Nerissa POV
"Your past coming back to destroy your future?" I stare at Thaddeus, watching the color drain from his face. "What does that mean?"
He's frozen, staring at his phone like it's a weapon. This man who seemed so powerful five seconds ago suddenly looks... scared.
"Thaddeus!" I grab his arm. "Who was that woman?"
He snaps back to attention, his mask sliding back into place. But I saw the crack. I saw the fear.
"No one important." He pockets his phone, but his hand shakes slightly. "Geneva, show Mrs. Reign to her room. She needs to rest."
"Don't." I step in front of him. "Don't shut me out. We made a deal—honesty, remember? No lies. You promised."
His jaw clenches. "Some truths are better left buried."
"Not if they're going to destroy us." I cross my arms. "You just spent two hours telling me we're going to war with Dashiell and Marlowe. Now someone from your past is threatening me, and you want me to just... ignore it?"
"Yes." His voice is sharp. Final.
"Too bad." I'm surprised by my own courage. "I just signed away a year of my life to you. Put on your ring." I hold up my hand, the massive diamond catching the light. "If I'm going to be Mrs. Reign, I deserve to know what I'm walking into."
Something flashes in his eyes. Respect? Surprise?
"You're braver than I thought," he says quietly.
"I'm terrified," I correct. "But I'm done being a victim. So tell me the truth, Thaddeus. Who is she?"
He's silent for a long moment, jaw working like he's chewing glass.
Finally: "Her name is Vivienne Blackwell. Twenty years ago, her father owned Blackwell Industries—my biggest competitor. I destroyed his company to build my empire. He lost everything and killed himself six months later."
My stomach drops. "Oh my God."
"Vivienne was seventeen when her father died. She blamed me. Rightfully so." His voice is emotionless, but I can see the pain underneath. "She disappeared after the funeral. I haven't heard from her since."
"Until tonight."
"Until tonight." He meets my eyes. "She said she wants to meet you. Tell you the 'truth' about me."
"And what truth is that?"
"That I'm a monster who destroys everything I touch." His smile is bitter. "That marrying me was the worst mistake of your life. That you should run while you still can."
My heart pounds. "Should I? Run?"
"Yes." The word comes out raw. Honest. "You should run far and fast, Nerissa. Because everything Vivienne will tell you is true. I am a monster. I did destroy her father. And I'll probably destroy you too."
"Then why did you marry me?"
"Because I'm selfish." He steps closer, and I can smell his cologne again—expensive and intoxicating. "Because I've wanted you for seven years and I'm dying and I don't care about the consequences anymore. Because if I'm going to hell, I want one year of heaven first."
I should be scared. Should be running.
Instead, I ask, "What if I don't want to run?"
His eyes darken. "Then you're as crazy as I am."
"Maybe I am." I touch the ring on my finger. "Maybe we're both crazy. But it's too late now. The contract is signed. My mother's surgery is paid for. I'm Mrs. Reign whether Vivienne likes it or not."
"She'll come after you," Thaddeus warns. "She'll try to poison you against me. Tell you stories about the things I've done. And she won't be lying, Nerissa. I've done terrible things to build this empire."
"So have I." The words slip out before I can stop them.
He goes still. "What?"
"I terminated a pregnancy today." My voice cracks. "I killed my baby because I was scared and broken and selfish. So don't talk to me about being a monster, Thaddeus. We're both monsters now."
Something breaks in his expression. He pulls me against his chest suddenly, his arms tight around me.
"You're not a monster," he says fiercely into my hair. "You made an impossible choice in an impossible situation. That's different."
"Is it?" I'm crying again, soaking his expensive suit. "How is what I did any different than what you did to Vivienne's father? We both destroyed something to survive."
"Because you had no choice. I did." He pulls back, looking down at me with those ice-blue eyes. "I chose power over people. Over and over again. For twenty years. And now it's catching up with me."
"Then we fight it together." I don't know where this courage is coming from. Maybe I'm just too broken to care anymore. "You said we're going to war with Dashiell. Fine. We'll fight Vivienne too."
"You don't understand what you're saying—"
"I understand perfectly." I grip his jacket. "You gave me a second chance when I had nothing. Now someone's trying to take that away. I won't let them."
Thaddeus stares at me like he's seeing me for the first time. "You really are extraordinary."
Before I can respond, Geneva clears her throat. "Sir, the hospital called. Mrs. Caldwell is in pre-op. Surgery begins at six AM."
Relief floods through me. "Can I see her? Before the surgery?"
"The car is ready whenever you are," Geneva says gently.
I look up at Thaddeus. "Come with me?"
"Nerissa, your parents don't know about our arrangement yet—"
"I don't care. I need you there." The admission costs me, but it's true. I don't want to face this alone.
His expression softens. "Then I'll be there."
Twenty minutes later, we're walking through County Hospital's sterile hallways. Nurses stare at Thaddeus—probably recognize him from the news. A billionaire doesn't walk into a public hospital every day.
My mother's room is at the end of the hall.
