Chapter 2

The Davis family prepared for the wedding with grim efficiency. The bridal gifts from Mark' s side arrived without fanfare, delivered by a fleet of silent, black trucks. They weren't gifts of love, they were assets. A portfolio of stocks that could stabilize the wavering InnovateTech, deeds to properties that would secure the Davis family for generations, and a simple, handwritten note promising to honor the old debt. Each item was a golden shackle, binding Chloe to her new life.

Her grandmother, Matilda Davis, a woman with eyes that had seen empires rise and fall, took Chloe' s hand. Her skin felt like old paper.

"Chloe, my dear," she said, her voice heavy with worry. "Are you sure about this? Marrying a man you don't know... a man like him. They say he' s strange, that he never leaves his mansion. This is not a life, it's a cage."

Chloe looked at the opulent room, the priceless antiques, the view of the city from the window. She was already in a cage, one she had helped build.

"Grandma, what other choice do I have?" she replied, a bitter smile touching her lips. "I'm damaged goods now. The brilliant Chloe Davis, cheated on by the man she raised from the gutter, with her own cousin. I' m a joke in this city."

Her grandmother flinched at the harsh words.

"Liam doesn't love me," Chloe continued, her voice devoid of emotion. It was a simple statement of fact, like saying the sky was blue. "He never did. I was a tool. I was the key that opened the door to this world for him. Now that he's in, he doesn't need the key anymore. He wants a new toy, and Sarah is newer, more exciting."

She smoothed down the fabric of her dress, a simple, elegant white gown chosen not by her, but by a stylist. She felt like a doll being dressed for a performance. Her actions were calm, her face was composed, but inside, a quiet storm was raging. She was forcing herself to be strong, to bury the hurt so deep it couldn't touch her anymore.

She had spent days dissecting Liam's betrayal, analyzing it with the same cold logic she applied to a faulty line of code. He didn't just fall for Sarah. He chose her. He chose to humiliate Chloe publicly to force her away. He wanted to be free of his debt to her, of the silent reminder that she had made him. By casting her as the scorned, hysterical woman, he could position himself as the victim, trapped in a relationship he had outgrown. And with Sarah, a woman with no power of her own, he would always be the one in control.

A memory surfaced, unbidden. The day she' d first brought Liam home. It was years ago. She saw him standing awkwardly in the grand foyer of the Davis estate, his clothes secondhand, his shoulders hunched. A younger Sarah, visiting for the summer, had looked him up and down with undisguised contempt.

"Chloe, who is this?" Sarah had asked, her nose wrinkled. "He looks like he crawled out of a sewer."

Chloe had defended him fiercely then. "His name is Liam. And he' s with me."

Now, the irony was crushing. The boy Sarah had despised was the man she had stolen. He had become everything Chloe had built him to be, and he had used that power to destroy her.

Her grandfather had seen the spark in Liam, but he had also seen the ambition. He' d made Chloe his sole heir but had given Liam the CEO title, believing their love would temper Liam' s hunger. He had hoped their marriage would merge their strengths and protect the company, protect Chloe. Instead, it had only given Liam the platform he needed to push her aside. Her grandfather' s plan, born of love and hope, had backfired spectacularly. Chloe closed her eyes, the weight of it all pressing down on her. The past was a landscape of ashes. The only way forward was through this cold, calculated marriage.