chapter 3
1182 Words
Aria stared at her laptop screen, unread emails piling faster than she could blink.
Cancelled bookings.
Refund demands.
Vendors asking for payments she didn’t have.
Jade stood behind her, arms folded. “Say something. Cry. Scream. Throw something. You’re too quiet.”
“I’m tired,” Aria said. “Everything is slipping, Jade. I don’t even know what to hold on to anymore.”
“You hold on to the truth,” Jade replied.
Aria laughed softly. “The truth doesn’t pay rent.”
Jade opened her mouth to argue, but a sudden knock cut her off.
Three short knocks.
Aria’s shoulders tensed. “Please tell me that’s the mailman.”
Jade peeked through the glass door. “Not unless the mailman wears tailored suits.”
Aria groaned. “Not again.”
The door opened, and Lysander stepped in, alone this time. No guards. No assistant. Just him.
He shut the door gently. “Aria.”
She didn’t look at him. “You couldn’t wait until tomorrow?”
“I thought you’d want to talk sooner,” he said.
Jade moved between them. “She doesn’t.”
Lysander nodded once. “Then I’ll talk to both of you.”
Aria exhaled. “Fine. Say what you came to say.”
He stepped closer, voice calmer than she expected. “I’m not here to push you. I’m here to explain.”
“Explain why you need a wife?” Aria asked. “Or explain why it has to be me?”
Both questions hung between them, too heavy for the room.
“Both,” he said quietly.
Jade crossed her arms. “Make it quick.”
Lysander looked at Aria. . “My grandfather’s will becomes active in thirty days. The board is already trying to tear the company apart. My mother is—” He stopped, choosing his words. “She wants to protect the family name, not me.”
Aria softened despite herself. “That sounds lonely.”
He blinked, surprised at the sympathy.
“It is,” he admitted. “And that’s why I need someone who won’t twist this into a love story or a power grab.”
“Congratulations,” Aria said. “I am definitely not twisting this into a love story.”
Jade snorted. “Understatement.”
Lysander ignored her. “I’m asking you because you’re honest. Because you don’t pretend. Because you don’t want anything from me except what we agreed.”
Aria frowned. “You barely know me.”
“I know enough,” he said.
Silence fell. Not tense — thoughtful.
Aria took a slow breath. “Lysander… this is marriage. Even if it’s fake. Even if it’s temporary. It’s… big.”
“I know,” he said.
“My business is falling apart,” she continued. “I don’t want to say yes just because I’m desperate.”
“Then say yes because it’s fair,” he replied. “I ruined your career once. I can help rebuild it.”
Jade stepped in. “And what do you get?”
He met her eyes. “A partner who won’t crumble beside me.”
Jade blinked, taken aback by the honesty.
Aria rubbed her hands together. “What exactly happens if you lose the company?”
His jaw tightened. “It goes to someone who shouldn’t have it. Someone dangerous.”
She nodded slowly. “Elias.”
Lysander didn’t confirm, but the silence was enough.
Aria looked down at her desk. Bills. Notices. Emails.
Then she looked at Jade.
Then at Lysander.
Her voice was soft. “I don’t trust you.”
“You don’t have to,” he said. “Just trust the deal.”
“And after thirty days?”
“After thirty days,” he said, “we go back to our own lives. Simple.”
Exactly what she needed.
Jade touched her arm. “Aria… think carefully.”
“I have,” Aria said.
But her heart beat too fast.
She lifted her eyes to Lysander. “If I say yes… we do this my way. No pretending we’re in love. No forcing me into events I’m not ready for. No decisions without telling me first.”
“Agreed,” he said.
And one more thing,” Aria said quietly. “About living arrangements…”
Lysander didn’t let her finish. “You’ll move into the penthouse.”
Aria blinked. “I—what? I wasn’t agreeing to that.”
“It isn’t optional,” he said, tone low, firm. “If we’re presenting a united front, we live under the same roof. The board will expect it. The media will notice if we don’t.”
Jade stepped forward. “She doesn’t have to live anywhere she doesn’t want to.”
Lysander’s eyes didn’t leave Aria. “She does if she wants this to work.”
Aria straightened. “You could have asked.”
“I don’t have time to ask,” he replied. “I need certainty. Not part-time appearances. Not a separate apartment that sparks rumors in week one.”
“So I just… move in?” she asked, voice thin.
“Yes,” he said simply. “You’ll have your own room. Your own space. But you stay in the penthouse. With me.”
The last two words tightened every muscle in her body.
Jade stared at Aria like she’d lost her mind. “You’re actually doing this?”
Aria swallowed. “I think I am.”
Lysander stepped closer, invading her space just enough to make her feel it.
“Then say it,” he said. “I need to hear the answer.”
His voice wasn’t cold this time. It was steady, demanding, and unmistakably certain.
Aria’s pulse thudded.
“Aria,” Jade whispered, “you don’t owe him anything.”
She shook her head. “No. But I owe myself a chance to stand again.”
She turned to Lysander.
“Alright,” she said quietly. “I’ll marry you.”
Lysander exhaled — not relief, not triumph — something in between.
“Thank you,” he said, and for once, he meant it.
Jade flung her hands in the air. “Great. Fantastic. Let’s all just casually enter a marriage like it’s a gym membership.”
Aria laughed weakly. “It’s only thirty days.”
“Thirty days too many,” Jade muttered.
Lysander took something from his pocket — not a ring, not a contract — just a business card with his private number.
“I’ll have my lawyer send over the paperwork,” he said. “We’ll sign together.”
Aria nodded.
He paused at the door. “Aria?”
“Yes?”
“You’re doing the right thing,” he said softly. “For both of us.”
She didn’t know if that was true.
But when the door closed behind him, she finally exhaled.
Jade sat beside her. “You okay?”
“No,” Aria whispered. “But I will be.”
She looked at the empty doorway.
Thirty days.
Just thirty days.
What could possibly go wrong?
- Writer
