📖 The Story Continues
The story doesn't end here.Continue reading the full story adaptation below and discover what happens next.
The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband – Episode 05
The car carried Natalie away from the wedding before the vows had begun to feel real. She sat beside Sebastian in uneasy silence, turning the new ring around her finger while the polished neighborhoods outside gave way to older streets. Every mile took her farther from the Quinn mansion and closer to whatever life belonged to the man everyone called a failure.
Sebastian seemed untroubled by the quiet. He had noticed that no family member followed them, no gifts filled the trunk, and no affectionate farewell delayed their departure. Natalie had entered the marriage with one small bag and a face composed too carefully to be calm. He could have asked why, but questions invited answers, and answers created obligations.
The car stopped in front of a modest house. Its exterior was worn but clean, with none of the luxury associated with the Klein name. Natalie looked from the narrow porch to Sebastian, wondering whether the rumors about his poverty were true after all. He opened the door and gestured her inside.
“This is our home now,” he said. “It’s not much, but I hope it meets your expectations.” The statement was part apology and part test. He watched for disappointment, calculation, or the first sign that she had agreed to marry a Klein only because she expected access to the family’s wealth.
Natalie took in the tidy living room, the simple furniture, and the careful absence of anything extravagant. After Lauren’s mansion, the house should have seemed small. Instead, it felt mercifully free of judgment. “No, it’s cozy and tidy,” she said, and meant it.
Her answer caught Sebastian off guard. Cassie Quinn would likely have treated the place as an insult, but Natalie ran her fingertips over the back of the sofa with an almost grateful smile. “Yeah,” he said, hiding his scrutiny beneath casualness. “Make yourself at home.”
Natalie carried her bag farther inside, then paused when she saw the short hallway. Two closed doors suggested a bathroom and a single bedroom. “Which room will I be staying in?” she asked, suddenly aware that neither of them had discussed the practical terms of sharing a home.
Sebastian leaned against the wall, allowing mischief to soften his expression. “There’s only one bedroom in the house, so I guess we’ll be sleeping together.” Her eyes widened. “Isn’t that what married people do?” he added, enjoying the flash of panic she failed to conceal.
“I’m not ready to—” Natalie stopped, heat rushing into her face. She had promised to become his wife, but she had never agreed to surrender her body as part of the Quinns’ bargain. “Don’t you think it’s a little soon? We barely know each other. Shouldn’t we wait?”
The humor left Sebastian’s eyes before her fear could deepen. “I’m just messing with you, Natalie.” He straightened, putting more space between them. Whatever role she played in his plan, intimidation was not one of the terms. The visible relief on her face made him wonder what she had expected from him.
“Look, I know neither of us wants to be in this situation,” he said. It was a reasonable assumption, though Natalie gave no explanation for why she had taken Cassie’s place. “I figured we’d act like a happy couple in public and stay out of each other’s affairs in private.”
Natalie listened carefully. The proposal sounded almost too clean after the threats and bargains that had driven her to the altar. No demands, no forced intimacy, and no questions about the money her family had promised. Sebastian seemed as eager for distance as she was, though she could not guess what he gained from appearing married.
“When the trust fund is released, we can get a divorce,” he continued. “How does that sound?” The explanation fit the version of him everyone knew: an outcast son marrying to satisfy a condition attached to family money. Yet the ease with which he spoke about it suggested calculation rather than desperation.
Natalie considered her mother’s treatment and the vows that had already served their purpose. A temporary marriage could be endured. When it ended, she would leave without asking him for anything. “Deal,” she said, holding out her hand as if they were closing a business arrangement instead of defining their marriage.
Sebastian accepted it, his grip warm and brief. Then his expression turned serious. “By the way, I don’t want to hear that my wife is pregnant with another man’s baby while we’re married.” The blunt condition startled her, but she understood the reason beneath it. Public appearances required boundaries on both sides.
“Until we get divorced, I’ll be a good wife,” Natalie said. “And I’ll respect our marriage.” Loyalty was not difficult for her, even in an arrangement without love. She only hoped Sebastian intended to follow the same rule rather than expecting freedoms he denied her.
For an instant, her answer seemed to trouble him. Sebastian had expected negotiation or resentment, not a solemn promise. Natalie possessed a directness that made his deception feel sharper than it had that morning. He reminded himself that the truth would only endanger the plan—and perhaps her with it.
“You can take the room,” he said. “I’ll take the couch.” Natalie glanced at the sofa, which was too short for his tall frame. She almost protested, then recognized the offer for what it was: a guarantee that the locked bedroom door, if she chose to lock it, would remain between them.
She carried her bag down the hallway. At the bedroom entrance, she looked back and found Sebastian removing his jacket as though sleeping on a couch on his wedding night were perfectly ordinary. “Thank you,” she said. The words held more feeling than the simple courtesy required, and he answered with a small nod.
When the bedroom door closed, Sebastian surveyed the modest room he had selected as the stage for his false life. Natalie believed he was waiting for a trust fund; the Quinns believed they had disposed of an inconvenient daughter; the Kleins believed he was harmless. For now, every lie remained intact—but as he looked toward the door behind which his new wife slept, Sebastian sensed that keeping Natalie outside his affairs might become the most difficult condition of their deal.
