The proposal
429 Words
I didn’t sleep.
How could I?
My father was locked in his study, pacing like a madman and refusing to answer my questions. My stepmother had already disappeared with the last of her designer bags. And I sat in my room—our room—knees hugged to my chest, replaying Jace Thorn’s words over and over again.
“Marry me. Publicly. Immediately.”
The audacity. The arrogance. The cold, calculated tone like this was just business.
And maybe to him, it was.
But to me? It was the end of the life I knew.
I had one suitcase packed by morning. Not because I’d agreed.
But because I had nowhere else to go.
The mansion had been seized. My father’s assets frozen. My bank cards declined when I tried to buy coffee down the street. No one answered my calls. Not even my supposed best friend.
Turns out when you're no longer a Reyes… you’re no one.
By noon, a sleek black car pulled up in front of the estate.
He came himself.
Not a driver.
Not a lawyer.
Him.
Jace Thorn stepped out, dressed in another soul-stealing suit and sunglasses that did nothing to hide his stare.
“Your time’s up,” he said smoothly. “Have you decided?”
I crossed my arms, chin lifted. “Why me?”
He paused. “Because I need a wife. And you…”
He took off his glasses, his gaze landing on my bare ring finger.
“…need saving.”
My hands curled into fists. “You’re disgusting.”
“I’ve been called worse.” He didn’t flinch. “But that doesn’t change the fact that this deal benefits both of us.”
I hated how calm he was. How nothing rattled him. Not even the girl he blackmailed into marriage.
“What exactly do you get out of this?”
He smiled, slow and dangerous. “My board thinks I’m too reckless. Too single. They want stability before our next merger. A wife earns trust.”
“And you chose me?”
He didn’t answer that.
Instead, he opened the car door.
“You have five seconds, Alina.”
My throat tightened. Five seconds to choose between pride and survival.
Between watching my father rot in prison or marrying the man who put him there.
I took one shaky breath.
One step forward.
And slid into the passenger seat.
The door shut behind me with a final, cold thud.
Just like that…
I became Mrs. Jace Thorn.
Even if I swore I’d never let him touch my heart.
- Writer
