Amara's hands trembled as she sat across from him—the man who destroyed her father's company and shattered the only life she had ever known.
Ethan Wolfe.
Powerful. Arrogant. Unapologetically ruthless.
He sat there like a king in his glass throne, framed by the sprawling city skyline behind him, his fingers steepled beneath his chin. His tailored black suit fit like sin, and his gray eyes—stormy and unreadable—pierced through her defenses with clinical precision.
"I expected you thirty minutes ago," he said flatly.
Amara swallowed hard, her throat dry. "I almost didn't come."
"But you did," he replied, his tone smooth but sharp. "Because you need me."
No shame. No sympathy. Just cold, clean truth.
Amara's fingernails dug into her palm. Don't cry. Don't fold. You came here for Kunle. Her younger brother's face flashed in her mind—hooked up to monitors in that stark white hospital room, struggling to smile even as pain twisted through him.
"I'm not here to beg," she said, voice low.
"You wouldn't be the first."
Her breath hitched. Breathe, Amara. Breathe and get through this.
Across the table, Ethan slid a sleek, leather-bound folder toward her. "Everything you need is in there."
She opened it slowly, the soft click of the folder's magnetic clasp louder than it should've been. Her eyes scanned the contents—and her heart dropped.
It was a marriage contract
Her name. His. Terms. Conditions. Legally binding. Emotionally sterile.s>"You want me to marry you," she said, the disbelief cracking her voice.
"I need a wife," he said simply. "You need money. I'm offering a solution."
Her hands shook as she held the pen. "Why me?"
Ethan stood and walked to the window, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Because you're desperate. Because your name still carries some weight in the right circles. And because no one else would be bold—or foolish—enough to sign."
Her pride screamed. Say no. Walk out.But her reality whispered something colder.
"You'd own me," she said bitterly.
No," he replied without turning. "I'd lease you."
The words stung more than she expected.
She stood abruptly, knocking the chair back with a harsh scrape. "You ruined my family, Ethan. You tore my father's company apart, left us with nothing—and now you want me to marry you?" Her eyes burned, not from tears—but from pure, restrained rage
He turned back around then, his gaze locking with hers. "But you're smarter than he was. You know when to fight... and when to survive."
Amara's hands clenched at her sides. Everything in her screamed to leave, to never speak to him again. But she couldn't outrun the truth.
Her brother's life depended on her silence. On her sacrifice.
She sat down slowly, lowering herself with the grace of a woman about to make the most important deal of her life.
I'll marry you," she said quietly.
Ethan raised a brow. "Just like that?"
She met his gaze. "But don't expect me to fall in love."
He smirked—cold, amused, dangerous. "Trust me, Amara. That makes two of us."
Silence settled between them like ash. She picked up the pen again. Her fingers were steady this time.
And she signed.