LOGINShare
The wedding contract
Last Updated:
2025-10-13 19:47:54(Damon’s POV)
The ceremony was supposed to feel like every other business formality I’d ever orchestrated: efficient, predictable, controlled. It didn’t. From the moment Aria walked into the private hall, all pale silk and unsteady grace, control felt like a concept that belonged to another lifetime. The venue had been chosen for convenience—one of my smaller properties, a rooftop conservatory with glass walls and a view of the skyline. Only a few witnesses: my lawyer, her friend Lena, and a photographer hired to “capture the moment” for the press release. Everything was planned to the minute. And yet my pulse ignored the schedule. Aria hesitated at the entrance, her fingers brushing the veil as if she wasn’t sure whether to wear it. The late-morning light poured in behind her, catching on the edges of her hair until it looked like a halo. Evan leaned toward me. “Breathe, Damon.” “I’m fine.” “You look like you’re about to give a keynote, not get married.” “Same difference,” I muttered. But it wasn’t. When she started walking toward me, each step seemed to pull me out of the neatly walled-off existence I’d built. She stopped in front of me, close enough that I could see the faint freckles across her nose, the tremor in her hands, the determination in her eyes fighting the fear. “This is it?” she whispered. “This is it,” I said. The officiant—one of our company lawyers drafted into temporary service—cleared his throat and began the legal text of the vows. Words about partnership, respect, unity. None of them real. And yet each one landed heavier than it should have. I told myself to keep my eyes on the document, on the script, on anything that wasn’t her. But every time she spoke—soft, clear, sincere—it pulled something tight inside my chest. When it was my turn to speak, the words caught slightly before they left my throat. “I, Damon Hale, take you, Aria Collins…” I paused. The silence stretched just long enough for her to glance up at me. There was no accusation in her eyes, no fear—just quiet understanding, as if she could sense that I was fighting ghosts she couldn’t see. “…to be my lawfully wedded wife,” I finished. The sentence sounded foreign in my mouth, too human, too vulnerable. She repeated her part, voice trembling only once. The officiant nodded. “By the power vested in me—” I felt my heart thud once, hard. “—I now pronounce you husband and wife.” A single camera clicked. The world outside would soon see the still frame: Damon Hale, the untouchable billionaire, finally married. A perfect image. Then came the line I hadn’t planned for. “You may kiss the bride.” Aria looked up, startled. The contract hadn’t mentioned this part. “It’s expected,” I murmured, just loud enough for her to hear. She nodded, barely. Her eyes flickered to my mouth, then back to my eyes. Something fragile and defiant crossed her face—a challenge. I leaned in slowly, careful not to make it real, careful not to lose the thin thread of logic that still held me together. The faint scent of her perfume—citrus and something warm—slipped through my guard. Our lips met lightly, a brief brush that lasted no longer than a breath. It was supposed to be for the cameras, for credibility. But when I pulled back, I felt it—the smallest spark of something genuine, burning quietly where distance used to be. Applause broke the moment. Paperwork followed. Cameras flashed again. Minutes later, we were standing alone by the window, the city spread out beneath us. She was twisting the simple gold band on her finger, as if it belonged to someone else. “So that’s it,” she said. “We’re married.” “For now.” Her gaze met mine. “You don’t sound thrilled.” “Thrill isn’t part of the contract.” Her smile was faint but real. “Maybe it should be.” I didn’t know how to answer that. She turned back to the skyline, and I watched her reflection in the glass. There was no calculation in her, no agenda. Just a quiet courage I couldn’t define. It struck me then—how little I actually knew about her. In my world, everyone came with a file, a motive, a measurable value. Aria Collins had none of those things, and that made her unpredictable. Unpredictable meant dangerous. “Tomorrow,” I said, breaking the silence, “we’ll have interviews to manage. My assistant will brief you.” She nodded. “Understood.” I waited for her to ask something more—about money, publicity, boundaries—but she didn’t. She just looked out over the city and said softly, “You built all this, Damon. Doesn’t it ever feel… lonely?” The question landed somewhere I didn’t expect. I opened my mouth, then closed it. “Lonely,” I repeated. “No. Necessary.” She smiled a little, like she didn’t believe me, then turned to leave. When the door closed behind her, I finally let out the breath I’d been holding. My phone buzzed—another congratulatory message, another investor appeased. Everything was going according to plan. And yet, staring at the thin gold ring on my finger, I couldn’t shake the thought that I’d just entered a deal I didn’t fully understand. The woman I’d married for convenience was already rewriting the terms. 
