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CHAPTER NINE — THE MATRIARCH'S ULTIMATUM
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2026-02-13 19:08:42“This is an agreement I've had my lawyers draft. It's quite simple, really. You have six months to conceive an heir to the Blackwood fortune. If you succeed, you'll continue as Lucien's wife with all the privileges that entails." She paused, letting that sink in. "If you fail, you'll sign divorce papers and walk away with a generous settlement. Enough to secure your future, but not enough to be a burden on the family name."
My hands clenched in my lap. "You're giving me an ultimatum. Get pregnant or get out."
"How succinctly put." Helena's smile was approving, like a teacher pleased with a particularly slow student. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm doing."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then I'll make your life, and more importantly, Lucien's life, unbearable." There was no heat in her voice, just cold certainty. "I control significant portions of the Blackwood empire. I have influence over the board, over our investors, over every aspect of this company. If I decide you're a liability, I can make things very difficult for my son."
"You'd hurt your own son to get rid of me?"
"I'd hurt my son to save him from making the same mistakes his father made." For the first time, real emotion flickered across Helena's face, something dark and bitter. "My husband married for love, you see. A beautiful, passionate romance that everyone envied." Her voice hardened. "And then he spent twenty years making me miserable while he pursued affair after affair, humiliating me publicly while I maintained the perfect facade of a happy marriage."
She turned away, her shoulders rigid. "Love is a lie, Aria. A pretty lie that weak people tell themselves. The only things that matter in a marriage are legacy and power. Everything else is negotiable."
"I'm sorry that happened to you," I said softly. "But Lucien isn't his father."
"No." Helena looked back at me, and for just a moment, I saw something vulnerable in her eyes before she locked it away. "He's better than his father ever was. Which is precisely why I won't let him throw his life away on some foolish notion of love with a girl who brings nothing to this family."
She picked up the folder and held it out to me.
"Six months, Aria. Give me an heir, or give me a divorce. Those are your options."
I stared at the folder, my heart pounding. "Does Lucien know about this?"
"Lucien knows I expect grandchildren. The timeline and consequences are between you and me." Her smile was cold. "Unless you'd like to run to him and tell him his mother is being cruel to you? I'm sure that would go wonderfully, forcing him to choose between his wife and his mother. Men love being put in that position."
The manipulation was masterful. If I told Lucien, I'd be the one driving a wedge between him and his mother. If I didn't, I'd be trapped in this impossible situation alone.
"I need time to think about this," I managed.
"You have until Friday dinner to give me your answer." Helena set the folder on the desk. "And Aria? Don't bother trying to get pregnant simply to buy yourself time. I'll be monitoring the situation very closely. If I suspect you're trying to manipulate this agreement, the deal is off immediately."
She walked to the door, then paused with her hand on the handle.
"One more thing. That little stunt you pulled the other night, the suicide attempt?" Her voice dropped to something dangerously soft. "Don't ever try something like that again. If you damage yourself, you damage your ability to carry my grandchild. And if you can't fulfill your purpose, you have no value to this family at all."
The door opened, and Helena's demeanor transformed instantly. Her face softened, her posture relaxed slightly, and when Lucien appeared in the doorway, she actually smiled.
"There you are, darling. Aria and I had the loveliest chat." She kissed his cheek, the gesture almost maternal. "She's delightful. I can see why you're so taken with her."
Lucien's eyes immediately found mine, searching for signs of damage. I forced a smile, even as my heart raced.
"We're looking forward to Friday," Helena continued, gathering her purse. "Aren't we, Aria?"
"Yes," I heard myself say. "Very much."
"Wonderful." Helena moved toward the elevator. "Seven o'clock sharp. Don't be late."
And then she was gone, leaving behind only the faint scent of her perfume and the folder sitting on Lucien's desk like a ticking bomb.
Lucien immediately crossed to me, his hands cupping my face, his eyes intense with concern. "Are you alright? What did she say to you?"
I looked up at him, this beautiful, complicated man who loved me despite everything I'd put him through. The man whose mother had just given me an impossible choice.
Get pregnant in six months, or destroy both our lives.
"She just wanted to get to know me," I lied, the words tasting like ash. "It was fine."
But as Lucien's eyes searched mine, I knew he didn't believe me.
And the folder on his desk seemed to pulse with menace, counting down the seconds until Friday, when I'd have to give Helena Blackwood my answer.
Six months to conceive an heir.
Or lose everything.
Lucien's eyes shifted slightly away from me as it landed on the folder on the desk, his eyes the imperceptibly.
