Chapter 7 — The Wedding

• Caroline’s POV
• The wedding took place three days after I signed the contract.
• Three days.
• That was all the time I had to become the wife of Lucian Varr.
• I spent most of those three days trying to convince myself that it was still possible to escape.
• There had to be a way.
• A loophole.
• A mistake in the contract.
• Something.
• But every time I looked at my mother, I remembered the blood on her face and the broken glass scattered across our floor.
• So I stopped looking for a way out.
• Instead, I prepared to become a woman I had never planned to be.
• The media found out about the wedding before I did.
• The first article appeared the morning after the contract was signed.
• BILLIONAIRE LUCIAN VARR SET TO MARRY MYSTERY WOMAN.
• By noon, the entire internet was talking about it.
• By evening, my name had become the most searched name in the country.
• Caroline Fisher.
• No one knew who I was.
• That was exactly how Lucian wanted it.
• A stylist arrived at our house the next morning with several assistants and enough clothing to fill an entire room.
• I stared at the wedding dress hanging before me.
• It was beautiful.
• Elegant.
• Expensive.
• The kind of dress women dreamed about wearing.
• I hated it.
• My mother stood behind me.
• “You look beautiful.”
• “I look like someone being taken to her execution.”
• “Caroline.”
• “I’m sorry.”
• She came closer and touched my arm.
• “You don’t have to do this.”
• I looked at her reflection in the mirror.
• “Yes, I do.”
• Her eyes filled with sadness.
• I turned away.
• If I looked at her for too long, I would change my mind.
• And I couldn’t afford to.
• The wedding venue was surrounded by security.
• Cameras waited outside the gates.
• Reporters stood behind barriers.
• Fans gathered across the street.
• Everyone wanted to see the woman who had somehow captured the attention of Lucian Varr.
• They had theories.
• Some said I was secretly an heiress.
• Others believed I was a foreign princess.
• A few people claimed I had been Lucian’s secret lover for years.
• The truth was far less romantic.
• I was a detective whose brother had died under suspicious circumstances.
• I was a daughter trying to protect her mother.
• And I was marrying the most powerful man in the world because I had no other choice.
• When I stepped out of the car, the noise became deafening.
• Cameras flashed.
• People shouted questions.
• “Who are you?”
• “How did you meet Lucian Varr?”
• “Is it true this was a secret relationship?”
• “Are you pregnant?”
• My eyes widened.
• I almost tripped.
• A security guard quickly moved beside me.
• I kept walking.
• At the entrance, Lucian was waiting.
• He wore a black suit.
• Of course he did.
• He looked completely calm.
• As though the entire world wasn’t watching him.
• As though this was a normal wedding.
• His eyes met mine.
• For one second, I forgot the cameras.
• Then I remembered everything.
• The contract.
• The debt.
• My mother.
• Daniel.
• I walked toward him.
• Lucian extended his hand.
• I placed mine in it.
• His fingers closed around mine.
• The touch was brief.
• Careful.
• He did not hold me tightly.
• He did not pull me closer.
• He simply held my hand.
• As the contract had required.
• I looked at him.
• “You look pleased.”
• “I’m not.”
• “You could have fooled me.”
• “I’m good at pretending.”
• I almost laughed.
• “That makes two of us.”
• His gaze shifted toward the crowd.
• “Smile.”
• “I am smiling.”
• “You look like you want to kill someone.”
• “I am a detective. That is my natural expression.”
• His mouth twitched.
• I hated that I noticed.
• We walked into the venue together.
• The ceremony was small.
• Only a few guests.
• People Lucian trusted.
• People I had never met.
• The entire thing felt unreal.
• The officiant spoke.
• I heard almost none of it.
• My eyes remained fixed on the ring waiting on the table.
• A symbol.
• A promise.
• A lie.
• When it was time, Lucian took the ring.
• He looked at me.
• For the first time since I had met him, his expression was difficult to read.
• Then he slid the ring onto my finger.
• The metal was cold.
• My turn came.
• I picked up his ring.
• His hand remained still as I placed it on his finger.
• The officiant smiled.
• “You may kiss the bride.”
• The entire room seemed to hold its breath.
• I looked at Lucian.
• He looked at me.
• The contract was clear.
• He could not touch me without my consent.
• His eyes asked the question without words.
• I hated that he did that.
• I hated that he waited.
• I gave the smallest nod.
• Lucian stepped closer.
• His hand settled lightly against my waist.
• Then he kissed me.
• It was brief.
• Controlled.
• Careful.
• But the entire world was watching.
• When he pulled away, cameras flashed through the windows.
• The richest man in the world had married a woman nobody knew.
• And everyone wanted to know why.
• By the time we left the venue, the news had already spread everywhere.
• The internet was filled with photographs of us.
• Lucian Varr and his mysterious bride.
• The shocking billionaire wedding.
• The woman who had captured the heart of the world’s richest man.
• I stared at the headlines on my phone.
• None of them knew the truth.
• They didn’t know about Daniel’s debt.
• They didn’t know about the attack.
• They didn’t know that my mother was still afraid to sleep alone.
• They didn’t know I had married Lucian Varr because I was terrified of what would happen if I didn’t.
• The car stopped outside his mansion.
• My new home.
• I looked through the window.
• I had never been there before.
• The gates opened.
• I stared at the enormous house beyond them.
• Lucian sat beside me.
• “Welcome home.”
• I looked at him.
• “This isn’t my home.”
• “Not yet.”
• I turned toward the window.
• The car moved forward.
• The gates closed behind us.
• And as the world celebrated my beautiful billionaire wedding, I sat beside my new husband and realized that I had just entered the most dangerous agreement of my life.
• I was now Caroline Varr.
• Lucian Varr’s wife.
• And nobody in the world knew that I had married him to save my mother.
• Not even the man I had just married knew how much I already hated him for making me do it.