Chapter 1 You will marry me

Aria could still remember the smell of antiseptic lingering in the hospital hallway. Cold. Sterile. Unforgiving-just like the man who now stood before her, arms crossed, eyes unreadable.

"You will marry me," Dorian Calderon said without a trace of emotion, as if the words meant nothing, as if her life wasn't about to be torn apart by them.

She stared at him in disbelief, her lips parting to protest, but no sound came out. How could she respond to such a sentence? Marriage? To him?

Dorian was the last person she ever imagined being tied to. Cold, ruthless, and far too powerful for someone like her to ever defy. The Calderon family name was one that made even the most influential people in the city pause. And Dorian? He was the shadow behind the throne, the one whose words carried consequences that could ruin lives.

And now he wanted hers.

"W-What are you talking about?" she finally managed, voice trembling.

"You heard me." He stepped closer, his towering frame casting a shadow over her smaller one. "You'll marry me. No negotiations, no arguments."

Aria shook her head, heart pounding. "This doesn't make any sense. Why would I-"

"You know why," he cut in sharply. "You hit Lina."

"I didn't!" Her voice cracked, eyes widening. "I wasn't even driving. It was Mira-"

"I don't care," he snapped. "You're the one who took the blame, aren't you? That makes you responsible. And someone will pay for what happened to my sister."

Aria's knees weakened, but she forced herself to stand tall. She had taken the blame. No one had asked her to-but the moment Mira had shown up at their apartment, blood on her hands and tears streaking her cheeks, Aria had known what she had to do. Their parents hadn't hesitated. They had looked at her with cold eyes and a single command: "Fix this."

It was always Aria. Always the one to clean up the messes, to sacrifice.

Dorian's voice lowered, becoming more dangerous. "Lina lost her child. Her womb. Her future. And she won't get justice unless you give me what I want."

"And what exactly do you want from me?" she whispered.

"A child," he said bluntly. "You will marry me and give me an heir."

The words struck her like a slap. Her breath caught, her stomach turned.

"You're insane," she whispered.

He didn't blink. "No. I'm desperate."

She wanted to laugh, to scream, to run. But she couldn't. Because he held the power. He knew she had taken the fall for a crime she didn't commit. And if she refused?

He would drag Mira into the fire instead.

"What happens if I say no?" she asked, her voice like glass on the verge of breaking.

Dorian's gaze hardened. "Then I go to the police and give them evidence that your sister was behind the wheel that night. The hospital cameras, the parking lot footage-yes, I have it. I've always had it. I was waiting to see how far you'd go."

She froze, horror crawling through her veins.

He had known.

All this time, he had known the truth-and let her believe otherwise. Let her believe she was shielding Mira from justice. But in truth, he had only been testing her. Playing her like a pawn in his carefully crafted revenge.

"You're a monster," she whispered, voice thick with fury.

"Perhaps," he said with a shrug. "But monsters don't lose. Make your choice, Aria. Either you marry me and your sister walks free... or you refuse and watch her go to prison for vehicular manslaughter."

She looked down at her hands. They were shaking. Her world had always been small-work, home, Mira. She didn't ask for much. She had dreams once. Of opening her own flower shop. Of falling in love the way people did in books-with soft kisses and warm hands and whispered promises.

But that was no longer her life.

"I'll do it," she said finally, the words tasting like blood. "I'll marry you."

Dorian's expression didn't change. No satisfaction. No victory. Only steel.

"Good," he said. "We'll keep it quiet. No one needs to know. Not yet."

"Why?" she asked bitterly. "Ashamed to be seen with me?"

He tilted his head, eyes narrowing. "Ashamed? No. I just don't want anyone asking why the woman who ruined my sister's life is now sharing my bed."

She flinched. The cruelty in his words pierced deeper than she expected.

Dorian turned to leave but stopped at the door. Without looking back, he said, "Be ready by Friday. We marry in private. No ceremony. No guests."

And then he was gone.

Aria stood in the silence, her body shaking as tears blurred her vision. She pressed her hands to her mouth to stop herself from sobbing. Her life had just been sold for a lie. And the worst part?

No one had even bothered to ask if she wanted to be saved.

As the door shut behind Dorian, Aria's phone buzzed. A new message.

Mira: Don't hate me for this. Please. I didn't know they'd do this to you.

Her blood ran cold.

They?

Her fingers hovered above the screen as her mind raced.

Just how deep did this betrayal go?