Flash Marriage To My Best Friend's Father

Eliza Solomon's hand

ng against her palm, a perfect mirror of the way her ches

happy, d

became the pitiful ward of the Hyde family. They weren't just her guardians; they were the iron-fisted trustees of the Solomon estate

omewhere between the appetizer course and the moment Anson Hy

than happy. He l

ion. His hand rested on the small of Claudine's back, his fingers splayed possessively against the white fabric

the heavy orchestral music and lodge

ine used when she made fun

ered, bumping into Eliza's

glass, soaking into the bodice of he

d her as the charity case, and curled his lip in a sneer

needed air. She needed to not be here, watching the boy who held the keys to her gilded cage announce his engagement to the

toward the library,

in the Hyde estate where Eliza had ever felt safe. She closed the heavy oak door be

dle turned u

. She expected him to come in here and tell her to stop making a scen

at filled the doo

dim light of the room. He was taller than Anson, broader, with a st

as K

Industries, the most powerful man in the city, didn't hid

face. He took in the champagne stain on her dress, the red blotches on her

that made him look like a statue carved fro

osed the door, sealing o

handkerchief. It was white silk, folded into a pe

at it. "I..

His voice was a low rumble, vibra

e took the silk. A jolt of static electricity snapped between

something clean, like rain on pavement. It

drifted through the thick wood o

utiful fiancé

al blow to the back of Eliza

't hit t

or a man of his size. One moment he was standing three feet a

d her up effortlessly, his arm l

ures, but she could see the intensity in his eyes. He wasn't looking a

way," she

erate plea, born of heartbreak and the sudden, overwhelming instinct that

wn to something nearly black. He looked down at her, as

His voice was low, rough around the edges. "If you walk

re spilling over now, hot tracks on he

ants' exit hidden behind a tapestry. He moved his body to shield her fro

atte black Maybach was idling at the curb, l

of leather and isolation. He slammed the door shut, and the silence

nter in the center console. She didn't think. She just p

way down to her empty stoma

dn't look at her. He gripped the steerin

ice slurring slightly as the alcohol hi

e," Dall

liza felt dizzy, unmoored. The alcohol was mixing with the adr

le. He was Azalea's dad. He

d, the words tumbling out. "I

the rearview mirror. His

The elevator ride was a blur of motion sickness. When

er. His hands on her arms felt hot

ighting of the foyer, he didn't look

," she bl

hat followed

But marrying anyone else... that was the loophole in her father's will. It was her only escape clause. It was the sur

rned electric, charged with a tension tha

He didn't tell

e punched in a code, the beeps loud in the quiet roo

nd placed the paper on

soft, but it carried the weight of

n the paper. The words swam. She

Anson to know she was gone. She wanted to burn the

nature was messy, a jagged s

she wh

ers and clattered onto the ma

hing her again, lifting her into his ar