Signed For His Hate

Chapter 2

Landon’s POV

From the moment she arrived, I refused to look at her. The disgust in my chest burned like acid.

Standing at this altar, reciting these vows—it was the ultimate betrayal to the woman I truly loved. Hailey. I should be standing here with her, not with this gold-digging opportunist who had forced her way into my life.

Hailey had been devastated when she found out about my engagement. The betrayal in her eyes had nearly shattered me. But I had no choice. If I refused this marriage, my father would have stripped me of everything. My inheritance, my legacy, my future—it all would have gone to my younger brother, Theo.

That’s why I had begged Isla to refuse. If she had said no, my hands would have been clean. The wedding wouldn’t have been my fault. My father would have been furious, but not at me. Yet, she hadn’t. She stood before me now, smiling, oblivious.

Naïve. Desperate.

I always knew she was sheltered, but I never realized just how far she would go to secure her place in my life.

“You may now kiss your bride.”

I clenched my jaw.

She looked up at me with wide, eager eyes—soft hazel pools glowing with innocence. For a fleeting second, I faltered. But I quickly shoved the thought away. There was no room for sympathy.

She had taken Hailey’s place. She had ruined my life.

And she would pay for it.

I crushed my lips against hers, gripping her arm with a force that made her wince. Good. She should feel even a fraction of the pain I was in. When I pulled away, I saw the confusion in her gaze, the tiny flicker of hurt.

She had no idea what she had just signed up for.

From this moment forward, she would see a side of me no one else had. The side I reserved for my enemies.

And unfortunately for her, that’s exactly what she had become.

My hatred for her knew no bounds.