4. Force

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the ceiling—high, white, unfamiliar. The sheets beneath me were soft, expensive, scented faintly of cedar and linen. For a fleeting moment, I forgot where I was. And then my gaze shifted.

He was there.

Xavier Russell.

Lying beside me, his arm resting lazily against the pillow, his face calm, unreadable. His side of the bed looked untouched, as if he had been there only to watch me, not to sleep.

A shiver slid down my spine. This wasn’t my room. It was his. His world. His rules. I didn’t belong here—and yet I was bound to it by vows spoken in panic and duty.

“You’re awake.” Xavier’s voice was smooth, deep, but edged with his familiar, icy detachment. He rose with effortless grace, pulling on his jacket. “There’s someone here to see you.”

My throat tightened. “Who?”

He didn’t answer. His dark eyes brushed mine for a fraction of a second before he stepped out.

My pulse quickened, my mind racing through possibilities. My parents? My sister? God forbid—Yuri?

The door creaked.

It was Liam.

My breath caught. My Liam. The boy who had once held my whole heart, standing in Xavier’s house like a ghost from another life. But the moment I met his eyes, something inside me cracked. He wasn’t the Liam I remembered. His hair was disheveled, his face drawn sharp, his gaze cutting through me with accusation instead of love.

“Layla,” he said, spitting my name like venom.

“Liam—” Relief, guilt, longing—everything collided in my chest.

But he cut me off, his voice jagged, raw. “What have you done to me?”

I stared at him, bewildered. “What are you talking about? I—”

“You cheated. You married him,” he hissed, his voice trembling with rage.

Tears stung instantly. “No, Liam. Please listen to me. I didn’t want this. I never wanted this marriage. Yuri ran away and my parents—they begged me, Liam. They begged me to stand there so our family wouldn’t be disgraced.”

“You could have refused,” he snapped.

“I couldn’t!” My voice broke. “Do you know what it feels like to be the perfect daughter all your life, to carry their expectations—and then the one time they ask something of you, you say no? I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t humiliate them.”

His silence cut sharper than his words.

My chest heaved. “And where were you? When I needed you? Three days, Liam—three days you disappeared. Not a word. Not a call. Nothing. Do you know what that did to me?”

Instead of answering, he stepped closer, cupping my face roughly. His touch, once my safe place, now felt wrong. Too harsh. Too desperate.

“You can still fix this,” he whispered, his breath brushing mine. “Run away with me. Now. Leave all of this behind.”

I shook my head, tears spilling. “I can’t. This marriage… it was supposed to protect my family. If I run now, it means nothing. Please, just wait. I’ll talk to Xavier. I’ll ask him for a divorce. I’ll come to you.”

But Liam’s grip only tightened, his eyes glinting with something darker than love. “Stop stalling. Are you coming with me or not?”

My heart pounded. “Why are you saying it like this? Why can’t you just—”

And then his mouth crashed onto mine. Hard. It wasn’t love. It was anger. Possession. I shoved him back, gasping, my lips trembling.

He seized me again, this time biting down until I tasted blood. Pain seared my lip.

“Liam—please, stop,” I mumbled, pushing against him, but he didn’t hear me. Or he didn’t care.

“She said stop.”

The roar came from the doorway. Xavier.

In a blur, he tore Liam away from me, flinging him against the corner of the room.

Liam staggered up, wiping the blood from his mouth before laughing bitterly. “So this is it? Forced into marriage, and now he’s your protector? How convenient.”

“Liam,” I pleaded through tears, “I swear I didn’t choose this. None of this was my choice—”

“Oh please,” he sneered. “Just admit you fucked your sister’s fiancé. Admit that everything about you was a performance. A lie. No wonder you never slept with me. Always hiding behind that little virgin act. Clearly you had someone better—”

He didn’t finish. Xavier’s fist connected with his jaw, knocking him flat. Blood spilled from his lip.

“We’re done, Layla.” Liam’s voice shook as he rose unsteadily to his feet. “I’m going back to London.”

“Liam, don’t—please!” My voice cracked as I reached for him, but he wrenched free.

“You chose him.” His final words were ice. And then he was gone, leaving me hollow, shaking, the echo of his kiss burning like a wound.

The silence that followed was unbearable.

What had I done?

I looked up to see Xavier, Xavier stepped in, his composure unshaken, his expression unreadable. As if none of this surprised him. As if he had expected it.

“Josh will run a background check on him,” he said flatly.

I blinked through tears. “Xavier…” My voice was barely audible. “Promise me something.”

His gaze finally met mine, cold and unflinching.

“Promise me you’ll divorce me after five months.”

His lip twitched, but there was no humor in it. “Layla, I never agreed to this marriage. You can walk away whenever you want.”

The words should have freed me. Instead, they hollowed me out.

I wiped at my tears with trembling hands. “Then why… why does it feel like I’m trapped?”

Xavier slid his watch onto his wrist, his tone clipped, final. “Because you are. Not by me—by your family. Their business is drowning. Every loan Beth and Owens secured was because you married into the Russels. If you walk out now, your family may be bankrupt tomorrow. So while you’re here, you will act like my wife. Whatever duties that involve, you’ll fulfill them.”

I froze, fear rooting me in place.

He continued, his voice like ice. “My father is hosting a party tonight. If you’re well enough, Julia will help you dress. You’ll stand beside me, exactly as your mother wanted, like a puppet”.

And just like that, the fragile pieces of me shattered again.