CHAPTER 64

Ella's POV

The silence in the car was suffocating, save the soft hum of the motor and Ivy's occasional babbles from the backseat. I couldn't look at her, not yet. I had to keep my thoughts straight, had to remind myself of the facts.

Three months. Three months of pretending this was something it wasn't. The contract had been clear-stay at my place for three months, keep up appearances, and then we'd move into his mansion. That's all it was, a deal. And now it was over.

I tried telling myself I could keep things neutral-keep things at room temperature between us. No warmth, no heat, no emotion. Xavier was just a man I had agreed to marry for the sake of convenience, for Ivy's future. Nothing more. I really needed to stop pretending it was something else, that this was something real.

But it still ached, an ache heavy in my chest, twisting with every breath I took. It wasn't supposed to hurt this badly, I kept reminding myself. It wasn't supposed to feel so personal. I knew what I was g