Chapter 1. Unchosen
Charlotte's POV.
The rain slammed against the window like it wanted to break in. I stood there arms wrapped tightly around myself, as the last hues of evening stretched across the skyline. Below, the city moved on without pause—cars honking, people rushing, life continuing as if nothing had changed.
As if my entire future hadn't just been taken from me.
My eyes stayed fixed on the glass, distant and unblinking, reflecting both the fading light and the truth I could no longer escape. It lingered in the air around me, thick and suffocating like smoke I couldn't breathe through.
Just a week ago, I had graduated from college.
It was supposed to mean something.
A beginning.
A life finally opening up to me.
I had plans—soft, simple dreams of freedom. Of living at my own pace. Of choosing love, not being handed it like an obligation.
Ivan.
The only person I had ever truly loved.
The boy who had held my hand since we were fifteen... who had grown with me, laughed with me, dreamed with me. The boy I had imagined giving my first kiss to beneath a sky full of stars. The one I had quietly built my future around.
I had never let anyone else touch me—not in any way that mattered.
My heart, my body, my innocence—they had always belonged to him.
And now, I was expected to give all of it away.
To someone else.
Not just someone else... but a man I didn't even know.
A stranger.
My breath hitched as I turned away from the window, my heart racing wildly against my chest. My lips trembled, and before I could stop them, tears slipped silently down my cheeks. The thought alone made my stomach twist painfully, tightening into knots I couldn't undo.
How was I supposed to live with a man I didn't know?
Not as a distant presence.
Not as a name tied to mine.
But as a husband.
As someone who would stand too close, speak too softly... touch me in ways that made my skin burn just thinking about it.
My face flushed, heat rushing up my neck as I pressed my arms tighter around myself, as though I could somehow shield my own thoughts.
Then—
A knock.
Sharp. Sudden. Final.
It landed against my chest like a hammer.
"Charlotte."
My father's voice followed, deep and firm, leaving no room for hesitation... no space for refusal. "The Hidalgo family has sent their proposal. They will be visiting tomorrow."
For a moment, I forgot how to breathe. My knees nearly gave out beneath me, my fingers curling tightly into the fabric of my sleeves as the weight of his words settled over me.
Tomorrow.
It was happening that fast.
A scream clawed its way up my throat, desperate and broken. I wanted to cry, to beg him to take it back, to tell him I couldn't do this—that I wouldn't.
But the words never came.
They never did.
I had been raised differently.
Obedience had been woven into me from the very beginning. Politeness. Duty. Silence.
All stitched carefully together by my father's expectations... and my mother's quiet, enduring sacrifices.
So I did what I had always done.
I said nothing.
And I let it happen.
⸻
The wall clock blinked softly at 8:12 p.m.
The rain had stopped, but I remained by the window, unmoving... almost an hour after my father had left my room.
The glass was still marked with faint trails of droplets, but the storm had passed—outside, at least. The city beyond looked calmer now, quieter... as if nothing had happened at all.
But inside me, the storm had only just begun.
Slowly, I bent down. My fingers trembled as I reached for the drawer, pulling out my diary—a small notebook with a delicate padlock, its pink cover decorated with soft, childish patterns I had never quite grown out of.
Carefully, I opened it.
I let the pen rest against the page for a moment, my breath uneven, before I finally began to write.
Dear Diary,
I always thought the hardest part of growing up would be choosing my future. I never imagined it would be taken from me instead. Today... my father decided my future for me. He told me I'm getting married.
The words blurred before I could continue.
My throat tightened painfully, the rest of my thoughts refusing to come out, as if even they couldn't bear the truth. I stared at the page for a moment longer... then snapped the diary shut.
I couldn't do it.
Not tonight.
Rising unsteadily to my feet, I crossed the room before collapsing onto my bed, my body curling into itself as though I could somehow disappear inside my own arms.
The tears came quietly at first... then all at once. They soaked into my pillow as I pressed my face against it, trying to muffle the sound of my own breaking. My hand reached blindly for my phone.
Ivan.
His name alone made my chest ache.
I held the phone tightly, as if it could anchor me, as if hearing his voice would make this—any of this—feel less real. My fingers moved on their own, dialing his number from memory.
It rang.
Then—Call failed.
The words flashed across the screen, cold and final. I stared at them, my grip tightening, my heart sinking deeper into something hollow and helpless.
I had no choice. Tomorrow... I would walk into a stranger's family. Into a stranger's life. And marry a man I didn't know—A man who didn't want me, just as much as I didn't want him.
My eyes closed slowly, another tear slipping down my temple. Fate had already decided. Cruel. Unrelenting. The contract had been sealed long before I ever knew it existed.
