Nicole slowly opened her red, swollen eyes. The blurry memory of the swimming pool faded away, replaced once again by the cold, expensive reality of the master bedroom.
She wiped the wet tears from her pale cheeks with the back of her trembling hand. It was a cruel joke of fate. The vulnerable, drowning boy she had saved seven years ago had grown up into a ruthless, untouchable monster. He didn't repay her with gratitude. Instead, he repaid her by completely destroying her freedom, trapping her in a golden cage of his own making.
How did she end up here? The nightmare truly began just three months ago.
Nicole's family was well-off. They owned a respectable, medium-sized trading company in the city. They lived in a nice house and drove nice cars, but in the grand pyramid of the business world, they were nothing compared to John's empire. John's family was the absolute peak. They controlled the city's economy.
When John took over his family's massive corporation, the first thing he did was not to expand his business, but to claim the girl he had been secretly watching for years.
He didn't come to her with flowers, romantic dates, or gentle words. He came with absolute power. He sent his top lawyers directly to Nicole's parents with an offer they could never refuse: a formal marriage alliance.
To sweeten the deal, John's family presented a breathtaking engagement gift. It wasn't just gold or diamonds. It was a fully signed, guaranteed business contract worth one hundred million dollars.
For Nicole's parents, who had been struggling to push their company to the next level, this contract was like a gift from the gods. They were completely blinded by the endless zeroes on the paper. The promise of ultimate wealth, high social status, and the backing of the most powerful family in the country wiped away any common sense they had.
They didn't hesitate. They didn't ask for a few days to think about it. And most importantly, they didn't ask Nicole.
They signed her life away in a matter of seconds.
Nicole remembered the exact moment she found out. She had just come home from a coffee shop, humming a happy tune, thinking about Kelvin. Kelvin was her childhood friend. He was sweet, gentle, and always knew how to make her smile. In her heart, Kelvin was the man she was destined to marry. They had shared so many secret promises under the stars.
But when she walked into the living room, her father threw the thick, heavy marriage document onto the glass coffee table.
"Pack your things and prepare yourself," her father had said, his face glowing with greedy excitement. "Next month, you are marrying John. The wedding of the century."
Nicole froze. The happy smile vanished from her face. She stared at the document, the bold letters swimming before her eyes.
"What?" she whispered, her voice shaking. "You... you agreed to sell me? Without even asking me?"
"Don't use such ugly words!" her mother scolded, stepping forward with a fake, comforting smile. "This is for your own good, Nicole. Do you know how many girls would kill to be in your position? John is the most powerful man in the country! You will be a queen."
"I don't want to be a queen!" Nicole screamed, hot tears streaming down her face. "I am not a product to be traded for a contract! I won't do it! I will never marry that cold-blooded tyrant!"
She turned around and ran upstairs, slamming the door to her bedroom and locking it tightly. For three long days and nights, she refused to come out. She refused to eat, refused to drink water, and refused to listen to her parents' begging through the thick wooden door. She thought that if she fought hard enough, if she showed them she would rather starve to death, they would eventually give up and cancel the wedding.
But she severely underestimated her parents' greed.
On the fourth day, the loud, violent sound of wood splintering echoed through the house. Her father had used a heavy hammer to smash the bedroom door open.
Nicole, weak and pale from starvation, sat huddled in the corner of her room. She looked up, expecting to see her father's angry face. Instead, what she saw made her blood freeze in her veins.
Her mother marched into the room holding a thick, rough nylon rope. Without a word, she climbed onto a wooden chair right under the heavy crystal chandelier. She threw the rope over the strong metal hook, tied a quick knot, and slipped the loop around her own neck.
"Mom! What are you doing?!" Nicole shrieked, her voice tearing from her dry throat. She tried to stand up, but her legs were too weak.
Her mother's eyes were wild, completely consumed by the madness of wealth. "If you walk out of this marriage, Nicole, John's family will crush our company in a day. We will lose the house, the cars, everything! We will be beggars on the street!"
Her mother kicked the chair slightly, making it wobble dangerously. "If you don't agree to marry him right now, I will kick this chair away. I will hang myself right here, right in front of your eyes! You will watch our family die, and it will be your fault!"
"No! Please, Mom, stop!" Nicole sobbed uncontrollably, crawling toward the chair on her hands and knees. Her heart was breaking into a million pieces. The psychological torture was too much for a twenty-year-old girl to bear.
She looked at her mother's crazed eyes and her father's cold, silent face standing in the doorway. She realized then that she had no home. She had no family. She was entirely alone.
Defeated, broken, and completely dead inside, Nicole dropped her head to the floor.
"I'll do it," she whispered, her voice as hollow as a ghost's. "I'll marry him. Just... get down."
That was how she ended up walking down the aisle yesterday, wearing a diamond-studded dress that weighed heavier than iron chains.
Riiiiing! Riiiiing!
Suddenly, a loud, sharp sound shattered the silence of the bedroom, violently pulling Nicole out of her dark memories.
She flinched. She looked toward the bedside table. Her sleek, expensive smartphone was vibrating wildly.
Slowly, her trembling hand reached out and picked it up. She looked at the bright screen. The caller ID flashed a name that instantly brought a desperate, dangerous spark of life back into her dead eyes.
Kelvin.