Married To The Man Who Hates Me

CHAPTER 5: HEADLINES AND LIES

The headlines came the next morning.

I saw them on my phone before I even got out of bed.

BLACKWOOD HEIR REUNITES WITH FORMER LOVE AT CHARITY BANQUET

MYSTERY BRIDE LEFT IN THE SHADOWS

IS THE BLACKWOOD MARRIAGE ALREADY FAILING?

My fingers trembled as I scrolled.

There were pictures—too many of them. Damien standing beside Vivian, his hand resting comfortably on her back. Damien laughing, his expression relaxed in a way I had never seen directed at me. And then, further down, a single photo of me, half-hidden behind them, my smile stiff and my eyes downcast.

The comments were worse.

She looks desperate.

Definitely married him for money.

Vivian is clearly the real woman.

Why does the wife look like an assistant?

I locked my phone and pressed it against my chest, breathing slowly.

This was what Damien had warned me about.

This was his world.

A soft knock came at the door. “Mrs. Blackwood,” a maid said gently, “Mr. Blackwood has requested that you come down for breakfast.”

Requested.

I changed quietly and went downstairs.

Damien was already seated at the long dining table, tablet in hand, scrolling through the same articles I had just read. His expression was unreadable.

“Sit,” he said without looking up.

I obeyed.

“You’ve seen the news,” he stated.

“Yes.”

“This kind of attention is inconvenient,” he continued coolly. “You’ll stay inside for the next few days. I don’t want the media seeing you look… affected.”

Affected.

“I understand,” I said.

He finally looked at me then, his gaze sharp. “Do you?”

I met his eyes. “You’re ashamed of me.”

The silence that followed was heavy.

“That’s not the point,” he said eventually. “You exist because this marriage serves a purpose. Don’t complicate it.”

My chest tightened, but I nodded.

As I stood to leave, his phone buzzed on the table. He glanced at it instinctively.

Vivian.

Again.

“Damien,” I said before I could stop myself.

He looked up, irritated. “What.”

“Do you hate me that much?” I asked quietly.

His jaw tightened. “You lost the right to ask me that years ago.”

I flinched.

He answered the call without another word, turning away from me as his voice softened.

I walked back upstairs slowly, each step heavier than the last.

Back in my room, I sat by the window and stared out at the gates of the mansion—tall, iron, impossible to climb.

For the first time since signing those papers, the truth settled fully in my chest.

I wasn’t just trapped in a marriage.

I was trapped in a lie that wasn’t mine.

And no matter how much it hurt, I knew one thing for certain—

One day, the truth would come out.

And when it did, Damien Blackwood would regret ever looking at me with contempt.