Signed To Be His Wife - Chapter 11: Chapter 11

Amara couldn’t sleep.
After the threatening call, every noise, every flicker of movement, made her pulse spike. The walls of the villa felt thinner, the night darker, the quiet deeper than it had ever been.
She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, her chest tight.
“The next person you lose… won’t be a memory. It’ll be her.”
Those words looped in her mind like a curse. She had seen fear before, but never like this. Not when it was so… personal.
There was a soft knock on her door.
She didn’t move.
“Amara?” Dominic’s voice.
She sat up immediately. “Come in.”
He entered, barefoot, his face tired but focused. “I heard movement. Are you okay?”
She shook her head. “I keep feeling like someone’s watching me.”
“You’re not wrong,” he said, closing the door gently behind him. “We just intercepted a signal spike near the villa’s outer cameras. Someone tried to loop the feed.”
Her breath caught. “They were here?”
“Or nearby. Nolan’s out checking it. But it’s not a coincidence. They want us anxious. Distracted.”
She stood. “Well, it’s working.”
Dominic walked closer. “Come downstairs. I want to show you something.”
The security room had been upgraded. Screens displayed every angle of the property, from the gates to the rooftops. Nolan stood near one monitor, adjusting the thermal view.
“There,” he said. “See that distortion? Someone stood just beyond the fence—long enough to trigger a heat mark. Then vanished.”
“Could it be an animal?” Amara asked.
“Not unless it was holding a cellphone.”
He pulled up another angle. A faint glimmer of blue light. A camera phone.
“They were recording.”
Amara stepped back. “Why?”
Dominic answered. “Because they want proof that we’re scared. Proof they still have control.”
Nolan turned. “But here’s what they don’t know—we found a digital fingerprint in the looped feed. It’s unique. If we find another match, we can trace the device.”
By morning, the villa was quieter, but the anxiety hadn’t faded.
Amara wandered into the courtyard, coffee in hand, hoping to steady her nerves.
She wasn’t the same girl who’d cleaned Dominic’s mansion weeks ago. She wasn’t even the same girl who signed a contract to marry him.
Now, she was part of something she didn’t understand—but refused to back away from.
Dominic joined her with a tablet in hand.
“I ran background on Dr. Benson,” he said. “He wasn’t just a professor. He used to work as a legal consultant for the same intelligence firm Elena was tracking.”
Amara frowned. “So he really was planted in my life.”
“Yes. Years ago. Probably to monitor your choices… maybe even push you toward me.”
Her heart pounded. “So none of this was fate?”
Dominic looked at her. “I don’t know. But I do know the way I feel about you isn’t part of their plan.”
She looked down. “They tried to write our story. But we’re the ones holding the pen now.”
By late afternoon, Nolan returned from the tech lab with results.
“We traced the signal loop to a burner phone purchased two weeks ago. Guess where?”
“Don’t say it,” Dominic muttered.
“Two blocks from your Lagos office.”
Amara narrowed her eyes. “They’re circling back to where it all started.”
Dominic nodded. “Then that’s where we’ll go. But this time, on our terms.”
He turned to Amara. “I need you to do something risky.”
Her spine straightened. “Tell me.”
“I want you to return to the office. Act like everything’s normal. Resume your role. Smile at the staff. Be the obedient contract bride.”
She blinked. “You want me to pretend like I’m still the maid pretending to be your wife?”
“Exactly. Let them underestimate you.”
Nolan added, “We’ll plant surveillance in the office. Let them make their move.”
Amara’s heart thudded. “This is dangerous.”
Dominic nodded. “So is doing nothing.”
Two days later, Amara walked into Hart Enterprises like nothing had changed.
Her hair was tied back, her makeup light, her clothes modest—just like before. She walked past familiar desks, offered small smiles, and returned to the private suite Dominic had assigned her early in their agreement.
Behind the scenes, Nolan monitored everything. Cameras, mics, encrypted systems.
Clara’s old assistant—a young woman named Reni—watched Amara too closely.
“She’s the new Clara,” Amara whispered to Dominic that night over an encrypted call.
“She’s likely a link. Let’s see what she does next.”
That night, anxiety clung to Amara’s skin like a second layer. She sat on the edge of the suite bed, twisting the edge of a pillow in her hands.
Suddenly, her laptop chimed.
An email.
No subject. No sender.
Just one line:
“You were never supposed to survive.”
Her breath caught.
She hit record on her hidden mic and called Dominic immediately.
“Don’t respond,” he said. “We’ll trace it.”
Nolan worked through the night.
By dawn, he had it.
“Whoever sent that email accessed the building’s internal Wi-Fi. That means they’re inside Hart Enterprises.”
Amara’s voice shook. “They’re here?”
“Not just here,” Nolan replied. “They’re closer than we thought.”
Later that day, Amara pretended to forget her phone in the break room and doubled back after everyone left.
She left the door cracked and listened.
Two staff members walked in—Reni and a man she didn’t recognize.
“She’s getting too confident,” Reni whispered.
The man grunted. “The boss said we let her run until the final meeting. Then we clean it up.”
Amara’s pulse screamed in her ears.
Final meeting?
She slipped away before they noticed.
That night, she told Dominic everything.
“They’re planning something soon. Maybe at the next board meeting.”
Dominic called Nolan. “Pull board schedules. Cross-check for anomalies.”
Within hours, they had it.
An unscheduled ‘internal review’ meeting had been added for Friday.
But neither Dominic nor the other key directors had received the invite.
It was a setup.
“They’re planning to get her alone,” Nolan confirmed. “Maybe even make it look like an accident inside the office.”
Amara didn’t flinch.
“Then let them try.”
Dominic looked at her. “Amara—”
She held his gaze. “I’m done hiding.”
Friday arrived.
Amara dressed sharply—blazer, black slacks, calm expression. But inside, her stomach churned. Every footstep down the hall echoed like thunder.
She entered the boardroom exactly on time. Reni was already there.
“So glad you could join us,” she said smoothly.
“Of course,” Amara replied.
Two unfamiliar men entered next. One stood by the door. The other locked it.
Reni smiled.
The lights dimmed slightly.
“You’ve been very busy, Amara,” Reni said, circling the table. “Digging. Asking questions.”
“I’m just here to work.”
“No,” Reni said. “You’re here to disappear.”
At that moment, the projector blinked on.
Except it didn’t show documents.
It showed Nolan and Dominic’s faces—live.
“Surprise,” Dominic’s voice echoed. “You forgot to sweep for new surveillance.”
Reni’s smile died.
Seconds later, the door burst open.
Security stormed in.
The two men tried to run—Nolan tackled one. The other was cuffed by Hart’s private team.
Amara stood slowly. Her hands no longer shook.
Reni was dragged away, still cursing.
Later that evening, back at the villa, Amara sat beside Dominic.
“I wasn’t brave today,” she said. “I was shaking.”
Dominic turned to her. “That’s exactly what courage is. You walked into danger anyway.”
She leaned her head on his shoulder. “What happens next?”
He wrapped an arm around her.
“Now… we aim higher. Because whoever’s pulling these strings hasn’t shown their face yet.”
Amara closed her eyes, listening to the ocean.
She was tired.
But she wasn’t broken.
She was ready for what came next.
Even if it meant walking into fire.