Trapped

The silence in the upscale French restaurant pressed down on me like a heavy blanket. Soft classical music played in the background, and every now and then a fork clinked against a plate at some distant table.

Across from me sat Lawyer Huan, straight-backed and perfectly composed. The man looked like he’d never missed a meal or worried about rent in his life.

The leather binder between us felt heavier than it should. Inside were pages and pages of rules that would bind me to a stranger for three years. My hand hovered over the fountain pen.

“Sign it, Ms. Willow,” Huan said calmly, his voice smooth but ice-cold. “The hospital isn’t going to wait forever. Your grandmother’s on borrowed time, and we both know it.”

My throat closed up. I could barely breathe. “I just… I need to understand what I’m getting into. You mentioned a hundred rules?”

Huan flipped to the back of the binder without hesitation. “Mr. Harrington values order. As Party A, he can end this arrangement anytime he wants. You, as Party B, cannot. If you walk away from the deal after signing it, if you fail any of your duties as his wife, or if you breathe a word about this contract to anyone, the penalty is one hundred million dollars.”

I let out a shaky laugh. “A hundred million? I eat ramen most nights and work three jobs just to keep the lights on. You might as well ask for my soul.”

Huan didn’t smile. “The compensation is generous. Three hundred thousand dollars every month into a restricted account. Plus, Mr. Harrington has already covered the next six months of your grandmother’s care at Saint Jude. Everything depends on your signature today.”

I closed my eyes, and the memories crashed over me. I was five again, standing in the pouring rain while my mother screamed that I was a curse before she walked away forever.

I was ten, crying in Grandma’s kitchen as she hugged me tight in her flour-covered apron and promised I’d never be alone.

Then the worst memory came. The screech of tires, the smell of burning rubber. A year ago I’d stepped off the curb without looking, lost in my textbook. Grandma had shoved me to safety with a strength I still couldn’t believe. Her body took the hit instead. The sound of her bones breaking still woke me up at night.

Because of me, she was lying in the ICU with tubes keeping her alive.

“Ms. Willow?” Huan’s voice pulled me back. “We don’t have much time.”

I grabbed the pen before I could talk myself out of it and scrawled my name across the line.

“Excellent,” Huan said, snapping the binder shut. “One last thing—Rule Number One. You are never to fall in love with Mr. Harrington. This is a business arrangement. Keep it professional, and these three years will pass smoothly.”

I wiped my eyes. “Love him? I’ve never even met the man. Don’t worry. I’m not stupid enough to fall for someone who buys a wife.”

---

I ran through the hospital doors twenty minutes later, my heart slamming against my ribs. The sharp smell of antiseptic hit me like always, twisting my stomach.

“Spring!” Dr. Arin spotted me and hurried over, his face pale and tired.

“We’ve got a problem. Her intracranial pressure is climbing fast. She needs emergency surgery to drain the fluid or the damage will be permanent. We have to get her into the OR within the hour.”

“Then do it!” I grabbed his sleeve, my nails digging in. “You have the new account information, right? The funds should be there.”

Dr. Arin looked uncomfortable. “The money hasn’t cleared the administrative hold yet. It’s two hundred and fifty thousand for the surgical team and equipment. The board won’t approve the operating theater without the deposit.”

I felt the floor tilt under me. “They’re going to let her die over a wire transfer? She saved my life! She’s the only family I have!”

“I’m sorry, Spring. My hands are tied.”

I stumbled backward, tears burning my eyes. My phone was already in my hand before I realized I’d pulled it out. I dialed the number Lawyer Huan had given me—Assistant Fanel.

“Hello?”

“Please,” I choked out, sliding down the wall until I was sitting on the cold hospital floor.

“This is Spring Willow. I just signed everything. I’m his wife now, aren’t I? My grandmother is dying right now. They need two hundred and fifty thousand for emergency surgery. I’m begging you. I’ll do anything. Tell him he can add more rules, whatever he wants. Just please save her,” a sob broke down.

There was a long pause. “I’ll have to speak with President Harrington. He’s in a meeting.”

I hung up and buried my face in my hands, shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Nurses walked by, giving me those pitying looks I’d grown used to over the past year.

My hands still had traces of ink from the contract. I stared at them, remembering how Grandma used to hold them when I had nightmares as a little girl.

Please, August Harrington. Whoever you are… if there’s any kindness left in you, help her.

---

Eighty-eighth floor of Harrington Tower, the city stretched out like a glittering toy set below the windows.

August Harrington stood with his back to the room, swirling a glass of whiskey. The ice clinked softly. He looked every bit the powerful man he was—tall, sharply dressed, and cold as marble.

A soft knock sounded. Assistant Fanel stepped inside.

“President, Madam called. Spring Willow.”

August didn’t turn around. “Already complaining about the rules?”

“No, sir. She’s at the hospital. Her grandmother’s condition has worsened—emergency heart complications on top of the brain pressure. She’s begging for an advance to cover the surgery. She sounded completely broken.”

A cold smile curved August’s lips. He set the glass down on his desk, right beside the silver photo frame. The woman in the picture smiled back at him with warm eyes and silk-soft hair. Winter.

His chest tightened with that familiar sharp pain. One year. One damn year since the car crash had ripped her away from him in a mess.

The investigators had found the cause easily enough. A distracted girl stepping into the side road. Spring Willow.

He’d spent a fortune tracking her down. Learned every detail of her pathetic little life. Built the perfect trap. And now she had walked right into it.

“Devastated, is she?” August’s voice was low and dangerous. “She has no idea what real devastation feels like.”

“Should I deny the request, sir?”

August turned slowly. His blue eyes were hard as ice.

“No. Transfer the full amount immediately. Tell the hospital to do whatever it takes to keep the old woman alive. I want Spring to understand that her grandmother’s heart only keeps beating because I allow it.”

He picked up Winter’s photo and traced the edge with his thumb, voice dropping to a whisper.

“She thinks this is a simple marriage of convenience. She thinks she’s saving the one person she loves. She doesn’t know she just signed her own prison sentence.”

Fanel nodded. “The car will be sent for her at four o’clock. Anything else?”

“Make sure the surgeons understand...keep her grandmother stable at any cost. I want Spring Willow standing in front of me with no excuses left.” August’s expression went terrifyingly blank.

“She survived the accident. She won’t survive me.”

As Fanel left the office, August stared out at the blood-red sunset painting the city skyline. Long shadows stretched across the streets below like fingers reaching out.

“You took Winter from me, Spring,” he murmured. “Now I’m going to take everything from you. Slowly.”

---