Maya's POV
The thought hung between us like something I could almost touch. Penny's advice kept spinning through my head, impossible to shake. Break the contract? Make this fake marriage real? The idea terrified me because I'd never dared to dream it might be possible.
Bianca's cruel words surfaced again, sharp as ever:
"No one will ever choose someone like you."
How could someone like Sebastian Sterling, with his wealth and sophistication, with an entire wine empire waiting for him, ever want to stay with me once our deal was finished? Once his grandfather was satisfied and the contract fulfilled?
"I don't know if he would even want..."
"Did you ask him?"
"Absolutely not!"
"Then how could you possibly know?" Penny's frustration came through the phone clearly. "Look, he's taking you to special places, buying you jewelry, having incredible sex with you in those vineyards—"
"I never said it was incredible!"
