FORCED MARRIAGE WITH A BILLIONAIRE

n's poin

al, unravel, expose. And in my world, exposure is a death sentence. That's why

lle

ything more than a name on a

attached. Un

eeded someone who wouldn't complicate things, who wouldn't ask too many

t this has gone

ss like a shroud of mourning, something in me shifted. I'd buried emotions deep enough to make myself untouchable. Still, she l

y the marriage act, and I don't blame him. But this isn't about love. It never w

pine stiff as steel, sipping coffee without tasting it. The bruised shadows under

tor had said. "Too

I can feel it. And maybe t

litter and champagne. I hadn't wanted Camille there. It was too soon. But

hair swept to one side, a diamond pendant catching the l

. But Camille reminded me of a time before the screams a

Murmurs filled the ballroom. Camille clung to my side, her

t looking at her. "Don't le

softly, her voice trembli

w that mad

y she'd always been,draped in crimson, lips curled in a poisonou

suppose everyone looks like a princess once yo

looked to me for help, but I didn't intervene. I couldn't. Not yet. She had

by my side, staring into her untouched glass of champagne. "You s

to steal anyt

That's wh

t her for long. The press descended,sleek, shar

s a real marriage

l to go from nurse to bil

rry for lov

Vanessa was already texting. Probably leaking some story about Camille's humble

tly around Camille's waist. Claimed he

ud enough for the vultures to hear

s clicked. Camille lo

ce. Instead, I found her sitting on the couch, heel

she tried to

said, surpri

ated, the

g the angry red scrape at the back of her foot. I left the ro

d st

it," she s

d, dabbing at the

ars of experience caring for wounds much deeper than this.

e to defend me,

, I

hy

was. Because I know what they'll do to you if they smell blood. Beca

say any

shrugged.

r fingers trembled on

pause, her voice barely above a whi

, searching. Desperate to under

her something soft to hold onto. A half-truth, a fabri

ace and stood, bru

aid coldly, "is the

ally. Not with tears. But s

for being the one

immed, the city glittering beyond the floor-to-ceiling windo

es,would've been thirty-two. Instead, they're both dust and

ppet. But he doesn't know what I'm buil

ame on my desk

& Me

ad braces and sunflower clips in her hair. I'd built her a treeho

e the

the b

at turned me into a m

hind me ma

mi

orway, wrapped in a

m," she said quiet

clenched. "Nightmar

r gaze flicked to t

he asked,

sist

oks lik

oked li

le

u miss

heartbeat I take without her in

er," I said instead.

moment longer, th

hind her, I exhaled shakily a

was cr

I could survive the