CHAPTER ONE: The Bride He Doesn't Want
"She's eighteen."
The sentence echoed through the silent conference room.
No one moved.
No one even dared to breathe.
At the head of the twelve-meter ebony table sat the man whose name alone could shake the country's financial market.
Cassian Blackwood.
Twenty-eight.
Founder and CEO of Blackwood Holdings.
The youngest man ever to build a trillion-dollar business empire.
His tailored black suit looked untouched by a single wrinkle. His expensive watch reflected the dim lights overhead.
He didn't speak.
He simply stared at the file lying before him.
The room felt colder.
The family lawyer adjusted his glasses with trembling fingers.
"Mr. Blackwood..."
Still nothing.
"According to the agreement, Miss Seraphina Hart turns nineteen in exactly three months."
Silence.
Three seconds passed.
Five.
Ten.
Every executive in the room secretly prayed the meeting would end before someone lost their job.
Finally...
Cassian reached for the file.
Flip.
One page.
Another.
Then...
A photograph.
A young girl smiled softly at the camera.
Oversized cream sweater.
Messy ponytail.
Round glasses.
She looked more interested in the novel tucked beneath her arm than in whoever was taking the picture.
Nothing about her matched the glamorous women constantly chasing wealthy men.
Cassian studied the photograph for another second.
Expressionless.
Then he closed the file.
Click.
The sound echoed through the room.
"When?"
The lawyer blinked.
"S-Sir?"
"When does the contract begin?"
"Immediately after both parties sign."
"And the marriage?"
"The same day."
Silence returned.
The executives exchanged nervous glances.
Everyone knew Cassian hated unnecessary conversations.
Everyone also knew...
He hated marriage even more.
For years, countless daughters from influential families had tried to become Mrs. Blackwood.
Every proposal had been rejected.
Every blind date had ended within minutes.
Rumors spread that the cold billionaire disliked women altogether.
Others claimed he was incapable of loving anyone.
Cassian never bothered correcting them.
His deep voice finally broke the silence.
"Prepare the marriage."
The lawyer's pen slipped from his hand.
Several executives looked up in disbelief.
Even Cassian's longtime assistant, Adrian, who had worked beside him for seven years, couldn't completely hide the surprise in his eyes.
"Sir..."
Adrian hesitated.
"Are you certain?"
Cassian stood.
The room instinctively straightened.
His towering figure carried an authority that made people lower their heads without thinking.
He picked up the file.
His eyes briefly returned to the smiling girl in the photograph.
For reasons he couldn't explain...
She looked strangely...
Safe.
Annoyingly innocent.
Like someone who had wandered into the wrong story.
He looked away.
"Three months."
The lawyer nodded quickly.
"Yes, Mr. Blackwood."
"I don't repeat myself."
With that...
He walked out.
The conference room remained frozen long after the doors closed behind him.
Only Adrian stayed behind.
He quietly picked up the photograph that had slipped from the file.
His eyebrows slowly rose.
"...Her?"
He looked toward the closed door.
Then back at the photograph.
For the first time in seven years...
His terrifying boss had looked at a woman's picture for longer than three seconds.
Adrian smiled to himself.
"Oh..."
"This is going to be interesting."
---
Three Months Earlier...
Across the city..
The loud cheers from the football field echoed across Hartwell University.
Students crowded the bleachers.
Music blasted through giant speakers.
Laughter filled the warm afternoon air.
Completely unaware...
The girl whose life had just been decided inside a billionaire's boardroom walked quietly through campus with a novel in one hand and a backpack hanging loosely over her shoulder.
She had no idea...
That in exactly three months...
She would become Mrs. Cassian Blackwood.
End of Chapter One
