Chapter Two
1384 Words
ELARA’S POV
“What did you sell me for?”
The words come out milder than I mean them to, but somehow that makes them worse.
My father flinches like I've slapped him.
Nobody answers. Not him or the lawyers. Not even the man standing there, with his cold eyes fixed on me as though he is studying damage control instead of a human being falling apart in front of him.
Cassian Virelli.
The man who apparently thinks marriage belongs inside a business contract.
Anger burns through me so bad my hands vibrate.
The bastard. I want to wipe that calm look off his face.
“You already did,” he says. None of this seems to bother him at all.
My pulse pounds loudly in my ears as I stare at him. I did not blink. I did not move. I simply glare at the goddamn Cassian Virelli who walks into people’s lives and rearranges them like furniture.
Maybe he thinks he does.
“No,” I finally find my voice. It was rough. “No, I didn’t agree to this. The clause was buried in the contract. I didn’t read it.” I hold up the paper with shaky fingers. “That makes it void.”
The thin lawyer with round glasses adjusts them carefully. “It was included in the document you signed, Miss Wynn,” he says politely. “Legally, it is binding.”
“Then I’ll challenge it.” My voice rises instantly. “I signed a business acquisition contract, not a marriage contract.”
Cassian finally moves. He slowly pulls out the chair at the head of the table and sits down like this entire situation bores him. One ankle rests over his knee while he watches me without a word.
“That process could take years,” he says casually. “Your father’s company will be liquidated long before then.”
“You deceived me.” I sweep my gaze wildly around the room. “All of you did.” I point at them, as my chest heaves harder with every word. “You hid this from me. Nobody explained anything.”
“You should have read it carefully before signing,” Cassian replies.
Something inside me snaps. I turn sharply toward my father. “Did you know?”
Silence.
“Dad?”
He gnashes his teeth before he nods.
A sick feeling settles in my stomach. Not the dramatic kind people describe in books. No. This feels worse, and ugly.
“You knew,” I mutter.
“Elara…”
“No.” I stagger back before he can touch me. “Don’t.” My eyes burn, but I refuse to cry. Not here. Not in front of these people. “You could have told me,” I say. “You could have at least given me the chance to say no.”
His face crumples. “I didn’t have a choice.”
A bitter laugh came out of my mouth. “Funny. Because apparently I didn’t either.”
Silence crashes into the room afterward.
Then Cassian speaks again. “Your father’s company is four point two million dollars in debt.”
I shoot him a sharp look.
He continues without emotion. “A former business partner manipulated the financial records over several years before disappearing. The debt legally remained under your father’s company.”
My father bows his head.
“The creditors begin seizure proceedings next week,” Cassian continues. “Ninety-three employees will lose their jobs.”
“I know how many employees we have,” I bite out.
His expression did not change. “So I am clearing the debt in full. The company will remain operational. Your father keeps his position and the staff keeps their jobs.”
His eyes settle on me. “That is what you signed for.”
I swallow hard. “So the marriage is what? A bonus?”
One of the lawyers shifts uncomfortably. Cassian doesn't.
“It is part of the agreement.”
“You keep calling it an agreement like I actually had a choice.”
“You did.”
I gape at him in disbelief. “You call blackmail a choice?”
For the first time, something flickers in his eyes. Not guilt or anger. Annoyance. “I am offering a solution,” he says evenly. “Whether you dislike the terms is irrelevant.”
God! I hate him already.
I grab the duplicate contract off the table and rip it straight down the middle.
The sound echoes through the office. I rip it again and again, scattering the pieces across the marble floor.
“There,” I say breathlessly. “Done.”
The lawyer with the glasses clears his throat. “The original documents were filed this morning.”
I spin to face him. “What?”
“The copies you destroyed are duplicates.”
I almost scream. Instead, I whip my attention back to Cassian.
He hasn’t even blinked.
“Why?” I demand. “Why do you need a wife so badly?”
For a second, the room goes completely still.
Cassian studies me before answering. “The terms are simple. One year. Public appearances. A functional marriage.”
“A fake marriage.”
“Yes.”
“At the end?” I asked coldly.
“You walk away with a settlement. Your father’s company survives.”
“And if I refuse?”
His gaze locks into mine steadily. “Then the deal disappears.”
The words hit me like ice water. I hate that he is so relaxed while saying all these. As if ruining people is just another routine for him.
“There has to be another option.”
“There isn’t.”
I shake my head. “No. No, there’s always another option.”
“Not this time.”
I narrow my eyes at him, trying to understand what kind of man sits there so composed while stripping away someone else's freedom.
He stands up without warning, pulling everyone's attention to him. He walks around the table gradually until he stops directly in front of me.
Very close to me. The scent of mint and his expensive cologne wrap around me, annoyingly clean.
“You have twenty-four hours,” he announces.
“To do what?”
“To decide whether this becomes difficult.”
I raise a brow. “Is that supposed to scare me?”
“No,” he replies. “It is supposed to prepare you.”
How annoying!
“You think you can control everything, don’t you?”
His gaze never leaves mine. “I control what I must.”
The way he says it made a strange chill crawl through me. It isn't because he sounds arrogant, but because he sounds honest. Completely, terrifyingly honest.
I fold my arms tightly across my chest. “I’m not marrying you.”
The corner of his mouth lifts. “You will.”
The confidence in his voice makes my blood boil.
He turns and walks towards the door. “Prepare for the wedding,” he says to the lawyers.
“I said no!”
He pauses near the doorway but stays like that. “When people are desperate enough, they rarely mean no.” He says and walks out.
The door shuts behind him with a soft click. Silence swallows the room immediately after.
I stand there vibrating with anger, humiliation, disbelief…everything crashing into me at once.
Then suddenly…my father collapses.
“Dad!”
The chair tips backwards as I run to him. His body hits the marble floor. One hand clutches at his chest while the other reaches for me weakly.
Panic explodes inside me. “Call an ambulance!” I scream.
One of the lawyers rushes forward while another pulls out his phone frantically.
My knees slam the floor beside my father as I grab his hand. “Dad, look at me.” I plead desperately. “Please look at me.”
His breathing comes shallow and uneven. His fingers clamp my wrist with so much strength.
“Elara…” he struggles out.
Tears blur my vision. “Don’t talk.”
He holds onto my hands “You can’t refuse him.” The fear in his eyes terrifies me more than his collapse. His breathing fails.
- Writer
