Nova's POV
My lungs refused to cooperate.
The room spun, tilting sideways, like my body had just processed a trauma it couldn't quite name. I sat down hard on the edge of the bed, the phone still glowing in my hand. That photo. That caption. The grainy image etched itself into my retinas, like it wanted to be tattooed into my memory forever.
Leon, outside Camilla's building.
At midnight.
The time on the timestamp glared back at me: 12:07 AM.
Tonight.
He'd left—he told me it was for a late meeting with board members. I hadn't even questioned it. I was too busy drafting a press release to save both our asses from the fallout of the leak. I was here, trying to protect him.
And he was with her.
I swallowed hard. My throat burned with unshed screams.
Not just because of what it looked like… but because of what it might mean.
"Stop," I whispered to myself. "Don't go there. Don't assume."
But the voice in my head, the one that sounded far too much like my mother sneered, If it looks like betrayal, and it hurts like betrayal…
I shoved the phone away and stood, pacing the room in tight, jagged circles.
Was this what he'd meant when he said he didn't plan for me? That he hadn't expected to care?
Was he still in love with her?
Was I just a filler until she came back?
I hated how much that possibility hurt.
Because deep down… I'd started to think we were something more than a contract.
I sank onto the floor, my knees pressing into the cold tile. Maybe I should've seen this coming. Maybe I was stupid for believing the soft looks and whispered jokes and the way he held me like I was breakable.
Like I mattered.
But if I didn't matter… why the hell was I still here?
And why did it hurt so much to think about leaving?
Leon's POV
I didn't even bother knocking on her door.
I knew she wouldn't answer.
Instead, I stood outside the guest room like a goddamn stranger in my own house, forehead pressed to the wood, fists clenched at my sides.
"Nova," I said quietly. "Please."
Nothing.
No sound. No footsteps. No breath.
Just the silence she wore like armor.
I backed away slowly, swallowing the panic that burned up my throat.
That photo… that stupid, manipulated photo.
I should've known Camilla wouldn't go quietly.
She had motive, access, and one hell of a vendetta. I'd met with her only to get her off our backs, to offer a settlement in exchange for shutting the hell up. I didn't even go inside the building, I waited downstairs in the cold, kept it short, firm.
But none of that mattered now.
What mattered was what Nova saw.
And what Nova felt.
Because if I knew anything about her… it wasn't the lie that would break her.
It was the idea that I'd chosen someone else.
And that? That was unforgivable.
Nova's POV
The next morning came too fast.
Sunlight spilled across the floor like it didn't know everything had shattered.
I was still in yesterday's clothes. My body ached from sleeping in a tight, tense curl on the couch.
When I finally opened the door, the house was empty.
Or maybe just emotionally hollow.
There was a note on the kitchen island. My name in Leon's handwriting.
I stared at it for a full thirty seconds before touching it.
Nova—
I'm not going to defend the photo. I know how it looks, and I know how much it hurts. But please believe me when I say there's more to the story than what Camilla wants the world to see.
I'll be back this evening. There's something I need to do.
If you're still here when I get back… I'll tell you everything. No more secrets.
—Leon
I crushed the note in my fist before I could think too hard about what I wanted it to mean.
Because what if I did want to stay?
What if I wanted to hear him out?
Would that make me weak?
Or just human?
Before I could spiral again, my phone buzzed. It was Justin.
"Hey," I answered, my voice scratchy.
"Nova." His voice was sharp, urgent. "You need to get online. Now. You're trending everywhere."
My stomach dropped. "What is it now? Another leak?"
"Not a leak," he said. "A war. Camilla just did a full interview. On live television. And she's calling you in her words 'a glorified escort with a ring.'"
Leon's POV
I watched the screen like it was a slow-motion train crash.
Camilla was on a red velvet couch, her legs crossed, her smile tight and performative.
"She seduced him," she said sweetly. "Nova knew exactly what she was doing. She played innocent, but she married Leon for the money. I mean… come on. Fifty grand a month? Who wouldn't say yes?"
The host nodded along like a bobblehead. "And the contract? Is it real?"
Camilla held up her phone. "Oh, it's real. I've got a copy. Want to see the line where she agreed to act like she loved him in public?"
I turned off the screen.
My jaw was clenched so hard it hurt.
I wanted to burn the world down.
Not for me.
But for Nova.
Because this? This was character assassination.
And it was my fault.
Nova's POV
I didn't cry.
Not even when the interview went viral, or when Justin texted me, "We need crisis PR ASAP."
No, I didn't cry until the very last part of the interview when Camilla smirked into the camera and said:
"Leon deserves better. Someone who didn't treat marriage like a business deal."
That was when the tears came.
Not for her lies.
But because a part of me believed her.
Because I had agreed to this. I had signed the contract.
Even if I fell for Leon later… the beginning had still been a transaction.
And now the world knew.
Leon's POV
When I returned to the penthouse, the silence was deafening.
But this time, the door to the guest room was open.
And Nova was gone.
Panic bloomed in my chest. I checked every room. Nothing.
I was about to call her when I saw it:
A piece of paper on my desk.
Typed. Simple. Clean.
Dear Leon,
I don't know what's true anymore.
I don't know if what we had was real or if I just wanted it to be.
But I do know this:
I can't stay here waiting to be chosen.
I won't compete with your past.
When you're ready to tell me the truth and only the truth
You know where to find me.
—Nova
Nova's POV
I didn't go far.
Just to a hotel downtown, the kind where no one asked questions and everything smelled like too much bleach.
I needed space. Air. Silence that didn't echo with someone else's guilt.
But when I laid on the bed, the truth came crashing in like a wave.
I didn't want to be away from him.
I just didn't want to be hurt by him anymore.
And until I knew the truth…
Distance was the only shield I had left.
Leon's POV
Two days passed.
I let them. I let the silence breathe.
But not because I didn't care.
Because I needed to finish what I started.
Because I had one shot to fix this, and it meant doing something I should've done from the beginning:
Burn the damn contract.
Camilla didn't expect me to go public. She didn't expect me to fight.
But that night, I went live.
One statement.
One camera.
Me.
"Yes, there was a contract. Yes, it was real. And yes, it was a mistake. But not for the reasons you think. The mistake wasn't marrying Nova. The mistake was pretending like I didn't care from the beginning.
Nova didn't buy her way into my life.
I begged her to save it.
And if anyone should be ashamed of how this marriage started, it's me.
But I'm not ashamed of how I feel about her now.
I love her. And I will spend the rest of my life proving it.
Even if she never forgives me."
Nova's POV
I watched the video three times.
Not because I didn't believe him.
But because I needed to.
Because part of me had been waiting, aching to hear him say those words out loud.
He'd never said it before.
Never told me he loved me.
And now he had.
Not in the privacy of our bedroom, but in front of the whole damn world.
So why was my heart still trembling?
Because words were easy.
It was actions that mattered now.
Leon's POV
I stood outside her hotel.
I didn't call ahead.
Didn't send flowers.
Didn't bring apologies rehearsed in a mirror.
Just me.
Heart in hand.
Hoping it wasn't too late.
The elevator dinged.
Her door opened.
And there she was.
Beautiful.
Tired.
Guarded.
But still… her.
"I saw your video," she said.
I nodded. "I meant every word."
A long pause.
Then: "So… what now?"
I took a breath. "Now, we start over."
She tilted her head. "No contracts?"
"No lies."
"No exes?"
"No competition."
Her eyes searched mine.
Then she said the one thing I hadn't dared to hope for.
"Okay."