Chapter Two

“Where is my bride?” Daniel’s voice echoed in the large study, deep and commanding, like he owned the air in the room. 

“Here she is, Mr. Rourke,” Mr. Anderson muttered quickly, pushing Angela forward as though she were a showpiece. “I assure you, she’s worth the bargain. Perfect and untouched. Fit to bear your children.”

Angela stumbled a step as she was shoved forward but caught herself, glaring daggers at her father before turning her head toward the tall man in the immaculate suit.

Daniel Rourke’s gaze swept over her slowly, deliberately, from the top of her head down to the tips of her shoes. His eyes lingered a moment too long on her face—sharp, calculating, but with a flicker of something dangerous beneath.

“She’s good,” he said at last, his voice clipped, eyes still locked on her.

Angela’s hands curled into fists at her sides. Like he’s inspecting a product. 

“Angela, is that correct?” Her name rolled off his tongue with the kind of confidence that made her feel small. 

Angela lifted her chin. “You'd better go back,” she said, every word edged with raw venom. “I’ll never marry you.”

Silence stretched for half a beat, her words hanging in the air like a blade.

Daniel didn’t flinch. Instead, a slow smirk curved his lips, as though she had just given him a challenge he was more than eager to accept.

“You’ve got spirit,” he said smoothly. “I like it. I prefer a wife who isn’t spineless. But don’t mistake my patience for weakness.”

“I don’t care what you prefer,” Angela shot back. “I am not yours to purchase. Whatever deal you’ve made with him—” she jerked her chin at her father, “—doesn’t bind me.”

Daniel’s eyes darkened, but rather than snap, he leaned a fraction closer, voice dropping to something low and dangerous. “You think you have a choice in this?”

“Yes,” Angela snapped. “And I choose no.”

That smirk deepened, his gaze sharpening like steel. “Defiance. Interesting. Most women try to impress me. But you? You’d rather test how far you can push before I break you.”

Angela’s pulse raced, but she refused to look away. “Try me. And you’ll find that I don’t break.”

For a long moment, Daniel studied her, his expression unreadable. Then he chuckled under his breath—dark, amused, dangerous.

“Careful, Angela,” he murmured, saying her name like it belonged to him. “I like stubbornness. But I like winning more. And when I win, I don’t just claim victory—I claim everything. And right now, I want you.”

Her stomach flipped, half in fear, half in fury. “Then you’ll lose. Because you’ll never have me.”

Daniel straightened, his smirk hardening into something colder. “Prepare your daughter,” he said to Mr. Anderson without looking away from Angela. “I will not tolerate defiance.”

He turned and left, slamming the door behind him, making the framed photographs on the wall shake violently for some seconds. Silence stretched through the room as his footsteps faded down the stairs. Thick and suffocating.

Her father stood rooted by the sofa, his shoulders rigid, his face still fixed in that polite mask he’d worn for Daniel. But as soon as the echo of the billionaire’s footsteps faded outside, the mask cracked. His jaw clenched, nostrils flaring.

“You embarrassed me,” he said, voice low and trembling with restrained fury.

Angela blinked, still reeling from the way Daniel had tossed her future on the table like a business contract. “Embarrassed you?” she repeated, her throat tight. “He came here to buy me, to inspect me like I’m a commodity.”

Her father spun toward her, eyes narrowing. “Do not raise your voice at me.”

“I’m not raising my voice. I’m—” She pressed a hand against her chest, forcing herself to breathe steadily “I’m trying to understand how you can sit there and nod along while a stranger dictates the rest of my life!”

“He’s not a stranger,” her father snapped. “He’s Daniel Rourke. Do you understand what it means for our family to be tied to his name?”

“I don’t care about his name!” Her words cracked like glass breaking. “I don’t care how many billions he has, or how powerful he is. I don’t love him, Father and I've told you before. I will not marry him.”

Her father's hand slammed the coffee table, sending the porcelain vase flying. “Love,” he spat, as if the word itself disgusted him. “Love is for fools. What has love ever given this family, Angela? Security? Stability? Respect?”

Her chest ached. “It gave you Mother.”

For a second, just a flicker something soft passed through his eyes. Then it was gone. He straightened, coldness reclaiming every line of his body. “Your mother was different. She was… necessary. You are my daughter. And as my daughter, you will do as you’re told.”

“You're treating me like a baby. I'm a child anymore,” she whispered.

“Then stop behaving like one. Why are you fighting this?” he roared.

The walls seemed to shake with the force of his voice. Angela flinched, her fingernails digging into her palms.

