

Chapter Three: A Strangers Ring


“You’ll wear this.” Aiden held out a dress like it was part of a uniform.
“What if I don’t want to?”
He didn’t flinch. Didn’t blink. Just said, “Then I’ll assume you don’t want the money either.”
I took the fabric with numb fingers, swallowing my pride with the silence he demanded.
In that moment, I realized this marriage wouldn’t be built on vows.
It would be built on power.
And Aiden Thorne never handed that over willingly.