MARRY FIRST, LOVE NEVER

CHAPTER TWO: THE AWAKENING

**Sophia's POV**

The hospital corridor smelled like bleach and fear. My sneakers squeaked against the polished floor as I ran toward Alexander's room. Nurses rushed past me. Doctors shouted orders. Machines screamed.

Through the window, I saw him.

Awake.

His grey eyes were open, tracking every movement around him. A nurse tried to hold his arm down but he yanked it free. The IV line tore out. Blood dripped onto white sheets.

"Mr. Knight, you need to stay calm!" the doctor said.

Alexander's head turned. His gaze locked onto me through the glass.

For three seconds, the world stopped.

Then he lunged off the bed.

Two orderlies grabbed him but he fought like a cornered animal. Weak from six months of muscle atrophy but fueled by pure rage. He said something I couldn't hear through the glass. His eyes never left mine.

Grace appeared beside me. "Don't go in there. He's confused. Violent. The neurologist says"

I pushed through the door.

The room went silent. Alexander stopped fighting. The orderlies held his arms but he ignored them, focusing entirely on me.

"Who are you?" His voice was rough from disuse. "Why are you wearing my mother's ring?"

I looked down. The platinum band caught the fluorescent light. My hands trembled.

"I'm..." The words stuck in my throat. "I'm Sophia. Your wife."

His laugh was bitter and sharp. "My wife? I don't have a wife."

Grace stepped forward. "Alexander, you were in an accident. Six months ago. The company needed protection. We arranged a marriage while you were…"

"A coma." He finished her sentence. "You married me off while I was in a coma." The heart monitor spiked. "Who authorized this? Who the hell is she?"

The doctor tried to intervene. "Mr. Knight, your blood pressure…."

"Get out." Alexander's eyes were ice. "Everyone out. Except her."

The room emptied. Grace hesitated at the door, her face pale. "Alexander, please understand…"

"OUT!"

The door clicked shut.

We were alone.

He stood in his hospital gown, one hand gripping the bed rail for support. Muscles that had been maintained through physical therapy but still weak. Dangerous anyway.

"Explain," he said. "Fast."

I told him everything. The embezzlement charges. Emma's arrest. Grace's offer. The wedding. I left out only one thing, the procedure. The possibility growing inside me that I couldn't bear to name.

His face remained expressionless throughout. When I finished, he moved.

Three steps. That's all it took to close the distance between us. His hand shot out and grabbed my wrist. Not enough to hurt but enough to trap.

"Look at me," he commanded.

I met his eyes. They were empty. Cold. Nothing human left inside.

"I don't know if you're telling the truth or if you're part of whoever tried to kill me. I don't know if you're working with the board, with Marcus, or with my enemies." His grip tightened slightly. "But understand this, I trust no one. I share my power with no one. And if you ever..." He leaned closer, his breath hot against my ear. "If you ever try to trap me with a pregnancy, if you ever carry my child, I will make sure neither of you survives. I don't share my empire with anyone."

My blood turned to ice.

The procedure. The sedation. The thing Grace had forced on both of us.

What if it worked?

"I don't want your empire," I whispered. "I just wanted to save my sister."

"Everyone wants something." He released my wrist. "Get out. I'll have my lawyers draw up divorce papers tomorrow."

"Your mother said one year minimum or Emma goes to jail."

His jaw clenched. "Then we have a year to learn to hate each other. Starting now." He pointed to the door. "Leave."

I ran.

The next three days blurred together.

Alexander was released from the hospital into a penthouse I'd never seen. Grace insisted I move in, for appearances. The place was all glass and steel, forty stories above Manhattan. Cold. Modern. Nothing alive except a single orchid on the kitchen counter that was probably already dying.

My room was at the opposite end from Alexander's. We had separate bathrooms, separate schedules, separate lives. I saw him twice. Once when I brought him coffee he threw it in the sink. Once when he walked past me in the hallway like I was invisible.

On the fourth day, Emma was released from custody.

I met her at the precinct. She fell into my arms, sobbing. "They're dropping everything. All charges dismissed. How did you…"

"Don't ask." I held her tight. "Just promise me you'll be careful. Stay away from Knight Industries. Stay away from anyone named Knight."

"What did you do, Soph?"

I couldn't answer. Couldn't tell her I'd sold myself to save her. That I was living with a man who'd threatened to kill me and any child I might carry.

My phone buzzed. A text from Grace.

