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The Marriage

last update Last Updated: 2025-06-26 10:25:45

Alessia’s Point of View

I thought I had prepared myself.

Three days.

Three long, quiet days between the night I met his parents and the day I stood before a priest, dressed in white, promising myself to a man who never even looked at me with kindness—or saw me as someone he could love.

I didn’t see Ethan much during those days.

And when I did, he was brief. Cold. Always talking business with his assistant, always walking past me like I was just another piece of furniture in his house.

But the silence?

It was loud.

The morning of the wedding, I staring at the white dress.

It was customized. Perfect measurements. Expensive lace. Elegant neckline.

No soul.

Just like everything else around him.

Two stylists arrived just after 8 a.m., brought in by his assistant. They said little. Just smiled and got to work—brushing my hair, applying makeup, zipping up the gown.

I didn’t fight it.

But inside, I felt like part of me was watching someone else live this life. Like I was standing outside my b
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  • Bound by Contract to the Ruthless Billionaire    Trapped with the devil

    Alessia’s Point of ViewThe words hit me like a physical blow."He's my father's fixer."I stumbled back, my hand flying to my mouth. The business card in my other hand, the one that had felt like a key just a second ago, suddenly felt heavy. Poisoned."No," I whispered. It was a reflex, a desperate denial. "He... he warned me. About my father. He was trying to help.""He was testing you," Ethan's voice was sharp, cutting through my confusion. He stepped fully into the room, and the dynamic in the entrance—his hesitation, his desperation—was gone. He was in control again. He wasn't the man asking for a deal; he was the shark that had just cornered me."My father knows I'm not a fool, Alessia. He knew I wouldn't marry someone for no reason. He knew I'd pick someone... vulnerable. Someone with baggage he could use against me."He pointed at the card. "Gabriel Lane's entire job is to find people like you. He finds the secrets, the debts, the fears. He didn't tell you anything you didn't

  • Bound by Contract to the Ruthless Billionaire    The Devil's Bargain

    Alessia’s Point of ViewI sat on the edge of the guest bed. The room was dark, but I didn't want the lights. The darkness felt like armor.My hand was closed so tightly around a small, thick piece of cardboard.Gabriel Lane. Private Consultant.The man from the bar. His voice was the same one from the warning call. I was sure of it. He knew about my father. He knew about Ethan. He’d told me to call him when I was ready to "stop the madness."Was this my way out? Was he the one person who could help me?I was still staring at the name when I heard it.Knock. Knock. Knock.I froze. My heart jumped into my throat.The sound was soft, but in the dead silence of this house, it sounded like a hammer blow.It was his door. My room.He never knocked.He commanded. He barged in. He was summoned. He pushed.He did not knock.I stood up slowly, my legs shaky. The card felt warm in my palm. My anger from earlier was still there, but now, a cold, sharp feeling was mixing with it.He was here becau

  • Bound by Contract to the Ruthless Billionaire    The Price of power

    Ethan’s Point of ViewThe words just hung in the air, cold and sharp."I’m not taking any shit from you."She didn't shout. She didn't cry. She just... said it. Like it was a fact. Like she was telling me the sky was blue, or that the monster I'd been treating her as was, in fact, me.Her eyes were the worst part. They weren't wide with fear anymore. The terror I’d seen in her at the restaurant, the desperation at the reunion, the numb resignation at the wedding—it was all gone. Now, her eyes were just... hard. Polished. Like dark stones that had been under too much pressure for too long.For a split second, the whole world tilted. She thought she saw fear in my face. She was wrong. It wasn't fear. Fear is a useless, weak emotion.It was a shock.It was the feeling a man gets when he’s been driving a high-performance car at top speed, only to suddenly realize his hands aren't on the steering wheel anymore.She held my gaze for another second, letting me know she meant it. Then she tur

  • Bound by Contract to the Ruthless Billionaire    The Stranger's Voice

    Alessia’s Point of ViewThe bar was quiet. With dim lights, and the kind of music that wrapped around you instead of pulling you in.I didn’t come to drink. I just came to breathe.The weight of the hospital still clung to my skin. Ethan’s voice still echoed in my bones. And his mother’s eyes… that last, bitter stare… it wouldn’t leave me alone.So I sat at the corner, my coat still on, and my hands wrapped around a warm glass of ginger tea the bartender offered when I said I wasn’t drinking.And then I heard him.A man’s voice behind me.Low. Familiar.He said my name like it wasn’t the first time.“Alessia.”I turned slowly.He was tall, well-dressed and too nice for this kind of place. But it wasn’t the clothes that caught me, it was the voice.That voice.I’d heard it once before.Over the phone. Months ago.The same man who warned me.“Your father isn’t who you think he is.”“Do I know you?” I asked, eyes narrowing.He smiled, but it didn’t make his face bright. “Not properly. Bu

  • Bound by Contract to the Ruthless Billionaire    Alessia's Awakening

    Alessia’s Point of View“Emergency in Room 6!”The entrance is filled with noise nurses rushing up and down. But my legs moved before my mind caught up.I didn’t ask permission.I just followed the noise.And I saw her.Ethan’s mother.Collapsed again, this time in the hospital bed. Machines screaming. Nurses shouting orders. One was performing compressions, another barking something about vitals crashing.My throat was dried up.She looked at me.Not for long but long enough.Long enough for me to see it: the anger still writing on her face. Her body gave up the fight. Her mouth opened, maybe to speak, maybe to curse me one last time.No sound came out.Her eyes rolled back.And the line on the monitor went flat.I didn’t move. Didn’t scream. I just stood there.One second. Two. Three.Then the door burst open.Ethan.His eyes found mine. He didn’t ask a thing.His gaze moved from the flatline to her body… then back to me.“What did you do?” His voice was strong.My mouth opened. “I

  • Bound by Contract to the Ruthless Billionaire    The unexpected Guest

    Ethan’s Point of ViewThe scream got me confused.It wasn’t Alessia.It was Panicked in a way that made your heart stop even before your brain caught up.The glass in my hand slipped. Hit the floor. Rolled under the couch. I didn’t bother picking it up.I was already moving.When I got to the living room, Teis was standing like he’d forgotten how to speak. His face was unreadable. one hand was still holding his phone, and the other trembling at his side.“What the hell is going on?”He turned slowly. “It’s your mother, sir… there’s been an incident.”I didn’t blink. Just stared.“What kind of incident?”He swallowed. “She collapsed. At the foundation site. Looks like a stroke.”Of course. Of course she picked tonight. Of all nights.Before I could say anything else, Alessia appeared behind me. Quiet steps. Still in nightwear. Hair loose. Eyes wide. “What happened?”I didn’t answer her.“Get the car ready,” I said to Teis.“Right away.” He vanished.Alessia reached out just lightly to

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