CHAPTER 3: And Everything Changed

Genevieve’s POV:

I was seventeen the day my life stopped being mine.

The scent of burnt coffee and old furniture filled our living room as I sat on the edge of the couch, my hands folded neatly in my lap. My mother paced. My father sat in his favorite chair, fingers steepled under his chin. His face was unreadable—a mixture of tension and resignation. The tension in the room felt like an invisible string being pulled tighter and tighter with every breath.

They spoke in hushed tones until the knock came.

And everything changed.

The door opened and in walked Mr. Black—tall, stiff, perfectly tailored. His presence made the room feel smaller. Sharper. It was like he brought with him a draft that extinguished every warm feeling in the space.

I stood automatically, like I’d been taught. “Good afternoon, sir.”

He didn’t smile. He barely acknowledged me, his dark eyes moving past me like I wasn’t there at all.

“Let’s get started,” he said, sitting across from my father.

What followed didn’t feel real. Numbers were exchanged. Land agreements. Business debts. Terms like “assets” and “future contracts” were tossed back and forth like I wasn’t sitting right there, like I was some piece of furniture quietly taking up space.

Until he said it.

“Your daughter will marry my son. That’s the arrangement.”

My breath hitched.

I looked at my father, waiting for him to correct it. To laugh and say it was a misunderstanding.

But he only nodded.

“Of course. It’s a generous offer.”

My mother reached for my hand under the table. Her grip was ice.

“This is what’s best for you, Genevieve,” she whispered.

Mr. Black’s voice cut through again.

“You’ll be married within a year. She’ll be trained to handle her role. Discretion is important.”

Trained.

Role.

I wasn’t a bride. I was a transaction.

“He doesn’t even know me,” I murmured.

“He doesn’t need to,” Mr. Black said. “He’ll do what’s required.”

After he left, my father finally looked at me.

“I know it sounds cruel,” he said softly, “but this deal… it saves everything.”

My mother added, “And maybe he’ll be good to you. Arrangements turn into something more.”

I wanted to believe that. I needed to. I forced myself to nod even though I felt hollow inside. I told myself that this was the only way out—the only way forward.

---

That night, I sat in bed with the photo they gave me.

Jaxon Black. Gorgeous. Distant. Sharp eyes and a jaw like stone.

He looked breathtaking.

But I kept imagining the other side of him.

What if he was different in private?

What if he smiled? What if he laughed? What if he took the time to know me?

I didn’t expect a fairy tale. But I let myself hope for a beginning.

“I’ll be everything he needs me to be. And maybe one day, he’ll choose to see me.”

Even if he never loved me, I would give him every reason to. Because in that moment, I still believed love was enough.