"Nova, please. I'm begging you.""No.""You don't understand, I have no one else—""Lyra." I pressed the phone harder against my ear. "It's midnight. Start from the beginning."She pulled in a shaky breath. Then everything came out at once — the Chen family debt, the arrangement she'd signed months ago, the marriage contract with a billionaire named Damien Cross that would clear every loan, every unpaid bill, every last thing our dead mother had left behind. She'd agreed. She'd smiled at the lawyers. She'd let them size her for a ring.Then three weeks ago she met Pax Rancour at a gallery event and decided that was love."So tell them you're backing out," I said."I can't." Her voice dropped to almost nothing. "Nova, I already signed. If the marriage doesn't happen the debt transfers back. All of it. Mum's hospital bills. The business loans. Everything."I got out of bed. Walked to my window. The city outside was dark and indifferent."There are people attached to that debt," Lyra wh
Last Updated : 2026-05-19 Read more