INICIAR SESIÓN~Ava's POV~"You already know most of this," Dominic said, watching my face as I read. "You just didn't know what you were looking at."I looked up from the red folder. "That's either a compliment or an insult. I can't tell which.""Neither." He leaned against the edge of the long table. "It's just true."The war room was nothing like I expected. No dramatic lighting, no leather chairs that screamed power. Just a long table, four screens mounted on the walls, and a whiteboard covered in Dominic's handwriting. Equations, names, org charts, lines connecting things I was still trying to make sense of.I looked back down at the folder. The real financial position of Hale Industries. Not the version they filed publicly. The actual one, with all the rot showing.Supply chain gaps. Three board members quietly shop for exits. And a silent debt to a foreign investment group buried so deep I'd never seen it in five
~Ava's POV~"Walk away before it's too late."I read it three times, just to make sure it wasn't a dream.I wasn't.Someone knew. Someone knew this marriage was fake. Something knew about the contract, about Dominic, about everything I had signed in less than forty-eight. My chest tightened. The stylist was still talking behind me, holding up a pair of earrings, asking me something about gold versus silver. I heard none of it.Instead, I screenshotted the message.Then I deleted it.Then I immediately regretted deleting it."Miss?" The stylist touched my shoulder lightly. "The gold ones? Or the silver?""Gold," I said, handing the phone back to myself like it hadn't just turned my whole morning upside down.I spent more time than I expected on autopilot. I nodded when they held things up. I said yes to outfits I barely glanced at. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was running through every name I could think of. Dominic's staff? One of his people had seen the contract. Maybe someone
~Ava's POV~"We need to talk."My mother's voice always had that specific tone she reserved for boardroom disasters and public embarrassments. Right now, I qualify for both.I turned to face them fully. My father stood a bit far away from me. With his arms crossed, eyes scanning the room like he was checking who was watching. My mother looked like she'd swallowed something sour."There's nothing to talk about," I said."Don't be a dramatic girl." My father stepped closer, lowering his voice this time. "Do you have any idea what you're doing? Showing up here, on his arm, announcing an engagement like some kind of…""Like some kind of what?" I asked. "Woman who moved on?""You've been gone three days now. Ava.""You caused it. You both. You disowned me in three seconds." I held his gaze. "I'd say I'm ahead."My mother touched my arm. "Please come home. We can fix this quietly. No more press, no more scenes. Just come home and we'll sort everything out I promise.”I almost laughed.*Home
~Ava's POV~ The next evening, I stood in front of the mirror, barely recognizing myself. Dominic had sent a stylist earlier to glam me up, and she did a really grat job. The dress was emerald green silk that hugged every curve before flowing to the floor. My hair was swept up, showing off the diamond earrings Dominic had included with the dress. And on my left hand was a blue diamond engagement ring that probably cost more than my parents' mortgage. "Ready?" Dominic appeared in the doorway, looking devastating in a black suit. "No." "Good. Fear keeps you sharp." He held out his arm. "Let's go remind them who you are." — The Hart Recovery Gala was being held at the Metropolitan Club. It was a huge, very fancy, crawling with Manhattan's elite, and so many cameras eating up the even and feeding it to the media. Our car pulled up, and I saw the red carpet, the photographers, and the crowd. My stomach turned and I had to take in a deep breath. "Second thoughts?" Dominic asked, s
"Marry me." I almost dropped the folder. "What… is this some kind of joke? "An eighteen-month contract marriage." He said it like he was proposing a business deal, not marriage. "You become Mrs. Adams. Get unlimited access to all my resources. We take down everyone who betrayed you together. In exchange, you help me dismantle the Hale and Hart empires from the inside." "You're insane." "I'm practical." He stood. "Right now, you have nothing. No money. Your accounts are probably frozen. Your father made sure of that. No home. No family. No job. Nothing." I hadn't even thought about the accounts. "Shit." "Exactly. So you have two options." He walked to the window, his back to me. "Go back. Beg them to take you back. Accept whatever scraps they're willing to give you and spend the rest of your life being the woman who got replaced at her own wedding." "Or?" "Or marry me. Let me teach you how to destroy people the right way. You teach me everything you know about the Hale
~Ava's POV~ His mouth was on mine before I could second-guess myself. He wasn’t gentle, nor was he asking permission… he just responded I kissed him back with everything I had: all the rage and grief and betrayal I'd been suffocating under for five years, and he took it all. His hands moved to my waist gently and pulled me closer. "Are you sure about this?" he asked against my lips. "Don't ask me that," I said, already working at his shirt buttons. "Just... don't let me think. Am sure about this." "I can do that." He kissed me again, deeper this time, walking me backward until my legs hit something very soft. The couch. His hands found the zipper of my ruined wedding dress. "This dress cost forty thousand dollars," I said as he peeled it off. "I'll buy you ten more." He tossed it aside without looking. "Better ones." "I hate you a little bit right now." "Good." His mouth moved to my neck. this time "Use it." And I did. I used every ounce of anger, every bit of hurt, every