I pause outside, my hand on the door. "I haven't told her about the divorce yet. Or the marriage. Or anything."
"How do you want to handle this?"
"I don't know." My voice shakes. "Hi Mom, my husband cheated on me, I aborted his baby, and now I married a dying billionaire to pay for your surgery. How's your heart?"
Thaddeus almost smiles. "Perhaps a slightly softer version."
I take a deep breath and push open the door.
My mother looks so small in the hospital bed, hooked up to machines that beep and whir. My father sits beside her, holding her hand, his eyes red from crying.
"Nerissa!" Dad jumps up. "Thank God. The hospital said the surgery is paid for, they have the best surgeon, but they wouldn't tell me who—" He stops, seeing Thaddeus behind me. "Mr. Reign? What are you doing here?"
Mom's eyes flutter open. "Nerissa? Baby?"
I rush to her side, taking her other hand. "I'm here, Mom. Everything's going to be okay. The surgery is scheduled, you're going to be fine—"
"How?" Dad's voice is sharp. "How did you pay for this? The bill was eight hundred thousand dollars!"
I look at Thaddeus. He steps forward, commanding the room instantly.
"I paid for it, Alaric. Your daughter and I have entered into an arrangement."
"What kind of arrangement?" Dad's eyes narrow suspiciously.
"Marriage." Thaddeus's voice is calm. "Nerissa is now my wife."
The machines monitoring Mom's heart start beeping faster.
"WHAT?" Dad explodes. "You married him? Dashiell's stepfather? Are you insane?"
"Alaric—" Mom gasps.
"Don't 'Alaric' me, Cressida! Our daughter just married a man twice her age to pay your medical bills! This is—this is prostitution!"
I flinch like he slapped me.
Thaddeus moves so fast I barely see it. One second he's beside me. The next, he has my father pushed against the wall, forearm across his throat.
"Apologize," Thaddeus says quietly. Dangerously. "Now."
"I—I can't breathe—"
"APOLOGIZE TO YOUR DAUGHTER."
"I'm sorry!" Dad chokes out. "I'm sorry, Nerissa!"
Thaddeus releases him, stepping back smoothly. "Your daughter made a choice to save your wife's life. You will respect that choice. You will thank her. And you will never, ever speak to her that way again. Are we clear?"
Dad nods, gasping, rubbing his throat.
Mom is crying now. "Nerissa, baby, you didn't have to—"
"Yes, I did." I squeeze her hand. "I love you, Mom. And this was my choice. Thaddeus and I have an understanding. It's not what you think."
"Sweetheart, he's so much older—"
"I'm forty-eight," Thaddeus says calmly. "And I have stage four pancreatic cancer. Eighteen months to live, maybe less. This arrangement benefits us both. Nerissa gets financial security. I get companionship in my final months. It's a business deal."
The machines beep faster again.
"You're dying?" Mom whispers.
"Yes." Thaddeus's voice softens. "But I promise you, Mrs. Caldwell, I will take care of your daughter. She'll want for nothing. And when I'm gone, she'll have enough money to never worry again."
"This is insane," Dad mutters, but quieter now. Scared.
"It's survival," I correct. "And it's done. We're married. The contract is signed."
Mom's eyes find mine. "Do you love him?"
The question catches me off guard.
Do I love Thaddeus? I barely know him.
But when I look at him—standing there protecting me, defending me, offering me everything—my heart does something strange.
"I respect him," I say carefully. "And right now, that's enough."
Before anyone can respond, the door bursts open.
A nurse runs in, panicked. "Mrs. Reign? There's a woman in the lobby demanding to see you. Security is trying to remove her but she's causing a scene. She says—" The nurse hesitates. "She says if you don't come down, she'll tell everyone in this hospital what your husband really is."
My blood runs cold.
"Vivienne," Thaddeus says quietly.
"She's here?" I turn to him. "Already?"
"She doesn't waste time." His face is granite. "Stay here. I'll handle this."
"No." I stand, surprising myself again. "We handle it together. Remember? Partners."
Something fierce and proud flashes in his eyes.
"Together then." He offers his arm.
I take it, the diamond ring heavy on my finger.
As we walk toward the elevator, Thaddeus murmurs, "Whatever she says, whatever she shows you—remember that you married me knowing I'm not a good man."
"Maybe I don't want a good man," I whisper back. "Maybe I want someone who fights."
The elevator doors open.
In the lobby, surrounded by security guards and curious hospital staff, stands a woman who looks like a nightmare come to life.
Platinum blonde hair. Ice-blue eyes that match Thaddeus's. A smile that promises destruction.
She's holding a folder thick with papers.
"Hello, darling," she purrs at me. "I'm Vivienne Blackwell. And I have something your new husband doesn't want you to see."
She opens the folder.
Inside are photographs. Documents. Evidence.
And at the top, a death certificate with one name that makes my heart stop:
VIVIENNE BLACKWELL - DECEASED
"Surprise," the woman says, her smile widening. "I'm supposed to be dead. Want to know who killed me?"
She points at Thaddeus.
"He did."