Chapter 4

"My name?" Ariel stared at him, completely lost. "I don't understand. My family is bankrupt. The Melton name is ruined. What possible value could it have?"

Holden didn't answer immediately. He walked behind his desk, unlocked a drawer with a key he pulled from his pocket, and took out a thick document. It was encased in a pristine leather portfolio, its pages clean and unmarked.

He placed it on the desk and slid it toward her. "Read it."

Ariel's hands shook slightly as she opened the cover. The bold letters at the top made her breath catch.

PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT

Between: ____________________ and ____________________

She looked up at him, her mind reeling. "Prenuptial? But I'm still married to-"

"Divorce proceedings take time, but they will be finalized," Holden said, his tone leaving no room for argument. He pressed a button on his desk intercom. "Get my legal team on a secure line. Now." A moment later, a calm voice filled the room through a speaker. "Sir?"

"I'm sending you a standard prenuptial template," Holden said, never taking his eyes off Ariel. "Fill in the party names. Holden Tillman and Ariel Melton. Expedite." He then turned his full attention back to her. "Keep reading."

She forced her eyes down the page. The terms were stark, simple, and utterly shocking.

Ariel Melton would become Holden Tillman's fiancée. And, when the time was right, his legal wife.

In return, Holden would immediately pay the full medical expenses for her mother's surgery. She would live at Serenity Estate, under his protection, and receive a substantial monthly allowance.

The agreement was strictly a business arrangement. No romance. No physical relationship. It could be terminated under specific, pre-agreed conditions.

Ariel felt like the floor had dropped out from under her. She looked up at the man sitting across from her, his face unreadable.

"Why?" she whispered. "Why me? You could have any woman in New York. Why a bankrupt divorcée?"

Holden leaned back in his chair, his expression calm. "The board of the Tillman family trust has been pressuring me to marry. They want a stable, settled heir to secure the family image. I need a wife who is presentable, educated, and aware of the rules of our world."

He paused, his eyes locking onto hers. "And I need one who is easy to control. A woman with no money, no family, and a grudge against Garrick fits the profile perfectly."

Ariel's heart skipped a beat at the mention of Garrick.

"You hate Garrick," Holden stated, his voice flat. "And I find him tedious. Our goals align."

It was a cold, calculated truth. He was using her just as much as she was using him. But there was a twist-a shared enemy.

Holden uncapped a heavy fountain pen and set it next to the document. "Sign it, and your mother's surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Refuse, and Holloway will drive you back to Manhattan."

He didn't give her time to think. He didn't offer comfort. It was a choice between the devil she knew and the devil she didn't.

But the devil she didn't know was offering her mother's life.

Ariel picked up the pen. The metal was cold and heavy in her hand. She leaned over the document and signed her name. Ariel Melton.

The moment the ink dried, a subtle shift occurred in the room. Holden's eyes glinted with something that looked like satisfaction.

He took the document back and placed it in the drawer. Then, he opened another drawer and pulled out a single piece of paper, handing it to her.

It was a bank draft. Issued by a Swiss private bank. Payable to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

The amount was five hundred thousand dollars.

Ariel's jaw dropped. She stared at the number, unable to process it. "This is... exactly what I asked for."

"This is for the deposit," Holden said, his tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather. "Any further expenses for her recovery and rehabilitation are to be billed directly to my office. I don't want my people worrying about money."

My people.

The words sent a shiver down Ariel's spine. Before she could respond, Holden picked up the phone on his desk.

"Holloway," he said. "Deliver this draft to Dr. Fletcher personally. And effective immediately, Miss Melton's security detail is your responsibility. No one touches her."

"Yes, sir," Holloway's voice crackled through the speaker.

Holden hung up the phone and stood. He walked around the desk again, stopping right in front of her. This time, there was no predatory tension, just a quiet, commanding presence.

He held out his hand.

"Welcome to Serenity Estate," he said, his voice low and steady. "My fiancée."

Ariel looked at his hand. It was large, strong, and impeccably groomed. Taking it meant stepping into a world she didn't understand, bound to a man who saw her as an asset.

She placed her hand in his. His grip was firm and warm.

"Thank you," she said softly.

He didn't smile. He just held her hand for a moment longer than necessary, his dark eyes searching hers, before releasing it and turning away.