BENEATH THE VEIL

PIPER'S POV

"...and do you take Rowan Archer to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?" I kept my gaze on the floor, my netty veil obscuring my view. Here I stood, up on an altar, hands intertwined in the hands of a man who was about to ruin my life for good. 

"I do." The words came out choked and weak. The crowd awws, some hooting and clapping, wildly. I couldn't raise my head to look at anyone, not my family, not my friends, and not Rowan. 

"You may now kiss the bride." The veil is pulled over my head just as the priest finishes his sentence. Rowan’s rough fingers grip my chin, painful and uncaring. 

His eyes are hard and emotionless as he forces my head up and places a chaste kiss on my lips. Disgusting bastard. 

I should've run for my life when I had the chance, but what choice did I have when I was met with those odds? 

___

"You can decide what you want to do. Your family can pay the 150 million dollars for breaching the terms of the contract, or you could sign this marriage certificate." Rowan wasn’t asking, or giving me a choice. He knew the place my family was in. 

Talk of being stuck between a rock and a hard place. My chest tightens. As the first daughter I was obligated to ease my family’s troubles in whatever way I could, but they'd sold me. We couldn't afford to pay that money. 

Marrying Rowan meant contingent financial freedom. Our problems would be over. And there was no way in hell Rowan was marrying me because he wanted to. 

We could be married on paper but it didn't mean we needed to love each other and act like a married couple.

So I signed the paper and sealed my fate. 

He smiled crookedly, scanning the documents over, "Good, you made the right decision Mrs Archer."

---

The memories of that night made bile rise in my throat. Through the nausea, I force a smile on my face and try to refocus on the question at hand. We'd since come down from the altar and made our way to the reception venue.

Though I would've loved to go home...home, Rowan's house wasn't my home, but I would've loved to get some shut eye and spend the rest of my night far away from the devil himself.

My mom cast a worried glance my way, her head craned to the side as she caressed my arm. "How are you feeling?" Her lips had been stuck in a permanent frown all day and it wouldn't take much to guess why. 

After all, her husband had sold her daughter off to some demon behind her back. 

Father... I hadn't seen him all night. Maybe because I was intentionally ignoring him, he's tried talking to me on several occasions but I'd managed to slip away. 

Right now, he sat a few tables away, discussing business with the family he'd just sold me off to. I force my eyes away from the man of the hour and turn to my mother. 

"I'm as okay as I can be," I shrug, "I mean, this has to be someone's dream wedding, right?"

A dream wedding didn't cut it. I don't know what I expected from the Archer's but the setup was extraordinary, especially since they pulled it together in less than a week. How they'd managed, I had no idea, but with people that powerful and rich, I'm sure anything could be done at the snap of their fingers. 

My mother's frown deepens at my words. She rubs up my arms, her eyebrows pinched together. "I can't believe your father did this"

"It's crazy, isn't it?" I laugh dryly in an attempt to lift the room but she seems to notice the way my smile doesn't reach my eyes. 

"I'm sorry I couldn't do anything for you. It all happened so fast and I heard you ended up signing the papers... It was all just...." She sighs, her fingers raking through her hair as her eyes watered. 

I rub her shoulder and give her the most genuine smile I could muster. 

"I'm okay. It's all gonna be okay."

I watched the twins run over from my mother's shoulders. They both hugged me from both sides, practically sobbing though they had their faces stuffed, full of cake. 

I hadn't been able to see them all day due to the wedding ceremony and constantly being stuck by Rowan's side, but now that I had some space to breathe, I could finally be with my sisters.

The rest of the reception goes by without a hitch and soon I'm sitting side by side with my now husband.

The word ‘husband’ alone sends shivers down my spine, and the reality of it all made me sick to my stomach. 

Rowan stretched his legs, the sound of his joints popping into place, disturbing the small calm I'd felt settle over me since I got into his black limousine.

We arrived at his house, my supposed new home after about an hour's drive from the reception venue.

His eyes had been boring into my side all night, making me even more uncomfortable. 

He clears his throat, "Piper," He says slowly, that would make it the first time he called me by my actual name and not his surname. "Remember, you're expected to work at the company."

To bring that up now of all times. I turned to face him, with the calmest expression I could muster. "Yes, I'm aware."

"Good. Cause work commences tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?!" This fucking son of a hitch, I said under my breath. My self-restraint was truly surprising because in other situations my hands would have been wrapped around his neck, ready to choke him till his eyes rolled to the back of his head. 

So, no honeymoon, I murmured. Not that I was looking forward to it, but still we just got married. 

"It was all in the contract, I'd like to assume you read through it properly" He sighs, his head ducking into his open palm leisurely as if he wasn't going to give me a heart attack.

I don't even know the first thing about being a secretary. I grumbled and turned away from him. 

Your clothes have already been arranged, all you need to do is to wake up early and make sure you do as I say."

When I didn’t give him a reply to his nonsensical statement, his hands grabbed my thigh over my dress and my head snapped in his direction on instinct. 

My breath got caught in my throat, and our faces were barely inches away from each other. His hot minty breath fans against my breath in short succession and those piercing green eyes stare into mine, menacing and serious. 

"Do I make myself clear?" He breathes out the words, punctuating each with a squeeze of my thigh. 

I nod curtly with my lips pulled into a thin line. 

"Good."