✍️ Chapter 5: Queen on a Leash
The headlines hit before breakfast.
"Ice Queen Aria Melts the Montclair Gala — And Kade Ryuu Wasn't Invited""Fiancée or Free Agent? Aria Linh Steps Into High Society Without the Billionaire""Felix Montclair Seen Speaking Privately With Aria Ryuu"
The worst one?
"She's Not Just Arm Candy — Aria Linh Might Be Playing Her Own Game"
Aria scrolled through the articles on her phone while stirring her tea in the penthouse kitchen. Each line buzzed with opinion, speculation, narrative hooks that weren't hers—but for once, didn't belong to Kade either.
She hadn't spoken to him since the car.
Miss Yew had reappeared that morning like nothing had happened, handing her a new week's itinerary and offering her usual dead-eyed smile. Aria ignored her.
She had other plans.
Later that afternoon, Aria showed up uninvited at the Ryuu Global media division.
No assistant. No warning. Just a sharp black sheath dress, crimson lipstick, and a PR scandal under her arm.
The receptionist blanched when she saw her.
"I—I don't think Mr. Ryuu—"
"I'm not here for Mr. Ryuu," Aria said. "I'm here for the cameras."
By the time Kade heard about the impromptu interview, it had already gone viral.
Aria Linh—perfect posture, no visible emotion—sat in front of a soft gold backdrop, answering questions from a respected financial journalist with practiced grace.
But when asked why she'd appeared at the Montclair gala without her fiancé, she said this:
"I'm not here to be owned. I'm here to stand beside someone who doesn't need to chain me to feel powerful."
"If the public wants to understand our relationship, they can stop guessing. Kade and I are two people learning how to trust again. That's all. It isn't perfect. But it's real."
"And real doesn't always look like what you expect."
The video played on every screen in the Ryuu Group boardroom during their weekly executive briefing.
Kade sat at the head of the table, jaw tight, fingers interlaced.
No one dared speak.
Not until one of the board members—a graying woman named Mrs. Liyan—cleared her throat.
"She's a risk," she said. "But she's also… resonating. With the younger demographic. The numbers are up."
"She's weaponizing empathy," another murmured. "Strategic vulnerability. She's not stupid."
Kade said nothing.
The screen flickered again—replaying Aria's closing line:
"I didn't fall in love with the empire. I fell in love with the man. And if he forgets who he is underneath all this, I'll remind him."
Silence.
Then a slow ripple of impressed nods.
Kade's voice was quiet when he finally spoke.
"End the meeting."
In the penthouse that night, Aria was pouring wine when the door slammed.
Kade walked in.
No tie. Jacket gone. Shirt sleeves rolled. Eyes like thunder.
She didn't flinch.
"Did you enjoy the interview?" she asked, setting the glass down.
He didn't speak.
He walked straight to her, stopped inches away.
"You said you wouldn't defy me."
"I didn't," she said. "I elevated us."
"You undermined me."
"No," she said. "I made you look human."
She stepped past him, slow, deliberate.
"You want the world to love you, Kade?" she asked. "Then let them believe you can love someone back."
He turned slowly.
"And what if I can't?"
She looked at him over her shoulder.
"Then I'll remind them what happens to kings who forget how to be men."