Truly fucked

Leah’s POV

Christmas had always been my favorite time of the year.

There was just something about December that made the world feel a little more beautiful. The sparkling lights, the decorated streets, the endless Christmas songs playing in shopping malls, and the excitement that seemed to settle over everyone. I loved all of it.

In a little over a month, Christmas would be here, and by January, my first major art exhibition would finally be happening.

I still couldn’t believe it.

Months of hard work, sleepless nights, and countless moments of doubting myself were finally about to pay off. I had spent years painting in my little studio. Now, I was finally getting the chance to show my work to the world.

I smiled at my laptop screen, scrolling through the list of paintings I still needed to finalize.

Then there was a knock on my room door.

“Come in!”

The door opened before I could even turn around, and Tracy walked in.

My smile widened immediately.

“Hi Aunt!”

I pushed my chair back and hurried toward her, wrapping my arms around her in a hug.

Tracy had been more than an aunt to me. Ever since my parents died in a car accident, she had loved me like her own daughter.

I loved her more than words could explain.

“Look at you,” she said, smiling as she pulled away to examine my face. “You seem happy.”

“Of course, I am. Christmas is coming, and my exhibition is almost here. What more could a girl ask for?”

She chuckled softly, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

I noticed. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, sweetheart.” She brushed a strand of hair away from my face. “Your uncle wants to see you downstairs.”

I blinked. “Uncle? Is he back?”

She nodded.

“Oh, good!” I glanced at my laptop. “Let me just save my work.”

“No, don’t worry about that. You can come now.”

Something about her voice made me pause.

I studied her face for another moment before reaching for the jacket hanging over my chair.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Whatever it was, I wasn’t prepared for what I found in the living room.

Everyone was there.

My grandmother sat on the sofa. My cousins occupied the seats beside her, unusually quiet. Two of my uncle’s business associates stood near the windows, their expressions unreadable.

And my uncle?

He sat in the middle of the room, looking like a man who hadn’t slept properly in days.

My smile faded.

“What’s going on?”

Nobody answered immediately.

I glanced at Tracy, but she simply guided me toward the empty chair opposite my uncle.

“Sit down, Leah.”

I did, slowly.

My uncle cleared his throat.

“Leah, we need to discuss something important.”

He looked toward one of the men standing beside the window. The man stepped forward and placed a document and a pen on the table in front of me.

I frowned. “What is this?”

“Pick it up,” my uncle instructed.

I glanced at him, then at the document. I reached for the paper and began reading.

MARRIAGE CONTRACT.

My eyebrows drew together. I read the words again, certain I had misunderstood them.

“A marriage contract?.. Who is getting married?”

My uncle’s expression didn’t change. “Read it properly, Leah.”

I read it again.

The Bennett family and the Vale family.

My fingers tightened around the paper. The Vales?

I knew that name. Everyone did.

The Vale family was one of the wealthiest families in the country, with a fortune that stretched back generations. Their businesses spanned several industries, and their name carried enough influence to make powerful people think twice before crossing them.

But what did any of that have to do with me? I raised my head slowly.

“Uncle, what is this about?”

He looked me straight in the eyes.

“Leah, the time has come for you to repay your family.”

For a moment, I genuinely thought I hadn’t heard him correctly.

“Uncle, I don’t understand.”

He leaned forward, rubbing a hand over his tired face.

“You know what we’ve been going through for the past two years. You’ve seen the situation with the company. We’ve lost contracts, our debts have continued to grow, and the businesses we’ve spent decades building are falling apart.”

I swallowed.

I knew things were bad. But I hadn’t realized it had become this serious.

“We’ve tried everything,” he continued. “I’ve approached investors. I’ve sold assets. I’ve exhausted every option available to me. Nothing has worked.”

“Then why are we discussing a marriage contract?”

His jaw tightened. “Because this is the only option left.”

I stared at him. “What options did you take?”

He gestured toward the paper in my hand.

“A marriage agreement between our family and the Vales.”

“And?”

He took a deep breath.

“You’re going to marry their son.”

The words seemed to hang in the air.

Then the paper slipped from my fingers and landed on the table.

“What?”

“Leah—”

“No.” I shook my head, pushing myself out of the chair. “No, Uncle. Absolutely not.”

He stood too. “Please, calm down.”

“Calm down?” My voice rose. “You just told me I’m going to marry a man I’ve never met!”

“I know this is difficult—”

“Difficult?” I let out a disbelieving laugh. “You think this is just difficult?”

