Chapter 2 Eyes Behind the Glass

The ballroom felt colder now, despite the hundreds of bodies mingling under gold-plated chandeliers. Aria stood between two men-her past and her present-her silence like a dagger suspended in the air.

Julian looked at her like she was a stranger.

Damon stood beside her like he owned her.

And she... she was crumbling inside.

"I asked you a question," Julian said softly, eyes boring into her. "Did you really marry him... out of love?"

The words scraped against old wounds. He had been her world once. Her future. And now, he was demanding an answer she didn't know how to give-because even if she lied, the pain in her eyes would speak the truth.

Damon leaned down, his voice low in her ear. "Smile, Aria. Or this whole illusion falls apart."

She turned her face just enough for her lips to curve upward. It wasn't joy. It wasn't love. It was survival.

"Yes," she said finally, her voice a porcelain whisper. "I married Damon because I wanted to."

Julian's jaw clenched. His eyes searched her face, looking for something-anything-to contradict her words.

"You never loved him," he said bitterly. "You told me he destroyed your life."

Damon chuckled, a slow, cruel sound. "People grow up, Julian. Aria simply realized what she deserved."

Aria wanted to scream. She wanted to tear off the gown, the ring, the mask she'd plastered on for this world of liars and polished betrayal. But instead, she held Damon's arm tighter and turned her back on Julian without another word.

Each step away from him felt like a betrayal of the girl she used to be.

Once they were alone in a quieter corner of the ballroom, Damon pulled her into a shadowed alcove behind the velvet drapes.

"Are you trying to start a war?" he hissed.

"You threw me to the wolves," she snapped back. "What did you expect?"

"I expected you to act like my wife."

"You mean your puppet?"

"No. My equal."

His words stunned her. But his face was unreadable. Cold. Beautiful. Dangerous.

"You don't get to say that," she whispered. "Not after blackmailing me into this marriage."

Damon stepped closer, his presence overwhelming. "Then earn your freedom, Aria. Survive this world with me. Play your part, and when it's over, you walk away. That was the deal."

But it didn't feel like a deal anymore.

It felt like a trap she walked into with her eyes wide open.

Back in Damon's penthouse later that night, the atmosphere was a stark contrast to the glittering illusion of the gala. The city lights shimmered far below them, but inside, silence stretched tight between them.

Aria stepped out of her heels, unzipped her gown, and let it pool at her feet like a discarded identity. She stood by the massive window in only her silk slip, staring at the skyline.

Damon loosened his tie across the room, watching her in the reflection.

"You did well tonight," he said, his voice softer now, almost tired. "Even when you lied to him."

"I lie for you every day," she replied, not turning around. "What's one more?"

He walked toward her slowly, picking up the discarded red dress and placing it gently on the velvet settee.

"You think I enjoy this?" he asked. "Dragging you into my world?"

"I think you enjoy control," she said, facing him now. "And you hate that I'm not as easy to mold as the others."

His eyes flashed, but instead of lashing out, he laughed. A sharp, bitter sound.

"That's exactly why I picked you."

She blinked.

"What?"

Damon sat down, elbows on his knees, hands steepled. "I didn't need a woman who could smile on cue. I needed one who could stand beside me in fire-and not flinch."

Her arms folded, more from instinct than modesty. "Why? What fire?"

He looked up, and for once, she saw something different in his eyes.

Fear.

"They're coming for me, Aria. And not just through the boardroom. Through blood."

Her stomach tightened. "Who?"

Damon hesitated. Then:

"My father's enemies. Old debts. Forgotten alliances. They know I've inherited the empire, and they'll do anything to ruin it... starting with questioning my legitimacy."

"And I'm supposed to fix that?" she asked.

"You're not a fix," he said darkly. "You're protection. A scandal-proof wife. A love story the press eats up. A woman too grounded to be bought, which makes them believe it's real."

She stared at him, the weight of it all crashing down like cold water.

"You married me to survive."

He didn't deny it.

And now, she realized... this marriage wasn't just about appearances.

It was about war.

"You married me to survive."

The words tasted bitter in Aria's mouth, and once they left her lips, the gravity of it hit her like a punch to the gut. Her life wasn't hers anymore-it was a shield for a man whose empire was built on silence and smoke.

Damon didn't blink. "I married you to protect what's mine. My company. My future. My legacy."

"And what am I in that equation?" she asked. "An investment? A pawn?"

He stood slowly, his towering form looming over her as he approached. "You're a weapon."

Aria took a step back.

"Excuse me?"

Damon's voice was calm, too calm. "A beautiful, calculated distraction. The media sees you as the soft edge to my sharp name. The perfect contradiction. They love you because they don't expect you."

"That's twisted," she breathed.

"That's business."

She narrowed her eyes. "And what about your enemies? What happens when they realize I'm just a part of your strategy?"

He tilted his head. "That's when they'll underestimate you. And that's when we win."

His words made her blood chill.

"You don't get it," Aria said, stepping away. "This isn't just some PR stunt for me. I left everything behind. I signed my name to a contract that makes me legally yours. I can't even breathe without you controlling the air."

Damon's jaw clenched. "I never forced you to say yes."

"You threatened to destroy my father's legacy if I didn't."

A beat of silence fell between them. Thick. Tense. Explosive.

He didn't deny it.

Instead, he said, "And you think your father was innocent?"

Her head snapped up. "Don't you dare-"

"I didn't start that fire, Aria. He did. I just finished what he couldn't."

"What are you talking about?"

