one

The rain hammered against the windows of my father's study like it was trying to break through, which was exactly how I felt about this conversation. I stood there, my arms crossed, staring at the man who was supposed to protect me, not sell me off like some kind of business asset.

"Emma, you're being dramatic," my father said without even looking up from the contract he was reviewing. His reading glasses perched on his nose, gray hair perfectly combed back like always. Everything about Richard Chen was perfect, controlled, calculated.

"Dramatic? You're asking me to marry a complete stranger!" My voice came out higher than I wanted, but I didn't care anymore. This whole thing was insane.

He finally looked up, his expression tired. "Alexander Knight is hardly a stranger. His father and I have been business partners for twenty years."

"I've met him twice. Twice! Once at some charity gala where he barely said three words to me, and once at that dinner where he spent the entire time on his phone." I couldn't believe we were even having this conversation. This was 2026, not the 1800s.

My father set down his pen with deliberate slowness, and I knew that look. It was his 'I'm about to explain reality to you' look. "The company is in trouble, Emma. Real trouble. If we don't merge with Knight Industries, we'll lose everything. Your mother's medical bills alone”"

"Don't." I held up my hand, feeling tears prick at my eyes. "Don't you dare use Mom's cancer as an excuse for this."

"It's not an excuse, it's reality," he said quietly, and for the first time in this whole conversation, he actually looked sad. "The treatment in Switzerland, it's our best shot. But insurance won't cover experimental procedures. We need this, and Alexander's father won't agree unless there's a family tie."

I turned away from him, looking out. Our penthouse view used to make me feel like I was on top of the world. Now it just felt like a cage. "What about what I want? I'm twenty-five years old, Dad. I had plans. The gallery was finally starting to take off, I was going to..”"

"You can still do all of that. Alexander doesn't expect a real marriage. It's just a formality, a contract. Two years, that's all we're asking."

Just a formality. Just two years of my life tied to a man who probably couldn't pick me out of a lineup. Alexander Knight, the infamous tech billionaire who made his first million at nineteen and his first billion at twenty-three. I'd seen the tabloids—different woman every week, cold as ice in business, never smiled in photos. The man was basically a robot in a expensive suit.

"And what does Alexander think about all this?" I asked, still not turning around.

There was a pause. Too long of a pause.

"Dad?"

"He's... agreeable to the arrangement."

I spun around. "That's not an answer. Does he even want to get married?"

My father shifted in his chair, which was as close to uncomfortable as Richard Chen ever got. "His father is threatening to remove him as CEO unless he settles down. Apparently there was some... incident with a shareholders meeting and his personal life becoming too much of a distraction."

I almost laughed. Of course. This wasn't about me at all. This was about two powerful men playing chess with their children's lives. "So we're both just pawns in our fathers' business deal."

"That's a cynical way to look at it."

"Is there any other way?"

He stood up slowly, walking over to the window beside me. We looked out at the rain together, and I tried to remember the last time we'd just stood like this, father and daughter, without talking about business or obligations or responsibilities.

"Your mother and I didn't marry for love," he said finally. "It was arranged by our families. But we built something real together over time. Love isn't always where you expect to find it, Emma."

"Did you love her? Eventually?" I asked softly.

"Yes," he said, and his voice cracked just a little. "More than I ever thought possible. And I'm fighting like hell to keep her alive."

That did it. The tears I'd been holding back finally spilled over. Because as much as I wanted to hate him for this, I understood. Mom was everything. If there was even a chance the Swiss treatment could save her, could give us more time...

"Two years," I whispered. "And then what?"

"Then you get a quiet divorce, a very generous settlement, and your freedom. The companies will be merged by then, the contract binding regardless of your marital status."

"And Alexander agrees to all this?"

"We're meeting with him and his father tomorrow to finalize details."

Tomorrow. Everything was moving so fast. Just last week I was worried about the new exhibition at my art gallery, debating whether to take that trip to Paris I'd been planning. Now I was discussing the terms of a marriage contract like it was a business transaction.

Because that's exactly what it was.

"I need to talk to him first," I said firmly. "Before I agree to anything, I need to actually have a conversation with the man. Alone."

My father nodded. "I'll arrange it."

"And I want it in writing that the gallery is mine. Completely mine. No matter what happens with the marriage or the merger, my business stays separate."

"Done."

I took a shaky breath. Was I really considering this? Marrying a stranger to save my mother's life and my father's company? It sounded like something out of one of those romance novels my best friend Jess was always trying to get me to read.

Except this wasn't a romance. This was a business deal with a two-year expiration date.

"Okay," I heard myself say. "I'll meet with him. But I'm not promising anything."

My father nodded, but we both knew the truth. I'd already decided. For Mom, I would do this. Even if it meant giving up the life I'd planned, the freedom I'd fought so hard for, the chance to find real love on my own terms.

Two years. I could survive anything for two years.

Right?