A Marriage Built on Lies

a Kin

word, he grabbed the man by the collar, slamming him against a nearby wall, scattering art pieces and sending

barely audible over the remaining throb of the bass. His

, rubbing his neck. "What are you

ing the distance. "Kissed you? Right in front of everyone? Right

? You have a wife, remember? The Ice Queen, Eliana King. Or did you forget your arranged

mething raw and desperate crossing his face. Then, in a move that shocked everyone, he pu

muffled, strained. I saw his fist connect with Garrett' s shoulder, then his back. Garrett didn't flinch. He held on,

emotions: desire, heartbreak, despair, and a possessiveness so intense it was chilling. It wasn't

usual composure, but a paralyzing realization. The chaos I had tried to manage, the wildness I had di

eeting moment of tenderness he' d offered me in public... it wasn' t about me at all. It was about h

n at his uncontrolled nature, evaporated, replaced by a crushing emptiness. His vibrant emotions, his wild energy, his profound pain-

rdered world, my icy facade, my carefully constructed identity-it felt like a

it. The crowd began to disperse, Garrett and Aden still locked in their silent, pain

s starting to empty. Garrett and Aden were gone. I blinked, my eyes burning. M

ome, I knew what I had to do. I picked up my phon

y, Mark. "His current address, his financial status, his conta

rprised. "Anything speci

"And send someone to pick up a secure flash drive from my office

stood,

al, hidden life. Most of it contained old photos of Aden and me from college, our secret rendezvous, the whispered promises. It also held the details of the financial pipeline I ha

racing Aden, Garrett's tormented face, Aden's defiant one. My

desk, the early morning light casting long shadows across

them. Candid shots from art exhibits, quiet dinners, even a few blurry ones from some of Garrett' s more outrageous parties. Garrett, always looking at Aden with an intensity that burned through

e in the digital ether. Garrett's gushing comments on Aden's early, unpolished songs. Aden's playful jabs at Garrett

consistently turned down lucrative opportunities that would take him away from the city where Aden lived, how he' d invested in Aden' s struggling music label, how he' d even used his own ar

Aden years ago. He had even embraced me, the Ice Queen, as a shield, a distraction, a tool to protect Aden from the scrutiny of our families. All those instances of his "kindness," his "concer

y marriage, my carefully constructed life with Garrett, every single interaction, had been a calculated performance o

otional wall I had built, it had all been for nothing. I was nothing more than a conveni

This wasn't merely a corporate misstep. This was a personal annihilation. My carefully built iden

e thought he was using me to protect Aden. He thought I was too cold, too calcul

ut before me like a map of my own foolishness. He had used me, yes, but the raw, vulnerable emotion I had seen in hi

my resolve now as cold and sharp as a surgeon's scalpel. My heart w

owerful. I styled my hair, a severe, elegant chignon. I looke

ld court in the main drawing-room. The air crackled with tensio

t? It is crucial that he attend this meeting. The merger terms still

us," I stated, my voi

d. "And why not? Does he thin

father," I said, a faint, humorless smile t

he kind of silence that