The pen felt heavier than it should have, its polished metal cool against Li Na's trembling fingers. Across the table, Yen Rui stood with the calm patience of a man closing yet another business deal.
The contract lay between them, its pages crisp and final. There was no lace, no vows, no witness of love only black ink waiting to seal two broken fates together.
Li Na drew a steadying breath. *This isn't a marriage. It's survival.* With that thought, she bent over the paper and signed her name.
For a moment, the silence was deafening. Then, Yen Rui took the pen without hesitation and added his signature in one clean stroke. His handwriting was sharp, confident, everything hers was not.
It was done.
Li Na straightened, her chest rising and falling with the weight of what she had just agreed to. The enormity of it pressed down on her.
Yen Rui closed the file neatly, sliding it into the folder as though nothing extraordinary had happened. "From this day forward, you are my wife." His tone was formal, devoid of warmth, as if announcing a merger.
Her lips pressed into a thin line. "On my terms," she reminded him quietly.
He met her gaze, eyes dark and unreadable. "On our terms," he corrected.
When she turned to leave the office, the weight of the contract clung to her like chains. This wasn't love. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't even safety.
It was a marriage signed in ink, cold, sharp, and binding.
And deep down, Li Na knew: no signature could protect her heart from what was to come.