Chapter 8 After a half - second pause , he suddenly exploded . [ ] " Who gave you permission to sell the house without my approval?! " ] I scoffed . ] " I'm not asking for a dime from the company . But I paid for this house in full . It's perfectly reasonable for happens to it . " ] me to decide what " Besides , I remember you bought Hannah a new house in the suburbs . You're not homeless . You can move there . " ] ] By any measure , I was completely within my rights to sell . ] Liam was speechless , his face pale . [ ] I thought he'd finally accept the breakup . ] But instead , he forced himself to calm down and tried to reason with me in a low voice . ] ] " That house was supposed to be a gift for you , not for Hannah . I only put her name on it to make her feel like she belonged . " [ ] " If it bothers you , I'll take her name off , okay ? We've been together for so many years . We can't just throw it all away . " [ ] " Claire , I know you're upset right now . Just … calm down . We can talk about this tomorrow . " ] With that , he turned and walked out . ] ]] It was always the same . Whenever we had an irreconcilable fight , he'd put on his " I still love you " act and tell me to calm down . [ ] And every time , I'd be the one to talk myself down , convince myself to trust him , not to be impulsive , and then go to him to break the ice , apologize , and make up . ] At first , I truly loved him . Later , I knew his heart wasn't in it anymore , but I couldn't let go of all those years . I always thought if I just endured a little more , things would get better . [ ] But so much time had passed , and things hadn't gotten better . [ ] It was all just wishful thinking on my part . [ ] He probably thought he could still play me like a fiddle . But he was wrong . This relationship had been worn away by countless disappointments . ] After Liam left , I cleaned up the broken porcelain and tended to my cut . ] ] When I came out later , Liam and Hannah were gone . The table was littered with leftovers , and a half burnt candle lay on the floor ! ] ] I had always been the one to clean the house . I never let Liam lift a finger . [ ] Over time , he'd gotten used to it . ] ] Chapter 8 I couldn't be bothered to clean . The house needed a deep clean before the closing anyway . I figured I'd hire a cleaner tomorrow , so I just washed up and went to bed . [ ] But the next morning , when I stepped out of my room , I saw the house was spotless . Liam wan himself with something . [ ] " I was just about to wake you . " [ ] standing in the kitchen , busying For the first time ever , Liam was wearing an apron . He smiled at me , acting as if nothing had happened yesterday . [ ] " I cleaned the whole house . Even disinfected it . " [ ] The old me would have pretended not to see the streaks left by the dirty mop water and the smudged glass , and would have praised him lavishly , giving him the validation he craved . ] Now , I just let out a small , dismissive " Oh . " [ ] Seeing my coldness , Liam looked disappointed . ] ] But he quickly forced another smile and brought out two plates of breakfast . " I just made this . Try some . " [ ] I glanced down . Two cheeseburgers . ] ] They looked decent enough . [ ] To be fair , this was probably the first breakfast Liam had ever made for me . It should have been a touching moment . [ ] But he seemed to have forgotten . [ ] " I'm allergic to cheese . " ] In "CEO, That Intern is Actually Your Wife" by CrushReel, delve into a captivating romance where a billionaire CEO becomes contractually linked to an unexpected partner. When faced with the urgent need to fund her grandmother's critical surgery, our protagonist finds herself in a unique situation—entering a one-year contract marriage with a stranger. As the story unfolds, themes of love, sacrifice, and the complexities of modern relationships come to light. The novel offers a fresh take on the familiar billionaire romance genre by exploring the dynamics of office relationships and the intricacies of contract lovers. Discover this modern tale of unexpected connections and heartfelt emotions, available to read at CrushReel.