yn's

e weight of the world settled upon my chest. It

ir golden light casting a warm, almost mockin

I were suffocating beneath the weight of a hundred eyes

to escape. But there was no escape from this. I had been trapped in this world for years, an

agement

ld mark the end of

ts' plan would fina

ny of this. But my desires didn't matter. Not when the

ther, standing near the center of the ballroom, looking

eir eyes. Only cold calculation, the kind of look that reminded me of the bu

I saw

i

l-wishers, his figure impossibly tall and straight, wi

d his piercing blue eyes scanned the room with de

ct way. But to me, he was nothing more than a s

n't care, but my body betrayed me. My heart thudded in

n't loo

my ears. My gaze was locked on him, and the moment our eyes met, a wave of something dark, s

is harder, wouldn't he? He would be just as cold,

arp and commanding. "Evelyn, darling, com

couldn't avoid this anymore. My feet felt like lead, each step heavi

She had that look again, the one that made me feel like a pawn in a game I didn

ommanding. "This is the moment, you know. The

stomach churning. I didn't r

his presence as if he were a shadow looming ove

tone sugary sweet as she greeted him with practiced warmth. "It's so

lways so composed, so calculated, always in control. He was the kind of man who thrived

ded once more. His eyes were cold, distant like ice, and yet there was something da

d my tongue, forcing myself to stay composed. I couldn

ing with mock sweetness, "it's finally t

me. This was a game to him. He saw it as a transaction, a deal

smile that felt like a betrayal to everything I stood for. "S

ike a force I couldn't escape. I wanted to pull away, but I couldn't.

at first. But the pressure from behind me, the knowing gaze of my parents pushed me f

mine, and I knew this would

e engagement. This was a promise, a contract. My parents had sold me out for their

culated, his movements almost predatory. I wanted to pull away, wanted to scream, but I kep

r faded into the background. The world seemed to narrow, until there was on

is was the moment I would be bound to him foreve

arm against my ear. "I'll make you reg

eryone. I didn't know if I wanted to cry, to scream, or to punch him in the face. But I did

shore. We were expected to smile, to pretend that this was a happy occasion. But

iam k

ating force. Neither of us spoke much, and when we did, the words were sharp and cold, nothing but formality an

eyes glinted with cold amusement, in the way he moved with a quiet confidence

was the one w