Dangerous Choice

Kate POV 

The wedding… happened.

I still can’t explain how it went so fast. One moment I was standing frozen at the altar, my heart hammering in my chest, and the next, the officiant was nodding, everyone clapping, and Aiden… Aiden was holding my hand like this was all perfectly normal.

I felt trapped.

Cold.

Like a mouse caught in a cage.

The vows were mechanical. Rehearsed. My words barely left my mouth, and his… his were even colder. He didn’t smile, didn’t fumble, didn’t hesitate. Just those sharp, piercing eyes boring into me as though this entire ceremony was some kind of transaction.

And maybe it was.

I barely had time to breathe before we were ushered out of the hall, through the curious eyes of the guests, and into a black limousine that smelled faintly of leather and something metallic. My hands were clammy, my legs weak.

Aiden didn’t speak. Not a word. Just sat there, one hand resting casually on his lap, the other gripping mine with iron strength.

“Where are we going?” I finally asked, my voice trembling.

“To my home,” he said calmly. Coldly.

I swallowed hard. The limousine hummed along the road, and outside the tinted windows, the city lights blurred past. My chest was tight. My mind raced. My brother… Noah… still in jail. My family… my mother… they’d shoved me into this.

And now, I am married.

— — — — — —

When the car finally stopped, I froze.

The mansion that loomed before me was unreal. Massive, sprawling, more lights than I could count. Tall gates, security cameras scanning everything. Guards standing like statues. Servants moving in precise, silent choreography.

I didn’t even have time to process. I just whispered under my breath:

“I… I just married a monster billionaire.”

Aiden didn’t react. He simply opened the car door and gestured for me to step out.

The air smelled faintly of roses and expensive marble polish. My heels clicked against the driveway, echoing in the vast space. My stomach twisted. The thought of living here, under his gaze… I couldn’t even imagine.

Aiden led me inside.

Every corner screamed wealth. Gold accents, crystal chandeliers, walls lined with priceless art, floors polished until they reflected the ceiling. Servants appeared from nowhere, bowing slightly, moving like shadows.

And him… Aiden… still silent, still cold, still terrifying.

When we finally reached a private room—a study, I think—he turned to me.

“Sit,” he said, his voice calm but commanding.

I obeyed instinctively. My heart thudded painfully.

He remained standing, watching me. His eyes were sharp, calculating, dangerous. I wanted to run, but I had nowhere to go.

Then he finally spoke.

“You need to understand something,” he said, placing a black folder on the desk in front of me. His fingers lingered on the edge of it. “This marriage… isn’t what you think.”

I frowned. “It’s not what I think? You just forced me into it!”

His lips twitched slightly. “I didn’t force you. You came willingly… eventually.”

I wanted to scream. “Eventually?! That’s insane! I had no choice!”

He ignored me. Instead, he opened the folder and slid a document across the desk.

“Read this,” he said, voice low, calm, and dangerous. “It’s your… conditions.”

I picked up the contract with trembling hands. My eyes scanned the words.

Fake marriage- check.

Duration 1year- check.

Obey public appearances- check

No questions asked- check.

I blinked. I stared. I reread the last line.

“Wait… wait a second,” I whispered. “Why am I marrying you if it’s fake?”

He leaned back slightly in his chair, the faintest smirk tugging at his lips.

“Because you’re perfect for the role,” he said casually. Cold. Controlled. Dangerous.

I felt my stomach drop. “Perfect for the role? I… I don’t understand!”

“You will,” he said, tone final, like there was no arguing with him.

I wanted to grab the papers and throw them across the room. I wanted to scream. I wanted to leave. But my mind kept circling back to Noah, to my brother’s helpless eyes in that police cell.

I swallowed hard. “You… you just married me… knowing I didn’t understand anything?”

“Yes.” His voice was soft but lethal. “Exactly. That’s why you’re here. You’re the only one who didn’t know the truth.”

I froze. The words hit me like ice water. The truth?

“What truth?” I whispered, my voice small.

He finally leaned forward, fingers steepled in front of him. His sharp eyes bored me. “Everything you think you know about this… about your life… your family… It's all a lie. You, Kate… are part of something much bigger than you realize.”

I wanted to ask what he meant. I wanted to protest, cry, run… but all I could do was stare back at him. His gaze was powerful, dangerous, magnetic.

I felt trapped.

And yet… I couldn’t stop looking at him.

“Do you understand the conditions?” he asked finally.

“Yes,” I said reluctantly. My voice sounded small even to me.

“Good.” He leaned back and let out a soft exhale. “Then we begin.”

I wanted to speak again, to argue, to demand answers, but the sound of his calm, controlled presence filled the room so completely, it swallowed my courage.

Instead, I just whispered, voice shaking, “Why…why did you choose me?”

He paused.

A faint smirk appeared on his face. Just a twitch, but it made my heart skip.

“Because,” he said softly, deliberately, “you were the only one who didn’t know the truth.”

I shivered.

I didn’t know the truth.

I didn’t know him.

And somehow, I already feared I would never escape him.