Then Marry Me Instead

Silence swallowed the ballroom.

My outstretched hand remained between Caelan and me while every guest waited for his response.

Lucien recovered first.

“You’ve lost your mind.”

I ignored him. My attention remained on Caelan Voss.

His expression revealed nothing, but I noticed the slight tightening of his jaw. The ruthless heir had built his reputation on remaining calm when everyone else panicked. Yet my proposal had unsettled him.

Only for a moment.

Then his composure returned.

“Do you understand what you’re asking?” he said.

“I’m offering you the alliance you came here to prevent Lucien from gaining.”

Father stepped forward. “Elara, this is not the time to make another decision.”

He was right. Under normal circumstances, abandoning one groom and proposing to another would have been reckless.

But I had already lived through the alternative.

In my first life, my marriage to Lucien had given the Vale family access to Mercer shipping routes, manufacturing contracts, and private investment records. Within three years, those assets had been stripped away.

Caelan wanted those same business advantages, but he did not need to destroy my family to obtain them. Voss Industries was already more powerful than Mercer Holdings and the Vale Group combined.

He needed legitimacy before the Voss board selected its next chairman.

I needed protection.

“Mr. Mercer,” Caelan said, looking at my father, “your daughter knows exactly what she’s doing.”

A chill ran through me.

How could he be so certain when I was not?

Lucien moved between us. “This performance is over. Elara is upset, and Voss is exploiting her confusion.”

“You were gripping her wrist hard enough to bruise it,” Caelan replied. “Your concern is unconvincing.”

Lucien’s face reddened. “Stay out of this.”

Caelan’s gaze turned cold. “Make me.”

Several guests quietly moved farther away.

Selene hurried to Lucien’s side. The gesture lasted only a second before she realised how intimate it appeared and stepped back.

I noticed.

So did Father.

“Selene,” I said, “why don’t you comfort him? You seem distressed by the cancellation.”

“I’m worried about you,” she replied quickly. “You’ve known Mr. Voss for barely five minutes.”

That was true in this life.

In my first life, Caelan had appeared at the edges of every disaster. He had tried to warn Father against a partnership with the Vale Group. He had bought Mercer debts when the banks demanded repayment. He had attended my father’s funeral from a distance.

And on the night I died, he had been on the bridge.

I had never understood his reasons.

This time, I would remain close enough to discover them.

“I know what marrying Lucien will cost me,” I said. “That’s enough.”

Lucien stared at me. “What have I done to deserve this?”

The wounded expression might have deceived me once.

Now I remembered the sound of water filling my lungs.

“You’ll find out.”

I turned back to Caelan. “Do you accept?”

He looked at my hand but did not take it.

“I don’t enter agreements without terms.”

“Neither do I.”

Something almost like approval appeared in his eyes.

“Then we discuss the terms privately.”

Lucien laughed bitterly. “There will be nothing to discuss. The Mercer-Vale agreement has already been signed.”

My stomach tightened.

The formal merger documents were supposed to be executed after the ceremony. At least, that was what Lucien had told me in my first life.

Father frowned. “Only the preliminary agreement was signed.”

“The cancellation clause still applies,” Lucien said. “If Elara refuses the marriage without proven misconduct on my part, Mercer Holdings owes the Vale Group thirty million dollars.”

Whispers spread through the room.

I looked at Father. His pale expression confirmed Lucien was telling the truth.

In my first life, I had never read the agreement. I had trusted my father’s lawyers and the man I loved.

Now I understood why Lucien appeared so confident.

He believed he would receive either my hand or thirty million dollars.

“I’ll pay it,” Caelan said.

Every face turned toward him.

Father shook his head. “This is a Mercer obligation.”

“Not if I marry your daughter.”

Caelan finally took my hand. His fingers were warm and firm around mine.

Lucien stepped closer. “You think money allows you to steal my bride?”

“No,” Caelan said. “Her decision allows her to leave. Money merely prevents you from punishing her for it.”

For the first time, Lucien’s polished mask cracked completely.

“This is not finished.”

“It is for today,” Father said.

Security guards entered at a signal from Caelan. I had not seen him give it.

Lucien glanced at them, then looked at me.

“You will regret humiliating me.”

I met his stare. “I already regret ever trusting you.”

His eyes hardened before he walked toward the doors. Selene hesitated, torn between following him and preserving her innocent appearance.

“Elara,” she whispered, “please reconsider before you destroy everything.”

“You should worry about what you’ve been building with him.”

Her hand moved instinctively toward her stomach.

That small gesture confirmed what my memories had already told me.

Selene followed Lucien out.

The guests began speaking all at once. Father ordered the wedding coordinator to dismiss them, but no one moved quickly. They had arrived expecting a marriage and instead witnessed the beginning of a war.

Caelan leaned toward me.

“You made a dangerous proposal.”

“So accept it.”

His thumb rested against my pulse. “You haven’t heard my conditions.”

“You haven’t heard mine.”

His eyes searched my face as though trying to find someone hidden beneath it.

Then he raised our joined hands where the remaining guests could see them.

“I accept Elara Mercer’s proposal in principle,” he announced. “The final terms will be signed tonight.”

Cameras flashed.

By morning, the entire city would know that I had abandoned Lucien Vale at the altar and chosen his greatest rival.

Father dismissed the guests and led us into a private room. The moment the door closed, Caelan released my hand.

His warmth disappeared with it.

“You want protection from Lucien,” he said.

“And you want the Mercer alliance.”

“I want more than that.”

He removed a black card from his pocket and placed it on the table. An address was printed across it.

“My residence. Eight o’clock tonight.”

Father bristled. “My daughter will not visit you alone.”

“She may bring her lawyer.”

I picked up the card. “What happens at eight?”

Caelan’s eyes remained fixed on mine.

“You learn the three conditions required to become my wife.”