The champagne flute trembled slightly in Aria Wynters' hand. Not from nerves but from the weight of everything she had buried deep within herself.
She stood alone in front of the floor-length mirror, draped in a couture white gown that shimmered under the crystal chandeliers of Voss Manor. A veil framed her sculpted features, but nothing could hide the fire in her storm-gray eyes.
This wasn't a fairytale.
This was war.
And tonight, she had just married the man she intended to destroy.
Behind her, the door creaked open. Her reflection stiffened.
Damien Voss had entered the room.
He was a towering presence in his black tailored tuxedo, with a jaw that looked like it had been carved from ice and eyes even colder. His gaze swept over her like a possession being assessed calculated, unreadable.
"You didn't run," he said flatly, shutting the door behind him. "I expected you might."
Aria turned, lips curling into a cool smile. "And disappoint you on our wedding night? Never."
Damien's lips quirked, but it wasn't amusement. It was control. "Then let's get one thing clear this is a contract. Not a marriage. You'll play the part, smile when I need you to, and stay out of my business."
"And in return," Aria stepped closer, brushing past him with deliberate grace, "my family's debts are cleared, and I live in luxury for a year. A win-win."
He didn't smile. "Keep your end of the deal, and you'll get exactly what you were promised."
Aria tilted her head. "But no emotional entanglements, right?"
"Emotions complicate things," Damien said, his voice cold.
She nodded, feigning innocence. "Then let's keep things…simple."
Simple.
Right.
If only he knew.
Because Aria Wynters wasn't just here for the contract.
She was here to bury him with the same cruelty he used to ruin her sister.
FLASHBACK – One Month Ago
"It's the perfect plan," Valerie whispered over the phone, her voice sharp. "He doesn't recognize you, does he?"
"No," Aria replied, her voice cold. "He never met me. Only my sister."
"Good. You get in, marry him, and once the media knows he forced a marriage for business leverage his board will implode. His investors will pull out."
Aria stared at the photo of her sister the girl with soft eyes, forever silenced by heartbreak.
She would make Damien Voss pay.
And the best way to ruin a king…
Was from beside his throne.
PRESENT – Wedding Night
Damien loosened his tie and walked toward the balcony, giving her space.
Aria watched him silently, memorizing every detail. His back muscles flexed beneath the fabric. His posture was calm, but every movement screamed control.
He was dangerous.
But she was more so.
"I assume you'll be sleeping here?" he asked without looking back.
"No. I requested the guest suite. I prefer my own space."
He didn't argue.
Good.
He didn't care.
Even better.
Because the less he cared, the easier it would be to blindside him.
Later that night, as Aria lay alone in the lavish guest bedroom, she touched her flat stomach absentmindedly.
The nausea had started that morning.
She hadn't told anyone.
Not Valerie. Not Damien.
Not even herself—until the second test came back positive.
The irony was cruel.
She was pregnant.
With the child of the man she was here to destroy.