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FORCED TO WED THE BILLIONAIRE CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX — THE MATRIARCH'S SUBTLE REGRET
Aria's POVThe morning sun filtered through the high-performance glass of the medical wing, turning the sterile room into a soft, hazy gold color. Lucien was still asleep, his breathing deep and even for the first time in hours. I hadn't moved from his side. My head was rested on the edge of his mattress, my hand still tucked firmly in his.The quietness was shattered by the sound of heavy, rhythmic footsteps in the hallway. These weren't the silent, tactical steps of Chen or Marcus. They were deliberate and commanding.The door slid open, and Helena Blackwood stepped inside.She wasn't wearing her usual structured boardroom armor. Instead, she wore a simple black silk wrap, her silver ha
FORCED TO WED THE BILLIONAIRE CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE — A LOVE MEAL
Aria's POVI sat by Lucien’s bed for hours, my hand locked in his. The nurse’s words looped in my mind, Genetic. Chronic stress. Alcohol. I looked at his pale face. This man, who moved mountains to keep me in a gilded cage, was crumbling from the inside out. Every time I had fought him, every time I had looked at him with cold suspicion, I had been pushing him closer to this bed. The guilt was like a heavy weight in my chest, heavier than the wooden box still tucked in my jacket.I didn't want to ask about Vane anymore. I didn't care about the boy on the beach or the "J" on the compass. Not right now. I just wanted the man in front of me to breathe without a machine.Around 4:00 A&z
FORCED TO WED THE BILLIONAIRE CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR — UNFORSEEN DISCOVERY
Aria's POVI stood outside the glass doors of the private medical suite, watching the rhythmic rise and fall of Lucien’s chest. He looked fragile, pinned to the bed by plastic tubes and glowing wires. The high-tech hum of the monitors felt like a countdown I couldn't stop.Marcus stood by the door, his arms crossed over his chest. His suit jacket was off, his shirtsleeves were rolled up, and his eyes were bloodshot. He looked like a man who had been at war for forty-eight hours straight."He’s stable," Marcus said, though his voice lacked its usual iron. "But the doctors say the next few hours are critical. The strain on his heart was too much."I turned to him, the wooden box with the silver compasses still heavy in my pocket. "Marcus, talk to me. What really happened? You said it was the mission, but I saw the scars. That wasn't just shrapnel. That looked like a lifetime of trauma."Marcus tightened his jaw. He looked at
FORCED TO WED THE BILLIONAIRE CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE — THE UNEXPECTED COLLAPSE
Aria's POVLucien was still standing by the darkened television, his silhouette cast in jagged red by the emergency lights. He looked like a king standing amidst the ruins of his palace. His chest was heaving, his hand still white-knuckled around the grip of his gun."Lucien?" I stopped in my tracks as I called out.My voice was cold, filtered through the new layer of distrust I felt. I still had the wooden box tucked behind my back, the silver compasses biting into my palm. I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to demand the name of the boy in the photo.But Lucien didn’t turn around.He stayed frozen, staring at the black screen where Vane’s face had been moments ago. Then, a strange sound came from him, a harsh, wet wheeze that sounded like air being forced through a crushed pipe.His gun slipped from his hand. It hit the thick carpet with a dull thud."Lucien!"My suspicion vanished, replaced by the sharp, electric jolt of my
FORCED TO WED THE BILLIONAIRE CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO — STRANGER
Aria's POVThe library was too cold. The air felt thin and clinical, like everything else in the high-tech prison Lucien called a home. I stood against the mahogany shelves, my fingers tightening around the small wooden box. Inside, the silver compasses clinked. The sound was soft, but in the dead silence, it sounded like a warning.I turned the bent compass over and I felt the tiny, jagged engraving on the back.J & A.The letters were old and faded. A was for Aria. That was me. But the J was like a hole in my life. My mind searched for a name, a face, or a voice but I found nothing. The amnesia was a solid wall, cold and unyielding.Lucien had told me I was alone. When I woke up in that hospital bed, he was the only thing I had. He told me my parents were dead. He said I had no siblings. He said he was the only anchor I had left in a dangerous world.Liar.The thought didn't come from my brain. It came from my
FORCED TO WED THE BILLIONAIRE CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE — THE SHADOW AT THE DOOR
Aria's POVThe silence following my question was more than just an absence of sound, it was a physical weight. Lucien’s hand, usually an immovable anchor of strength, was trembling against my waist. The "Dark Lord" who had just dismantled a boardroom full of predators looked like he was staring at his own executioner."Lucien," I repeated, my voice dropping to a whisper as I searched his face. "Who is Vane? Why are you reacting like this?"He didn't answer. He couldn't. He looked at Marcus, a silent command passing between them that I couldn't decipher. Without a word, Lucien hauled me toward the private elevator, his stride frantic and disjointed.As the doors hissed shut, plunging us into the high-speed descent, Lucien finally turned to me. His eyes were no longer silver, they had darkened to something terrifyingly black."Vane is a ghost I thought I had buried, Aria," he rasped, his voice sounding like grinding stones. "
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