Chapter 18 : Conditions & Signature

THE CONTRACT - 11:47 AM

Kyrian's hands trembled as he turned the pages.

Legal language. Formal terms.

Cold, clinical descriptions of what his life was about to become.

Party A (Lorenzo Moretti) and Party B (Kyrian Volkov) hereby enter into matrimonial agreement...

Residency shall be established at primary Moretti estate in Monaco...

Public appearances as required for family business...

His eyes skimmed over most of it.

He couldn't focus. The words blurred together.

Until page seven.

He stopped.

Read it again.

Then looked up sharply.

"What the fuck is this?"

Everyone's attention snapped to him.

Lorenzo leaned forward slightly. "What?"

Kyrian stabbed his finger at the page. "Section twelve. Subsection C."

Dante cleared his throat. "That's the—"

"I can read." Kyrian's voice was ice. "It says I need written permission to leave Monaco.

Written permission from him."

Silence.

"That's standard—" Vincenzo started.

"Standard?!" Kyrian stood up so fast his chair scraped against the floor. "I need his permission to leave the city?"

Lorenzo's expression was unreadable. "For security purposes—"

"Security?" Kyrian laughed, high and sharp. "You mean control. You mean I'm a prisoner."

"That's not—"

"What else?" Kyrian flipped through pages aggressively. "What else is buried in here? Do I need permission to breathe too? To think? To exist?"

"Kyrian, sit down," Kirill said quietly.

"No." Kyrian found another section. "Oh, this is good. 'Party B agrees to attend all required social functions as determined by Party A.' So you decide where I go, when I go, what I do—"

"You knew this was an alliance marriage," Lorenzo said, voice still calm. Too calm. "Certain expectations come with that."

"Expectations?" Kyrian slammed the contract down. "These aren't expectations. These are chains."

"You're being dramatic—"

"I'm being honest." Kyrian pointed at Lorenzo across the table. "You wrote this contract like I'm something you bought. Like I'm a car or a house or a fucking—"

"Watch your mouth," Vincenzo warned.

"Or what?" Kyrian turned to him.

"You'll add another clause? I need permission to curse now too?"

"Kyrian." Ivan's hand on his arm.

Gentle but firm. "Breathe."

Kyrian was breathing—fast and shallow. His chest tight.

The medication wasn't working.

The stress was too much.

He sat down. Not because he wanted to. Because his legs were shaking.

"I want that section removed," he said quietly.

"No," Lorenzo said.

"No?" Kyrian looked at him. "Just like that? No discussion?"

"It's for your safety—"

"Don't." Kyrian's voice cracked.

"Don't pretend this is for me. If you cared about my safety, we wouldn't be here."

Lorenzo's jaw tightened. First sign of real emotion.

"The section stays."

"Then I don't sign."

"Kyrian—" Kirill started.

"No, Dad. I'm serious." Kyrian looked at his father. "You said I'd have a voice. This is my voice. I won't sign something that makes me a prisoner."

Vincenzo sighed. "Perhaps we can discuss modifications—"

"I said no." Lorenzo's voice was final. "That section is non-negotiable."

"Why?" Kyrian demanded.

"Because—" Lorenzo stopped himself.

"Because what?"

"Because I need to know where you are." Lorenzo's eyes locked on his. "At all times."

The honesty in that statement was almost worse than the control.

"That's sick," Kyrian said softly.

"You know that, right? That's not normal."

"Nothing about this is normal."

Lorenzo leaned back in his chair.

"But it's happening anyway."

Kyrian felt something break inside him. Some last piece of hope that maybe, somehow, this could be bearable.

"Fine," he said flatly. "What else? What other ways are you planning to control my life?"

Dante looked uncomfortable.

"Perhaps we should take a break—"

"No." Kyrian grabbed the contract again. "Let's get through all of it.

Every humiliating detail."

He read in silence for several minutes.

His family watched. Worried.

Helpless.

Lorenzo watched too. Something shifting in his expression.

