Icebound Vows

POV: Elara Reyes "Hold still before I slap you again, today is your eighteenth birthday and you are finally going to be useful to me instead of just taking up space and eating my food," Aunt Carmen yelled, shoving me hard against the wall while she roughly pulled the zipper of the expensive dress up my back. I stumbled forward, gripping the edge of the small wooden table to keep my balance, but I kept my mouth shut because arguing with her always brought more bruises, and I did not want to ruin the heavy makeup she had spent the last hour plastering onto my face to hide the marks on my cheeks. Carmen grabbed my arm, squeezing it so tight her nails dug deep into my skin, and she dragged me toward the mirror, pointing at my reflection where I looked like a completely different person in the fancy silk outfit that she had spent all her savings to buy for this specific scheme. "You look like a proper rich lady now, so when we get to the penthouse, you will smile, you will keep your mouth shut, and you will let me do all the talking to the lawyers." We left the cramped apartment and took a long taxi ride to the elite neighborhood, my chest felt completely tight when the car stopped in front of the massive building where the Voss family lived. Carmen pushed me through the glass doors and into the elevator, and when the doors opened onto the penthouse suite, my eyes went wide because the entire place was already packed with high-society guests, lawyers in black suits, and media reporters holding large cameras. The flashing lights blinded me for a second, but Carmen did not care about my discomfort, she gripped my elbow tighter and dragged me right into the center of the large room where a tall, elegant woman stood waiting. "Victoria, I brought her back just like I promised in my letters, so you can stop telling the world she is gone," Carmen announced, her voice turning fake and sweet as she dropped a thick manila folder onto the table in front of the woman. "These are the official birth certificates and the original legal agreements your late husband signed before he died, which prove that this girl is Aria Reyes, the long-lost childhood betrothed you all claimed died of illness years ago." Victoria Voss looked down at the papers, her face freezing into a hard expression, and then she looked at me with sharp, calculating eyes that felt like they were cutting right through my clothes. She clearly recognized that something was wrong with the documents or my sudden appearance after so many years, but she glanced at the reporters who were already snapping pictures and whispering among themselves, so she quickly forced a fake smile onto her face to avoid a massive public scandal that would ruin her family name. "If the documents are in order, then we must honor my husband's final wishes, so welcome to the family, my dear, and let the lawyers handle the paperwork." Before I could even process her words or say anything back, the front door slammed open with a loud bang, and everyone turned around to see a tall, muscular guy step into the room, still wearing his sweaty hockey practice gear with his sports bag slung over his shoulder. Ryker Voss looked completely furious as he pushed past the wealthy guests and the lawyers, his dark eyes locked onto me with absolute disdain before he marched straight up to the table and snatched the engagement documents out of his mother's hands. "What the hell is going on here, and why is our house full of reporters and lawyers on a weeknight?" Ryker demanded, his voice deep and angry as he glared at the papers, his jaw clenching so hard that a muscle twitched in his cheek. "Ryker, calm down and put your bag away, because this is your childhood fiancée, Aria, who has finally returned to us after all these years," Victoria said, her tone smooth and warning as she tried to give him a look to make him behave in front of the media. "I don't care who she claims to be, because this is a complete joke and she looks like a fraud," Ryker shouted, and without a single second of hesitation, he ripped the engagement agreement completely in half, shredding the papers into pieces and tossing them onto the floor right at my feet. "I am the captain of the hockey team, I rule this school, and I am telling all of you right now that I will never marry this random girl, so you can take your fake documents and get out of my sight before I call the police." The entire room went completely silent, and the reporters started clicking their cameras even faster while Carmen gasped loudly, grabbing my shoulder so hard that it left another mark beneath the silk dress. I looked up at Ryker, my heart hammering against my ribs because his anger was terrifying, but I did not let myself look away from his stare, even though he looked like he wanted to get rid of me right then and there. "You think you can just walk into my penthouse and become my wife?" Ryker sneered, stepping closer to me until he was towering over my smaller frame, his chest rising and falling heavily as he pointed a finger directly at my face, ensuring everyone heard his final rejection. "You are nothing to me, and you will never be a Voss, so stop looking at me like that and get out of my house before I have security throw you and your aunt out into the street." Victoria did not flinch at her son's explosive outburst, and she stepped forward with complete elegance, brushing a piece of lint off her dress while she looked at the reporters and the lawyers who were waiting for her reaction. She ignored Ryker's anger completely, her voice echoing calmly across the quiet room as she delivered her final decision to the crowd. "From today onward, Elara will live in this house.”