(Aria's POV)
The contract lay between us like a weapon—black, elegant, deadly.
My name was printed on it in bold letters, a silent declaration of everything he wanted to own.
I didn't move. Couldn't. My hands trembled against my sides, nails digging half-moons into my palms.
"You can't be serious," I whispered.
Leo's gaze didn't flicker. "I'm always serious."
The city lights bled into his office through the glass, cutting sharp angles across his face. Cold. Beautiful. Unreadable.
He slid the folder closer. "Sign it, Aria."
"I'm not doing this." My voice broke halfway. "You can't force me—"
His fingers tapped the desk once, slow, deliberate. "I don't force. I offer solutions. You're the one running out of options."
Anger burned through my fear. "You're manipulating me!"
A faint smirk ghosted across his lips. "And yet, you're still here."
The air snapped between us. I wanted to scream, to throw the damn contract in his face—but my throat betrayed me. Because he was right. I was still here.
"Why me?" I asked, voice barely above a whisper. "You could have anyone. Women line up to be near you."
He studied me, expression unreadable. "That's the problem. They want the man they see. You didn't."
"That night wasn't—"
"—a mistake?" he finished, stepping closer. "No. It was the first honest thing either of us has done."
I took a step back, heart hammering. "You're insane."
"Maybe." His tone softened dangerously. "But tell me you didn't feel it too."
His hand brushed a strand of hair from my face, slow, deliberate. The touch ignited a memory I didn't want—the weight of him, the heat of his breath, the way he'd said mine like a promise and a curse.
I caught his wrist, pushing it away. "You can't fix this with a ring."
"I'm not trying to fix it." His voice dropped to a whisper that slid over my skin. "I'm claiming it."
My pulse stuttered.
He reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a sleek black pen. The same pen he probably used to sign billion-dollar deals. Now, he held it out to me.
"Sign it," he said quietly. "End the noise. The chaos. The fear. Let me take care of it."
His words were poison wrapped in silk, smooth and convincing. For a moment, I could almost see the logic—if I said yes, the headlines would vanish, the gossip would die, my family would be safe.
All I had to do was give up everything else.
My freedom. My pride. My name.
I stared at the pen in his hand. My reflection shimmered in the glass behind him—pale, lost, trembling.
Leo's eyes softened, barely. "You're not losing yourself, Aria. You're surviving."
"By becoming yours?"
He leaned closer, his breath brushing my ear. "You already are."
Something inside me broke.
My hand moved before my mind caught up. I took the pen. The weight of it felt heavier than anything I'd ever held.
He slid the document toward me. His gaze never left my face as I lowered the pen to the line.
The sound of my signature filled the silence—soft, final, devastating.
When the last stroke was done, I let the pen fall from my fingers.
Leo reached forward, closing the folder with quiet satisfaction.
"Good girl," he murmured.
I flinched.
He straightened, slipping the contract under his arm. "From now on, you belong to me."
The words lingered in the air long after he left the room.
I stood frozen in the empty office, staring at the space where the contract had been—where I had been.
And for the first time, I realized he hadn't trapped me.
I had signed the cage myself.
Outside, the elevator chimed.
When I finally stepped in, my reflection stared back—haunted eyes, trembling lips, the ghost of who I used to be.
The doors slid open on the ground floor.
And that was when I saw them.
Cameras. Reporters. Flashing lights cutting through the marble lobby like lightning.
Someone shouted, "Aria Hale! Is it true you're engaged to Leo Blackwell?"
The world erupted around me.
And all I could think was—
It's already begun.