Signed To Be His Wife - Chapter 5: Chapter 5
You are reading Signed To Be His Wife, Chapter 5: Chapter 5. Read more chapters of Signed To Be His Wife.
Amara stared at the message on her phone, her breath catching in her throat.
"You should’ve stopped when we warned you."
The chill that ran down her spine was sharper than before. But this time, it wasn’t just fear—it was fury.
They were watching her again. Monitoring her steps, her thoughts, even her courage. But they didn’t know one thing.
She was done being scared.
The next morning, Amara dressed in a simple white blouse and navy trousers, sleek and professional. If she was going to play investigator, she had to look the part. She tied her curls into a low bun, grabbed her tablet, and walked downstairs.
Dominic was already waiting by the dining table, scrolling through his tablet with his usual unreadable expression. He looked up as she walked in, and for a brief second, something flickered in his gaze—surprise, maybe admiration.
“You look... prepared,” he said.
“I am,” Amara replied, sliding into the chair across from him. “I think I found something last night. The invoice code in Elena’s email—RDC-78421—it links to a storage facility. I checked. It’s real.”
Dominic paused, then slowly set down his tablet.
“Where is it?”
“On the outskirts of the city. A private warehouse company. They allow clients to register under alias names.”
A muscle twitched in his jaw. “That explains how no one traced it earlier.”
“I want to check it out,” Amara said boldly.
Dominic stared at her. “Absolutely not. It could be dangerous.”
“I already have a bodyguard. Marcus can go with me.”
“You don’t understand,” he said. “This isn’t just corporate fraud. Elena was being hunted. If that storage unit holds what I think it does, the people behind this won’t hesitate to destroy it—or you.”
Amara didn’t back down. “Then let’s get there before they do.”
A beat of silence passed. Dominic sighed and reached for his phone.
“Marcus. Prepare the car. We’re going to a warehouse.”
An hour later, Amara sat beside Marcus in the black SUV. Dominic drove himself, quiet and focused, his hands gripping the wheel a little too tightly.
They reached the warehouse—an old, unmarked building tucked between factories and scrap yards. The security guard at the entrance barely looked up when Dominic showed an old ID linked to the company.
“Unit 78421,” Dominic muttered, leading the way through the aisles.
The moment they reached the unit, Amara’s heart began to race.
Dominic pulled out a key—a duplicate Elena had apparently left in her old drawer—and unlocked the metal door.
It creaked open slowly.
Inside, dust floated in the air. Boxes lined the shelves. Stacks of files. A laptop. And in the far corner, a fireproof safe.
Amara stepped inside, her eyes scanning everything.
“Elena was definitely investigating,” she murmured.
She walked to the table and opened one of the boxes. Inside were hard copies of financial records, each labeled in Elena’s handwriting.
Marcus kept watch at the door while Dominic approached the safe. “This is what they were after.”
He crouched and entered a combination.
Click.
The safe door opened slowly, revealing several USB drives and a black notebook.
Dominic grabbed the notebook and flipped through it. His brows furrowed. “This is it. She wrote down everything. Transaction trails, offshore companies, even initials. Whoever’s behind this is high up—possibly even someone on the board.”
Amara picked up one of the flash drives. “We have to copy everything. Make a backup.”
Suddenly, Marcus turned sharply. “Someone’s coming.”
They froze.
Footsteps.
Heavy. Fast.
Dominic cursed and grabbed the notebook. “Let’s go. Now.”
They ran out the back door just as two men turned into the aisle. Their faces were masked.
Amara didn’t stop to look. She followed Marcus and Dominic to the car, her heart thudding wildly.
As they drove off, Dominic glanced at her. “You still think this is a game?”
Amara shook her head. “No. But I’m still in.”
He didn’t answer, but his grip on the notebook tightened.
Later that night, back at the mansion, Amara couldn’t sleep. Again.
She sat in her room with the notebook open, highlighting names and initials. The web of deceit Elena had uncovered was massive. Millions of dollars. Multiple shell companies. Fake employees. Payments for services that didn’t exist.
But one name kept showing up.
C. Reynolds.
The same man Elena had emailed.
Amara frowned. “Why would he disappear if he was on her side?”
She grabbed her laptop and started searching. Reynolds had once been a respected executive in Hart Enterprises, known for his loyalty to Dominic’s father. But after Elena’s death, he vanished. No resignation letter. No public announcement.
