The Cold Surgeon's Contract Bride novel Chapter 9

"Performance?"

After a brief moment of shock, I fully deciphered the venomous mockery in Ferris's words.

So in his eyes, everything that happened tonight was a calculated scheme plotted by my mother and me.

All to secure a pregnancy and tie down the Sterling heir.

And we were allegedly so desperate that we'd resorted to cheap tricks like lingerie?

For a moment, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The brief, intense intimacy from just seconds ago now felt like nothing more than a twisted, filthy dream.

"Don't waste your energy," he sneered, the ice in his eyes deepening.

I stared right back at him. My eyes drifted down to the prominent jump of his Adam's apple as I asked evenly, "For a man so famously ascetic, Dr. Sterling, how did you fall for it so easily?"

As if I had struck a hidden nerve, Ferris frowned sharply. He let out a cold scoff, stepped right past me, and stormed out without another word.

The moment the front door slammed shut, two tracks of tears betrayed me and slipped down my cheeks. I took a deep, shuddering breath, forced myself upright, and dragged my aching body toward the bathroom.

The thick steam of the shower slowly washed away the crushing tightness in my chest. I suddenly realized something profound: my relationship with Ferris had been fundamentally flawed from the very first second. I had spent three years agonizing over how to keep us together, entirely forgetting that I, Selena Hayes, was never the woman he wanted in the first place.

We were the wrong answer to the wrong question. No amount of effort on my part would ever change that.

Having finally accepted this reality, I slept remarkably well that night.

Early the next morning, I immediately logged onto the Capital General website. With trembling fingers, I opened the interview list and, exactly as I had hoped, saw my name.

Right at the top of the list, perfectly conspicuous.

A call from HR came shortly after, telling me to prepare for my interview the morning after next.

Just before hanging up, I glanced at the interview list one more time and spotted Zoey sitting at the very bottom.

May the best woman win.

A text from Leon popped onto my screen at that exact moment.

"Congratulations, Ms. Hayes! I'm really looking forward to working with you."

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