.

Not from Amara.

But from something far more dangerous.

A feeling he refused to name.

And neither of them knew it yet…

But six weeks was going to be a very long time.

❤️ TO BE CONTINUED…

What happens when Amara moves into Ethan’s house and they are forced to live together for six weeks?

Will Ethan continue treating her like a business arrangement?

Or will the woman he never chose slowly become the woman he can’t imagine losing?

👉 Follow Stories by Nana for Episode 5.

The story continues… ❤️

💍 STORIES BY NANA

THE BRIDE RAN AWAY… SO THEY CHOSE HER SISTER

EPISODE 3— WHEN ETHAN LIFTED THE VEIL

He thought he had married Bianca.

He was wrong.

The private suite was silent except for the soft click of the door locking behind them.

For the first time that day, there were no guests.

No cameras.

No music.

No applause.

Just Amara…

and the man she had been pretending to marry.

She stood frozen near the window, still dressed in Bianca’s wedding gown, the heavy veil trembling with every breath she couldn’t quite control.

Behind her, Ethan Cole loosened his tie with slow, deliberate movements, like a man giving himself time before he had to deal with his new wife.

“You didn’t say much today,” he said finally, not turning around.

“I appreciate that. Weddings are exhausting enough without commentary.”

Amara said nothing.

Her heart was hammering so loudly she was certain he could hear it across the room.

Then Ethan turned.

He studied her with the detached curiosity of a man closing a business deal.

“We should discuss logistics,” he said. “My assistant will brief you tomorrow on your public schedule, appearances, the foundation gala next month—”

“Ethan.”

The name escaped her lips before she could stop herself.

Silence.

Ethan’s expression changed.

He narrowed his eyes.

“You’ve never called me by my first name.”

Amara’s stomach tightened.

“Not once, in three meetings with your father. You always said ‘Mr. Cole.’”

Amara couldn’t breathe.

“I—”

But it was already too late.

Ethan crossed the room in three long strides.

Before Amara could move, his hand reached for the veil.

She flinched.

He lifted the lace away from her face.

And then…

Ethan went completely still.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke.

His eyes moved slowly across her face.

Confusion.

Shock.

Disbelief.

Then his expression hardened.

“You’re not Bianca.”

Amara’s lips trembled.

“Ethan, please. Let me explain—”

“Who are you?”

His voice was quiet.

Too quiet.

“Where is she?”

Amara swallowed.

“Where is the woman I signed a marriage contract with three weeks ago?”

“She ran.”

The words came out quickly.

“This morning. She left a note. She said she was in love with someone else and couldn’t go through with the marriage.”

Ethan stared at her.

“And you?”

Amara’s eyes filled with tears.

“My mother asked me to take her place.”

A muscle tightened in Ethan’s jaw.

“My family would lose everything if the wedding didn’t happen,” Amara continued. “The company, the house… everything. I didn’t know what else to do.”

Ethan took a step toward her.

“You committed fraud.”

Amara froze.

“At a legal ceremony,” he continued, his voice dangerously calm, “in front of two hundred witnesses, with my family’s name attached to it.”

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“Everyone has a choice.”

He turned away from her.

His hands pressed against the windowsill as he stared into the dark garden below.

“I am calling this off.”

Amara’s heart dropped.

“Tonight.”

He continued without looking at her.

“I’ll have my lawyers draft an annulment by morning. Your family can explain to the press exactly what kind of deception—”

“Wait!”

Her voice cracked.

Ethan turned sharply.

“If you do that,” Amara said, forcing herself to stand her ground, “it won’t just hurt my family.”

Ethan stared at her.

“It will hurt yours too.”

His eyes narrowed.

“Everyone will know the Cole family was tricked at the altar.”

She took a shaky breath.

“Your father’s company is already—”

Ethan’s expression changed instantly.

“What do you know about my father’s company?”

Amara froze.

She hadn’t meant to say it.

She had only overheard her father weeks earlier, speaking anxiously on the phone.

Something about the Cole family’s stock prices.

Something about a merger.

Something about the marriage being important to the deal.

But Ethan had heard enough.

The anger in his eyes slowly disappeared.

And something colder replaced it.

Calculation.

The businessman had returned.

“Sit down,” he said.

Amara obeyed.

Ethan paced across the room once.

Then twice.

His mind was clearly racing through possibilities.

Finally, he stopped in front of her.

“Here’s what is going to happen.”

Amara looked up at him.

“This marriage stays intact.”

Her eyes widened.

“Publicly.”

He continued.

“My father’s merger closes in six weeks. And it needs this wedding to have happened cleanly.”

Amara stared at him.

“So…”

“The moment the merger is complete, we discuss an exit.”

His voice remained cold.

“Quietly. No scandal. No press. No humiliation for either family.”

Amara’s throat tightened.

“And until then?”

Ethan’s eyes met hers.

“Until then, you live in my house.”

He paused.

“You play the role.”

Another pause.

“And you speak to no one about what happened today.”

Amara nodded slowly.

Then Ethan stepped closer.

“This is not a marriage, Amara.”

She looked at him.

“It’s an arrangement.”

His eyes were unreadable.

“Don’t mistake it for anything else.”

Amara swallowed the lump in her throat.

“Understood.”

Ethan turned toward the door.

His hand reached for the handle.

Then he stopped.

“One more thing.”

Amara looked up.

He didn’t turn around.

“Don’t ever lie to me again.”

The door closed.

Click.

Amara sat alone in the middle of the enormous honeymoon suite.

Still wearing her sister’s wedding dress.

Still holding the veil in her lap.

Married to a man who already despised her.

She looked around the room and finally allowed the tears she had been holding back all day to fall.

She had thought surviving the wedding would be the hardest part.

She was wrong.

Because tomorrow, she would wake up in Ethan Cole’s house.

She would have to pretend to be his wife.

She would have to smile beside him in public.

She would have to live under the same roof with a man who believed she had deceived him.

And neither of them knew what was coming.

Because sometimes…

the marriage you enter for survival becomes the marriage that changes your entire life.

❤️ TO BE CONTINUED…

But what happens when Ethan and Amara are forced to live under the same roof?

Will Ethan eventually discover the real reason Bianca ran away?

Will Amara be able to keep pretending?

And what happens when the man who says, “This is not a marriage,” begins to see the woman behind the lie?

👉 Follow Stories by Nana for the next episode. The story continues…