A cover-up?
A knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts.
She opened it to find Dominic standing there, holding two glasses of wine.
“I figured you’d still be up.”
Amara blinked. “Since when do you bring wine to your fake wife?”
He smirked faintly. “Since she saved my company’s future.”
She smiled and stepped aside. “Come in.”
He sat on the couch while she returned to the desk.
“You look tired,” he said.
“I feel more alive than ever,” she replied.
He nodded. “You’ve got fire, Amara. I didn’t see that before.”
“You didn’t look,” she shot back.
There was a pause.
He chuckled. “Fair.”
They sat in silence for a moment, sipping wine.
Then Dominic asked, “Why did you say yes to the contract?”
Amara hesitated. “Because I was desperate. I didn’t want to go back to my mother’s house a failure. I needed to prove I was worth something—even if it meant marrying a stranger.”
He looked at her. “And now?”
She stared into her glass. “Now I want to prove I’m more than a placeholder. More than Elena’s shadow.”
Dominic was quiet for a long moment. Then, softly, he said, “You are.”
Amara’s heart skipped.
His eyes were on her—not cold, not distant, but soft. Real.
And before she could stop herself, she asked, “Who was Elena to you? Really?”
He didn’t flinch.
“She was… my first love. But not in the way people think. We weren’t perfect. We argued a lot. She was bold, emotional, reckless. But she believed in me, even when I didn’t.”
Amara whispered, “Do you still love her?”
Dominic’s jaw clenched. He looked down at his glass.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I’ve tried to bury her memory because it hurt too much. But then you came, and suddenly the pain wasn’t as heavy. You’re not her, Amara. You’re something different.”
Amara’s chest tightened. “Dominic…”
But he stood.
“I should go,” he said, his voice suddenly guarded.
She rose, too. “Thank you for telling me.”
He nodded and turned to leave.
As he reached the door, he paused. “Be careful tomorrow. Whoever sent that message won’t stop until they get what they want.”
And then he was gone.
Back in her room, Amara lay in bed, her thoughts spinning.
Not just about the mystery, but about Dominic. About the man beneath the icy armor. The man who had loved,
lost, and now maybe... was trying to love again.
But was there room for her in that heart?
Was she just a temporary player in his dangerous game?
Or had she already become something more?
"You should’ve stopped when we warned you."
The chill that ran down her spine was sharper than before. But this time, it wasn’t just fear—it was fury.
They were watching her again. Monitoring her steps, her thoughts, even her courage. But they didn’t know one thing.
She was done being scared.
The next morning, Amara dressed in a simple white blouse and navy trousers, sleek and professional. If she was going to play investigator, she had to look the part. She tied her curls into a low bun, grabbed her tablet, and walked downstairs.
Dominic was already waiting by the dining table, scrolling through his tablet with his usual unreadable expression. He looked up as she walked in, and for a brief second, something flickered in his gaze—surprise, maybe admiration.
“You look... prepared,” he said.
“I am,” Amara replied, sliding into the chair across from him. “I think I found something last night. The invoice code in Elena’s email—RDC-78421—it links to a storage facility. I checked. It’s real.”
Dominic paused, then slowly set down his tablet.
“Where is it?”
“On the outskirts of the city. A private warehouse company. They allow clients to register under alias names.”
A muscle twitched in his jaw. “That explains how no one traced it earlier.”
“I want to check it out,” Amara said boldly.
Dominic stared at her. “Absolutely not. It could be dangerous.”
“I already have a bodyguard. Marcus can go with me.”
“You don’t understand,” he said. “This isn’t just corporate fraud. Elena was being hunted. If that storage unit holds what I think it does, the people behind this won’t hesitate to destroy it—or you.”
Amara didn’t back down. “Then let’s get there before they do.”
A beat of silence passed. Dominic sighed and reached for his phone.
“Marcus. Prepare the car. We’re going to a warehouse.”
An hour later, Amara sat beside Marcus in the black SUV. Dominic drove himself, quiet and focused, his hands gripping the wheel a little too tightly.
They reached the warehouse—an old, unmarked building tucked between factories and scrap yards. The security guard at the entrance barely looked up when Dominic showed an old ID linked to the company.
“Unit 78421,” Dominic muttered, leading the way through the aisles.
The moment they reached the unit, Amara’s heart began to race.
Dominic pulled out a key—a duplicate Elena had apparently left in her old drawer—and unlocked the metal door.
