Done Being His Contract Wife, I Left My Husband

For five years, Lydia has answered late-night calls from the anti-prostitution squad, signing reports while her husband Oliver comforts Czarina, the widow of his late brother. He insists he owes Czarina everything, and that once she carries his brother's bloodline he will finally come home. Lydia says nothing, though her fingers still bear the scars of his anger and her body remembers three lost children.

What Oliver does not know is that the marriage was sealed by a thirty-million contract with his mother, and that agreement is nearly over. When a shattered wedding photo hits the floor, Lydia lets it go without a fight, and a phone call about Czarina's pregnancy sends Oliver rushing out the door.

With seven days left before she signs the estate lawyer's papers, Lydia quietly prepares to walk away from a husband who never trusted her.