Damon turned toward the bar and poured a glass of scotch, his back to her. "Your father wasn't just some noble businessman, Aria. He owed dangerous people. He made enemies in places that even I don't touch. The only reason you weren't dragged down with him is because I cleaned it up-for you."

Her breath hitched.

"You're lying."

"I'm not. I have the files."

"Then show me."

He glanced at her over his shoulder. "Be careful what you wish for."

"I'm not afraid of the truth."

"You should be," he muttered, then drained the glass.

Aria's heart pounded so hard it echoed in her ears. If there was even a grain of truth to what Damon said, her entire past-everything she thought she knew-could be built on lies.

"I want to see the file," she said again, firmer this time.

Damon set down the glass. "Tomorrow."

"No. Tonight."

He raised a brow, amused. "You always this stubborn?"

She lifted her chin. "Only when I'm right."

That made him chuckle, low and dry. "You're not like them."

"Who?"

"The women I've used. The ones who begged for a place at my side. You don't want to belong. You want to burn the whole room down."

"I want the truth," she corrected.

Damon walked past her, pausing only to brush his fingers against hers-a touch that lingered longer than necessary.

"Then come," he said. "Let's set fire to your innocence."

He led her down a dark hallway toward a door she hadn't noticed before-sleek, steel-reinforced, secured with a biometric lock. As the scanner lit up beneath his thumbprint, Aria's stomach twisted.

This wasn't just a marriage.

This was a warzone.

The door opened with a hiss. Inside was a private study bathed in dim lighting, its walls lined with black shelves stacked with files, encrypted drives, and thick binders labeled with code names she didn't recognize.

Damon moved to a locked cabinet and pulled out a manila folder stamped with a red seal.

CONFIDENTIAL: RYDER ARDEN FILE.

Her father's name.

Her throat went dry.

Damon held it out. "Still want the truth?"

She took it with shaking fingers.

And as she opened the file, her eyes skimmed over pages of forged contracts, financial laundering records, and names-dangerous names. Syndicates. Arms deals. Bribes.

Her entire body went cold.

"No," she whispered.

"He did it all, Aria," Damon said, voice hard now. "And he left you to pay the price."

She sank into the nearest leather chair, the folder trembling in her lap.

"I didn't know," she said. "He was... He was always kind to me. Protective."

Damon crouched before her, his hand resting gently on her knee.

"I'm not telling you this to hurt you," he said. "I'm telling you because you need to understand why I needed you in my corner."

Her lips parted, but no sound came out.

"You're not just my wife," Damon murmured. "You're the daughter of a man they all wanted dead. And the only reason they haven't come for you yet-is because you're mine now."

Aria's head fell back against the chair.

This wasn't just business.

This was survival.

The silence in the study was suffocating.

Aria sat frozen in the chair, the folder still in her lap. A hundred questions clawed at her mind, but none made it past the tight knot in her throat. Her father-a criminal? Her marriage-a shield? And Damon-what did he stand to gain if she truly had no power left?

Her eyes lifted to where Damon stood at the far end of the room, phone in hand. He had stepped aside to make a call, voice low and clipped.

"No... it's handled. She's seen the file... No, she didn't break. She's stronger than we thought."

A pause.

"I know what I'm doing. She's not a liability-yet."

Aria's breath caught.

A liability?

Her fingers curled tightly around the armrest, nails digging into the leather.

"Keep everything quiet," Damon continued. "The board can't know what we've uncovered, not yet. And make sure the Cayman transfers stay off radar until the merger is locked. No loose ends."

Loose ends?

She felt her body grow colder by the second.

There were too many layers to this man. Too many doors she hadn't opened. And now that she had... she wasn't sure what waited behind them.

When Damon finally ended the call and turned back to her, his expression had shifted-smooth, practiced, unreadable.

"You okay?" he asked.

Aria stood slowly, holding the file to her chest like armor. "You think I'm a liability?"

He blinked, then frowned. "You heard that."

"I'm not deaf, Damon. Just... married."

There was a flicker of something in his eyes-guilt, maybe, or something sharper.

"I didn't mean it that way," he said, walking closer. "It's business. Risk assessment."

"Oh, so I'm an equation now?" she snapped.

"You're in danger, Aria. I'm trying to keep you alive."

"By keeping secrets from me?"

He hesitated.

And that told her everything.

Aria backed away, pulse racing. "If I'm going to help you, Damon, I need all of it. No more half-truths. No more rehearsed lines. If I'm going to keep pretending to be your wife, I need to know who I married."

"You want the whole truth?" he asked, voice suddenly razor-sharp. "You're not ready for it."

"Try me."

There was a long beat of silence, the tension between them stretched thin.

Then Damon said quietly, "Fine. You want truth?"

He pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked a second cabinet near the wall-this one less sleek, more battered, like it had seen the edge of war. Inside were red-stamped files, old photographs, weapons schematics, passports... and a single USB drive nestled in a velvet case.

"This is the kill switch," he said, holding it up. "Proof that someone on my board is trying to take me down from the inside."

Aria's breath caught. "Who?"

"I don't know yet. But they've been feeding information to someone on the outside. Someone tied to your father's debts. The same people who want to see both of us fall."

He handed her the drive.

"Why give this to me?"

"Because if something happens to me, I need someone I trust to finish what I started."

She looked down at the tiny object in her palm. Heavy with implication.

"I don't trust you," she whispered.

His voice was low. "Then trust the part of you that wants to survive."

Aria didn't answer.

She just turned and walked out of the study, the drive burning against her skin.

Behind her, Damon watched, jaw tense-because he knew. He had just handed her the one weapon that could unravel everything.

And she had no idea who else wanted it.