The Bound Flame

op

dding dress. The fabric clung to me like a second skin; elegant and expensive, yet suffocating. I gl

ered under my breath, mo

imes in the past hour," Jul

sually date, fall in love, and then get

his isn't a love story, Sophia, it's a transaction. T

actly what I was signing up for. I huffed, crossing my arms, "You're

ss his face before he masked it off with a scowl. "

ly, despite the lie fee

he door. "We're here," he said, his tone neutral but his eyes dar

n. I had imagined my wedding day to be a fairy tale of so

s; just me, Julian, and the

e arch adorned with plastic flowers. The officiant "a bored-looking man

r witnesses?" th

a young woman I didn't recognize. She was petite, with sha

self briskly nodding at me due to my ques

how a weak smi

ncy; handed the officiant the neces

the ceremony "Do you, Julian Alexander Blackwell, tak

h hesitation, his voice

n't the words but the abse

take Julian Alexander Blackwell t

ry of my mounting bills and the weight of the contract I'd signed helped

elf for the next step. There was no applause, no cheers- just silen

" the officiant said, al

sion and pressed a brief, clinical kiss on my lips. It was over before I co

said softly as we exited the hall, t

despite not feeling th

inally broke the silence "You will move into the p

," I muttered, star

st imperceptibly "It's j

easy or alright," I said to him while se

didn't have

~~

ke a museum exhibit than a home. The bed was enormous, cove

he big rock (wedding band) as it glinted in the di

cked it up only to se

arried life,

n't told Lily the complete truth about this arrange

ut fine"

t the ceiling. The reality of my decision was beginning

ul

ed but still neatly in place. The wedding had gone exactly a

eel so unsettl

Sophia's eyes during the ceremony. She had looked vulnerable, almost

ch of the parts of my

to an end; nothing more. Yet as I sat alone in the silence of my penthouse, gazing out at the skyline; my thoughts a