Aria Voss had always believed rock bottom came slowly, like cracks in the pavement beneath your feet. But as she stood in the towering glass boardroom of Blackwood Enterprises, staring at the man who'd once destroyed her family, she realized something sometimes, rock bottom wears a three-piece suit and smiles like he's already won.
"Say yes," Damien Blackwood said, his voice as cold as the January rain outside. " Or walk away and watch your father lose everything."
Aria's fingers curled tightly around the strap of her handbag. Her heels were planted, but she felt like she was swaying. The sharp sting of humiliation from five years ago still burned beneath her skin only now, it was buried under a heavier weight: "responsibility."
Her father was sick, and the company her grandfather built was drowning in debt. Employees were begging for answers. And somehow, this arrogant devil in a tailored navy suit had become her only option.
"Marry you?" She echoed, almost laughing. "That's your idea of a solution?"
Damien didn't flinch. "It's a strategic alliance. Nothing more."
She scoffed. "You think I'm desperate enough to play house with the man who ruined my brother's life?"
"I don't think," he replied smoothly. "I know you are."
The worst part? He wasn't wrong.
Aria's heart hammered as she walked towards the window, staring down at the city lights far below. From up here, everything looked smaller. Manageable. But the pressure pressing against her ribs reminded her this wasn't just about pride anymore. It was about survival.
"One year," Damien said, voice steady behind her. "You wear the ring, smile for the cameras, and keep your family out of bankruptcy. After that, you're free to walk away. With more than enough compensation."
"And in return?" She asked, turning slowly to face him. "What do you get out of this?"
He shrugged, a lady's arrogance in his posture. "A wife with a respectable name. A cleaned-up reputation. The press loves you, Aria. You're the city's fallen princess… tragic, scandalized, and still somehow golden. You'll look good standing next to me."
Aria flinched inwardly. That was all she was to him— an image, a shield, a pawn.
She wanted to scream. To throw something. To tell him to go to hell and take his cold, calculated offer with him. But then she pictured her father, pale in a hospital bed. Her mother was quietly crying in the kitchen. The employees who looked at her like she still had answers.
Damien stepped closer. His cologne was expensive, like everything about him— sharp, clean, suffocating.
He leaned in just enough for his words to land like a brand on her skin. "Your silence bought your brother's downfall. This time, your voice could save your father's legacy."
Aria's throat tightened. God, he was right again. And she hated him for it.
"Fine," she whispered, eyes burning. "You want a show? I'll give you one."
Damien's lips curved into a slow, satisfied smile. "Good. Then be ready. Our engagement goes public tomorrow."
He turned and walked away, leaving only the sound of her heartbeat echoing in the cold, empty room.
And just like that, Aria Voss realized something worse than losing to Damien Blackwood… Becoming his wife.
Aria stood frozen long after Damien walked out. The door clicked shut behind him with a soft finality, but the silence that followed was deafening. She could still feel the weight of his gaze lingering on her skin, like smoke from a fire she hadn't realized she'd been standing too close to.
Her legs finally moved, shaky but determined, carrying her towards the table. She reached for the small folder he'd left behind, flipping it open.
A contract. Of course.
Nearly typed, every line screamed control. Her name. His. The terms of their "marriage." The conditions, the timeline, and the financial arrangement. It was all there. Cold, efficient bloodless.
Except it wasn't bloodless… not for her.
Her hand hovered over the final page, where a blank space waited for her signature.
She swallowed hard.
Mrs. Aria Blackwood.
The name looked wrong in her mind. Like a lie. Like something forced onto her tongue, ready to choke her the moment she tried to speak it out loud.
Five years ago, Damien Blackwood had humiliated her brother, turning a stupid mistake into a public scandal. He'd smiled for the cameras as her family's reputation crumbled. And now he wanted to claim her like a prize. Like the final piece in a game he'd already won.
But this time, Aria wasn't walking into his world with wide eyes and blind trust.
She'd play her part. She'd wear the ring. She'd smile for the cameras. And she's biding her time.
Because the moment this deal was over, she'd walk away with everything she came for and she'd leave Damien with nothing but regret.
The Morning After Signing Her Life Away
Aria didn't sleep.
Not really. Maybe she drifted off once or twice, but every time she closed her eyes, the contract reappeared. Her name is at the bottom, black ink on thick paper. Like a grave marker.
Her body ached. From tension. From guilt. From the quiet, suffocating weight of the decision she'd made. She sat up slowly as the first light of morning slipped through the half-closed blinds. Her phone buzzed violently against the nightstand. She grabbed it with a shaky hand, expecting nothing and everything.
