Chapter Three :The bride he never wanted 

Three months earlier.

"Congratulations, Serenity, you're getting married."

The fork slipped from my fingers, clattering loudly against my plate,the dining room fell dead silent while I stared across the table at my father. 

"Excuse me?"

Dad didn't even look up,he just calmly dabbed his mouth with a linen napkin, acting like he hadn't just barged into my entire future. 

"The Crane family has accepted the proposal."

My stomach dropped,the Cranes. 

Everyone in New York knew that name,they owned the city's skyline, bought politicians, and controlled the kind of generational wealth that made them untouchable.

"What proposal?" I whispered, my voice sounding incredibly small in the grand room.

Mom took a slow sip of her wine, her expression completely detached.

"The marriage proposal, Serenity."

The room tilted,I forced out a nervous laugh, waiting for someone to join in but nobody did and no one was joking.

"You're serious," I said, my fingers curling tightly into my lap.

Dad nodded. "Very."

Across the table, Sloane sat perfectly still, a strange, unreadable look flashed in her eyes before she quickly masked it.

"Why me?" The question slipped out before I could stop it.

Neither of my parents answered right away, that silence hurt worse than any words could have. We all knew the truth. Sloane was the beautiful one and their favorite. 

The sister people noticed the second she breathed, if a billionaire dynasty wanted an alliance with the Graysons, choosing Sloane made perfect sense.

Mom cleared her throat, breaking the heavy quiet. "The original contract specified the eldest daughter."

There it was.,so it wasn't because the Cranes wanted me, I just happened to be born first, a transaction based on a birth certificate.

"What if I don't want it?" I asked, staring at my untouched food.

The look Dad gave me was instantly freezing. "You know exactly how important this is for our family's standing, Serenity. Don't be difficult."

I looked away, swallowing the sudden burn of resentment.I had spent my whole life being the sister who stepped aside, the one who kept quiet so Sloane could have what she wanted. Apparently, my marriage was no different.

"Who is he?" I asked quietly.

Mom’s face immediately brightened.

 "Jason Crane."

My heart skipped a hard, erratic beat. Jason Crane. The ruthless tech CEO,the man socialites whispered about and business magazines described as a predator in a tailored suit and a man entirely out of my league.

"And he actually agreed to this?"

Dad let out a dry, humorless chuckle. "He didn't have a choice either. It's business."

A strange, unexpected ache tightened in my chest.

So Jason was sitting in some penthouse right now, being handed his fate just like I was neither of us had been chosen,we were just pieces on a board.

By the time I escaped to my bedroom, my head was pounding,I kicked off my shoes and dropped onto the edge of the mattress, staring blankly at the wall.

I heard a sharp knock cut through the quiet, and the door swung open before I could even answer.

 Sloane stepped inside.

"Can we talk?" she asked, her face softening into a look of pure sisterly concern.

I sighed, really not in the mood for her games. "What about, Sloane?"

She crossed the room and sat down right next to me. "I know this must be terrifying. Are you okay?"

For a second, my guard slipped, she sounded real, she sounded like a sister, not a rival. 

"I don't know," I admitted, looking down at my hands. "I'm scared."

Sloane smiled, but the warmth didn't reach her eyes. "You'll be fine. Things always just... work out for you, don't they?"

I looked up sharply. The sudden, biting trace of venom in her voice caught me off guard, work out for me? She had the looks, the parental love, the freedom. 

What had ever worked out for me?

But before I could call her out, her sweet, perfect mask snapped right back into place.

"Anyway," Sloane stood up, smoothing down her skirt. "I just wanted to check on you. Goodnight, Serenity."

The door clicked shut behind her. The room went cold, and a heavy, uneasy dread settled deep in my gut, it was the feeling you get right before a massive storm hits.

Two weeks later, I met my future husband.

The meeting was set at an exclusive, private restaurant owned by his family,I showed up fifteen minutes early, my palms sweating and my heart racing so fast I could barely breathe.

"Mr. Crane has arrived," the hostess murmured, guiding me toward a secluded table by the floor-to-ceiling windows.

There he sat. Jason Crane.

The first thing that hit me was his eyes dark, incredibly sharp, and totally deadpan didn't smile when I approached or even smile when I sat down. 

The intense, magnetic alpha energy radiating off him was completely suffocating.

"Miss Grayson," he said, his deep voice was smooth, professional, and entirely devoid of emotion.

"Mr. Crane," I replied, holding his gaze, a tiny, almost invisible smirk touched the corner of his lips. "At least we're equally miserable about this."

A breathless laugh escaped me before I could stop it, and just like that, the suffocating tension between us broke.

Neither of us knew what the future held. 

We didn't know we’d end up sharing a bed, a binding legal name, and a heartbreak brutal enough to destroy us both. Right now, we were just two trapped strangers looking for a way out.

But as I looked at him, trying to figure out the man behind the billionaire mask, I didn't notice the silhouette standing near the restaurant’s entrance.

Sloane.

She stood in the shadows, her toxic gaze fixed entirely on my future husband, a slow, venomous smile spread across her lips, the kind of smile that meant she was going to take exactly what was mine.