Chapter 1
I always thought my wedding day would be filled with love, excitement for the future I chose. Instead here I was standing in front of a man I don't even know, speaking vows that felt like a script written for someone else’s life.
The church was cold. Not just from the air, but from the silence that stretched between the people seated in the pews. There was no music, no soft whispers of admiration, no happy sighs. Just the heavy weight of obligation pressing down on me, suffocating me. I didn’t choose this. I wasn't marrying for love.
Nathan Smith, my husband-to-be. I forced myself to look at him as he sat in a sleek black wheelchair, his posture straight, his hands resting in his lap. He wore a tailored black suit, crisp and formal. His skin was pale, almost ghostly under the dim lighting, but his eyes…His eyes were the only thing about him that felt alive. His expression was dark and unreadable watching me with unsettling patience. With every glance I took my stomach got twisted.
The man in front of me wasn’t the man i had imagined spending my life with.
It's not that he wasn't good looking.
He was. Devastatingly so.
The kind of face that belonged on magazine covers, paired with eyes any woman could lose herself in.
But attraction meant nothing without choice. He wasn't someone I had fallen for, someone I had built memories with. He was a complete stranger to me. A man with no known history and the fact that he was disabled didn't make it any better. That was the story I had been given. Arranged marriage was very common amongst my family. In fact my parents' marriage was also arranged. Which actually scared me because I didn't want to end up like my mother who had to endure so much because she was married to my father. Their marriage wasn't exactly a loving and happy one. I had always hoped mine would be different but here I was trapped in the same web as my parents.
The officiant’s voice cut through my thoughts. "Do you, Elena Carter, take Nathan Smith to be your lawfully wedded husband…?"
My throat was dry. I could feel my father’s presence beside me, his gaze focused on me, as if daring me to resist. I could say no I could run but I wouldn't get far. The Carters weren’t a wealthy family, though we weren't poor either. My father would go to any length to get what he wants, but why he wanted me to get married to the man sitting in front of me I had no idea.
My mother sat stiffly in the front row, her fingers twisting together in her lap, avoiding my gaze. She hadn’t fought for me. Hadn’t begged for another way. Next to her, my aunt Beatrice held her chin high, her expression unreadable. But the tension in her jaw, the fire in her eyes, told me everything. She was angry. Not at me, but at him. At my father.
I swallowed, my pulse thrumming in my ears "i..i do," I whispered.
The words felt like a death sentence. The officiant turned to Nathan. "And do you, Nathan Smith, take Elena Carter to be your lawfully wedded wife…?". A pause, a brief hesitation, so slight that I almost missed it.
Then, his lips parted. His voice was smooth, quiet, but absolute "I do." A shiver ran down my spine. The officiant continued, but I barely heard him. My hands trembled as Nathan reached out, his fingers cool against mine as he slid a ring onto my finger. A perfect fit like this had been planned long before I ever had a choice.
The moment it was over, my father exhaled showing satisfaction. The guests clapped politely, but there was no warmth. No celebration. The reception was held at a hotel, the kind my family had frequented since I was a child. I barely ate, barely spoke. I just smiled when required, nodded at strangers offering empty congratulations, and kept my hands folded in my lap. Nathan sat beside me, silent as ever. I had expected him to be awkward, uncomfortable, maybe even embarrassed by this arrangement, by being married off like a burden no one wanted but he wasn’t. He was calm, controlled, observing everything around him like he wasn’t just part of the scene, but above it.
"How are you feeling?" A voice murmured beside me. I turned. Izzy and Claire, my best friends, had slipped into the seats next to mine. They were the only bright spot in this miserable evening. Izzy tried her best to hide her anger and I could tell she was faking the broad smile ,across her face. Claire's warm brown eyes scanned my face with concern as she held my hand.
"Like I just signed a deal with the devil," I muttered under my breath. She exhaled sharply.
"This is insane, Elena. You shouldn’t have gone through with it." I didn’t answer because what was I supposed to say? That I had no choice? That my father had made sure this was the only option left for me? That every time I had tried to fight back, the walls had just closed in tighter?
"Claire, please," I whispered, "not tonight." Her lips pressed together, but she nodded. "I’m not dropping this, though." I managed to smile a little. "I know."
A sharp clink of glass cut through the low murmur of voices. My father stood up, raising his champagne. "A toast," he announced. "To my daughter and her new husband. May this marriage bring prosperity to both families." Prosperity, not love, not happiness. Nathan lifted his own glass, his expression unreadable. I picked up mine with stiff fingers, forcing a sip past the lump in my throat. As the room erupted into polite applause. I didn't know why fate led me to this situation but one thing I knew for sure was that the road ahead was going to be pretty rough.
