RYAN'S POV
The car door shuts behind me with a heavy thud, and for a moment I just stand there, inhaling the cold evening air as if it might calm the storm in my chest. It doesn't.
Thomas starts the engine, and the newly decorated convoy behind us begins to move slowly, too slowly for my liking.
A wife.
I now have a wife.
My jaw ticks.
I stare straight ahead out the tinted windows at the city lights streaking past, replaying the wedding in my mind, pretending not to see the white fabric covering her face. Pretending not to feel the suffocating tension filling the car. Pretending not to replay the absurdity of the ceremony.
Why the hell was her face covered?
Ava wasn't supposed to be injured.
Unless... she tried to escape and failed.
My eyes narrow. Did her escape attempt go wrong? My fingers brush the edge of my collar, restless. That could explain it. Maybe she hurt herself when she attempted to run.
The thought doesn't ease me.
Nothing does.
The car glides silently over the highway. Thomas drives without a word, and the quiet presses against me like a weight.
The silence thickens until it becomes a physical thing, pressing on my skin. She sits rigid beside me as if afraid to breathe. Good. Fear is better than pretense.
Thomas keeps stealing glances at us through the rearview mirror. He must sense it too. That this marriage is nothing but a transaction.
My phone vibrates. Luciana. I don't second-guess.
I answer, still staring out the window.
"Ryan." Her voice is silk and light. "So... it's done?"
"It's done," I say flatly. "The wedding happened."
She hums, like she already knew. "Good. Relax. This changes nothing."
Nothing? My teeth grind together, but she continues.
"Come over," she whispers.
My pulse betrays me but my voice stays hard.
"I'm on my way."
I end the call.
Ava flinches slightly at the sound of my phone sliding back into my pocket.
She's trembling.
Good.
Because if she thinks this marriage makes us equals, she's wrong.
Unlike when we met at her place, she is really quiet. She seemed really talkative then or maybe the difference in her is because of the difference in the situations.
Thomas pulls up to the house. I step out immediately.
"I'll return later," I say to Thomas taking another car alone.
I don't look at her. I don't offer a hand. I don't pretend.
I leave her standing there, faceless, silent, small.
And I feel nothing.
---
When I get to Luciana's, she rushes to me like a baby rushing to it's father.
"Baby, I have missed you" she says to me.
"But you saw me just this morning"
"I began to miss you a second after you left"
We sit and she rests her head on my chest fixing her fingers into mine playfully.
"Babe, I wish I was the one you got married to today" she says but I don't respond. I know she has more to say so I just listen. "But no worries"
She had mentioned before that I should marry Ava and then we could use her for gestational surrogacy(when another woman carries a baby created from the intended parent's egg and sperm through IVF meaning she has no genetic link to the child, only serves as the carrier until birth.) When Ava delivers the baby, I would divorce her and then marry her instead so that way, Luciana didn't have to risk her body to give birth. I'm so sure she will bring this up again.
"We'll use her for the surrogacy, like we planned. Your sperm, my eggs, her womb... our baby. Once she delivers, you divorce her and come back to me. As long as the public gets the perfect story, everything stays clean." she chuckles.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. Sometimes I wonder if Luciana feels anything at all.
"And afterward?" I ask.
She lets out a soft laugh. "Afterward, you're mine, Ryan. We both know that."
The room feels smaller suddenly. I exhale slowly, controlled.
She looks into my eyes and I draw her into a kiss. A passionate one that turns dirty leading to a saucy and steamy night.
****
KIERA'S POV
Nothing about this day feels real.
The car door closes behind Ryan, leaving me alone in the cavernous silence of his mansion.
My new home.
My prison.
I stand stiffly for a second, my fingers brushing the veil covering my face. I peel it back slowly, like revealing a bruise. The air stings against my skin, and for the first time since this insanity began, I exhale.
Ryan didn't even look at me.
Of course he didn't.
Why would he?
He didn't know me.
He didn't want me.
And he didn't care that I wasn't Ava. Though I'm not sure if he's aware of the absurd situation or not.
He left without saying a word.
A woman approaches me with a soft smile.
"Good evening," she says softly, bowing her head.
I blink at her, taking in her composed expression. "Good evening," I whisper.
"Welcome, Mrs. Montenegro."
