James POV
The alarms stop screaming at three in the morning.
James stands in his penthouse while security teams sweep through every room. They find nothing. No intruders. No breach. Just someone testing his system. Just someone making a point.
Eleanor sits on the couch wrapped in a blanket and won't meet his eyes.
"Tell me," he says.
"I can't," she whispers.
"You're going to," he says. Not a question. A statement of fact.
But she doesn't. She just sits there and looks like she's dying from the inside out. And James realizes that whatever is happening, she's more terrified than he's ever seen anyone be.
So he does something he's never done before. He stops demanding answers. Instead, he sits beside her and holds her while she shakes. He doesn't ask questions. He just stays.
By morning, he's made a decision.
He's going to marry her.
Not because he understands what's happening. Not because he knows the truth. But because whatever is coming for her, he's going to make it impossible for it to touch her. He's going to put his name on her. He's going to make her his legally, financially, completely.
He's going to own her so thoroughly that nobody can take her away.
James has spent his entire life making smart decisions. This is not a smart decision. But he doesn't care about smart anymore. He cares about keeping her.
He calls his lawyer that morning. "I need you to arrange a marriage," he says. "Today. Noon. Somewhere private."
His lawyer doesn't ask questions. That's why James pays him.
Then he calls his mother because if there's one person who needs to know what he's doing, it's her. Mostly because Victoria is going to find out anyway and it's better to control the narrative.
"I'm getting married," he tells her.
There's a long silence on the other end.
"To who?" Victoria finally asks.
"Eleanor Marsh."
"James," his mother says, and her voice has that tone she uses when she's about to tell him something he doesn't want to hear. "I need you to listen to me very carefully. I had someone look into that girl."
"I don't care what you found," he says.
"She doesn't exist," Victoria continues. "Not really. No birth certificate. No family. No past before three weeks ago. Whatever she is, she's not who she says she is."
James feels something twist in his chest. He already knows this. He's known since the phone call. Since Marcus. Since her real name turned out to be Iris.
"I'm marrying her anyway," he says.
"You're making a mistake," his mother says.
"Probably," he agrees. "But it's my mistake to make."
He hangs up before she can argue.
The next day, he takes Eleanor to his office. He wants her to meet his team. He wants her to exist in his world in a concrete way. He wants people to know that she's his.
His employees stare at her like she's a puzzle they're trying to solve. Eleanor moves through the office like a ghost. Like she's not sure if she's allowed to take up space.
James puts his hand on the small of her back and keeps it there. A statement. A claim.
"This is Eleanor," he tells his team. "She's important to me. Everyone needs to treat her accordingly."
Then he takes her to meet his mother.
Victoria is waiting in her penthouse, which is smaller than James's but somehow more intimidating. His mother sits in a chair like she's holding court. She looks Eleanor up and down like she's evaluating merchandise.
"So you're the mysterious woman my son won't stop talking about," Victoria says.
"It's nice to meet you," Eleanor says, and her voice is so small that James wants to pull her closer.
"I'm sure," Victoria says. "Tell me, Eleanor, where are you from?"
Eleanor's hands shake slightly. "A small town," she says. "Nothing interesting."
"And your family?"
"I'm not in contact with them anymore," Eleanor says.
Victoria's eyes narrow. She knows something is wrong. James can see his mother cataloging the lies, storing them away to use later.
"How long have you known my son?" Victoria asks.
"Three weeks," Eleanor says.
Victoria laughs. Actually laughs. Like this is the most ridiculous thing she's heard all year.
"Three weeks and he's already completely obsessed," Victoria says. She looks at James. "This is what happens when you let someone in. This is exactly what I warned you about."
"I'm going to marry her," James says.
The room goes completely silent.
"No, you're not," Victoria says.
"Yes, I am," James replies. "Today."
His mother stands up. She's small but she fills the entire room with her presence. With her disappointment. With her certainty that he's making a terrible mistake.
"If you marry this girl," Victoria says, "you're a fool."
James looks at Eleanor. She's standing there with her arms wrapped around herself like she's trying to hold herself together. She looks terrified. She looks like she wants to disappear.
"I'm a fool then," he says.
The judge is someone James knows. Owes a favor to. The kind of person who doesn't ask questions when you tell him you need a marriage license processed immediately.
The ceremony takes fifteen minutes.
Just James and Eleanor and the judge and a witness that the judge provides. No family. No friends. No witnesses who matter.
James slips a simple gold band on Eleanor's finger and it feels like the most important thing he's ever done. More important than building his empire. More important than acquiring companies. More important than anything.
"Do you take this man to be your husband?" the judge asks Eleanor.
She looks at James with her careful eyes and for a moment, he thinks she's going to say no. For a moment, he thinks she's going to run.
Then she says, "I do."
When they sign the papers, James feels something settle inside his chest. She's his now. Not just emotionally. Legally. Completely.
She can't leave him. She can't disappear. She's bound to him in a way that can't be undone.
He's never felt safer.
He doesn't notice that Eleanor looks like she's dying when she signs her name.
He doesn't see the moment when she looks at the marriage certificate and realizes what she's just done.
He doesn't understand that she's just trapped herself in a marriage she entered to survive.
He just feels victorious. Like he's finally won something. Like he finally has something real that nobody can take away.
The drive back to the penthouse is quiet.
Eleanor stares out the window and doesn't speak. James keeps glancing at her, waiting for her to smile. Waiting for her to acknowledge that they're married. That she's his wife.
She doesn't smile.
When they get to the penthouse, she goes directly to the bedroom. She sits on the edge of the bed and stares at her hands.
James sits next to her and takes her hand. The ring feels heavy on her finger.
"You're my wife now," he says. Like it's a promise. Like it's a protection.
She looks at him and her eyes are full of something he doesn't recognize. Something that looks like goodbye.
"I know," she whispers.
He pulls her close and holds her. She lets him, but her body is stiff. Like she's holding herself separate from him even while he's holding her.
That night, James lies awake next to his wife and feels something shift. Something that tells him he's missing something important. Something that says he's made a mistake.
But he pushes it away. He has her now. That's what matters.
The next morning, Eleanor is already awake when he opens his eyes. She's sitting by the window looking at something on her phone.
Her expression changes when she sees him watching her.
"What were you looking at?" he asks.
"Nothing," she says, and she puts the phone away too quickly.
He wants to push. He wants to demand answers. But instead, he just watches her and wonders when his wife became a stranger.
His phone rings.
Unknown number. He answers because he answers everything.
"Congratulations on the marriage," the voice says. Male. Cold. Terrifying. "That was a nice touch. Now she's legally bound to you, which means you're legally bound to her problems. I hope you understand what that means."
James hangs up.
He looks at Eleanor and she's turned completely white.
"Who was that?" he asks.
She doesn't answer.
"Eleanor—"
"That was Marcus," she says quietly. "The man I witnessed commit a crime. The man I've been running from. The man who just realized that by marrying me, you've made yourself his target too."
James feels the ground tilt beneath him.
"What did you do?" he asks.
"I married you to save myself," she says. "And in doing that, I put you directly in the path of a man who kills people. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
She starts to cry.
And James realizes that he's just made the biggest mistake of his life.
But he's made it legal and permanent and impossible to undo.