Chapter 2

“Say yes! Say yes!”

The chant crawled through the crowd, loud and relentless, each voice a hammer striking the same lie I once clung to—willfully blind, hopelessly in love.

Caden remained on one knee, his back unnaturally straight, posture strained under the weight of his image. The facade was cracking. The charming grin he rehearsed for this moment faltered at the corners. Sweat beaded at his temple. I could feel his desperation seeping into the air—anxious, crawling, suffocating.

His ego screamed louder than the crowd.

He leaned in closer. “Come on,” he whispered, each syllable coated in false tenderness. “Say yes already.”

My heart hammered once against my ribs, sharp and sudden. I’d heard that voice before—on the night he ended my life. On the night the truth bled out of me along with everything else I had left.

Caden raised his eyebrows at me, impatience flashing in his eyes that only I could see. “Hurry up,” he said through gritted teeth, like he was daring me to choose wrong. My eyes traced the shape of his face, searching for a flicker of remorse, but I found only the same polished charm that had once fooled me.

The crowd saw a perfect man. A prince in tailored wool and gold cufflinks. They saw love. I saw blood and betrayal. I saw the knife. I saw our bedroom chandelier above me fading into shadow as my breath slowed.

I pressed a hand to my chest, feeling the phantom sting of the blade under my ribs, and my fingers curled against the material there as if pressure could dull the ache.

The noise swelled around us. More voices. More delusion. Envy dripped from every whisper.

“She’s so lucky…”

“He’s so perfect…”

“Imagine marrying into the Rosenthals…”

They didn’t see the monster behind the mask. If any of them had known what he truly was, they wouldn’t have dared stand so close. If dying before thirty sounded like a dream, then yes—by all means, marry Caden Rosenthal.

I looked him in the eye and let a small smile touch my lips. His expression shifted immediately. 

“Scarlett…” His tone softened, the coaxing practiced. “Don’t keep me waiting. Say…”

Suddenly, the door of the banquet hall creaked open, and the sound of leather shoes could be heard. Every eye was drawn to the man who was stepping in as if gravity itself bent around his presence.

I looked over, and it was him. Leon Rosenthal, Caden's uncle.

Leon had built Rosenthal Global Holdings from nothing—facing down cutthroat executives and surviving situations that would’ve broken most people. He could buy out every rich shareholder in this room and still have enough left over to retire in luxury.

Despite it, his attire was very simple. No tie. No watch. He didn’t need them. Hell, he didn’t need anything. He was the currency in this room—every gaze, every breath, every inch of tension bowed to him.

He moved as if he owned the air itself—tall, broad-shouldered, and radiating that quiet, effortless dominance that came from never being told no.

My eyes dragged up to the golden hair slicked back from his brow, the silver dusting his temples only making him more devastating. Sun-warmed skin. Features like they’d been carved with intention—too sharp, too beautiful. But it was his eyes that stopped me cold.

He passed through the parting crowd, unbothered by the reaction he caused.

That was what control looked like.

Nothing like Caden’s rehearsed arrogance.

It was almost tragic, in a twisted way. In my past life, he died in a plane crash that came too clean, too quick—and way too conveniently. I knew the timing was planned by Caden’s hand.

I’d married the man who murdered his own blood. And worse, I gave him the leverage to do it.

Leon had been one of the few who treated me like I was more than leverage. I used to not understand why Caden's parents were so eager to urge me to get married quickly without getting to know me, as if I were an object, not a person. Now I understand. Back then, they all saw me as a pawn, but Leon didn't. He would ask about my life, get to know my affairs, care about the issues I had in my relationship with Caden and my views on the marriage, instead of blindly pushing me to marry Caden like Caden's parents did. He even helped me when I made a fool of myself in public, giving me some dignity. He is a good person.

This time, I wouldn't just stand by. Not when I owed him everything... and had nothing left to lose.

My gaze locked on Caden, steady and unflinching. I let the silence stretch just long enough to make him squirm. Then I tilted my chin, lifted my shoulders, and let the corners of my mouth curve into something unreadable—half challenge, half farewell.

And then I spoke the word that started it all.

“Yes.”

His whole body reacted before his mind caught up. His eyes ignited, and relief crashed through his frame. He moved immediately, reaching to slide the ring onto my ring finger.

I took one step back. I let him reach into empty space.

“Yes,” I repeated. “But to your uncle.”

A collective gasp sucked the air out of the room, followed by a ripple of shocked murmurs.

Caden’s mother looked like she might faint. His father’s face darkened, lips pressed into a murderous line.

All around me, expressions twisted—scandal, horror, disbelief.

Caden didn’t move. He stared at me, stunned and furious. “I’m sorry, what?”

I look over to Leon. Confusion ghosted across his face, stark against the mask he usually wore so well. I couldn’t fault him for it. Imagine being summoned to witness a proposal, only to find yourself unexpectedly cast as the groom.

I moved toward him, steady and unapologetic. I felt the weight of every gaze burning against my skin, but I didn’t flinch. I raised my voice, speaking to them all. “We’d been seeing each other for a while. I guess now was as good a time as any to go public.”

Leon’s brows pulled together. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding—”

My heart thudded. He didn’t understand. Not yet. But I did. I remembered the way they erased him in my past life—how he died.

I angled my body slightly toward him, standing firm between him and the people who would ruin him again.

I smiled at him with warmth that dared him to deny me. “Don’t be shy. You’ve always preferred privacy. But I think it’s time people knew.”

Caden rose, sharp and shaky. “Are you insane?” His voice cut through the air. “You’ve never even met the man before today!”

I still didn’t look at him. “Actually, every time I wasn’t with you, I was with him.”

Caden’s father stepped forward, his face a study in disbelief. “You took your nephew’s fiancée?” His voice was loud enough to carry, scandal twisting every syllable.

Leon’s expression didn’t crack, but the flicker in his ice-blue eyes gave him away—momentary surprise, quickly buried beneath practiced calm. He looked at me, not like a man blindsided, but like one already recalculating. “Scarlett,” he said slowly, the weight of my name anchoring the room, “What are you doing?”

I placed my hand over his heart. His chest went still beneath my palm. “Oh, you’re being modest. But there’s no need to hide anymore.”

Caden stormed closer. He grabbed my arm, his grip tighter than necessary. “Scarlett, stop. You’re humiliating yourself.” His gaze shot sideways, and in a lower voice only I could hear, he bit out, “You’re embarrassing me.”

I shot him a look that said; but that’s the whole point. I wrenched free with a snap of my shoulder, disgust coursing through every muscle. “Don’t. Touch. Me.”

He stared at me like he was watching something sacred collapse—but we knew at this point it certainly wasn’t about him losing me.

It was all about his ego and money. His jaw moved, but no words came out.

I looked back at Leon, smiling. "Come on dear, we don't need to hide."

Leon watched me, stunned and uncertain.

I leaned in just enough to make the next words land where they needed to. “We spent nights together. Intimate, unforgettable nights. If you don’t remember, that’s fine. I remember enough for both of us.”

His eyes widened. Around us, gasps cracked through the room like a whip—Caden’s the loudest of all. 

I turned back to Caden, lips raised,  “So nephew,” I spoke slowly, deliberately, “do you still dare marry me? Your aunt-in-law?”