36 messages. 12 missed calls.
Her stomach twisted.
The first message was from her mother.
Mom: Aria. You can't be serious. You're doing this?
Aria's thumbs hovered over the keyboard. For a moment, she considered writing something alone, an explanation, an apology, a desperate attempt to justify the deal she'd made with the devil.
But what was the point?
She typed two words instead.
"It's done."
There was a pause. Long enough for Aria to feel the weight of it like a slap. Then the three dots appeared…. disappeared…. appeared again.
Mom: I don't like this. But I understand why. Your father… he's resting better knowing we won't lose everything.
Aria blinked quickly, her eyes burning. Her mother's support had always come gently, like soft rain after a storm. But this? This felt like surrender. Like her mother was holding her breath, praying it would all somehow not collapse in her face.
Then the second message came in. And it hit harder.
Theo: You chose him. After everything. After what he did to me. I don't recognize you anymore.
Aria froze.
Theo had always been her person. Her protector. Her partner in every argument, every secret plan. The one who used to knock on her door at night with hot chocolate and whisper jokes when their parents fought downstairs.
Now he couldn't even look at her. And she couldn't blame him. Because in his eyes, she'd betrayed him.
Her fingers trembled over the screen. She started to reply. Stopped. Started again. And deleted it all.
What could she possibly say that wouldn't sound like an excuse? She was going to marry the man who ruined her brother. She'd signed herself over to Damien Blackwood to save their family and Theo saw it as a betrayal.
Maybe he was right.
A buzz interrupted her thoughts. Another notification. This time from a news app.
BREAKING: Billionaire Damien Blackwood is officially off the market. Engagement to Aria Voss confirmed.
Her stomach flipped.
She tapped the link. A glossy photo filled the screen. Aria stared at it. It was from the charity gala two nights ago before the contract, before the deal, before any of this felt real. She remembered the moment. She'd walked past him, refusing to make eye contact. He hadn't spoken a word to her.
But in the photo? He was looking at her. Smiling. Like she was the only woman in the room. His head tilted slightly towards her, his eyes soft with something that looked disgustingly close to affection.
And her?
She was laughing. Not at him, but at something Nova had said off camera. But in the frame, it looked like she was laughing with Damien.
Together. In love. Perfect.
God the media was going to eat it up.
The caption beneath the photo made her stomach churn.
The Voss princess and the Blackwood devil. Enemies turned lovers? Sources confirm an exclusive wedding is set for next week. The power couple no one saw coming is finally making headlines for all the right reasons.
Aria threw the phone down on the bed like it had burned her.
The walls of her room suddenly felt too small. The air is too thin.
She got up from the bed, dragging her feet toward the window. Outside, the city lights blinked back at her, mocking in their brightness. People were out there living, drinking, laughing, breathing, and here she was, about to spend forever playing house with the one man she wished she'd never met.
A soft knock echoed through her apartment door.
She stiffened.
Nobody was supposed to be here.
Another knock.
She stepped cautiously toward the door and peeked through the peephole. A delivery guy stood there, holding a white box with a gold ribbon.
She opened the door slowly.
"Delivery For Miss Aria Voss," the man said, reading from a printed note.
She took the box with a tight nod and shut the door quickly.
Inside, she set it on the kitchen island and carefully opened it. Inside was a pair of red-bottom heels and a stunning red dress with a side slit. Her size. Impossibly elegant and expensive.
There was a card.
"Don't be late. 7 p.m. Sharp. D."
She stared at the letter. It wasn't signed like a lover, but like a boss. Like a threat.
Her phone buzzed again.
This time, a voice note from Theo.
Aria froze.
She hadn't heard from her brother since the announcement.
With shaking hands, she pressed play.
"So that's it? You're going to marry the guy who ruined my career? You chose him over your brother. I don't care what excuse Dad gave. I expected it from him, but you? You were supposed to be the one who never folded."
The message ended abruptly.
No goodbye, no "I love you." Just a wall of anger and betrayal.
Her chest tightened.
She sank onto the couch, gripping the card from Damien in one hand and the phone in the other. The weight of it all was suffocating. Her father's desperation, Theo's heartbreak, Damien's control, and her silence through it all.
She looked up at the ceiling, whispering to no one in particular, "How did it come to this?"
The city kept buzzing beyond the windows. The heels glimmered beneath the dim light. The card rested like a commandment in her lap.
And in the silence of her apartment, Aria made a decision.
If she was going to do this. Play the role he needed her to then she'd be the perfect bride. But not for them. For herself.
Because if she had to burn, she'd at least do it with dignity.