Finally, Kyrian set the contract down.

"It's all the same," he said quietly.

"Every section. Every clause. It's all about what you decide. What you allow. What you control."

He looked up at Lorenzo.

"There's nothing in here about me. What I want. What I need. It's just... you."

Lorenzo didn't respond.

"Did you even think about me when you wrote this?" Kyrian's voice was soft now. Defeated. "Or was I just a problem to be solved? A thing to be managed?"

"I thought about you," Lorenzo said.

"Liar."

"I thought about keeping you safe.

Healthy. Alive."

"No." Kyrian shook his head. "You thought about keeping me controlled. There's a difference."

Isabella spoke for the first time. "Kyrian, I know this is difficult—"

"You don't know anything." Kyrian didn't look at her. Eyes still on Lorenzo. "None of you do. You're not the ones signing your life away."

"Then don't sign," Lorenzo said suddenly.

Everyone froze.

"What?" Kyrian blinked.

"Don't sign." Lorenzo stood slowly.

"If it's that unbearable, don't sign. Walk away."

For a moment, hope flared in Kyrian's chest.

Then Lorenzo continued.

"And I'll destroy everything your family has built. Every business.

Every alliance. Every deal." His voice was quiet. Deadly. "Your father will lose his empire. Your brother his future. Your mother her security."

The hope died.

"But the choice is yours," Lorenzo finished. "Walk away. And watch them lose everything because you couldn't handle some travel restrictions."

The cruelty of it was breathtaking.

Kirill stood. "That's enough—"

"No, Dad." Kyrian's voice was hollow. "He's right. The choice is mine."

He picked up the pen Dante had placed beside the contract.

"Kyrian, wait—" Arina reached for him.

"I'm done waiting, Mama."

He flipped to the signature page.

Stared at the blank line.

Party B (Kyrian Volkov)

His hand hovered over the paper.

This was it.

The moment everything changed.

The moment he stopped being his own person and became... what?

Lorenzo's spouse?

Lorenzo's responsibility? Lorenzo's prisoner?

"Can I request one thing?" Kyrian asked without looking up.

"What?" Lorenzo's voice.

"When we're married, and I inevitably make your life miserable..." Kyrian finally looked up. Met Lorenzo's eyes. "Don't act surprised. Don't pretend you didn't know exactly what you were getting."

Something flickered in Lorenzo's expression. "I won't."

"Good."

Kyrian signed his name.

The pen moved across the paper.

Smooth. Final.

Kyrian Volkov.

He set the pen down.

Dante slid the contract to Lorenzo's end of the table.

Lorenzo picked up the pen. Signed without hesitation.

Lorenzo Moretti.

"It's done," Dante said quietly.

Kyrian felt nothing.

Shouldn't he feel something?

Grief? Anger? Fear?

But there was just... nothing.

Empty.

"The wedding will be in two weeks," Vincenzo said, all business now. "Time to prepare properly—"

"No," Kyrian interrupted.

"No?"

"If we're doing this, we do it now.

This week. I'm not dragging this out."

Lorenzo looked at him. "You want to marry me this week?"

"I want to get it over with." Kyrian stood. "Every day between now and the wedding is just more time for me to think about what I've done. So let's not."

"That's... unusually practical," Dante said.

"I'm tired," Kyrian said simply. "So tired. I just want this part to be over."

Lorenzo studied him for a long moment.

"Fine. Three days from now. Small ceremony. Family only."

"Fine," Kyrian echoed.

They stared at each other across the table.

Engaged.

The word felt absurd.

"I should go," Lorenzo said. "Give you time with your family."

"How considerate," Kyrian said flatly.

Lorenzo moved toward the door. His family followed.

At the threshold, he paused.

Looked back.

"Kyrian."

"What?"

"I meant what I said. About keeping you safe."

Kyrian's laugh was broken. "You can't keep me safe from you."

Lorenzo flinched. Barely. But Kyrian saw it.

Then he was gone.

The door closed.

And Kyrian collapsed.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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