Chapter 1 The contract that broke her

Aurora could still hear the ink drying.

That was the sound of her life being sold.

She sat in the grand hall of the Vasquez mansion-where chandeliers hung like judgment, and silence held more weight than words. Her fingers trembled over the edge of the white gold ring, the symbol of a marriage she hadn't chosen.

A marriage to a man who didn't even glance at her as he signed away his freedom.

Lucien Vasquez. Cold. Powerful. Breathtakingly beautiful, and utterly ruthless. He had the kind of face women dreamed about, but the kind of soul that froze the air around him.

"You'll move into the left wing," he said, standing with the authority of a king. "My space is off-limits. Don't test me."

Aurora blinked. No warmth. No welcome. No recognition that they were now husband and wife.

Just... rules.

Her voice cracked. "Right. Of course."

Their parents looked satisfied, like debts had been cleared and empires preserved. But the two people who were actually bound together sat like strangers in a courtroom.

When their hands brushed by accident during the forced photo shoot, Lucien pulled back like she was diseased.

That night, Aurora stood in the massive guest bedroom - her new home - and stared at the marble floor.

She had everything money could buy.

But she had never felt so poor.