Chapter 2

Diva's point of view 

A thousand thoughts crashed into my mind all at once, clawing for answers I didn’t have.

Who was this man, standing so tall and unshakable in front of me?

Was he here to help me?

Help? The very word felt foreign on my tongue. How could a stranger, someone I knew nothing about, possibly want to help me? That was madness.

My lips trembled, but no sound came out. He stood there in silence, his piercing gaze burning into me, and I, God, I couldn’t breathe. The air felt too heavy, the weight of his presence too much for my fragile heart to bear.

What if he wasn’t here to help? What if he was here to make everything worse?

A shiver ran through me. I remembered how I had stumbled into him, crashing into his leg, and shame scorched through my chest. What if he had followed me for that? What if he was here to have me punished, arrested… destroyed?

The silence between us grew unbearable, thick like a storm about to break. My fear pressed against my ribs until I thought they’d crack.

Finally, I forced the words past my trembling lips, my voice small, uneven, desperate.

“Why… why are you here?”

He remained silent, his piercing eyes fixed on me, and I won’t lie, everything about him screamed mafia. The kind of man you only read about in dark, bloody novels. Men like him didn’t bring peace; they brought storms. And God knows, the last thing I wanted was to cross paths with someone like that.

My throat tightened. Every instinct screamed run, yet my feet wouldn’t move.

“Please…” I stammered, my voice cracking under the weight of his silence. “Why are you here?”

His hand lifted slowly, palm steady, commanding me to chill.

“Chill,” he said, his voice low and controlled, like steel wrapped in velvet.

Chill? My heart was thundering so loud it nearly drowned out his words. How on earth was I supposed to calm down when a man this intimidating—this dangerous, was standing right in front of me?

Then, finally, he spoke again. His words dropped heavy into the room, thick with mystery.

“I’m here to help us.”

My stomach twisted. Us?

What did that even mean?

“I… I don’t get you,” I whispered, confusion lacing with fear.

That was when he moved slow, deliberate, powerful. He closed the space between us with three measured steps, each one making my chest tighten until I could barely breathe.

And me? I stumbled backward, mirroring his steps, desperate to keep some distance, though it was useless. His presence filled the room like a storm I couldn’t escape.

“Good Lord…” my voice broke into a whisper, my gaze locked on him. “Who is this man?”

"Alright, here's why I'm here. To make a deal with you," he said, tucking both hands into his pockets.

A deal?

My chest tightened.

Do I look like some gangster to him?

How could he even think of offering me a deal when we haven’t spoken a single word before?

Or…

Does he already know me?

"A deal?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes a deal." He said firmly.

"I’ll pay you $40,000, in exchange for you to have a two months marriage contract with me," he finally revealed.

My breath faltered.

This is insane.

He wants me in a contract marriage with him?

Impossible!

"There will be no intimacy, we won’t share the same bed. Just appearances for my family," he explained.

I shook inside, anger burning hot.

He’s insane.

How can he be this cruel?

Deceiving his own family with a sham marriage?

Never.

There’s no way I’ll ever take part in that treason.

And in the most arrogant way, he added, “Do you want it or not?”

His words hit me like fire, and fury rose hot in my chest.

What does he take me for?

Some cheap, desperate girl who would throw herself at the first offer dangled before her?

“I can’t,” I snapped, my voice sharp though my heart pounded. “How can you even think of buying a woman like she’s a property?” I hurled at him, every word burning with defiance.

"You can’t?” he asked again, like he hadn’t heard me clearly.

Then I nodded.

"Yes, I can't."

But he didn’t flinch. Not a twitch. His eyes stayed cold, his face unreadable as he replied, unbothered, “You need me just as much as I need you.”

The calm in his voice cut deeper than a shout ever could.

My breath faltered, confusion tangled with anger.

What does he even mean by: I need him, just as much as he needs me?

There’s more to this than he’s saying.

But why me?

Why does he want me?

"What makes you feel like I need you?" I asked him, my curiosity getting the best of me.

He smiled

"Everything.." he said with a shrug.

Well then, I can’t bring myself to enter a contract marriage with a man I don’t even know who he is, what he does.

I can’t afford to gamble my life that way, not when I don’t know if he’s buried in dangerous business.

Business that could turn me and my family into prey for enemies we’ve never even met.

“But if you insist, fine,” he said with a cruel smirk. “I can’t believe you’re foolishly walking away from a $40,000 contract that could save your mother’s life. I bet that woman over there—” his finger pointed straight at her frail body, lying helpless “—won’t forgive you for being the reason she couldn’t get her surgery.”

His words shattered me.

Every wall I had built came crashing down.

I turned to look at my mother’s fragile frame, her breath shallow, her face pale… and it hit me like a knife to the chest.

I didn’t have a choice.

I needed this contract as much as I needed her to live.

Forty thousand dollars. A fortune I could never dream of. A lifeline I couldn’t dare turn down, no matter the cost.

Tears stung my eyes, burning with humiliation. My pride crumbled inside me, but my love for her screamed louder than my shame.

“Fine,” I whispered, broken. “I’ll be your wife.”

His smirk d

eepened, victory flashing in his eyes, yet something in that smile made my stomach twist.

What on earth had I just signed my soul into?