*Dinner tonight. 8 PM. Alexander's penthouse. Board members will be present. Wear something that shows you're really married. Smile. Play the loving wife. Or Emma's freedom disappears.*

Emma grabbed my phone. Read the message. Her face went white.

"You married him. You married Alexander Knight." Her hands shook. "That's why I'm free."

"It's temporary."

"He's a monster, Soph. Everyone at the company says so. Even before the accident he was ruthless, but now..." She grabbed my shoulders. "Leave. Run. I'll go back to jail, I don't care, just get away from him."

"I can't. Grace has lawyers. Contracts. Evidence against you she can reveal anytime."

"Then we'll both run. Right now. We can disappear…"

The apartment door opened.

Alexander stood in the doorway. He'd showered. Changed into dark slacks and a crisp white shirt. Six months in a coma hadn't stolen his presence. If anything, almost dying had made him sharper. More dangerous.

"Emma Chen." He studied with my sister. "The embezzler."

Emma stepped in front of me. "I didn't steal anything."

"I know." His voice was flat. "My brother did. Marcus. I've known for two days. I have proof."

Hope bloomed in my chest. "Then you can clear her name completely. Make it official."

"I could." He walked past us to the bar. Poured whiskey with steady hands. "Or I could use that proof to keep both of you in line. Leverage is a beautiful thing."

The hope died.

"You're exactly like Grace said," Emma spat. "A soulless bastard who sees people as chess pieces."

Alexander took a slow sip. "Your sister made a deal with my mother. She knew the terms. If she wants out, she signs the divorce papers and you go to trial. Simple choice."

"There's nothing simple about blackmail," I said.

"Blackmail. Marriage. Business." He shrugged. "All the same thing in my world. You wanted to save your sister. I need a wife to secure my position. We both get what we need." He checked his watch. "Dinner is in two hours. Don't be late, Mrs. Knight."

The name was a slap.

Emma left twenty minutes later. I helped her pack her belongings from the apartment we'd shared. She hugged me at the door.

"One year," I promised. "Then I'm free."

She didn't believe me. I saw it in her eyes.

Neither did I.

The dinner was torture.

Six board members sat around Alexander's dining table. Grace presided at one end, Alexander at the other. I was placed beside him, close enough that our shoulders almost touched.

"Congratulations on your marriage," an older man said. His smile didn't reach his eyes. "Quite sudden, wasn't it?"

"When you know, you know." Alexander's hand found mine under the table. His grip was tight enough to bruise. "Isn't that right, darling?"

The endearment dripped with poison.

"Right," I managed.

Grace raised her wine glass. "To young love. May it last."

The dinner crawled forward. Course after course of food I couldn't taste. Conversation about stocks and mergers that meant nothing to me. Alexander's hand stayed locked around mine the entire time. A cage disguised as affection.

Finally, the board members left.

Grace lingered at the door. "Well played tonight. Both of you." She looked at me. "Though you should smile more, dear. You look like you're being held hostage."

The door closed.

Alexander released my hand. I flexed my fingers, feeling blood return.

"Was that necessary?" I asked.

"Everything is necessary." He moved to the window. Manhattan glittered below us. "My cousin Marcus tried to kill me. My board wants me declared unfit. My company is bleeding money from the embezzlement. And now I have a stranger living in my home wearing my ring." He turned. "Tell me, Sophia, how much did Marcus pay you?"

"What?"

"How much did he pay you to marry me? To spy on me?" He crossed the room in three strides. "Because I know my mother wouldn't choose some random girl. You're connected somehow. To Marcus, to the crash, to something."

"I'm not…"

His phone rang.

He answered without breaking eye contact. "What?"

His face changed. Went from cold to something worse. Something hollow.

"When?" A pause. "How much?"

He hung up.

"Get out," he whispered.

"Alexander—"

"GET OUT!"

I fled to my room. Locked the door. Pressed my ear against it.

I heard him destroying something in the living room. Glass shattering. Wood splintering. A roar of pure rage.

Then silence.

An hour later, a piece of paper slid under my door.

I picked it up with shaking hands.

It was a medical report. My name at the top. Results from three days ago. A blood test Grace had ordered.

One line stood out in bold.

*POSITIVE FOR PREGNANCY. ESTIMATED CONCEPTION: 6 WEEKS AGO.*

The paper slipped from my fingers.

Six weeks. The procedure. The thing Grace had forced on us.

I was carrying Alexander Knight's child.

And he'd just sworn to destroy us both.