The gala shimmered with champaigne light, laughter, and polished shoes gliding across the ballroom floor. Luna stood near the edge of the crowd, her gown clinging to her like it had been stitched from moonlight. She smiled when spoken to, raised her glass when expected, but her mind was elsewhere- buried under the weight of uncertainty.
She didn't know why she'd been invited. The card had arrived mysteriously, unsigned but exclusive. The gown, delivered just hours before, had her exact measurements. It felt more like a st up than a celebration.
Still curiosity had led her there
She stepped away from the croud to catch her breath in the quieter hallway, the pulse of music muffled behind her. The corridor was dim ,quiet, lined with antique mirrors and portraits .As she paused ,a figure appeared- tall, composed, and silent.
Kenji Lee.
He didn't approach like a stranger. He moved with ease of someane who had been waiting for her.
"You look lost," he said, voice low.
Luna hesitated. "Just need air."
Kenji's gaze was steady." Parties like these aren't for everyone,"
He offered her a drink- neat whiskey in a crystal tumbler. She accepted, trying to mask her tension .One sip. Bitter warmth .
Moments blurred after that .The hallway twisted around her, and the lights become too bright, then too dim .Her limbs turned to lead.
Kenji steadied her, whispering something she couldn't recall. Then darkness swallowed everything.
* * * * *
She woke in a strange hotel room, silk sheets tangled around her legs, her head pounding like a drum. Her gown was gone. Her skin smelled faintly of his cologne- something expensive, quiet, and sharp. Her memories were fragments- his voice, the hallway, the heat .And one detail stood out sharply:
The tattoo.
A black dragon inked on a man's chest .Elegant. Vicious. Alive.
But she didn't recognise the man.
When she stumbled into the bathroom, her reflection stared back like her stranger's. Her phone buzzed with missed calls from her father. Her chest tightened. Something had happened .Something she wasn't supposed to forget.
But she had
And it terrified her.
* * * * *
One month later, Luna sat frozen in her office, a small pregnancy test in her hand. Two pink lines stared at her. She was pregnant.
Her breath caught in her throat .She hadn't remembered anything clearly -just a shadow of ,a man with a dragon tattoo ,and now this.
As she tried to compose herself ,something outside the office window caught her eye .A tall ,shadowy figure darted past the glass- unnaturally fast. She turned sharply and looked out .There in a reflection stood a tall figure with glowing eyes ,motionless. And in a blink of an eye it vanished.
Her phone rang.
It was her father.
"Luna," he said urgently, "I need you to go to Hotel Crescent. Room 1602. Now .No questions."
Before she could respond , he hung up.
Luna left her office in a daze ,barely registering the streets flashing by during the ride to the hotel. Rain smeared across thw windshield .Her heart raced faster with each passing minute.
At Hotel Crescent ,she made her way to room 1602. Her father was there ,along with a man she didn't recognise -tall ,sharp-eyed ,calm.
Kenji Lee.
She didn't know his name. Didn't know she'd met him before.
Her father stood ,his face hard with restrained fury. He shoved a thick document towards her. "You will sign this."
Luna picked it up .A marriage contract.
"What is this?" She whispered.
"Your salvation," her father snapped. "And mine. That contract is the only thing keeping this family from total ruin."
Kenji's voice was calmer, but no less firm. "Your father is buried in depth. To my company. This is the settlement."
Turning to her father, horrified. "You are selling me off to settle your mistakes?"
Her father's hand slammed against the table. "Don't be dramatic. You owe me this. Everything you are came from my sacrifice. You will repay it."
Luna backed away. "I'm not signing anything."
"You think you have a choice?" her father hissed. His face twisted with contempt. If you walk out of here don't bother coming back. I will see to it that you and l both fall- but I'll make sure that you suffer more .I'll drag your name through filth, disown you, and make you regret ever being born with my blood in your veins."
He leaned forward, his voice lowering to something venomous. "Do not cross me Luna .I gave you life .I can ruin it."
Kenji remained silent, his eyes fixed on her.
Luna fled, her heels pounding down the hotel corridor as she ran. The walls felt too close, the world too loud.
She didn't stop running until the hotel was far behind.
She begun walking as she thought of her mother, the only person who cared for her .She missed her. Tears flowed down her visage as she wondered how her dad had changed so much ever since her mother's death. The company her mother and father worked hard to build was now going down due to her father's mistakes and now he want's to use her to settle this
life sucks.
* * * * *
The next day brought no relief. The dull hum of office lights and the soft clatter of keyboards did little to soothe the storm inside her. She tried to disappear into mundanity of her job at the publishing house. Then Kenji arrived.
He walked with confidence of a man who had never been told no. His presence made the air heavier. He waited until the room cleared then approached her desk with slow, deliberate steps. His voice was low and cold.
"You ran from the contract."
Luna didn't answer
"Do you have any idea what that means? What that coasts? Your father owes me more than just money. He owes me dignity. The contract is the only thing keeping his name intact."
She glanced up, but his eyes were hard.
"If you don't sign this, Luna, I will strip everything he has. I'll seize the company, freeze his accounts, and drug him through every courtroom in this city. He will lose everything- and when he's reduced to nothing, when he's rotting in debt and disgrace, It'll be on your conscience."
She swallowed hard.
Kenji leaned in closer lowering his voice to a hiss. "And don't think you will be spared either. This job? Tis building? All of it belongs to me. You're already on my payroll without even realizing it. I can make a single call and have your badge deactivated by noon."
Luna's lips parted but no words came.
"You're concerned," he continued." So sign the damn paper. Because the only thing more humiliating than marrying me would be watching yourself beg at my feet for mercy I won't give."
Then he left
Luna remained there trying to fight back her tears. This turned to anger and frustration.
"Why the fuck do you want to marry me!" she almost shouted.
She took her jacket, folded it carefully then brought it to her mouth and let out a scream to soothe her anger .Lifting her head, she looked at the marriage contract that lay before her, quiet and cruel. Her hand hovered over the pen, but her thoughts were far away -on the future, on the woman she was forced to become. With a steady breath and trembling fingers, she signed her name. Not out of love .Not hope. But out of necessity.
When she returned the signed contract to Kenji, he accepted it without celebration. "The wedding will be in three months," he said simply.
Time slipped past in a blur. The dress fittings, rehearsals, the scrutiny of society's eyes. Luna wore the perfect smile, walked the perfect steps, but inside she was slowly turning to stone
Then came the wedding day.
She stood at the edge of the aisle beneath the vaulted ceiling of a grand cathedral. Her gown shimmered under golden light, and her veil floated like a ghost. Her fathers arm was firm beneath hers. The music played. The guests watched.
Each step forward was a betrayal_ to herself, to the idea of love, to the dream she once had of freedom. She walked not towards a future but towards a sentence. Kenji stood waiting, composed and sharp ,framed by flowers and firelight. His eyes gave away nothing.
Thoughts crisscrossed her mind like blades. She didn't know him, she didn't trust him, she was carrying a child he knew nothing about.
When they stood together, the words of the priest floated around them like smoke. Kenji repeated his vows with perfect control, a rehearsed pledge from a man who didn't believe in promises. "To have and to hold, " he said, voice like glass. "To love and to cherish, until death do us part."
Luna followed, her voice soft but sure, each line another nailed in her own coffin. The vow of love felt like a lie, but she said it anyway. "For better or worse, for richer or poorer...."
When the priest pronounced them husband and wife, the kiss was brief, cold ,sealing the deal like ink on paper
It was done.
Luna Amara Lee. Wife. Mother-to-be. Prisoner in silk.
But somewhere deep inside, something still burned.
The fire hadn't gone out.
Not yet.