CHAPTER 1
RUINED
"You ruined me."
His voice was low, controlled… but deadly.
I pressed my back against the cold wall, my fingers trembling, lashes blinking.
"I don't even know what you're talking about."
A lie.
The man whose face dominated billboards, magazines, and every social media platform. The billionaire CEO with a reputation so spotless people joked his "face card never declined."
Until now.
And somehow…
I was standing in his penthouse.
Wearing his shirt.
With no memory of how things went this wrong.
Last night was a blur.
A chaotic event. Too much noise. Too many people. A drink I shouldn't have accepted.
Then him.
A stranger with piercing eyes and a voice that made my chest tighten for reasons I didn't understand.
I didn't even know his name then.
Now I wished I never did.
"This is what I'm talking about."
Liam's voice snapped me back to reality.
He tossed something onto the glass table in front of me.
A tablet.
My hands trembled as I picked it upp.
And then,
My breath stopped.
Photos. My well sculptured, fair, flawless skin on display.
Clear. Damning. Everywhere.
Me… tangled in his sheets.
I, Zara Williams… looking exactly like what the headlines were already calling me.
A gold digger. A scandal. A mistake.
My chest tightened painfully.
"I didn't do this," I whispered. "I didn't leak anything."
His expression didn't change.
If anything, his gaze turned colder, piercing into my naked body underneath his shirt that sits like a foil on my transparent skin.
"Do you think it matters?" he asked quietly.
I looked up at him, my heart pounding.
"It does to me."
A muscle in his jaw ticked.
"To me," he said, stepping closer, "it matters that my name is being dragged through the dirt because of you."
My breath hitched as he stopped just inches away, thank God he did. His cologne is tickling my brain already.
He was taller than I remembered.
More intimidating in a refreshing manner.
And somehow even more, dangerous.
"I didn't ask for this," I said, forcing my voice to stay steady.
"Neither did I."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
I could hear my own heartbeat similar to that of a fire alarm.
Feel the weight of his gaze, taking a stroll downward my Eden.
And for the first time since waking up,
Fear truly settled in.
"I can fix this," I said quickly. "I'll make a statement. I'll tell them the tru..
"No!"
The word was sharp. Final.
My neatly carved brows furrowed.
"No?"
"You think the media cares about the truth?" he asked, his poetic tone almost mocking.
"They care about the story. And right now, you are the story."
My fingers curled into fists.
"I'm not your enemy."
Liam let out a quiet, humorless laugh.
"Everyone is my enemy right now." He said in a hoarse tone
That stung more than I expected.
I took a step back, needing space, maybe fresh air, just anything to escape from the rising hormones.
"This isn't fair."
"Fair?" he repeated, his voice dropping.
Then he moved.
Fast.
One second there was distance between us.
The next,
His hand was on the wall beside my unarranged hair, trapping me in place.
My breath caught in my throat.
Fair? he murmured,
leaning slightly closer, "was before you walked into my life and destroyed it overnight."
"I didn't destroy anything!" I shot back, my fear mixing with frustration. "I didn't even know who you were!"
His eyes darkened.
"Now you do."
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
The tension in the room was thick and covering. Electric waves of attraction passing through my thighs.
Dangerous.
Then,
He straightened, stepping back just enough to reach for his phone.
A few quick taps.
A pause.
And then he looked at me again.
Different this time.
Like he had already made a decision.
My stomach dropped.
"What did you do?"
I asked slowly.
"Damage control."
A chill ran down my spine.
"I told my team to prepare an announcement." He answered, running his fingers through his neat haircut that seems to bounce whenever he moves.
My grip tightened around the tablet.
"What kind of announcement?"
His gaze locked onto mine.
Unyielding, determined,
Calculated.
Terrifying.
"The kind that makes this scandal disappear."
Hope flickered in my chest.
Maybe, just maybe this could be fixed.
Maybe I could walk away from this.
Go back to my normal life.
My small apartment.
My struggling makeup gigs.
My quiet, unnoticed existence.
But then, too late.
He spoke again.
And shattered everything.
"You're going to marry me."
The words didn't register at first.
I blinked. "What?"
"You heard me."
I let out a shaky laugh. "That's not funny."
"I'm not joking."
My heart started racing.
"No. No, that's insane. We don't even know each other."
"That didn't stop last night."
Heat rushed to my face.
"That was a mistake."
"Exactly."
His voice was cold again.
Controlled.
"This marriage fixes the mistake."
I stared at him, searching his face for any sign that this was some kind of twisted joke to lighten the mood.
There was none.
"You can't be serious," I whispered.
"I am."
"I won't do it."
The words came out before I could stop them.
Firm.
Certain.
Determined.
For a second, something I couldn't name flickered in his eyes.
Then it disappeared.
Replaced by something far more dangerous.
"Let me make this clear, Zara."
My name on his lips sent an uneasy feeling through me. A feeling of identification.
"You don't have a choice."
My chest tightened.
"Yes, I do"
"No."
The single word cut through me like a blade.
"You're already in this," he continued. "Your face is everywhere. Your name will be next."
My stomach dropped.
"And when that happens," he added calmly, "your life as you know it is over."
Silence filled the room.
The tingling sounds of the clock, passing through the room slowly.
"Tick, Tick, Tick"
Heavy.
Crushing.
I knew he wasn't lying.
I had seen what the internet could do. They can be mean.
What powerful men could do.
I felt my resolve start to crack.
"This is blackmail, nothing but blackmail."
"No," he said smoothly. "It's an opportunity."
I let out a bitter laugh, a laughter mixed with a rising tempo of pleasure.
"To become your prisoner?"
His gaze darkened.
"To become my wife."
My heart pounded violently in my chest.
I sink hard into the wall.
This wasn't real.
It couldn't be.
But the photos were real.
The headlines were real.
And the man standing in front of me…
It was very, very real. I pinched myself again, just maybe, maybe I could wake up from my sleep.
I swallowed hard.
"What happens if I say no?"
Liam didn't hesitate.
"Then you get destroyed alone."
The words landed like a final blow.
And in that moment, in that room that felt like a trapped den.
I realized something terrifying.
This wasn't just a scandal.
This was a trap.
And I was already caught deeply in it.