Shattered Vows

Chapter 2: The Ties That Bind

The morning light filtered in through the heavy curtains of the suite, casting soft shadows on the marble floor. Liara’s eyes opened slowly, the weight of the night still pressing heavily on her chest. Her fingers clenched around the torn edges of the note from Evan, now reduced to jagged pieces, scattered around her like fragments of her shattered hopes.

She didn’t know how long she had been lying there, but it felt like an eternity. The bed was too big, too empty. It was as if the space between her and Evan was a chasm that neither of them could bridge. He was a stranger in every sense of the word. A man she once loved, now reduced to an enemy she was bound to, trapped by the cruel strings of fate.

Her wedding dress still clung to her body, now wrinkled and uncomfortable. The silk, which had once seemed like a symbol of hope, now felt like a suffocating reminder of everything that had gone wrong. She wanted to tear it off, to strip away the remnants of a day that had been anything but magical, but the idea of moving felt like a betrayal of the fragile resolve she had managed to hold onto throughout the night.

The clock on the nightstand ticked steadily, each second a reminder of how much time was slipping away. Liara knew what she had to do. The meeting was today. She had to face him. She had to endure the cold, indifferent man who would never see her as anything more than a pawn in a game he never intended to lose.

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to sit up, the dress rustling as she moved. Her eyes met her reflection in the full-length mirror across the room. She looked nothing like the woman who had stood at the altar the day before. Her eyes were red and swollen, her makeup smudged from the silent tears that had fallen throughout the night. She looked fragile, broken, and for the first time since their marriage, she didn’t recognize herself.

But there was no time for self-pity. Not today.

She slowly stood and began to remove the dress, her movements slow and deliberate, as if shedding the remnants of her past. She stepped into the shower, allowing the hot water to cascade over her, hoping it would wash away the coldness that had settled in her bones. The water was soothing, but it couldn’t ease the ache in her heart.

When she emerged, her mind was still heavy with thoughts of Evan. The note. The coldness. His refusal to acknowledge her. She had been prepared for his indifference, but the sharpness of his rejection had cut deeper than she had imagined. She had thought, foolishly, that maybe, just maybe, there was a chance for them. That if she loved him enough, if she proved her worth, he would soften. But the truth was undeniable. He hated her.

She dried herself quickly, slipping into a simple black dress that would meet the formality of the meeting but not draw attention. She had no interest in impressing anyone, least of all him. Still, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of anxiety as she walked toward the door. The silence in the suite was deafening. Evan hadn’t spoken to her since the wedding night. He hadn’t even looked at her. She was nothing more than a shadow in his life now, a mistake he was forced to endure.

Liara took a deep breath, steeling herself for what was to come. She stepped out of the room and into the hallway, the silence of the estate only amplifying her every step. The maid who had delivered the note earlier was nowhere to be seen, but she had expected nothing more than the impersonal delivery of instructions.

The elevator ride to the main floor felt interminable. As the doors opened, she was met with the bustle of staff members going about their duties, but none of them acknowledged her. She was a ghost in her own life. A woman who had once dreamed of love, now trapped in a cage of her own making.

The boardroom was a stark contrast to the cold, quiet atmosphere of the rest of the estate. The long table was polished to perfection, and the room was filled with men and women in suits, their eyes fixed on her as she entered. She could feel the weight of their gaze, the judgment, the whispers behind their carefully composed facades. No one dared speak as she took her seat at the far end of the table.

Evan was already there, sitting at the head of the table, his posture rigid, his eyes cold and focused on the papers in front of him. He didn’t look up as she entered, didn’t spare her a second glance. It was as if she were invisible.

Liara sat in silence, her hands folded neatly on the table, trying to steady her breath. She was not the woman she had been when she had first met him. The naive girl who had fallen for his charm and his darkness was gone, replaced by someone who knew the rules of this game. And if there was one thing she had learned over the past few days, it was that survival required more than just love.

The meeting began, and Evan’s voice sliced through the air like a razor. He spoke with authority, his every word calculated, his demeanor unwavering. It was clear he was in his element, and for a moment, Liara wondered if this was the man she had fallen in love with. The man who had been so passionate, so driven. The man who had once looked at her as if she were the only person who mattered.

But that man was long gone. In his place was a businessman, cold and detached, who had no room for anything but profit and power. His eyes flicked briefly in her direction, but there was no recognition, no warmth. Just the same indifference that had filled his gaze at the altar.

She couldn’t help but feel a pang of loss. The man she had loved, the man she had married, was lost to her. And yet, she couldn’t let go of the faint hope that one day, things could be different.

The meeting dragged on, the discussions about company policies and mergers and acquisitions blurring together in a haze of numbers and jargon. Liara barely registered the words. Her mind was elsewhere, focused on the man sitting at the head of the table. The man she had married, who had become a stranger.

When the meeting finally ended, Evan stood, his tall frame casting a shadow over the table. The others stood as well, offering their polite goodbyes, but Liara remained seated. She wasn’t in any hurry to leave. She wasn’t in any hurry to face the emptiness of their marriage.

As the room cleared, Evan approached her, his expression as cold as ever. “You can go now,” he said, his voice clipped and emotionless.

Liara didn’t respond immediately. She looked at him, her gaze searching for something, anything that would tell her he cared. But there was nothing. Just a man who had once been her everything, now nothing more than a cold, distant figure.

“I know why you did this,” she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. “But it’s not too late.”

Evan’s eyes flicked to hers, and for a brief moment, she thought she saw something in them. Regret? Guilt? But it was gone as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by the familiar mask of indifference.

“There’s nothing left to fix,” he said, his voice flat. “We made a deal. You’re here to fulfill your end of it. Nothing more.”

Liara’s heart sank, but she refused to let him see the hurt. “I’m not just a deal, Evan.”

He turned away from her, his back to her as he moved toward the door. “I don’t want to talk about this right now.”

And just like that, he was gone.

Liara sat there for a long time, the silence of the empty room wrapping around her like a shroud. She had married the man she loved, but he had never truly loved her. And now, she was nothing more than a contract to him, a piece on a chessboard he had no intention of playing.

She stood slowly, her legs feeling unsteady as she walked toward the door. The weight of the ring on her finger was unbearable now, a reminder of everything she had lost. But she couldn’t give up. Not yet.

There had to be a way to break free from this cage. There had to be a way to find her way back to the man she had once loved. Even if it meant tearing down the walls he had built around himself.

And so, Liara stepped out of the boardroom, her heart heavy, but her resolve unbroken.

The game was far from over.