I didn't realize I was holding my breath until the elevator doors slid open.
I had been gripping my handbag tightly the whole ride to the tenth floor, so tightly that my knuckles were pale, my fingers stiff, and my palm slick with nervous sweat.
The Lawson family's legal annex was nothing like the main estate I had seen in magazines. This place was colder, more metallic, and far too quiet. The type of quiet that belonged to contracts, boardrooms, and decisions people didn't easily come back from.
My uncle walked ahead of me, but even he seemed uneasy.
A secretary ushered us into a large office where Barrister Tade Lawson stood behind a desk with yet another folder.
"Miss Kay," he greeted. "I appreciate your punctuality."
I forced a nod. "You said this was the next step."
"Yes. Before you meet the heir your family is likely to merge with, you must understand your options."
"Options," I repeated dryly. "If you can call them that."
The lawyer clasped his hands. "I won't pretend you have freedom here. But within these constraints, there are choices. Your father insisted on that much."
My stomach twisted. "Can we just get this over with?"
Barrister Lawson reached into his drawer and pulled out a slim beige document.
A list.
Typed.
Bound.
Official.
He placed it in front of me as gently as one might place a bomb.
"These," he said, "are the pre-approved candidates."
I swallowed.
Then I opened the folder.
THE LIST
There were names.
Each printed neatly in bold black letters.
Each with a short note, occupation, family reputation, and "compatibility factors," a phrase that made my skin crawl.
I skimmed them quickly:
1. Adrian Lawson
2. Kade Lawson
My eyes moved without absorbing.
Entrepreneurs.
Heirs.
Executives.
Men whose families had enough wealth to merge with the Lawsons without causing imbalance.
Men whose lives held absolutely nothing in common with hers.
I kept flipping.
3. Johnnie Lawson
Three names.
I tried not to panic.
One left.
I flipped to the next page
And froze.
4. Rhys Sterling Lawson
My breath hitched so violently I choked on it.
My throat closed as though invisible hands were squeezing it shut.
My hand trembled.
My pulse thundered.
My vision blurred around the edges.
No. No, no, no…
The name blurred and sharpened at the same time, like my mind refused to recognize what my eyes were seeing.
But it was there.
Clear.
Bold.
Undeniable.
Rhys Sterling Lawson.
My ex.
My first love.
My first heartbreak.
The boy who left without warning.
The boy who taught me how cruel endings could be.
He wasn't supposed to be here, not in my present, not on a legal marriage list, not anywhere near my life again.
I tried to speak but my voice cracked.
"Take your time," the lawyer said quietly.
My uncle leaned forward. "Reece… is there something wrong?"
Something wrong?
Everything was wrong.
I looked down again.
Rhys Sterling – SterlingTech Capital
Background check: Passed
Family recommendation: Approved
Compatibility rating: High
My stomach dropped.
Compatibility rating?
High?
Because once upon a time, I loved him enough to give him every piece of me?
I felt sick.
I knew him as Rhys Sterling not Rhys Lawson.
THE PAST I DIDN'T WANT TO REMEMBER
Memory hit me like a wave I had been running from for years.
Seventeen.
Hallway.
He had laughed while tugging my braids, calling me stubborn.
I had shoved him back, calling him impossible.
He had kissed me under the mango tree behind the cafeteria.
He had promised,
"No matter what, I'm not leaving you."
Then he left.
No explanation.
No call.
No message.
He vanished two weeks before graduation.
And I learned from rumors, not from him, that his family relocated after some scandal.
I never forgave him.
Not for the leaving.
Not for the silence.
Not for making me believe something eternal could fit inside a seventeen-year-old boy's hands.
BACK TO THE PRESENT
I closed the folder so sharply the sound cracked through the room.
"No," I whispered. "This is a mistake."
Barrister Lawson raised an eyebrow. "It is not a mistake."
"Then someone added his name on purpose."
"That," he said carefully, "is possible."
My heart thudded painfully. "Why?"
"Because choices shape behavior," he answered. "When people are desperate, they sometimes make the same choices they made when they were young."
My jaw tightened. "Well, not me."
My uncle cleared his throat nervously. "Reece this could be good. Rhys was a nice boy."
I whipped around. "A nice boy? He left me without saying goodbye."
"People change."
"Exactly," I snapped. "People change. Meaning I don't even know who he is now."
Barrister Lawson tapped the folder. "You will not be forced to choose him. The Lawsons still hold priority. Adrian Lawson is the family's first recommendation for you."
I stiffened. "If that's the case, why is Rhys even here?"
The lawyer's eyes sharpened.
"Because he requested to be."
Silence slammed into me.
"He what?" I whispered.
"He submitted his own candidacy. Under the conditions of the trust, any man of qualifying wealth and status may apply. Rhys Sterling applied. And passed."
My breath stuttered. "He, he knows about this?"
"Yes."
"And he still applied?"
"Yes."
My hands curled into fists.
Rhys knew I was drowning.
He knew the pressure I was under.
He knew my life was cracking.
And he inserted himself into the process.
