Seraphina barely slept.

She lay awake in the guest room — staring at the ceiling, replaying Adrian’s words, his warnings, his contradictions. Outside, the city kept moving, glittering uncaringly while her world shifted beneath her feet.

By sunrise, she knew one thing with agonizing certainty:

Every choice was dangerous.

But not choosing was fatal.

She found Adrian in the kitchen at 6 a.m., sleeves rolled up, tie discarded, hair slightly undone — like he’d been awake all night too.

He didn’t look up when she entered.

“Your answer,” he said quietly.

Three words. No pressure in his voice, but pressure in everything else.

Seraphina’s hands trembled around the glass of water she hadn’t realized she was holding. “I’ll do it. The marriage. But only if—”

Adrian cut in sharply. “There are no terms.”

“That’s not how this works,” she snapped. “If I’m agreeing to this, I’m agreeing on my conditions too.”

His jaw flexed — irritation, restraint… and something like admiration.

“Fine,” he said. “Say them.”

She inhaled hard.

“No controlling my career. No isolating me socially. I’m not being locked away in this penthouse.”

“You won’t be hidden,” Adrian said immediately. “But you will be protected.”

She continued, voice steadier:

“And no pretending in private. No touching. No acting like a real couple when no one is watching.”

That one hit him.

His eyes flickered — the first visible wound she’d ever given him.

“Is that what you think I want?” he asked, voice rough.

She didn’t answer.

Because she wasn’t sure.

Adrian took a slow breath, then nodded once — crisp, businesslike, but not cold.

“Agreed.”

Relief hit her — sharp and temporary.

“Then we do this,” she said.

He stepped closer — not touching her, not crowding her — but she still felt like gravity shifted.

“We survive this,” he corrected. “And after a year, we separate. You get your life back. I disappear from it.”

Her throat tightened unexpectedly. She nodded.

The wedding was that same afternoon.

No guests.

No family.

No celebration.

Just a city clerk, a pen, and a signature that bound their lives together harder than any romance ever could.

Seraphina wore a simple white dress Adrian’s assistant rushed over — beautiful, but unfamiliar. Adrian stood beside her in a dark suit, groomed, perfect, unreadable.

The vows were standard — but every word felt like glass pressed to skin.

…to have and to hold…

…in sickness and in health…

…for as long as you both shall live.

Seraphina swallowed around the lie of it.

This wasn’t love.

This wasn’t forever.

But when she forced her gaze up to meet Adrian’s, something in his eyes made her heart stutter.

He wasn’t acting.

For a second — barely a breath — she saw a life he would have wanted with her, if this were real.

Then the officiant said it:

“You may kiss the bride.”

Silence slammed into the room.

Seraphina tensed. Adrian didn’t reach for her — didn’t move an inch. His voice was polite steel.

“We’ve agreed to dispense with that. It’s a legal union, nothing more.”

The clerk nodded and continued.

But Seraphina saw what no one else did — the pain that flickered through Adrian’s eyes when he turned away. He hadn’t wanted to disrespect her. He’d been giving her what she asked for even though it cost him something.

And for the first time, Seraphina wondered if she had armored herself…

because she was starting to care.

After signing the documents, Adrian escorted her outside to the waiting car. Photographers — tipped off by someone — had already swarmed the street.

The air exploded with light and shouts:

“Adrian, who is she?”

“Is this a secret marriage?”

“Are you in love?”

Seraphina froze.

Adrian moved instantly — stepping in front of her, shielding her with his body.

Every camera flash hit him, not her.

Every question was directed at him, not her.

And his voice — powerful, controlled — cut through the chaos:

“My wife is off limits. Get that clear.”

The word wife reverberated through her bones.

Security forced a path to the car. The moment the doors closed, silence swallowed them.

Seraphina whispered without thinking, “You didn’t have to protect me like that.”

Adrian looked at her — a storm barely leashed.

“I will always protect you like that.”

She didn’t know what to say.

She didn’t know if she wanted to.

He turned forward, voice low.

“Our lives are different now. Cameras. Headlines. Questions. You’ll be in danger from criminals — and from the world’s curiosity.”

She nodded slowly.

“But while you’re mine,” he continued, “you will never stand alone.”

She looked down at her wedding ring — heavy, gleaming, unreal.

“We’re not real,” she murmured.

Adrian didn’t look at her.

“No,” he said softly. “But I am.”

Seraphina didn’t understand what he meant…

not yet.

One day she would.

And when she did, it would already be too late.