All Chapters of Consummating my billionaire CEO contracted marriage : Chapter 11 - Chapter 14

The ceremony was held on the penthouse floor of one of the city's most exclusive hotels—a cloud-touching skyscraper of a structure where only the crème de crème even entertained the idea of wedding and the rest of humanity looked on from the periphery. The sun at the horizon of late afternoon cast a burnished gold gloom upon the cityscape, and the glass spires were incandescent with glory, as if the city itself were afire with energy and affectation. From this distance, the world below had seemed so distant—like it couldn't get to her. Iris wasn't experiencing anything from the pressure on her chest, though.The snowy gauze drapes that had poured over the marble altar shimmered softly in the breeze, as if skeletal fingers raised them. It was all perfect—down to the mechanical sheen of the aisle that glittered under the declining sun. But perfection, she realized now, had never quite seemed so stifling.Below the surface, below the silks' velvets of posed smiles and rehearsed grins, th

They rode home in silence, the engine's rumble the only sound between them.Beyond the tinted glass, the city broke up into gold and steel streaks—lights flashing like recollections she couldn't hold on to. The rain had ceased, but the streets still glittered, reflections of a world that continued to turn, indifferent.Iris sat stiffly, her hands joined tightly over her knees. Her knuckles were white around the ivory lace of her dress, sunk deep in crescent moons in her palms. Her whole body was wound tight like a spring. She could not even glance in his direction. Marx's eyes were on the road, one hand on the steering wheel, the other resting carelessly on the gear shift. His profile was carved out of rock—compressed jaw, unblinking eyes, pressed lips into a hard, unyielding line.He hadn't said a word since the wedding. No congratulations. No soothing reassurances. Not even a glance.Only silence. Thick and absolute.The Black Estate rose up like a fortress carved out of obsidian, i