Mrs. Montenegro.
The words feel foreign on my tongue.
"Thank you," I whisper.
She introduces herself as Amanda; Ryan's personal helper and also mine from now onwards.
Amanda leads me upstairs. The bedroom is large, elegant, intimidating. Nothing like the cramped, suffocating room Alex kept me in at his place while he stayed in a luxurious one. Come on, how did I not realise that that man actually hated me and held a deep grudge against me. Instead, I was thinking that it was just his personality.
*****
I step into the bedroom, clutching the veil in my hands. My pulse still races from the chaos of the wedding. I let it fall to the floor, loosening the necklace Alex forced on me, its cold weight reminding me of everything I survived.
The door opens quietly. A tray of clothes and linens is set down.
Amanda informs me that she brought all these for me and if I need anything else, I should call for her immediately without any hesitation.
I nod.
She smiles faintly. "Don't worry. I know the first night can be... confusing." I guess she noticed the worried look on my face and mistook it for me being worried about the wedding night.
We talk quietly, and slowly, I learn about Ryan. He's meticulous, cold, intimidating but loyal to those he protects. I can feel it in her words, even if I can't imagine it fully.
"How did you you both fall for eachother so fast?" she asks, curiosity pricking at her. "I mean, just a week ago, he was still very much in love with Luciana"
I wonder who Luciana is but I prefer not to ask. I don't know what I will say or ask that would put me in an irreversible problem.
I tilt my head. "Sometimes love sneaks in when you least expect it. Don't worry... it happens."
My words probably settle over her, but unease lingers. I glance at the clock. And wonder, Where is Ryan? And why does my stomach twist at the thought?
I settle into the bed holding my phone. It buzzes with wedding posts on social media. My face in the pictures are blurred. I see the comments. Some furious, others supportive. Some claim Luciana had been betrayed. Others say she deserves it. Some ladies say Ryan was meant to be theirs and I stole him from them. They are really fancying over him. Well, he is a really handsome and wealthy man afterall.
I... I can't even think straight.
I set it down and sink into the sheets. Sleep overtakes me before I realize.
*****
RYAN'S POV
Morning comes before I realize it. The ringtone of my phone waking me up and Leo's voice cutting through the silence of the bedroom with Luciana beside me.
"Ava is settled in my villa safely," he says. "But you didn't tell me you were getting married someone else."
I freeze. My grip tightens. Someone else?
I understand slowly, teeth gritted. I've been deceived. And my pulse jumps, not with anger, but a cold, sharp clarity.
Luciana, unaware of what angered me asks again and again. I ignore her, my mind sharp with the need to find the truth.
I pack quickly, my movements precise, calculated. The car door slams. The engine roars. I leave without a word.
*****
KIERA'S POV
Morning comes quietly. Amanda knocks before entering, placing a tray before me.
"Ryan must have gone for business," she says, calm. "He stays out late sometimes."
I nod, secretly relieved. Last night, just surviving it feels like a miracle. I'm glad I survived the night without him. If possible, I don't want him to return.
I brush my teeth, take my bath and get dressed. As I dry my hair, the mirror reflects my pale, slightly wrinkled face given the situation I got into which affected my face as usual. I smooth it with trembling fingers, lingering on the curve of my jaw, the line of my shoulders. A faint breeze from the open window brushes my damp hair across my face.
While still drying my hair, I realize someone open the door ruthlessly.
*****
RYAN'S POV
The bedroom door bursts open. My eyes catch her. Hair damp, cheeks flushed, towel clutched around her shoulders.
Time freezes for a heartbeat. Damn...
She spins around, seems like she is shivering violently. Heart probably hammering, stomach twisting, and the sudden heat from my presence seems to make her limbs stiff. She must have barely caught my breath, and here I am angry, imposing, terrifyingly alive.
"W-What... what are you doing?" she stammers, backing up instinctively.
Did she just ask what I was doing after I entered my own bedroom? I'm even more furious now.
My eyes flare with controlled fury, and I feel the weight of them pinning her in place. Sparks ignite in the air between us, not soft, not gentle but sharp, dangerous, and undeniable.
Then control snaps back. My hands clench, jaw tight.
"You!!!" I roar immediately recognising her, voice echoing against the wall.