Chapter 5 --- 🔥💋 Chapter 5: The Proposal & The Warning 😨💍🔥

POV: Aria Collins

The paper sat on my bed like a ticking bomb. 📄💣

The corners were sharp. The text was clean. And my name - Aria Marie Collins - was written so boldly, it felt like a declaration.

Marriage contract. Two years.

Was this really my life?

The rent deadline was tomorrow. Mr. Denvers had already slid another warning under the door this morning, probably smirking while doing it.

Jade peeked her head into my room again. "Still thinking about it?"

I gave her a blank look. "What else can I do?"

She walked in, grabbed the contract, and waved it in the air. "You don't know this man. You only met him twice."

"Three times."

She glared at me. "Oh well, that changes everything. Of course, marry him!"

I groaned and fell back on the bed.

She sat beside me, her tone softening. "I get it, babe. You're desperate. But marriage? Even if it's fake?"

I turned to her, my voice barely a whisper. "It's not just about money anymore. He looks at me like... like I matter."

Jade paused. "You sure it's not lust?"

That hit harder than I wanted to admit. 💔😶‍🌫️

---

POV: Lucien Cross

"Any word from her?" Max asked as he entered my office with two coffees.

I took one without looking up. "Not yet."

"Should we assume that's a no?"

"No," I muttered. "It means she's actually thinking about it."

Max raised an eyebrow. "You really want to go through with this? A fake wife just to piss off the board and keep your inheritance clause intact?"

"It's not just that."

"Then what is it?"

I leaned back, eyes fixed on the ceiling. "She's... unpredictable."

Max chuckled. "You like her."

I gave him a warning glare, but he was already grinning.

"She's poor, stubborn, and has no idea how the elite works."

"That's why I like her."

He tilted his head. "This isn't a game, Lucien."

I finished my coffee. "No. It's business."

But my heart said otherwise. 💔💼

---

POV: Aria Collins

That night, I did something I never thought I would.

I went to Lucien Cross's penthouse.

The lobby alone looked like it cost more than my entire block. Chandeliers, polished marble floors, and a concierge who looked at me like I was garbage in heels.

But when Lucien saw me step out of the elevator, his expression shifted.

From surprise... to something softer. Something dangerously close to relief.

"You came," he said, stepping forward.

"I'm not agreeing. Yet," I said quickly.

He nodded, gesturing toward the living room. It was modern, cold, beautiful - just like him.

"I have conditions," I said, crossing my arms.

He arched a brow. "Go on."

"No sex. No manipulation. And if I say I want out, I get out."

His jaw clenched, but he nodded. "Fine. But I have my own."

I narrowed my eyes. "Such as?"

"You live here. You attend every event I ask. And you don't fall in love with me."

My heart stuttered. "Wow. Full of yourself, aren't you?"

He smirked. "Just protecting us both."

"Right," I said dryly. "Because love's contagious?"

He stepped closer, voice low. "More like fatal."

💔💋

---

POV: Cassandra Blake (Lucien's ex)

From across the bar, I watched the television screen on mute. A breaking news headline scrolled beneath Lucien's smirking face.

Lucien Cross Spotted with Unknown Brunette. Engagement Rumors?

I almost crushed my champagne flute 🍸💥

"Oh hell no," I whispered.

He was mine once. And if he thought I was going to let him parade around with some random girl, he was sorely mistaken.

I pulled out my phone and hit dial.

"Make sure I'm on the guest list for the charity gala this weekend," I hissed. "And book me a table right next to Lucien's."

Time to shake things up. 💋👠💅

---

POV: Jade

When Aria texted that she was going through with the contract, I nearly dropped my bubble tea.

Girl. We need to talk.

I practically stormed into her job at the bookstore during her lunch break. She was restocking shelves like she hadn't just signed her soul away.

"You really did it?"

She nodded.

"Is he at least hot in bed?" I asked.

She choked on her water. "We're not sleeping together!"

"Yet."

"Jade!"

"What? Rich, powerful, emotionally unavailable men are always amazing in bed. It's a rule."

I laughed when she threw a book at me. But behind her eyes, I saw the fear.

And maybe... a little hope. 💘

---

POV: Aria Collins

Lucien's car picked me up three days later. I was officially moving in.

As I packed my small bag - just one - I kept telling myself this was the right decision.

Temporary. Practical. Strategic.

But my stomach twisted as I stepped into the glass elevator of his building.

He opened the door himself.

"You're here," he said simply.

"I told you I would be."

He stepped aside. "Welcome to your new home."

His words sounded warm. But this wasn't home.

This was a deal with the devil 😈

As I walked in, I spotted a picture on his desk. A younger Lucien, laughing with a woman - beautiful, blonde, smug.

"Who's that?" I asked.

His smile vanished. "No one."

He moved the photo frame face-down.

I should've taken that as a sign. 🚩

---

POV: Lucien Cross

I'd never shared my space before. Not really.

And now her presence was everywhere. A coffee mug on the counter. A hair tie on the bathroom sink. Her scent on my pillow 😮‍💨🛏️

Max noticed instantly.

"You're changing."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not."

"You let her put plants on the balcony."

"They're small."

"You hate plants."

I ignored him.

Later that night, Aria walked into the living room in one of my old shirts, looking like temptation itself.

She looked up from the book in her hands. "What?"

"Nothing," I said.

Just my sanity slipping away. 🫠🔥

---

Author's POV:

The line between fake and real was already blurring.

Two lives. Two lies. One contract. And a dozen secrets waiting to explode 🔥💣💍

Aria thought she could survive this.

Lucien thought he could control it.

But hearts don't follow rules.

And love never signs a contract. 💘