Page 49 of Temporary Wife Temptation

After digging through his suitcase, he strode back to her with a small box in his hands and sat on the edge of the bed.

“What is it?” she said.

He scratched the back of his head and cleared his throat. If she didn’t know better, she would’ve thought he looked nervous.

“I have something for you.” He held out the box to her and sat still as a statue as she opened it.

Her hand flew to her mouth and tears filmed her eyes. They were earrings. Emerald with diamond inlays. They looked exactly like his mother’s ring, which Natalie wore every day.

“Oh, Garrett. They’re beautiful.” But what does this mean? she wanted to ask him.

“Put them on.” His voice was gruff, tense.

“I...” She couldn’t put them on. Not when the adoption document sat less than a foot from her. Not before she told him everything. “Garrett, I can’t take them...”

“Why?” The absence of emotion in his voice shot fear through her heart.

“It’s—it’s too much. And you—you might want the ring back soon...” She trailed off, hoping he would correct her. Tell her he wanted to stay married to her. She didn’t need a declaration of love. Not yet, anyhow. But she wanted to know this was more than just a business arrangement to him.

Instead, he shrugged and a mask of indifference fell across his features. Did he understand why she couldn’t accept the earrings? Did he not care that their time together would soon end? Her heart clenched painfully.

“It’s been a long day.” He eased down and turned his back to her. “Let’s get some sleep.”

The distance between them seemed to stretch out endlessly, and Natalie lost the nerve to tell him about Sophie. Because when she told Garrett the adoption was finalized, she was going to bare her soul to him. Tell him that they were already a family. That they belonged together. Forever. But not tonight. Not like this. They didn’t have long left, but they still had tomorrow. She would tell him everything tomorrow.

“Okay. Good night.”

Out of habit, Garrett’s eyes shot open at 4:00 a.m. Then, remembering he’d left his calendar open for the morning, he was about to let his eyelids droop closed when he bolted up, the sheets slipping down to his waist. His wife’s side of the bed was empty.

He couldn’t believe he’d slept at all. She’d refused the earrings because she intended to return her ring to him. Natalie was planning to leave him. She said soon, but she couldn’t be gone already.

Garrett groaned. He’d had the earrings specially designed to match her engagement ring, so he could ask her to never take it off. Did she understand my intent? How could she when I didn’t tell her any of it? Instead of waiting for her to come back to bed, he strode over to the en suite bathroom.

“Natalie?”

Considering that it was dark inside, he wasn’t too surprised when she didn’t answer. Maybe she’d gone downstairs for some water. After pulling on the first T-shirt he could grab from the dresser, he jogged down the stairs. The downstairs lights were on and he sighed in relief. He opened his mouth to call her name, but his phone beeped from the room.

Damn it. Who could it be at this hour?

He hesitated before he turned around to get his phone. The timing told him it might be an emergency.

It was a text from Mike. Call me. It’s urgent.

“What is it?” Garrett demanded once he had Mike on the phone, impatient to get to Natalie. “Can it wait?”

“We found him.” Mike’s voice was grim. The spy. His friend was the only person Garrett trusted enough to help with the investigation, but he could deal with that later.

“Good. Is that it?”

“No.” The pause on the other end lengthened and Garrett frowned, his gut telling him something was very wrong. “It sounds bad, but I don’t want you jumping to any conclusions.”

“Spit it out, Mike,” he said through clenched teeth. “I’ll make my own decisions.”

“Starting a few months ago, someone named Peter Klapper was buying up all the Hansol stock he could get his hands on. If he acquired enough shares, he could’ve swayed some key votes to block your CEO appointment, but the oldest members of the board wouldn’t let go of theirs. The board of directors is a curmudgeonly lot, but no one could question their loyalty.”

“Who is he?”

“He works for Yami Corporation. He’s been climbing up quickly. A clever and ambitious guy, but he’s been gambling and amassing quite a sizable debt.”

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