Rose's POV
Bright. Too bright.
A blinding light pierced through my closed eyelids, dragging me out of a heavy fog. My head throbbed with a dull ache, and my body felt stiff, like I'd been lying on cold marble for hours. Slowly, I forced my eyes open.
What the hell…?
The ceiling was ornate—gold chandeliers dangling from carved panels like something out of a royal palace. The air was sharp and too clean, perfumed like luxury. I blinked, trying to sit up, but my wrists were bound behind my back. Not tight, not painful, but just enough to tell me one thing.
I was trapped.
My heart kicked into panic. I wasn't in my apartment. This wasn't even a hotel. I looked down: jeans, wrinkled shirt, a scrape on my elbow. My last memory was walking to my car. Then—nothing.
Then I heard it.
A voice. Deep, smooth, and far too familiar.
"Finally awake."
No.
No. No. No.
That voice didn't belong in dreams. It belonged in headlines. In nightmares. In boardroom wars.
I turned my head slowly, and there he was.
Black Mirf.
My chest tightened involuntarily. Not because of fear. Not entirely.
He was standing a few feet away, perfectly composed in a sleek black suit that hugged his tall frame like it had been tailored by the gods. Jet-black hair, not a strand out of place. Skin like marble. And those eyes—icy, silver-gray, cutting straight through me.
He was breathtaking. Dangerous. Like a blade wrapped in silk.
I hated how beautiful he was.
"You're awake," he repeated, walking closer. His voice was emotionless, but his gaze held a flicker of something. Disdain? Triumph?
"Where am I?" My voice cracked, raw from disuse.
He didn't answer immediately. He just studied me like I was some puzzle he'd already solved.
"We're somewhere private," he said finally. "Somewhere safe—for now."
I tugged at the restraints. "You kidnapped me."
"Let's not be dramatic. I relocated you."
I glared at him. "What the hell do you want?"
He took out a folded paper from his inner pocket and placed it on the table between us.
"A simple agreement. One year. A marriage contract. After that, we go our separate ways."
I laughed. Or tried to. It came out hoarse.
"You're insane."
He didn't flinch. "You threatened me, Rose. Publicly. You were going to leak something you shouldn't have known. That puts us both in an uncomfortable position."
I swallowed hard.
So he knew.
The article draft I never published. The hint of a truth that could ruin him. I hadn't even decided if I was going to use it… but apparently, he wasn't willing to take that chance.
"You're doing all this to silence me?"
"To protect what I built. And, frankly, to protect you. You think people would let you get away with bringing down a man like me?"
"So your brilliant solution is marriage?"
He smiled thinly. "To the world, it turns our rivalry into a twisted love story. No scandal. No questions. And if you play your part well enough, people might even envy us."
I stared at him. My pulse thundered in my ears.
This wasn't happening. It couldn't be.
"And if I refuse?"
He leaned in, voice dropping to a whisper.
"Then I make sure you disappear for real."
Chills. Down my spine. Not from fear—well, maybe a little—but from the cold finality in his tone.
He meant it. Every word.
I looked down at the contract. One year. One damn year.
My voice came out hollow. "You're a monster."
"Perhaps. But I'm your monster now."
My throat burned with unshed rage. But I said nothing.
He stepped back, eyes scanning me slowly.
"You'll clean up, smile for the cameras, and play your part. You've always been good at acting, haven't you?" His gaze flicked to my mouth. "Especially when you're pretending you don't want me."
I jerked my head away.
"You're disgusting."
"And yet here you are."
He moved to the door, and before leaving, said without turning:
"You have twenty-four hours to sign. Or I release everything I have on you."
The door clicked shut.
And I was left alone.
With silence, a contract, and a war I didn't know how to fight.
---
I don't know how long I sat there, staring at that cursed document. Seconds? Minutes? It could've been hours. Time had no meaning anymore. Not after that threat.
Marriage to Black Mirf. The man I hated. The man who stole everything I worked for, step by calculated step. The man who now thought he could own me.
I stood abruptly, the restraint around my wrists falling loose—it had never been knotted hard. Just symbolic, like everything else in his twisted game.
My voice trembled with fury as I stormed to the heavy wooden door. "This is madness! You can't force me into this! I have a life, a future—someone who actually loves me!"
I pounded on the door. No answer.
I paced like a trapped animal.
Liam.
My chest ached just thinking his name. Liam, who had finally told me how he felt. Who had finally held me the way I'd wanted for so long. We were finally on the verge of something real.
And now this? A forced marriage with the devil in a Brioni suit?
I spun around as the door opened again. He walked in, calm as ever, like he'd just stepped out of a meeting.
"You can't do this," I hissed.
He raised an eyebrow. "I'm already doing it."
"I don't even understand why! You said I crossed a line, but this is insane. If you want silence, pay me off. Threaten me like a normal villain. But marriage?"
He tilted his head. "You still think this is about the article?"
His smile chilled me.
"It's not?"
"Not entirely." He walked slowly toward me, eyes narrowing. "You see, Rose, you've gotten too bold. Too loud. And you're not just threatening me now… you're becoming inconvenient."
I took a step back.
He didn't stop.
"So, consider this a warning. Or as my grandmother used to say—a polite slap on the wrist."
He was inches away now, voice low and poisonous.
"You should be thanking me, really. Do you have any idea how many women would kill to marry Black Mirf?"
My throat tightened. "I'm not one of them."
"No. You're just the one who left me no choice."
"You think I'll go along with this? Smile beside you while you own me?"
He smiled wider. "You don't have a choice."
I hesitated. My voice dropped. "What if I still refuse?"
He leaned closer, and for the first time, there was real menace in his eyes.
"Then I make one phone call. Your stepbrother, Daniel, goes missing. Permanently."
The blood drained from my face.
"You wouldn't—"
"I would. And you know it."
I froze.
I couldn't speak. I couldn't think.
He watched me with a slow, calculating gaze, then reached for the contract again.
"You'll sign this. You'll play the perfect bride. And in return, I'll keep your world intact."
I looked away, lips trembling, hating him more than I thought was humanly possible.
He stepped back with the grace of a predator satisfied with its kill.
"We'll make a stunning couple," he said softly.
Then, louder, with a cruel smile:
"Don't you think… my wife?"