Sophia was in her office when the letter arrived.
It was formal and official-looking, from her family's law office. It was time, the letter said, to make a decision about her marriage. The one-year mark had passed. According to the original contract, she could either commit to the full five years or leave and accept the financial penalties.
She stared at the letter for a long time.
In one year, everything had changed. She'd gone from viewing marriage as a trap to seeing it as a foundation. She'd built a daughter with this man. She'd built a life.
But the letter made her realize something important: they'd never actually discussed what happened after the first year in terms of their real plans. They were living day to day, and she realized that Ethan might not have made the same choice she had.
That evening, she showed him the letter.
Ethan read it slowly, then looked at her. "What do you want to do?"
"I asked first."
"No, you showed me a letter and made me think about something we should have talked about months ago." He set the letter down. "Sophia, I'm asking what you want. Honestly."
"I want to stay married to you." The words came out confident, sure. "I want to keep building our life. I want to watch Elena grow up with both of us. I want to keep competing with you in business while being on the same team in everything else. I want all of it."
"Then we don't need to even think about this letter." Ethan took her hand. "Because I want the same thing."
"But we should probably make it official. Not legally—legally it's already official. I mean, we should talk about what we want our future to look like. When we're fifty. When Elena's getting married. All of it."
"Okay." Ethan pulled her close. "Let's talk about forever."
They talked late into the night. About their dreams. About the business empires they wanted to build. About the kind of parents they wanted to be. About whether they might have more children. About where they wanted to live when Elena was older.
About everything except the contract that had started it all.
By morning, they'd made a decision. They were going to burn the contract.
Sophia called her family lawyer. "The contract is null and void," she told him. "My marriage is no longer bound by those terms. Please file whatever paperwork is necessary."
The lawyer sputtered about penalties and conditions, but Sophia didn't care. She'd moved on from that life. The forced marriage had transformed into a chosen one.
That night, they had a small ceremony of their own. Ethan had gotten his hands on a copy of the original contract—the one their grandparents had signed, the one that had brought them together.
They burned it in the fireplace of their penthouse.
"Here's to our own story," Ethan said, watching the paper turn to ash. "Not the one written by our families. Not the one dictated by contracts and obligations. Our story."
"Our story," Sophia repeated.
The next morning, something unexpected happened.
Sophia's company landed a major contract. A contract that would make her expansion plans possible. Her team called to tell her she'd won a bid against three other companies.
An hour later, Ethan called.
"Congratulations," he said.
"Thank you. I'm sorry, by the way. I probably stole one of your team's leads to get this."
"Probably." He laughed. "I'm actually not upset because I landed something bigger that same morning. We're both winning, which means we're both awesome."
"We really are."
"There's a reason we were set up together," Ethan said. "Beyond the contract and the business and all of it. I think on some level, our families knew that we were perfect for each other. Not despite our competitiveness, but because of it."
"Are you getting philosophical on me, Blake?"
"Maybe. I'm allowed. I'm your husband. I can be philosophical if I want."
"Fair point."
That night, they celebrated both wins. They got a babysitter for Elena and went out to dinner, just the two of them. They talked about their successes. They laughed about the things that were hard. They sat across from each other and still felt that spark that had been there even when they hated each other.
"I'm proud of us," Sophia said.
"For what?"
"For choosing this. For choosing us. I could have fought the contract. I could have let it destroy us. But you didn't let that happen. You pushed for us to try."
"We both pushed," Ethan corrected. "You just needed a little help seeing what was possible."
"Cocky as always."
"That's why you love me."
She did love him. So much it was sometimes scary. But it was a good kind of scary. The kind of scary that made you feel alive.
**What would the future hold for them?**