l silent. The last of the guests had depart

a tomb of opulent silence. Alaric immediately loosened his tie, the last vestige

tossed them onto a glass tabletop. The sh

ess felt heavy and suffocating. The room was larger than her en

y. He poured a generous amount of whiskey into a cr

voice. It came out as a dry

lace of her dress to the tired lines on her face. A look of

his lips. "You really think you'

ike a slap. The blood

d threw it onto the coffee table in front of her. It sl

r. She didn't need to open it to know what was inside. Lies. Di

r. His tall frame cast a long, menacing shadow. "You and m

red. Her body trembled with

her to look at him. His touch was rough, bruising. "You think I don't know what your fa

so wrapped in his own narrative of betrayal, that any explanation would be p

line, she shoved him h

g. His face contorted with fury. He took a step back,

ne through with this farce in the first place. If he burned this marriage to the ground tonight, his grandfather w

he embodiment of everything he despised. The file on the table painted her as a predator who had stalked

umber and put

liminary documents for Plan A regarding Evans Corporation.

nderstood, sir. The hostile takeover protocol will b

e, on their wedding night, he was setting th

" she screamed, lun

one of cold, cruel triumph. But beneath it, a flicker of something else-a gnawing aw

, "do you understand

tail of emotions exploded inside her. Bu

k, narrowed into slits of ice. Her fear

urned. She yanked open the

f Alaric was going to break the terms of the very marriage he had just agreed to,

ess tangled around her legs as she spr

d staircase, gasping for breath

re a silk dressing gown, a glass of red wine in he