Taken At The Altar

Episode 002

Naomi Sinclair POV

The silence in the back of the limousine was suffocating. I swear that I couldn't even breathe properly. It felt as though I would be lashed for breathing. My hand rested stiffly in my lap, the big diamond ring on my finger catching the light that came from the outside of the street light.

I can't even count how many times I have adjusted my recommended glasses.

Across from me, Rowan Blackstone, the actual CEO of the empire we had just merged with, sat with an unreadable, cold expression. His dark eyes were fixated out the tinted window, his jaw clenched. I could hear the grind of his teeth every time the car hit a bump.

“You can as well stop looking at me.” I heard his sharp voice and I didn't even waste time before I adjusted.

The ceremony was over. The guests had cheered and every media had taken information with the thought that I was Seraphina.

And now we were alone.

Well…me, Rowan, and the wall of ice forming between us.

He hadn’t spoken since we left the venue. Not a single word but now he complained about me staring at him.

And that was worse than yelling.

I pressed my fingers into the fabric of my dress….still Seraphina’s dress. I hadn’t had the time, or the courage, to change. The corset was tight, a cage of boning and lace pressing against my ribs, making it harder to breathe. Like the weight of everything was closing in. Coupled with the fact that I felt uncomfortable sitting close next to him.

I prayed silently for us to get there so I could get out of the car.

“You’re quiet,” I said, barely more than a whisper. My voice sounded small in the luxury cabin. Didn't know why I suddenly said something, maybe because I felt it was all too quiet and me talking can actually make me breathe better.

His gaze slid to mine, dark and sharp. “And you’re not Seraphina.”

There it was.

Silence eloped the place and my heart pounded louder and louder this time. I took time to think before wanting to decline and he interrupted.

“You are quite a good liar. So bring it on again and I will make sure you pay the consequences.”

I gulped in hard, fear swallowing me. “N…” I stuttered anxiously. “No. I’m not.”

I finally decided to come out. No matter how, I can never be like Seraphina. The way she talks, the way she form's out words just to get attention, it wasn't just for me.

He exhaled slowly through his nose, like a man trying very hard not to explode.

“Where is she?” he asked, his voice suddenly angry. “ You think you can fool me into believing that you are Seraphina? I found out from the beginning of the celebration but I just chose to be calm.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. She ran. Left a note. My mother….our mother….made me do this.” I blabbered out, to my own ear. I was scared. Too scared to stop talking.

He studied me. Cold. Unforgiving. “You expect me to believe that you had no part in this? That this wasn’t some elaborate Sinclair scheme to screw the Blackstones over? Your mother told us that Seraphina would be the one coming and now, you betrayed us.”

“No.” My voice cracked. “I swear, I had no idea until…until two hours before the wedding. She just disappeared.”

“And you let them parade you down the aisle?” His eyes narrowed. “Like a coward? Nobody forced you to do things. You wouldn't have stayed if you actually didn't want it. You could have run away as well.”

“I was cornered,” I snapped, heat rising to my cheeks. “Do you think I wanted this? To marry a stranger under my sister’s name? I was terrified. I ‘am’ terrified. I don't even know you and not always this kind of person. I love my privacy.”

He tilted his head. “You should be.”

The air thickened with those three words.

The car pulled into a high-rise parking garage, the doors parting to reveal black floors and walls that shone brighter at night. No signage. Rowan stepped out without waiting, a security detail in tailored suits greeting him with stiff nods.

I climbed out after, my heels clicking awkwardly as I followed.

Not one person looked surprised to see me.

That unnerved me more than anything.

Had they known all along?

The elevator doors slid open, and we stepped into a glass capsule that shot upward so fast my stomach twisted. Rowan didn’t glance at me once. His hands were in his pockets, his face cold.

When the doors opened again, it was into another world.

His penthouse.

It was nothing like the flashy mansions I’d seen in lifestyle magazines. This was clean, sleek, and quiet. Floor-to-ceiling windows that framed the house like a painting.

My heels sank into the thick gray rug as I stepped inside. The silence here was empty.

“You’ll be staying here now,” Rowan said. “There’s a room prepared for you down the hall. Staff comes at 7 a.m. and leaves at 10 p.m. Don’t go snooping. Don’t speak unless spoken to. And don’t lie to me again.”

My spine straightened. “I didn’t lie.”

“You didn’t stop a lie either,” he said without turning around. “Same thing.”

I bit my tongue.

“You said room,” I muttered. “As in separate.”

He finally turned to face me, one brow arched.

“You really think I’d share a bed with a Sinclair after today?” he said coolly. “This marriage is a nameplate. That’s all. You’re my wife in the public’s eyes, but that’s it. You’re nothing to me beyond what’s necessary for appearances.”

My chest ached with something sharp and ugly. I wasn’t sure what hurt more….his hatred or the fact that I understood it.

“Fine,” I whispered. “That’s fine.”

He nodded once. “I expect discretion. Loyalty. And silence.”

“And what do I get in return?” I asked, surprising even myself.

He gave me a look that could have frozen glass. “You get to keep your family out of ruin. You get to keep your mother out of jail for fraud. Me informing my family about your atrocities would cost even your dying father life. You get to wear designer clothes and live in a glass box in the sky. Isn’t that what Sinclair girls want?”

I blinked, stunned and hurt as well. He dared mention my father. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“I don’t want to,” he said flatly. “The less I know, the less I have to tolerate.”

He turned and walked toward a hallway. I followed in silence, trying to memorize the layout of the space. Every hallway looked the same…sharp angles, expensive lighting.

We stopped at a door.

“This is yours,” he said, gesturing. “Don’t come into my wing unless summoned.”

I didn’t respond and He didn’t wait before the bedroom shut behind me with a soft click.

The bedroom was beautiful….cold and impersonal, but beautiful. A massive bed with silver linens. A balcony I wasn’t sure I’d ever step onto. A closet already stocked with clothes in my size. The fact was that all of it was new, blew my mind.

Everything was pre-planned. As if they'd been preparing for Seraphina to live here for months.

But she never came.

And now I was the one trapped in her place.

I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at my reflection in the floor-length mirror. My hair had started to come undone. My makeup was smeared under my eyes. I looked like a haunted version of a bride.

A fraud.A coward.A fool.

I took off the gown slowly, trembling. I wanted to burn it. I wanted to scream. But there was no one to hear me here. The walls were too thick, and the staff, if I ever saw them….were loyal to him.

I changed into a simple black slip someone had hung on the closet door.

And then I sat. And sat. And sat.

Hours passed.

Dinner was brought and left on a tray outside the room. There was no knock. No word.

I lay in bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering if Seraphina was out there, laughing somewhere, free and wild and selfish as always. If she even cared what she'd left behind.

Because this wasn’t just a wedding gone wrong.

A knock on the door made me jolt out of my trance as I headed to open the door.

One woman…..the housekeeper….brought a file with a meal.

“From Mr. Blackstone,” she said without emotion.

I opened it after she left.

Inside were financial documents. Corporate papers. The terms of the merger.

I read through them with a sinking feeling.This merger wasn’t just about company shares.

There were clauses….clauses that only made sense if Rowan had expected Seraphina to leave. Or if he’d wanted her to.

And more than once, I saw Seraphina’s name crossed out and Naomi Sinclair written in another fresh ink.

Did he know something that I don't know?