The First Night
1158 Words
The car ride was silent.
Unbearably silent.
I sat beside Adrian Wolfe, my hands resting in my lap, fingers lightly gripping the fabric of my dress just to keep myself grounded.
Everything felt unreal.
Just a few hours ago, I was struggling to figure out how to survive another week.
Now…
I was married.
To a man who felt more dangerous than anything I had ever faced.
I glanced at him from the corner of my eye.
He hadn’t spoken once since we left the office.
Not a single word.
His attention was fixed on his phone, his expression calm, distant—like I wasn’t even there.
Like this marriage meant nothing to him.
Something about that bothered me more than it should have.
I looked away quickly, turning my attention to the city lights flashing past the window.
This was a deal.
Nothing more.
I needed to remember that.
The car slowed to a stop.
I blinked, slightly startled, and looked up.
We weren’t in the city anymore.
We were standing in front of a massive estate.
No—
“Mansion” didn’t even begin to describe it.
Tall gates.
Endless driveway.
Lights glowing softly against dark stone walls.
It looked like something out of a life I used to know.
A life I lost.
“Out,” Adrian said.
His voice cut through my thoughts.
Cold. Direct.
I stepped out of the car without arguing.
The air felt different here.
Still. Quiet.
Like the entire place existed under his control.
A staff member opened the front doors before we even reached them.
Of course.
Everything here ran perfectly.
Unlike my life.
I followed him inside.
The interior was just as overwhelming—marble floors, high ceilings, soft lighting that made everything feel expensive and distant.
Beautiful…
But empty.
“Your room is upstairs,” he said without looking at me.
I stopped walking.
“Your room?” I repeated.
He finally turned.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
His eyes met mine, and for a second, I felt that same pressure as before—like I was being watched too closely.
“We are married,” I said carefully.
“Yes,” he replied.
“Then why do I have a separate room?”
A pause.
Then—
“Because I said so.”
My jaw tightened.
There it was again.
Control.
Simple. Absolute.
I should have expected it.
Still…
Something about it irritated me.
“Right,” I said quietly, forcing a small nod. “Of course.”
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then he turned and started walking away, clearly expecting me to follow.
I did.
Because what choice did I have?
The room he led me to was…
Too much.
Large. Elegant. Perfectly arranged.
Nothing like the small, worn apartment I had gotten used to.
“This will be your space,” he said.
I stepped inside slowly, almost afraid to touch anything.
It didn’t feel like mine.
It felt temporary.
Like everything else in this marriage.
“Dinner is at eight,” he added.
I turned slightly. “Are we expected to eat together?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
The word slipped out before I could stop it.
A mistake.
I saw it immediately in the way his expression changed—just slightly.
Not anger.
Something colder.
“You’re asking questions again,” he said.
My breath caught.
Right.
Rule number one.
I looked down briefly, then back up.
“Then I’ll be there at eight.”
A long silence followed.
Then—
“Good.”
He turned to leave.
But just before he reached the door, he stopped.
“Lina.”
My name again.
Too familiar.
Too natural.
“Yes?”
He didn’t turn around this time.
“Don’t test my patience.”
The door closed behind him.
And just like that—
I was alone.
⸻
I let out a slow breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.
My shoulders dropped slightly as I sat down on the edge of the bed.
This was real.
All of it.
The marriage.
The house.
Him.
Adrian Wolfe.
I looked down at the ring on my finger.
It glinted softly under the light.
Beautiful.
Cold.
Just like him.
“Don’t ask questions.”
“Do as you’re told.”
A humorless smile crossed my lips.
What kind of life had I just stepped into?
I leaned back slightly, closing my eyes for a moment.
I should have felt relieved.
My problems were solved.
I had money.
A place to stay.
Security.
But instead…
I felt trapped.
Like I had traded one kind of struggle for another.
And this one might be worse.
Dinner felt like a performance.
The table was too long.
Too formal.
Too quiet.
Adrian sat across from me, calm as ever, eating like this was just another normal night.
I barely touched my food.
The silence stretched between us again.
Uncomfortable.
Heavy.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore.
“You do this often?” I asked.
His fork paused slightly.
“Do what?”
“This,” I gestured lightly. “Marry strangers.”
A dangerous question.
I knew it the second I said it.
His eyes lifted slowly to meet mine.
Dark. Sharp.
“No,” he said.
Something about the way he answered made my chest tighten.
“Just you.”
The words sent a strange feeling through me.
Not comfort.
Not fear.
Something in between.
“Why me?”
There it was.
Another question.
Another mistake.
Silence.
Then he set his fork down carefully.
The sound echoed softly in the room.
“You’re forgetting the rules,” he said.
My fingers tightened slightly against the table.
“I just want to understand—”
“You don’t need to understand.”
His voice wasn’t loud.
But it cut through me anyway.
I fell silent.
Because deep down…
I already knew the truth.
This marriage was never meant to make sense.
It was meant to control.
To hide something.
To serve a purpose I wasn’t allowed to know.
Adrian leaned back slightly, studying me again.
That same look.
Like he was watching something unfold exactly as he expected.
“You’ll learn,” he said quietly.
My heart skipped.
“Learn what?”
A pause.
Then—
“How to stay where you belong.”
The words hit harder than they should have.
Something inside me tightened.
But I didn’t look away.
Couldn’t.
Because if I did…
I felt like I would lose something important.
Even if I didn’t know what it was yet.
That night, as I lay in a bed that didn’t feel like mine…
In a house that didn’t feel like home…
I stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep.
Every word he said replayed in my mind.
Every silence.
Something wasn’t right.
About him.
About this marriage.
About everything.
And the worst part?
I had the feeling…
That I was already too deep to escape.
- Writer