My heart was pounding so hard that I could hear it in my ears.

I looked at Tracy, silently begging her to say something. Instead, she stepped closer.

“Leah, sweetheart, please listen to us.”

I stared at her. “You’re agreeing to this?”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“Do you think any of us wants this for you?”

“Then stop it!”

The words burst out of me before I could hold them back.

“Tell him to stop it, Tracy! Tell him I’m not marrying a stranger!”

She looked down. That was when I understood.

They had already made their decision.

My uncle moved toward me, his expression hardening with desperation.

“Leah, I have already accepted the agreement. The contract has been negotiated, and the marriage certificate is already drawn.”

I felt the blood drain from my face. I looked at the document lying on the table, at the pen beside it, and then at the faces surrounding me.

My grandmother looked devastated. My cousins were silent. Tracy was crying.

Nobody was going to save me from this.

“Leah,” my uncle said, his voice breaking slightly. “If you don’t do this, we are finished. The company will collapse. We will lose everything.”

“Then let it collapse!”

The room fell silent. I hadn’t meant to say it so loudly, but I didn’t care.

“Why should I have to give up my entire life because the business is failing? Why can’t you find another solution?”

“Because there isn’t one!”

His shout made me flinch, he immediately lowered his voice.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout at you. But you need to understand the position we’re in. This family has spent everything trying to keep the company alive.”

He looked at me with exhausted eyes.

“When your parents died, we took you in. We raised you alongside our children. We paid for your education, supported your dreams, and gave you everything we could. You’ve never had to wonder whether you belonged here.”

My throat tightened. “Uncle, please don’t do this.”

“I’m not saying we did those things so you would owe us something. You’re my niece, and I love you. But right now, you’re the only person who can help us.”

I looked at Tracy. She came forward and took my hands.

“Leah, perhaps you’re the only chance we have left. If this family crumbles, all of us will suffer. Your grandmother, your cousins, everyone.”

Her voice trembled. “We don’t know what else to do.”

Tears blurred my vision.

I hated the desperation in their voices. I hated the fear in my grandmother’s eyes. Most of all, I hated that they had placed the weight of their entire family’s future on my shoulders and were asking me to carry it as though it were my responsibility.

But they had been there for me.

When my parents died, they had given me a home. They had never made me feel like an unwanted burden.

I loved them, and that was what made this so cruel.

I lowered my gaze to the contract. My name was already printed on the document.

Leah Bennett.

Beside it was a space waiting for my signature.

A single signature, and my life would no longer belong entirely to me.

I thought about my paintings upstairs. My upcoming exhibition. The little apartment I had dreamed of having someday, filled with art supplies, warm lights, and the freedom to live exactly as I pleased.

I thought about Christmas.

Just minutes ago, I had been sitting at my desk, excited about decorating, planning my outfits, and finishing my paintings before January.

Now, I was being asked to marry a man whose face I had never even seen.

A man named Damien Vale. My uncle’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

“Leah.”

I lifted my head.

“If you don’t do this, we’re gone. All of us. Everything we’ve worked for will crumble.”

My hands began to shake, and slowly, I reached for the pen.

“Leah,” Tracy whispered, squeezing my fingers.

I couldn’t look at her. I lowered the pen to the paper and signed my name.

The moment I finished, I dropped the pen.

“There,” I whispered.

Nobody moved, and I couldn’t bear to look at them anymore, so I turned and ran.

“Leah!”

I heard Tracy calling after me, followed by my uncle’s voice, but I didn’t stop. I hurried up the stairs, rushed into my bedroom, and slammed the door behind me.

Immediately I rushed to my desk and opened my laptop.

Damien Vale.

I typed his name into the search bar.

Articles about his wealth and business empire flooded the screen. The Vale family had generations of wealth, power, and influence.

But when I searched for his photographs, my stomach twisted.

There were no clear pictures of his face.

Only images of a tall man dressed in black, his face hidden behind a mask.

The headlines were even worse.

The Billionaire Who Never Shows His Face.

The Ruthless Heir to the Vale Empire.

The Man in the Mask.

Rumors claimed he had been horribly scarred on the face some years ago. Others said he was a cold, dangerous man nobody dared to cross.

I stared at his masked photograph, my hands turning cold.

This was the man I was supposed to marry. A man whose face I had never seen.

A man I knew absolutely nothing about.

I leaned back in my chair, covered my face, and let out a shaky breath.

“Oh, my God.”

I looked at his photograph again.

“I am truly fucked.”