Prologue — Tangled Vows
The diamond ring didn't sparkle half as bright as the whispers around the room.
Every glance burned against my skin—some curious, some jealous, most disbelieving. They saw a marriage built on shock, not love. A marriage that shouldn't have happened. A marriage that everyone claimed would never last.
And maybe they were right. Maybe this wasn't the kind of story you'd find in fairy tales. There were no stolen kisses under the stars, no promises carved in forever. Just two people standing side by side, bound by words we weren't supposed to mean.
I looked at him—the man beside me, the one I had vowed to spend forever with—and for a fleeting second, I almost forgot the deal that tied us together. His expression gave nothing away, carved sharp and unreadable, but his hand brushed against mine in a way that felt dangerously real.
This wasn't a love story. Not yet.
It was a gamble.
A statement.
A storm waiting to break.
And when the vows left my lips, I knew one thing for certain—our tangled beginning would change everything.