The Day the Contract Ended, His World Crumbled

The Day the Contract Ended, His World Crumbled

Nina Brooks

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For five tireless years, Sarah Jenkins' life revolved around Ethan Miller. She was his shadow, his silent caretaker, meticulously managing his expensive lifestyle, his meds, and his fragile mental state after his fiancée, Olivia Hayes, abandoned him. Sarah deferred her own dreams, trapped by a contract that covered her father's escalating medical bills. Then, a bombshell: Olivia was back. Suddenly, the indifferent Ethan, who barely acknowledged Sarah's existence, lit up, his world revolving solely around Olivia. Sarah, his contractual wife, watched as he dismissed her, even when she presented divorce papers, his only concern being the continued seamless functioning of his affairs. He treated her merely as a utility, expendable once his old obsession returned. Had her five years, her entire youth and ambition, been nothing more than a debt repaid to a man who saw her only as "services"? The crushing truth left her hollow, a ghost in a gilded cage. Was she forever destined to be invisible, a pawn in someone else's drama? But then, a lifeline: a message from an old university friend offered a spare room in New York and the journalism gig she'd always dreamed of. Sarah Jenkins, the photojournalist, was finally reclaiming her narrative. It was time to leave, to find herself beyond the Miller mansion's suffocating walls.

Introduction

Sarah Jenkins lived a life dictated by an alarm at 5 AM, meticulously managing every detail for Ethan Miller, the spoiled heir to a vast fortune. For five years, she'd been his shadow, his caretaker, his secret, contractual wife – a role she took on to pay her father's staggering medical bills, sidelining her own dreams of photojournalism.

This life of quiet sacrifice was nearing its end, but then, the ghost of Ethan's past returned: Olivia Hayes, his stunning ex-fiancée, back in the States, instantly reigniting Ethan's obsessive love.

Despite Sarah's invisible devotion – managing his medications, his therapy, his very existence – Ethan remained utterly blind to her. When Sarah presented him with divorce papers, a mere formality from their arranged marriage, he waved them off with indifference, not even asking where she would go. To him, she was merely "services."

Five years of her life, her journalism degree gathering dust, her dreams on hold, all for a man who saw her as nothing more than a functional piece of furniture. The realization of her profound invisibility, the utter disregard for her worth, cut deeper than any insult, leaving her with a bitter weariness and a desperate yearning for her own identity.

But then, an unexpected message from an old friend about a documentary and a spare room in NYC sparked a ferocious hope. Sarah packed her bags, ready to reclaim her camera, her passion, and her freedom, leaving the gilded cage-and its entitled inhabitants-behind forever.

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