Chapter 10: Clause of Sacrifice
The verdict hadn't even come out yet.
But the headlines had already taken sides.
> *"Aria Valen Breaks the Silence in Court. Grace Under Fire."*
> *"Leon Valen's Contract Bride Turns the Tables on Billionaire Drama."*
> *"Ex-Fiancée's Case Weakens as Aria Gains Public Sympathy."*
The photos went viral.
Aria on the stand.
Leon watching her like she was his anchor.
Their fingers brushing outside the courthouse.
No public statement.
No press interviews.
Just raw, unscripted moments.
The kind that **contractual love** never allows.
Inside Valen Enterprises, everything buzzed.
The board was furious.
Not at the lawsuit.
Not even at Leon's silence.
But at **her**.
"She's humanizing you," one director snapped during the emergency shareholders' meeting. "This company isn't built on empathy; it's built on image, discipline, mystery."
Leon didn't flinch.
"She *is* the image now."
"Then we're doomed."
A pause.
"I've been running this empire with one hand," Leon said coldly. "Because the other's been busy holding everything I was too afraid to lose. Now I'm done choosing fear."
The room went quiet.
For the first time, they realized something terrifying:
**Leon Valen was no longer hiding behind paper.**
He was fighting with his heart.
And hearts?
They don't negotiate.
Aria, meanwhile, didn't return to the mansion right away.
She needed air.
Stillness.
A minute to remember who she was before she became *news.*
But peace wasn't built for women like her—not anymore.
Outside the coffee shop she sat in, cameras flashed.
A journalist pressed forward.
"Mrs. Valen, will you testify again if Lysandra appeals?"
Aria looked him dead in the eye.
"If she wants a second trial, she'll have to fight someone who's not afraid to speak this time."
The crowd went silent.
No one expected venom from silk.
That evening, Leon arrived unannounced at her apartment.
He looked… tired.
Not broken.
But bent.
Aria opened the door and said nothing.
She just stepped aside.
He walked in quietly, like a man who had finally accepted that the battle wasn't outside anymore—it was within.
"There's something I want to show you," he said.
He pulled a black envelope from his coat and placed it on the table.
She opened it slowly.
Another **contract**.
Her heart sank for a moment—but then, she read the title.
> **Dissolution of Inheritance Rights. Voluntary Revocation**
> *Effective Immediately*
She looked up.
"You're… cutting yourself off?"
Leon nodded. "The board wants you gone. They see you as a liability. They gave me an offer: publicly separate from you, or they'll force a vote to remove me."
Her hands trembled. "Leon…"
"I made my choice."
He stepped closer.
"I spent my whole life building this empire on fear. And when you walked into court for me—when you didn't run—I realized something."
"What?"
"That love isn't something you protect by building walls. You protect it by being willing to lose *everything else.*"
Aria sat down slowly, her hands still gripping the contract.
"You're giving up everything?"
"No," he said. "I'm **choosing** you."
"But—Leon, this company—this empire—it's your life."
He kneeled before her, not as a CEO, not as the man who once handed her a wedding contract—but as someone who had finally understood what a **real vow** looks like.
"It was my shield. You are my life."
Her eyes welled up.
She wasn't sure if it was sadness or awe.
Maybe both.
They didn't kiss.
Not yet.
They didn't fall into each other's arms.
Not yet.
Instead, Aria picked up a pen.
Flipped over the back of the contract.
And wrote in her own clause.
> *Clause 1: If you're willing to lose your empire…
> I'll help you rebuild one we both own.*
Leon stared.
Then smiled.
Not the cold, practiced smirk the world knew him for.
But something quieter.
Like a man finally seeing color after years in grayscale.
The next morning, everything fell apart.
Not between them.
But outside.
The **boardroom coup** launched within hours of Leon submitting the revocation.
News broke across every financial channel.
> *"Leon Valen to Step Down? Billionaire Faces Internal Uprising After Wife's Court Appearance."*
> *"Valen Empire Shaken: Marriage or Power—Can He Keep Both?"*
At the same time, Aria's column from Luminate posted its **second edition**:
> *"When Empires Collapse, Women Are Often Blamed. I Refuse to Be Another Scapegoat."*
It shattered all previous engagement records.
That night, the mansion was quiet again.
Aria returned, not as a runaway.
Not as a contract bride.
But as **herself.**
She stood by the fireplace, watching the flames lick the air.
Leon entered minutes later.
"You saw it?" he asked.
She nodded. "They want your blood."
"I'll give them mine. Not yours."
She walked over and placed a new contract in his hand.
He opened it, surprised.
Inside, in her handwriting:
> **Marriage Clause 2.0**
> *No pretense.
> No distance.
> No control.*
> *Only this:
> You don't get to lose yourself again.
> Not even for me.*
He folded the page carefully and kissed the top edge.
"I'll sign that every day."
Then the knock came.
Late.
Urgent.
Leon opened the door.
It wasn't the press.
It wasn't security.
It was **Lysandra**.
Drenched in rain.
Eyes bloodshot.
Trembling in rage—or regret. Or both.
"You think this is over?" she whispered. "You humiliated me."
Leon didn't move.
"You brought it to court," he said.
"And now I'm bringing it to the public," she hissed. "Do you think I'll go quietly? You may have your wife. But I'll burn what's left of your reputation."
Aria stepped forward, calm.
"Then burn it," she said. "But don't expect me to let you light the match with lies."
Lysandra's mask cracked.
For the first time, she looked at Aria with **fear**.
"You won't survive this," she whispered.
But Aria only smiled.
"I already did."
To be continued.....
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