Sera's POV
"I can't believe I'm doing this."
I'm looking at myself in the bathroom mirror at the courthouse three days after I crashed Adrian's wedding. The white dress Damien bought me is just right. I've pulled my hair back. I'm not wearing any makeup at all.
I feel like a bride. However, I feel like a gun that is about to fire.
"Having second thoughts?" Maya asks behind me. Besides Damien, she's the only one who knows what we're up to.
"Third and fourth thoughts," I admit. "Yesterday I was engaged to Adrian. Today I'm marrying a stranger for payback."
"A stranger who happens to be your half-brother and a billionaire who's helping you reclaim everything stolen from you," Maya points out. "Could be worse."
I laugh shakily. "Could it though?"
My phone buzzes. Text from Damien: Ready?
No. I'm not ready. I'll never be ready for this craziness.
But I text back: Yes.
The courthouse wedding room is small and plain. Just a judge, two witnesses Maya brought, and Damien waiting at the front.
He's wearing an expensive suit. He looks calm. Completely in control.
I feel like I'm going to throw up.
"You look beautiful," Damien says when I reach him. His voice is quiet. Professional.
"You're paying me a compliment as part of the act," I whisper back.
"I'm stating a fact." His eyes meet mine. "Ready to become Mrs. Cross?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"You always have a choice." Damien's face softens slightly. "We can stop this right now. Find another way."
For a second, I consider it. Running away from all of this. Hiding somewhere the Thorntons can never find me.
Then I remember Richard's face in that security video. Standing next to my parents' car. Planning their death.
"Let's do this," I say strongly.
The judge starts the process. Legal words about marriage and loyalty. Words that feel both heavy and useless at the same time.
"Do you, Damien Cross, take Sera Ashford to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do."
"Do you, Sera Ashford, take Damien Cross to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
I look at Damien. This man who's been watching me for six years. Who claims to be my brother. Who's giving me everything I need for revenge but won't tell me why.
"I do," I hear myself say.
"The rings," the judge asks.
Damien pulls out a small box. Opens it. Inside is the most huge diamond ring I've ever seen. Even bigger than the one he showed me that first night.
He takes my hand gently. Slides the ring onto my finger. It's heavy. Cold. Real.
"With this ring, I promise to protect you," Damien says softly. Not part of the official event. Just for me. "Until the Thorntons are destroyed."
Then it's my turn. I slide a simple silver band onto his finger. My hands are shaking so badly I almost drop it.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the judge says. "You may kiss the bride."
Damien's eyes ask permission. I nod slightly.
He leans in and kisses me.
It's short. Businesslike. His lips barely touch mine before pulling away.
Nothing like Adrian's touches. Adrian kissed me like I was precious. Important. Loved.
This kiss feels like signing another deal.
"Congratulations," the judge says, giving us the marriage certificate.
Just like that, I'm married.
Outside the courthouse, Damien's PR team is ready. Cameras. Reporters. A whole media show he planned without telling me.
"What—" I start.
"Trust me," Damien whispers. Then louder, to the cameras: "Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce my wife, Sera Cross."
Flashbulbs explode. Questions yelled from every direction.
"Mr. Cross, who is she?"
"How long have you been dating?"
"Is this connected to the Thornton wedding scandal?"
Damien holds up a hand for quiet. His PR head steps forward with a prepared statement.
"Three days ago, Damien Cross married Sera Ashford in a secret ceremony. Ms. Ashford is the sole heir to the Ashford Empire, recently confirmed alive after being missing and believed dead for six years following her parents' tragic accident. The Ashford Estate is valued at eight hundred million dollars."
Chaos. Pure chaos.
Reporters screaming questions. Cameras clicking rapidly. Someone putting a microphone in my face.
"Ms. Ashford, where have you been for six years?"
"Were you really dead?"
"What about Adrian Cole? Didn't you crash his wedding?"
Damien's arm wraps around my waist, pulling me close. "My wife won't be taking questions at this time. Thank you."
His security team clears a way to a waiting car. Black. Expensive. The kind of car that screams money.
We slide into the seats. The door closes, muffling the chaos outside.
"That was—" I can't find words.
"Necessary," Damien finishes. "By tomorrow morning, everyone in the city will know who you really are. The Thorntons can't touch you now. Too obvious. Too protected."
My phone starts buzzing. And busy. And busy.
I pull it out. Missed calls. Texts. Notifications exploding across the screen.
Adrian's name comes again and again.
Forty-seven missed calls.
I stare at the number, something twisting in my chest.
"Don't answer," Damien says quietly.
"I wasn't going to."
But my thumb pauses over Adrian's name anyway.
Another call comes in. Adrian again.
This time, a voicemail follows quickly.
"Sera, yes. PLEASE call me back. I need to explain. Vanessa admitted everything. The fake disease, the manipulation, all of it. The wedding is canceled. I'm coming to find you. Just tell me where you are—"
I delete the message before it ends.
"Good," Damien says, watching me. "He doesn't deserve your attention."
"He sounds desperate."
"He IS desperate. He lost the woman he loves and learned she's worth eight hundred million dollars." Damien's tone is sharp. "Trust me, it's the money he's interested in now, not you."
The words sting, even though I don't want them to.
My phone buzzes again. This time, it's a text from an unknown number: "Congratulations on the marriage. Or should I say, congratulations on signing your death warrant? The Thorntons don't forgive, and they don't forget. Neither do I. - V"
Vanessa.
Before I can process that, another text comes through. Different number: "You made a mistake embarrassing us at that wedding. You'll rue it. We're coming for everything you stole from us. Starting with your new husband. - M"
Margaret.
My hands start shaking. "They're threatening us."
Damien takes my phone. Reads the messages. His face doesn't change.
"Let them threaten," he says quietly. "They're scared. Desperate people make mistakes." He hands back my phone. "Block their numbers. They can't touch you anymore."
But as the car pulls away from the building, I see something that makes my blood run cold.
Standing across the street, half-hidden in darkness, is a figure watching us.
Richard Thornton.
And he's holding a phone to his ear, talking to someone while staring straight at our car.
His face isn't angry. It isn't scared.
It's thinking.
Like he's planning something.
My phone buzzes one more time. Another unknown number: "You think marrying Damien Cross saves you? Ask your new husband what really happened to his first wife. Ask him why she's dead. Then ask yourself if you just married your parents' killer. - A Friend"