“I wanted to be an actress,” she said, barely audible. “You promised—”

“I promised nothing,” he cut her off. “Those were childish dreams, and I entertained them because I hoped you’d grow out of them. But clearly, I was wrong.”

Her lips trembled. “It’s not childish to want to do something I love.”

“It is when it puts food on no one’s table. When it risks turning you into a public spectacle. Do you think I raised you for the stage, for lights and cameras to devour your dignity? No, Angela. I raised you to marry well. To secure what is rightfully ours.”

Her chest heaved, air burning in her throat. “Rightfully ours? You mean yours. This has nothing to do with me—this is about your pride, your debts, your empire.”

He stepped closer, towering over her. “And you will help protect that empire. You will marry him.”

“No.” The word burst out, sharp, defiant. “I won’t.”

He leaned forward, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. “Then you are a fool. And I won’t let your foolishness drag this family down any further.”

Angela blinked, stunned. “Drag us down? What are you talking about?”

Her father sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. For a moment, he looked older, wearier, like the weight of years had settled on his shoulders. “We are drowning, Angela. This house, this family name—it all looks polished on the outside, but inside? I am in debt. More debt than you could imagine.”

Her stomach twisted. “Debt? Father, I didn’t know—”

“Of course you didn’t. Because I kept it from you. I carried the burden so you could chase your little stage dreams. But I can’t keep carrying it alone. And now… now I have a solution.”

She frowned. “What kind of solution?”

His eyes hardened. “Marrying Daniel Rourke would solve all our problems if you cooperate with me. 

The words landed like a stone. Angela froze, shaking her head. “You mean all your problems?” She relaxed, threw her head back, and laughed. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am.” His tone was merciless. “His power, wealth, and influence can wipe away my debts with a stroke of a pen. He can protect us and destroy us if he wants. We must not make trouble with a man like him.”

Her breath caught in her throat. She pushed up from her chair, her voice breaking. “Father there must be another way. I don’t even know him!”

“You’ll know him soon enough,” her father said, his voice unshaken. “He will give you security. He will give this family a future.”

Tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them back. “I don’t want security at that price. I don’t want his money. I want my life.”

His voice thundered across the room. “And what has your life given you so far? Failure. Rejection. Nothing but wasted years. This marriage is the only way forward, Angela. I took on debts to pay for your mother's debts. I put everything I have into the mortgage. My companies, my properties, everything I have but she died. Do you want me to lose everything? Do you want all my efforts to be wasted?”

Her heart slammed in her chest. “Don’t bring Mother into this.”

“She is already in this,” he snapped. “Her medicine, her care—it costs more than you realize. I stretched every last coin to keep her alive but she didn't make it. And now we have to secure our future. To secure yours.”

Angela’s breath came in shallow gasps. “You’re telling me… if I don’t marry him… we lose everything?”

“Yes.” His answer was sharp, final. “Without Rourke, we'll go bankrupt. The creditors will come for me, for this house. You’ll have nothing. We’ll have nothing. You know your silly dreams of becoming an actress cannot protect our empire.”

She staggered back a step, her hands trembling. “This is wrong. You’re asking me to sacrifice my happiness for your mistakes.”

“I am asking you,” he said, his tone cold, “to save your family. To make your mother proud. Sometimes we don’t get to choose our happiness, Angela. Sometimes we do what must be done.”

She shook her head violently. “This isn’t fair. You’re forcing me into a cage and calling it salvation.”

“You think you’re in a cage now?” he asked quietly. “Wait until the creditors come for us. That is a cage with no escape. This marriage—this is the key. And you are the one who must turn it.”

Angela pressed her fists against her eyes, fighting the tears threatening to spill. “You’re destroying me.”

“No,” he said firmly. “I am saving you. One day, you will see it.”

The silence between them stretched, thick and suffocating. The only sound was the ticking of the clock on the mantel, each tick like a nail sealing her fate.

Angela’s shoulders slumped, her voice barely a whisper. “I don’t want this.”

“And yet,” her father said, his tone soft but implacable, “you will do it. For your mother. For all of us.”

Her chest ached with a pain she couldn’t describe. She thought of her mother, pale and frail on her deathbed, her smile was weak and tender whenever Angela sat by her side, even on the day she died. She thought of everything her father had done to make sure she was happy.

Now, her mother was dead. And she was losing her father too. 

The only way she could save what was left of her family was to do it. She had dreams and ambitions that she couldn't bear to sacrifice. 

But she couldn’t be that selfish.

Angela’s voice broke. “I’ll do it.”