Two years after their contract marriage had become real, Sophia found out she was pregnant again.
She took the test the same way she had before—on a random Tuesday morning, staring at the two pink lines in disbelief.
But this time, when she told Ethan, there was no fear. Just joy and anticipation and the certainty that they could handle whatever came next.
"Another baby?" Ethan's face lit up. "Are you sure?"
"Very sure. You're going to be a father again."
He picked her up and spun her around, making her dizzy and laughing. Elena ran in to see what the commotion was, and they told her she was going to be a big sister.
Elena was three years old now, with her father's dark eyes and her mother's fierce determination. She understood words like "baby" and "sister" and "new family member," but she mostly understood that good things were happening and that made everyone happy.
That evening, Sophia got a text from an unknown number.
It was Ethan: *Meet me on the balcony?*
She went outside to find him standing there with champagne and flowers. Even though they were already married, even though they'd been through everything together, her heart did that stupid flutter it always did when he looked at her like she was the most important person in the world.
"I have something to ask you," he said.
"Okay?"
He got down on one knee.
Sophia laughed. "We're already married, you know."
"I know. But I didn't do this properly the first time. That was a contract. This is about choice." He pulled out a ring—a stunning diamond that caught the evening light. "Sophia Chen, will you marry me? Not because of a contract, not because of an arrangement, but because I choose you every single day? Will you be my wife for real, forever?"
"We're already married," she repeated, but she was crying.
"Will you marry me anyway?"
"Yes," she said. "Yes, absolutely yes."
He slipped the ring on her finger and kissed her. It was soft and tender and full of all the love they'd built over three years of marriage.
"I love you," he said.
"I love you too. Even though you're annoying and competitive and you steal my business deals sometimes."
"Just sometimes?"
"Okay, most of the time. But I still love you."
They stood on the balcony as the sun set over the city, holding onto each other and their future. Three years ago, a forced marriage had seemed like a disaster. Now it seemed like destiny.
Their second daughter, named after both their mothers' mothers, was born the following spring. Elena became a big sister and took the job very seriously, showing her baby sister all of her toys and telling her long, complicated stories that the baby had no way of understanding but seemed to enjoy anyway.
Sophia's company went public. Ethan's company expanded to fifteen cities. They remained rivals in business but partners in everything else.
One day, two years later, Elena asked Sophia about the story of how she and Ethan met.
"We were competitors," Sophia explained. "We didn't like each other very much."
"And then?" Elena was five years old now and loved stories, especially stories about her parents.
"And then we were forced to get to know each other. And we realized that beneath the competition and the rivalry, there was something else. There was connection."
"So you fell in love?"
"So we fell in love," Sophia confirmed.
"That's like the fairytales," Elena said wisely. "Where the bad people turn out to be good."
"He was never bad," Sophia said. "I just couldn't see his goodness at first because we were too busy competing. Sometimes when two people are that evenly matched, it's hard to see past the competition to the partnership underneath."
Elena thought about this. "So he wasn't your enemy after all?"
"He was always my partner," Sophia said. "I just didn't know it yet."
That night, Sophia told Ethan about the conversation.
"Did you tell her that you still sabotage my business deals sometimes?" he asked.
"No, that's a story for when she's older."
They were sitting on the balcony of their penthouse—their home—with wine and the sounds of the city below them. Their daughter was asleep inside. The future was uncertain, as it always was, but they faced it together.
"Do you ever regret it?" Ethan asked. "The arrangement? Your grandmother forcing us together?"
Sophia considered the question. "I regretted it at first. But now? No. I'm grateful. Because I don't think we would have found each other any other way. I was too busy winning to notice you."
"And now?"
"Now I notice you every single day. And I choose you every single day. Even when you're annoying."
"Especially when I'm annoying?"
"Especially then."
Ethan pulled her close. "I love you, Chen."
"I love you too, Blake."
As they sat together watching the city lights, Sophia thought about how far they'd come. From enemies to lovers. From a forced contract to a chosen partnership. From competing rivals to co-parents of two incredible daughters.
Their story wasn't traditional. It had started with obligation and anger and a grandmother's meddling. But somewhere along the way, between the late-night conversations and the shared meals and the business battles and the stolen kisses, they'd built something real.
They'd built a life.
They'd built a family.
They'd built love.
And that was more than enough.