Chapter 1: The Contract
The wedding guests had barely left when my husband handed me a contract.
"One year," he said coldly. "After that, we divorce."
I stared at the signature line.
This wasn't a marriage.
It was a deal.
He adjusted his cufflinks like I didn't matter.
"You should understand something," he continued. "I didn't marry you because I love you."
My fingers tightened.
"I married you to destroy your father."
The words should have broken me.
Instead, I smiled faintly.
Because the man standing in front of me had no idea who I really was.
He thinks he married the powerless daughter of a fallen family.
But I am the true heir to the empire he's trying to conquer.
And in one year…
He'll beg me not to leave.