Why?
To help?
To gloat?
To manipulate?
To settle old debt?
To claim something he once walked away from?
My chest tightened painfully.
I didn't know which answer scared me the most.
THE FIFTH NAME
Barrister Lawson pointed to the last page.
"One more candidate."
I flipped it.
But I barely saw the name.
My vision was still stuck on the ninth one.
"Who is this?" she asked automatically.
"An international candidate the Lawsons approved for political alliance," the barrister replied.
I nodded blankly.
I didn't care.
The room felt too hot.
My skin felt too tight.
My heart felt too loud.
All I could think of was Rhys.
THE CHOICE I DIDN'T WANT
Barrister Lawson clasped his hands.
"You are required to narrow this list down to three men. After that, each of the three will undergo a compatibility meeting with you."
"Compatibility meeting," I repeated, disgusted.
"It is necessary."
My uncle reached over and squeezed my shoulder gently. "Reece, think carefully."
Carefully?
How exactly did one think carefully when the ghost of their past had just reappeared on official government-approved marriage documentation?
I pushed the list away.
"I need a moment."
Barrister Lawson nodded. "I'll give you privacy."
He stepped out.
My uncle hesitated but followed.
The door closed with a soft click, leaving me alone in the silent office.
Alone with the list.
Alone with the memories.
Alone with the panic.
MY BREAKDOWN
I pressed both hands to my face.
Tears stung my eyes, not soft tears, but sharp, humiliated ones.
Of all the people in the world, why him?
Why now?
Why is this?
I sank into the chair.
I hated Rhys Sterling.
I hated the trust.
I hated the Lawsons.
I hated that I had to choose between my dreams and my dignity.
But most of all…
I hated that my heart still reacted at the sight of his name.
After all these years.
After all that pain.
My chest ached in the exact shape of his memory.
THE LAWYER RETURNS
When the door finally opened again, I wiped my face quickly.
Barrister Lawson studied my expression with quiet understanding.
"Miss Kay," he said gently. "Would you like to remove Rhys Sterling from the list?"
I opened my mouth.
Then closed it.
Because I didn't know.
Removing him felt empowering.
But leaving him felt dangerous in a different way.
What did he want?
Why did he come back this way?
Why was he inserting himself into my future?
My voice emerged as a whisper. "Why… why would he apply?"
The barrister hesitated for the first time since I met him.
Then he said,
"Perhaps you should ask him yourself."
I stared at him.
"Am I going to meet him?" I asked, horrified.
"Possibly," he replied. "If he remains on your shortlist of three."
My breath caught.
Three.
I needed to cut two names.
I needed to choose three options, for a marriage that wasn't even real.
My hand drifted back to the list involuntarily.
My gaze caught on his name again.
Rhys Sterling.
The boy who left.
The man who returned.
And now, one of my three possible husbands.
My voice trembled.
"I don't know if I want him gone… or if I want answers."
Barrister Lawson gave a slight nod.
"Then keep him on the list. For now. Answers require confrontation."
I closed my eyes.
When I opened them again…
My decision was clear.
"I'll keep him."
My voice shook.
"But only because I want to look him in the eye and make him explain why he came back."
The lawyer smiled faintly,approvingly.
"Then your path has begun."
The lawyer patted me. " You have to submit the list tomorrow, don't forget."
My uncle reached out for my hand as we left the lawyer's office.
I got to my apartment still with a heavy mind. I decided to check the internet if I could find anything about him.
I had always believed that the internet knew everything.
It knew about celebrity scandals before their spouses did.
It knew exam leaks before students even panicked.
It knew who was dating who, who unfollowed who, and who wore what to which event.
But as I sat cross-legged on my narrow bed that night, my laptop casting a cold bluish glow on my face, I realized something unsettling.
The internet knew Rhys Sterling.
But I didn't know the boy I had known.
And it didn't know the man he had become.
Not truly.
Still… I had to start somewhere.
I typed his name into the search bar.
Rhys Sterling.
The screen filled instantly, like the entire world had been waiting for me to ask.
THE ARTICLES THAT PAINTED A GOD
The first link was an article from Forbes America .
THE RUTHLESS RISE OF THE YOUNGEST BILLIONAIRE IN NORTH AMERICA..
Ruthless.
The word stung.
I clicked.
The article described Rhys with a tone usually reserved for mythic kings and corporate conquerors.
He founded SterlingTech Capital at twenty-one.
He secured seed funding from foreign investors no one else could convince.
He built a fintech empire faster than analysts could track.
He bought out competitors twice his age.
He forced mergers that terrified entire boards.
He was referred to,more than once, as "the smiling executioner."
I knew how to read between lines.
He wasn't actually executing anyone.
Just dreams.
Companies.
Rivals.
Still… They made him sound like a boardroom storm.
Cold. Calculated. Precise.
Nothing like the boy I had once known.
THE INTERVIEWS THAT REVEALED NOTHING
I clicked on a video interview next.
The host asked Rhys a straightforward question:
"People say you never hesitate to make the hard decisions. Do you agree?"
