Sophia Shi knew something was wrong the moment the iron gates of the Yan estate closed behind her.
The sound echoed through the night—deep, heavy, final.
It wasn't just a gate shutting.
It felt like a verdict.
She stood still at the entrance, her fingers tightening around the handle of a single suitcase. Everything she owned was inside it. Clothes worn thin with age. Documents folded too many times. A past no one wanted.
The mansion ahead of her was enormous, bathed in white light that made it feel less like a home and more like a display case. Perfect. Untouchable. Cold.
No one came to greet her.
Of course they wouldn't.
She wasn't a guest.
She was collateral.
"Are you getting down or not?"
The driver's voice snapped her back to reality. His impatience wasn't masked in the slightest.
Sophia nodded quickly. "Yes. I'm sorry."
She stepped out of the car.
The door closed behind her with a sharp click, and the car drove away without hesitation.
Just like that, she was alone.
Sophia took a slow breath, forcing herself to stand straight.
She had learned long ago that fear showed too easily on her face. And fear invited cruelty.
Inside the mansion, the air was cool and smelled faintly of polished wood and expensive cologne. Every step she took echoed across the marble floor, loud enough to make her painfully aware of her presence.
Someone was waiting.
A man stood near the center of the living room, tall and immaculately dressed, his posture relaxed but controlled. He held a thin folder in one hand, flipping through it lazily, as though the contents barely deserved his attention.
Sophia recognized him instantly.
Ethan Yan.
The name alone carried weight in this city—wealth, power, influence. A man rumored to destroy companies with a single decision.
Her future husband.
If this arrangement could even be called that.
He didn't look at her right away.
"So," he said, his voice calm and indifferent, "you're the replacement."
The word hit harder than she expected.
Sophia swallowed and bowed slightly. "Yes. My name is Sophia Shi."
"There's no need," he interrupted flatly.
He closed the folder and finally raised his eyes.
They were cold. Sharp. Calculating.
The kind of gaze that didn't just look at people—it evaluated them.
"You know why you're here," Ethan said.
"Yes," Sophia replied quietly. "To get married."
For a brief moment, the corner of his lips twitched.
Then he laughed.
It wasn't warm. It wasn't amused.
It was dismissive.
"Marriage?" he repeated. "If that's what you want to call it."
Sophia frowned slightly, confusion flashing across her face before she could hide it.
Ethan took a step closer.
"You weren't chosen," he said calmly. "You were delivered."
Her heart sank.
"Your family owes me," he continued, his tone as casual as if discussing the weather. "And you're their payment."
The words settled into her chest like ice.
"I didn't do anything wrong," she whispered, more to herself than to him.
Ethan looked down at her, his gaze unreadable.
"Then why," he asked quietly, "do you think they gave you up so easily?"
Sophia's lips parted, but no sound came out.
Because she was expendable.
Because she was convenient.
Because no one would fight for her.
She lowered her head.
Silence stretched between them.
Finally, Ethan turned away.
"From today on," he said, walking toward the staircase, "you'll play the role of my wife in public."
A flicker of something—hope, perhaps—rose in her chest.
Then his next words crushed it.
"In private," he added without looking back, "you're leverage."
Sophia froze where she stood.
Leverage.
Not partner.
Not wife.
Not even a person.
She was a bargaining chip.
A servant approached and gestured for her to follow.
As Sophia picked up her suitcase and took her first step forward, Ethan spoke again, this time into his phone.
"Pull everything on the Shi family," he said coolly.
"Especially what they buried five years ago."
Sophia's breath caught.
Her fingers tightened around the suitcase handle until her knuckles turned white.
Five years ago.
She followed the servant upstairs, each step heavier than the last.
She hadn't entered this house as a bride.
She had been placed here like a pawn.
And somewhere deep inside her chest, a long-buried fear stirred—
that Ethan Yan wasn't just going to control her future.
He was going to dig up her past.