Latest chapter
Married by mistake, loved by fire When trust burns
DamonThe city never really sleeps, but tonight it feels like it’s holding its breath.From my office window, the skyline blurs into streaks of white and gold, the rain turning glass into a mirror. I stare into it, but I can’t recognize the man looking back at me.There’s an untouched cup of coffee on my desk. It’s gone cold, like everything else between us.I’ve been replaying Aria’s face in my head since the moment I walked out that door — the way her voice broke when she said my name, the disbelief in her eyes. I told myself space would help. That I just needed time to think. But all it’s done is give me silence loud enough to make me hate myself.The office is empty except for the hum of the servers in the next room. My phone sits beside me, dark and heavy, waiting for a message that will never come.I should go home. I should try to fix this.Instead, I open my laptop again.The security logs are still up — I’ve
Married by mistake, loved by fire The message
DamonThe office hums with the quiet, expensive stillness of power — the kind that comes with success, but never peace. The glass walls around me reflect a man who looks whole on the outside but feels like cracked porcelain within.It’s been months since Aria and I came home. We’ve been trying — or at least pretending to. The world sees our reunion as some fairytale comeback. They don’t see the silence that follows our arguments, the way we sleep on opposite edges of the bed, or how her eyes sometimes drift toward the window when she thinks I’m not watching, as if freedom might still exist out there.The phone buzzes once. Then again.Cassandra.The name alone is enough to set my jaw. I hadn’t heard from her since she’d been forced out of the company last year — my business partner, my mistake, my ghost. She was brilliant and manipulative in equal measure, a woman who could make ambition sound like love.I stare at the screen for t
Married by mistake, loved by fire When silence feels safe
(Aria’s POV)Morning light slipped between the tall glass panes, flooding the living room with pale gold. It was the kind of light that belonged to freedom — the sort that might have once felt like a promise. Now it only burned against the inside of Aria’s eyelids when she tried to sleep.She had been here for almost a week. The apartment Cassandra arranged for her sat high above the city, built of marble, glass, and silence. The kind of place that seemed too expensive to breathe in. She hadn’t chosen it, but Cassandra’s voice over the phone had been so soft, so assuring — “You need somewhere quiet, Aria. Somewhere safe. Just until things calm down.”At first, Aria believed her. Or she wanted to.She’d wanted to believe that running had been the right choice. That the sight of Damon’s eyes when she walked away — that flash of shock and something like disbelief — didn’t mean she’d made the worst mistake of her life.The thought cam
Married by mistake, loved by fire The empty house
(Damon’s POV)The first thing I noticed was the silence.Not the comfortable kind that used to settle between us after long days, when the only sound was the whisper of her breath beside me. This was a heavier quiet—hollow, absolute, the kind that told me something had been taken and the air hadn’t decided what to do without it yet.“Aria?”My voice disappeared into the hallway. No answer.Her book still lay on the coffee table, the spine bent where she’d marked her page. A faint ring from her mug circled the wood—something she always scolded herself for leaving. I touched it, ridiculous as it was, because I needed proof that she’d actually been here.I checked the kitchen next. The light above the sink glowed faintly, a single lamp left on the way she always did when she expected me home late. Except tonight, the light felt like a question.Her shoes weren’t by the door.A tremor started low in my chest and rose until it fil
Married by mistake, loved by fire The fracture
( Aria’s POV)The house had never been this quiet before.Even the air felt different — like it was holding its breath with me. Morning sunlight filtered through the tall windows, spilling across the marble floor in a thin, golden hush. Damon’s coffee sat untouched on the kitchen counter, steam curling faintly, as if it still hoped he’d come back to finish it.He’d left early again.The faint sound of the front door closing had woken me before dawn, followed by the soft hum of his car fading into the distance. I hadn’t asked where he was going; I didn’t need to. Lately, every answer came with the same tired phrase — “It’s work, Aria. Cassandra needs updates before the board meets.”Cassandra.Her name had started to fill the spaces between us, like a fog you couldn’t quite see but could always feel. I told myself not to let it matter. Damon was building something important — his company, his future — and she was his partne
Married by mistake, loved by fire The intruder
Damon’s POVThe gala hall sparkles like a jewel. Crystal chandeliers scatter light across marble floors, and the city’s elite swirl around us, laughing, clinking glasses, congratulating one another. I’ve walked this scene a hundred times, but tonight, it feels heavier.Aria is beside me, radiant in a soft emerald gown. Her presence steadies me. I smile down at her as we move through the crowd, our hands brushing occasionally. She is the calm at the center of my chaos.And then I see her.Cassandra Virelli.Tall, poised, and impossibly graceful, she glides across the room with a subtle confidence that draws every gaze without effort. Her smile is the kind that suggests she knows more than she should. I feel it immediately—the spark of danger beneath beauty.“Damon,” she says, voice smooth, melodic, as if we’ve known each other for years. “I’ve heard so much about your ventures. I hope they’re as impressive as they say.”Her eyes
You may also like
Triplets on Secret Mission
Lamour Toujours1.2M viewsI Kissed A CEO And He Liked It!
LiLhyz1.5M viewsCold Showers
Symplyayisha822.0K viewsOne Night With Mr Billionaire
Sun girl722.2K viewsThe Blind & Crippled Billionaire's Swapped Bride
GemJade376 viewsAn Assassin For The Billionairess
Batman_01149 viewsThe Maid Who Was Trapped by The Billionaire
Batino493 viewsMy Boss My Babydaddy
Queen of ink 792 views
