Chapter 2

"A secondary role?" I repeated, the words feeling like ash in my mouth. "Mark, we' re married. I love you. I gave you your wish."

My plea hung in the silent, opulent room. I pointed to the golden objects sparkling around us.

"This was us. This was our love. You told me it was."

He scoffed, a short, dismissive sound that cut deeper than any shout. He walked over and picked up a small, golden bird, a sparrow that had been sitting on our balcony when he' d first told me he loved me.

"This?" he said, weighing it in his hand. "This was a means to an end, Ava. A very beautiful, very effective means to an end."

He gestured vaguely toward the window, toward the city that was now his.

"Do you know what Emily brings me? A pristine public image. The adoration of the masses. She' s a saint. Marrying a saint makes me a king."

He then looked back at me, his gaze analytical, devoid of any warmth.

"And you? You bring me the Green family' s influence and a power that is, admittedly, useful. But you are not a saint, Ava. You' re just... convenient."

His words were so cruel, so detached, they almost didn' t feel real. He was laying out his strategy, and I was just a piece on his board.

"So you' re just going to keep me here? As your wife, while you' re engaged to another woman?" I asked, my voice trembling with a rage I was just beginning to feel.

"Of course," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "A divorce would be messy. It would tarnish my first days as CEO. We can' t have that. You' ll stay here, in the penthouse. You' ll be Mrs. Sterling. Emily will be the future Mrs. Sterling. The public will understand it as a complex, modern arrangement."

He was a master of manipulation, of spinning poison into something palatable.

I sank onto the sofa, my body feeling heavy, defeated. The fight drained out of me, replaced by a cold, hollow despair. I stared at my hands, the hands that had given him everything. He had taken my love, my magic, my very soul, and paid for his kingdom with it. I had no moves left to make. I was trapped.

Seeing my surrender, Mark' s tone softened, shifting into one of feigned concern. He sat beside me, but didn' t touch me.

"Listen, Ava. This is for the best. For everyone. I need your family' s continued support. I wouldn' t want anything... unfortunate... to happen to their company shares now that I' m at the helm of Innovate Global. A scandal could be so damaging to their portfolio."

It was a threat, wrapped in the language of a financial advisor. A clean, sterile, terrifying threat. My family' s fortune was tied to his success. He had chained me to him not just with love, but with duty.

I looked up at him, my eyes dry now. The tears were gone.

"I' ll do what you ask," I said, my voice flat.

He smiled, a gentle, patronizing smile.

"I knew you' d understand, Ava. You' re a smart woman."

He stood up, adjusted his tie, and headed for the door. He was going to her.

"I have to go," he said. "Emily is waiting."