It creaked open slowly.
Inside, dust floated in the air. Boxes lined the shelves. Stacks of files. A laptop. And in the far corner, a fireproof safe.
Amara stepped inside, her eyes scanning everything.
“Elena was definitely investigating,” she murmured.
She walked to the table and opened one of the boxes. Inside were hard copies of financial records, each labeled in Elena’s handwriting.
Marcus kept watch at the door while Dominic approached the safe. “This is what they were after.”
He crouched and entered a combination.
Click.
The safe door opened slowly, revealing several USB drives and a black notebook.
Dominic grabbed the notebook and flipped through it. His brows furrowed. “This is it. She wrote down everything. Transaction trails, offshore companies, even initials. Whoever’s behind this is high up—possibly even someone on the board.”
Amara picked up one of the flash drives. “We have to copy everything. Make a backup.”
Suddenly, Marcus turned sharply. “Someone’s coming.”
They froze.
Footsteps.
Heavy. Fast.
Dominic cursed and grabbed the notebook. “Let’s go. Now.”
They ran out the back door just as two men turned into the aisle. Their faces were masked.
Amara didn’t stop to look. She followed Marcus and Dominic to the car, her heart thudding wildly.
As they drove off, Dominic glanced at her. “You still think this is a game?”
Amara shook her head. “No. But I’m still in.”
He didn’t answer, but his grip on the notebook tightened.
Later that night, back at the mansion, Amara couldn’t sleep. Again.
She sat in her room with the notebook open, highlighting names and initials. The web of deceit Elena had uncovered was massive. Millions of dollars. Multiple shell companies. Fake employees. Payments for services that didn’t exist.
But one name kept showing up.
C. Reynolds.
The same man Elena had emailed.
Amara frowned. “Why would he disappear if he was on her side?”
She grabbed her laptop and started searching. Reynolds had once been a respected executive in Hart Enterprises, known for his loyalty to Dominic’s father. But after Elena’s death, he vanished. No resignation letter. No public announcement.
A cover-up?
A knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts.
She opened it to find Dominic standing there, holding two glasses of wine.
“I figured you’d still be up.”
Amara blinked. “Since when do you bring wine to your fake wife?”
He smirked faintly. “Since she saved my company’s future.”
She smiled and stepped aside. “Come in.”
He sat on the couch while she returned to the desk.
“You look tired,” he said.
“I feel more alive than ever,” she replied.
He nodded. “You’ve got fire, Amara. I didn’t see that before.”
“You didn’t look,” she shot back.
There was a pause.
He chuckled. “Fair.”
They sat in silence for a moment, sipping wine.
Then Dominic asked, “Why did you say yes to the contract?”
Amara hesitated. “Because I was desperate. I didn’t want to go back to my mother’s house a failure. I needed to prove I was worth something—even if it meant marrying a stranger.”
He looked at her. “And now?”
She stared into her glass. “Now I want to prove I’m more than a placeholder. More than Elena’s shadow.”
Dominic was quiet for a long moment. Then, softly, he said, “You are.”
Amara’s heart skipped.
His eyes were on her—not cold, not distant, but soft. Real.
And before she could stop herself, she asked, “Who was Elena to you? Really?”
He didn’t flinch.
“She was… my first love. But not in the way people think. We weren’t perfect. We argued a lot. She was bold, emotional, reckless. But she believed in me, even when I didn’t.”
Amara whispered, “Do you still love her?”
Dominic’s jaw clenched. He looked down at his glass.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I’ve tried to bury her memory because it hurt too much. But then you came, and suddenly the pain wasn’t as heavy. You’re not her, Amara. You’re something different.”
Amara’s chest tightened. “Dominic…”
But he stood.
“I should go,” he said, his voice suddenly guarded.
She rose, too. “Thank you for telling me.”
He nodded and turned to leave.
As he reached the door, he paused. “Be careful tomorrow. Whoever sent that message won’t stop until they get what they want.”
And then he was gone.
Back in her room, Amara lay in bed, her thoughts spinning.
Not just about the mystery, but about Dominic. About the man beneath the icy armor. The man who had loved,
lost, and now maybe... was trying to love again.
But was there room for her in that heart?
Was she just a temporary player in his dangerous game?
Or had she already become something more?
End of Signed To Be His Wife Chapter 5. Continue reading Chapter 6 or return to Signed To Be His Wife book page.