Engaged
1306 Words
The estate was too quiet.
Katie stood at the top of the staircase again—this time not as a daughter returning home, but as a bargaining chip on display. Her father's bargaining chip. His chess piece.
Her palms were clammy against the silk of her dress. Her mother had chosen it for her: cream-colored, elegant, modest. Appropriate for the daughter of Charles Arygos. Appropriate for a meeting that would seal her fate.
She heard them before she saw them.
Laughter. Expensive leather shoes against marble. Voices full of arrogance, of men who believed the world bent to their will.
The Castellanos family had arrived.
Alessandro walked in like a man who'd already won. Tall, dark-haired, tailored to perfection, his presence filled the room like smoke—elegant and suffocating. His eyes swept over the estate with vague disinterest before locking on her.
She stiffened.
That look.
It was hunger, yes—but cold. Possessive. Like she was already his. Like he had already claimed her.
"Miss Arygos," he said, lips curling into a smirk. "Or shall I say... future wife?"
Her jaw tensed. "Alessandro."
He took her hand before she could pull away, kissed her knuckles without warmth. "You're more beautiful than I remembered."
"I wish I could say the same."
Her father's voice snapped from behind her like a whip. "Katherine."
She blinked, said nothing.
They all moved to the grand sitting room. Her father, beaming. Alessandro's father, thick with cigars and bravado. Her mother, quiet in the corner like a ghost of defiance.
Alessandro sat beside her on the velvet settee. Too close. His knee brushed hers.
"You'll find I'm not difficult to love," he said under his breath, just for her. "I'm wealthy, powerful, and loyal. All I ask is obedience."
Katie flinched.
"Don't worry," he added, eyes dragging across her face. "You'll grow used to me. I'll make sure of it."
It was a promise. Or a threat. She couldn't tell anymore.
Her father clinked his glass, all business. "Shall we finalize the arrangement?"
And Katie knew—this was her moment to speak.
To say no.
To run.
To scream.
But her eyes found her mother's... and in them, she saw helpless sorrow. Her mother couldn't save her. Not from this. Not anymore.
She turned toward Alessandro, his hand now resting lightly on her knee, fingers like iron beneath expensive linen.
She felt trapped. Watched. Owned.
But she also remembered the tabloids. The betrayal. The loneliness. And worst of all—Yannis's silence.
He hadn't come.
And maybe... he never would.
So she nodded.
One small, lifeless nod.
"Yes," she whispered. "I accept."
Her father exhaled in triumph. The Castellanos patriarch smiled.
Alessandro leaned closer, whispering against her skin like a poison.
"Good girl."
And Katie sat there, the room spinning in quiet applause, while every part of her soul slowly began to die.
⸻
The scent of bitter coffee filled Yannis's study as he paced behind his desk, sleepless, exhausted, and angry at the world for letting Katie disappear.
He'd tried everything—her friends had shut him out, her apartment was empty, and her phone had been disconnected. The only information he had was that her family had taken her away. Vanished. Sealed her behind their cold, impenetrable walls.
His phone buzzed. A text from Adrian.
You need to see this.
No context. Just a link.
Yannis tapped it open—and froze.
"Society's Newest Power Couple: Arygos Heiress Set to Marry Castellanos Empire's Sole Heir"
Beneath the headline was a picture. Sharp and intentional. Katie, standing next to Alessandro Castellanos on the marble steps of the Arygos estate. She was in a pale cream dress, her hands folded in front of her like she was praying for mercy.
Alessandro's hand rested casually on her thigh, and his smile was wolfish.
Yannis's blood went cold.
"No..." he whispered.
He zoomed in on the photo. Katie's face said it all. She was beautiful, yes. Composed. But behind her eyes—fear.
He knew that look. He'd seen it once before, right before she fell into his arms, trembling and high on those cursed brownies. Right before she trusted him with her body, and unknowingly, her heart.
His hand trembled as he lowered the phone.
"She wouldn't," he muttered to himself. "Not willingly."
Not after the way she clung to him. Not after the way she whispered his name in her sleep.
Adrian burst through the door without knocking, holding the same tabloid in his hand.
"You saw it?" he asked.
Yannis nodded.
Adrian threw the magazine onto the desk. "She looks like a hostage in designer."
Yannis didn't reply. He was already grabbing his car keys.
"Where are you going?"
"To get her back."
Adrian blocked the door. "Yannis—her father will eat you alive. You want a war with the Arygos and the Castellanos?"
"I'll burn every estate they own to the ground before I let her marry that bastard."
"She asked you to marry Milly."
"She didn't mean it". He muttered defeated.
Outside, Milly didn't knock. She didn't wait for the guard at the front gate to buzz her in.
Milly ran.
Up the stone steps of Yannis's villa, barefoot and breathless, heart pounding like war drums in her chest. She didn't care that it was nearly midnight. Didn't care that Adrian had warned her Yannis might slam the door in her face.
He had to listen.
She pounded on the door with both fists. "Yannis! Yannis, open the damn door!"
When it swung open, he was already there—hair tousled, chest rising and falling like he hadn't slept in days. His eyes locked on hers, full of grief and rage.
"You saw it too," he said flatly.
Milly nodded. "The engagement."
She stepped inside without asking. She didn't care about propriety anymore. None of it mattered. Only Katie.
"I need to talk to you," she whispered, pacing now, wringing her hands. "And you need to listen."
He stared at her, arms folded, silent.
Milly stopped, tears prickling in her eyes. "Yannis... please save her."
He blinked.
"She's not just marrying some guy for press," Milly said. "She's being forced. That man—Alessandro Castellanos—isn't just some arrogant trust fund prick. He's—"
Her voice cracked.
"He's her childhood bully in the worst way possessive. If you get what I mean".
Yannis's entire body tensed.
"When we were twelve, he used to humiliate her in front of the other kids. He'd steal her lunch, call her names, push her into the pool at parties, and laugh while everyone watched. But it didn't stop there."
Milly paused, her voice shaking with fury.
"When we were sixteen... he tried to force himself on her during a summer gala. She managed to get away, but he told everyone she came onto him. Her father believed him. Said she must've been looking for attention. That was why she left the moment she turned eighteen. She had lived on her own since."
Yannis's jaw locked. "He what?"
Milly nodded, tears falling freely now.
"She never told anyone else. Not even the girls. I swore I wouldn't say anything unless she was in danger." Milly took a shuddering breath. "But this... this marriage? It's not just wrong. It's dangerous."
"She looked terrified in that photo," Yannis murmured.
"She is." Milly stepped closer. "And I don't think she has the strength to fight anymore. Not after everything that's happened."
Yannis closed his eyes, jaw clenched like he could barely hold himself together.
"You love her, don't you?" Milly whispered.
He didn't answer.
He didn't have to.
"She needs you, Yannis. More than she's ever needed anyone." Milly's voice cracked. "Please... don't let him win."
Yannis didn't speak.
He simply turned, grabbed his coat—and walked out the door.
- Writer
