married my ruined husband

Character 1 I wake up gaping, my hand flying to my throat No blood. no shattered bone the silk sheet under me were cool and smooth, not soak in gasoline and my own pis from the crach. The clock on the night stand read 8:17 AM. May 19th. On the day of my wedding to Alexander voss. Five years ago today.in the other time line I'd been smiling like and i***t while he slipped a ten-million dollar ring on my finger.Today, my stomach twisted so hard I almost vomited. I threw the cover off and stumbled to the full length mirror. Same long dark hair,same green eye,same twenty- three -year old face that hadn't yet learned what betrayed tasted like.but inside this body was a thirty-year- old woman who had watched her husband f**k his mistress in our bed, who had beg for her life while the car burned, and who had died screaming his name. Not this time. I grab my phone. Twenty three missed call from Alexander.The last one came in at 2 :34 AM with a voice note: "Baby, stop stressing. Everything is perfect. I can't wait to make u mine tomorrow. " I deleted it without listening to the rest. My finger flew across the screen. I opened the encrypted folder I'd kept hidden even in my first life bank statement, offshore account, massage between Alexander and his mistress, Sophie Laurent. Proof he'd been draining my family company for months before the wedding. Proof he planned to married me then push my father into bankruptcy so he could buy his pieces for pennies. I forwarded everything to my father private email with one line: *Read this before u walk me down the aisle. Trust me Then I block Alexander. A sharp knock on the door. My maid Elena poke her head in. "Miss harper? Mr voss is downstairs.He said he won't leave until he see you. " Let him wait." I showered in record time, chose the plainest white blouse and black pencil skirt I owned- bridal glow no softness. When I walked into the sitting room twenty minutes later,Alexander was spacing like cage lion. He look exactly the way I remember six-foot-three tailor black shirts stretched across broad shoulder, sharp jaw, and those icy blue eye that once made me stupid. Today they only made my skin crawl. Cassandra His" voice drop into that low commanding tone he use to when he wanted something. "You have been ignoring me all morning what the hell is going on? I stopped six feet away. Closed enough to see the faint scar on his left eyebrow-the one Sophia gave him with her nails during one of their fights in my previous life. "I'm not marrying you tomorrow, Alexander He laughs once shot and disbelieving. Then the laugh die when he saw my face" You are joking. " "I'm not I pull the engagement rings off my finger and tossed onto the coffee table it spun once and clatter again the mable. The wedding is cancelled tell your guest, the press, tell whosoever you want. I don't care. " His expression harden .in two strides he was in front of me gripping my arms hard enough to bruise." This is cold feet you are mine, Cassandra you have been mine since the day I decided I wanted you." I look at him dead in the eye." You decided to kill me too. In five years. You and Sophia. The car on our anniversary. I burned alive while you two drank champagne and celebrated." He froze for one beautiful second, real confusion flickered across his face. Then it smoothed into the mask I know too well. you're not making sense. Did someone drugs you I 'll kill them _" I yanked free. Touch me again I 'll scream this house down. My father already has the files. Every dirty transaction. Every mistress. Every lie walk away Alexander . Or I will destroy you before you ever get the chance to destroy me. His phone stated ringing probably his lawyer., or Sophia or the wedding planner having a melt down. I turned my back on him and walk out. The driver to the river building too forty three minutes through traffic. I spend every second rehearsing what I 'll say to the man who in my first life had been Alexander favourite victims: KIRO BLACKWOOD Thirty two self made. Ice cold the one man Alexander has faill to crush before I die. In the old timeline Kiro have lost everything trying to protect his family company. Then he 'd dissappear. Some said he'd kill himself. Other said he was waiting in the shadow. I was about fo find out which. Blackwood tower stabbed like a black blade. Security stopped me at the lobby. I handed a single folder note I'd written in the car. Cassandra Happer I have information that will destroy Alexander Voss I want to make a deal five minutes of ur time.* They made me waite twenty minutes. Good. Meant they' d checked me throughly. When private elevator door open on the top floor, Kairo Blackwood was already waiting. He stood by the floor to ceiling windows, hand in his pocket, watching me like I was a problem that has just walk into his office wearing heels. Tall_taller then Alexander. Black hair cut short and several . Dark eye that didn't blink. A scar running through his left eyebrow. Expensive watch. No smile Miss harper his voice was low , rough like he didn't use it often you have two minutes. " I walk straight up to him close enough to smell faint cologne and something metallic _maybe the steel himself I died yesterday ", i said. " In a car accident arranged by my husband. Today is the day befor my wedding. I remember everything that happen in the next five years. Alexander voss will marry me tomorrow, bankrupt my family within eighteen month and kill me on our fifth anniversary. I don't want that future . I want him Ruined And i wantyou to be the one who does it." Kairo stared at me for long second. Then he laugh once _ short, cold. You're either insane or the best liar l've ever met." I pulled out my phone , opened the folder, and handed it to him ." These are real. Transaction. Timestamps. shell companies in three month he's going to sabotaged your biggest deal in Dubai. He already has the judge in his pocket. You 'll los forty percent of your holding. Then he' ll come for the rest." .Kairo scrolled. His jaw tightened. The temperature in the roomseemed to drop ten degrees he looked up why me? Because in the future i watched you fight him longer than anyone else. Because you hate him almost as much as i do . And because i need a husband who isn't planning to murder me. His dark eye narrowed. " A husband. " Contract marriage. One year. i help you destroy him with everything i know. In return, you protect my family 's company and give me resources to bury Alexander. After one year we both walk away richer and free or wr don't.Your choice He studies me like he was deciding whether to throw me out the window or keep as a weapon "You understand what you're offering? " he ask quietly. I'm not a nice man ,Miss Harper. If we do this you'll be my world. My bed. My rules." Heat licked down my spine. Not fear. something shapers. I didn’t com3here for nice i said i came here for ruthless. Kairos stepped closer.He towered over me close enough that i hadto tilt my head backHis gaze dropped to my mouth for half a second , then back to my eyes. prove you're not crazy," he said. Tell me something that hasn’t happened yet." tomorrow at 3:17 PM, Alexander will call you pretending to offer a truce on the Bubia deal.he'll suggest a meeting at continental. He'll have three men waiting to persuade you to back off.one of them carries a knifewith silver handle." Kairo didn’t move .But something dangerous shifted behind his eyes. He reached out slow, and brush a strand of hair behind my ear. His fingers were warm Calloused. "Marry me instead, i whispered. And I'll hand you his empire piece by bloody piece." For the first time, the corner of his mouth curved_just barely. Welcome to the war, Mrs Blackwood. " He hadn’t said yes yet. But the way he was looking at m _like i was already his _told me everything i needed to know I smiled for the first time since waking up this second life