Rhys sat in a dark suit, posture perfect, expression unreadable.
"Hesitation is emotion," he said.
"Business is math. Emotion comes after results."
Cold.
Not cruel.
Not arrogant.
Just… distant.
Like he had trained himself to speak without letting anything inside him leak out.
The Rhys I remembered used to grin so widely his dimples showed. He used to argue passionately about everything, from football matches to his dreams about building a software company in a small, cramped classroom.
Now?
He looked like he had swallowed the version of himself I once knew and buried it deep, deep down.
THE SCANDALS THAT SAID NOTHING
I clicked another headline.
"STERLINGTECH ACQUIRES THREE COMPANIES IN ONE NIGHT."
"STERLING ACCUSED OF 'HOSTILE TAKEOVER.'"
"WHO IS THE MAN WHO DOESN'T BLINK?"
Article after article was the same:
Either praising him.
Or fearing him.
Never understanding him.
Never touching the human underneath.
I shut the laptop for a moment, pressing my forehead against the cool metal.
This wasn't helping.
The more I read, the more I realized none of it told me anything real.
Anyone could be made to look ruthless through headlines.
Anyone could be softened through PR.
I needed something else.
Something closer.
I reopened the laptop.
SOCIAL MEDIA: THE EMPTY EMPIRE
Instagram.
Private.
Twitter.
Bare.
LinkedIn.
Polished, professional, hollow.
Rhys's online presence was immaculate in a way that made me uneasy.
There was no humor.
No vulnerability.
No friendships.
No trace of the boy who used to skip classes to buy meat pies with me.
No trace of the teenager who kissed me under the mango tree like the world depended on it.
Every page I visited felt like a museum exhibit, carefully curated, deeply impersonal.
It was as if he had erased his life and replaced it with a brand.
THE TURNING POINT
Then I found something.
A short documentary on young American billionaires.
Rhys was featured.
There was a clip of him walking through the headquarters of SterlingTech, floor-to-ceiling glass, endless technology, hundreds of employees who practically worshiped him.
The narrator said:
"Rhys Sterling is brilliant. Fearless. Some say ruthless. But those who know him agree on one thing:
He never lets anyone close enough to hurt him."
My stomach dropped.
That wasn't the boy I knew.
Or maybe it was exactly him.
The boy who loved hard, then disappeared harder.
I watched the rest of the clip.
He spoke about innovation. About America's future. About advancing financial inclusion.
Not once did he smile.
Not once did he mention family, friends, or relationships.
He had sharp edges wrapped in a perfect suit.
A fortress disguised as a man.
And yet…
Something flickered in his eyes when he looked away from the camera, something I couldn't name.
Not warmth.
Not regret,
Something more complicated.
Something almost… human.
THE SECRET THREAD
I kept digging.
At 1:17 a.m., I found an older interview, one that wasn't trending, not widely shared. The lighting was bad. The sound quality is worse.
He was twenty.
Barely months after he vanished from my life.
A reporter asked him:
"Do you ever regret leaving your old life behind?"
Rhys's jaw tightened.
He looked almost… pained.
"Old lives burn," he said softly.
"If you stay, they burn you too."
I sat back.
My heart twisted.
What happened to him?
What burned?
What forced him away?
I had spent years believing he left because I wasn't enough.
But what if the story wasn't so simple?
THE PIECES FALL APART
By the time I closed my laptop, dawn was turning the sky a soft grey.
My eyes burned.
My head throbbed.
But I had learned one undeniable truth:
Rhys Sterling had built an empire.
An empire of steel, fire, and silence.
He was richer than the Lawsons' entire extended family.
He was feared by competitors.
He was respected by governments.
He was the kind of man who could sign a contract worth billions without blinking.
And yet…
He had submitted his name for an arranged marriage with me.
Me.
A girl he said goodbye to without a word.
A girl whose family boutique was drowning.
A girl who couldn't match him in power, wealth, or status.
Nothing made sense.
Nothing connected.
Unless
Unless the empire he built had cracks.
Unless the ruthless image hid something bleeding underneath.
Unless the man the world feared still remembered the girl he kissed under the mango tree.
My throat tightened.
No.
I am not going to fall into that trap.
Not again.
Not ever.
I closed my laptop fully.
This was business.
Cold. Contractual. Strategic.
He hadn't applied to marry me because of emotion.
People like Rhys Sterling didn't feel.
They calculated.
They acquired it.
They conquered.
But still…
Still I whispered into the empty room:
"Why did you come back?"
THE CALM BEFORE THE CONFRONTATION
When the morning light finally filled my window, I rolled onto my back, eyes fixed on the ceiling.
Today, I would submit my shortlist of three.
Three names that could determine the fate of my family.
Three names that aligned my life with strangers.
Three names, one of which carried the weight of my past.
I wasn't ready to face him.
I wasn't ready to hear answers.
I wasn't ready to relive the wounds I had buried.
But something told me that Rhys Sterling wasn't done with my story.
And I wasn't done with his.
Not by a long shot.