AB

cks from Blackwood Tower be

l stone of a building facade. Pedestrians streamed past, a few casting curious gla

marry Alexander Blackwood,a man who had meticulously orchestrated my family's downfall, who had watched me f

be his wife

r, its darkness both beautiful and ominous. Rare. Formed u

cerity in an otherwise transactional encounter. For that brief moment, he had l

y just another

y. I fished it out with trembling fingers to find a te

my purse without responding and pushed myself away from the wall. I couldn't go home,

oon was cool but sunny, the kind of perfect Boston day that usually filled me with creative en

fore I bound myself to a man who saw me as co

agoon and sank onto it, watching the swan boats glide across the water, filled with laughing t

ditional texts from my father. Instead, I called the one pe

was just about to call you. Did you finish that com

" I interrupted, the words tumbli

d was so complete I thou

ay

"For a second I thought you said y

d

hecked, you weren't even dating anyone. Unless,wait

Blackwood,"

ng the business side of my art career when I landed bigger commissions. She was also possibl

ackwood? CEO of Blackwood Enterprises? Bost

very

All humor had vanished from her v

t the afternoon sun. "Remember how I told you my father had been acting s

id it was just ba

gue. "Six years ago, my father signed a contract with

at does that

a young couple stroll past hand in hand, completely oblivious to my d

and brutal. Saying them aloud mad

said finally. "That can't

ather than a mandate. I can refuse. If I do, my famil

This sounds like something out of a

it gets better. The reason Blackwood wants this marriage is that m

ion, the fatal drive off Harborview Bridge. With each detail, Maya's shoc

cluded. "The thing my father loves most, hande

his is beyond fucked up. Have you talked to a

ack pearl ring on my finger, watching how it caught the light. "Besides, even if there were legal l

ly. "Come stay with me. We

moment I imagined doing exactly that. Disappearing

e is everything. And as much as I hate my father right n

rself instead? Marry a man who's using

ed insane. But what ch

. "My art career remains mine. Separate bedrooms. Financial independence