The elevator ride down from Luca Moretti's private floor felt sinking, slow, suffocating, inevitable.
By the time the doors slid open into the near-empty lobby, my pulse still hadn't found a normal rhythm. My fingers tingled. My thoughts scattered like loose papers in a storm.
Marry him.
A one-year marriage.
Five-million-dollar ring.
Sixteen events.
Living together.
A contract that could either save my mother…
Or destroy my life.
The words looped through my head until I felt dizzy.
"Miss Hayes?"
I jumped as the lobby receptionist waved a hand gently. "Are you alright? You look pale."
I forced a tight smile. "Just a long day."
Long day.
That was the understatement of the century.
I stepped out into the cool evening air, pulling my cheaply patched coat tighter around me. The streets buzzed with laughing couples, cars honking, music spilling from restaurants, a typical friday-night energy.
The world moved on, unaware that mine had tilted dangerously close to a cliff.
I hadn't even walked ten steps before my phone rang.
Mom.
I answered immediately.
"Sweetheart?" Her voice was weak, breathy. "Are you coming tonight?"
The lump in my throat nearly choked me. "Of course. I'm on my way."
There was a pause. "You sound tired."
"I'm okay," I lied. "Don't worry about me. Just rest."
Just rest.
As if she could.
As if either of us could.
When the call ended, a sharp wind cut through my clothes, biting into my skin. My hands clenched at my sides.
Seven days.
The hospital bill looming like a guillotine.
My rent eviction notice.
My scholarship warning.
My second job threatening to replace me.
I didn't have seven days.
I didn't even have one.
My phone buzzed again.
Unknown number.
I hesitated, then answered.
A familiar deep voice slid through the line like velvet dipped in frost.
"Have you made your decision?" Luca asked.
I froze on the sidewalk.
"You—how did you get my number?"
"A man in my position doesn't ask twice," he said simply. "And you didn't exactly hide your phone while panicking in my elevator."
Heat swept up my face. "I—I wasn't—"
"You were," he said. "And you're still trembling."
My breath caught. "Why do you care?"
Silence hummed for a moment.
Then:
"Because the sooner you accept, the sooner your mother's treatment resumes."
The city noise seemed to vanish.
"I didn't say I was accepting," I whispered.
"But you haven't said no," Luca replied. "And people who intend to refuse don't sound like they're about to cry on the sidewalk."
My throat tightened painfully.
He was right.
I couldn't say no.
But I was terrified of what saying yes meant.
"I need…" I swallowed. "I need time."
"You can have until tomorrow morning," he said.
"Tomorrow? That's not—"
"Your mother doesn't have a week," Luca said quietly.
The breath whooshed out of my lungs.
He wasn't threatening me.
He wasn't manipulating me.
He was stating a fact.
A brutal, honest fact.
I sagged against a lamppost, fighting tears.
"Why are you doing this?" I whispered. "You don't know me."
A faint exhale came through the line, more like a sigh he had no intention of revealing.
"You're the first person in a very long time who looked me in the eyes without wanting something from me," he said.
"You're honest. Unpolished. Unafraid to stand your ground even when terrified."
My heart thudded painfully.
"And," he added quietly,
"you're the only variable the board won't see coming."
I shivered.
"This will ruin my life," I whispered.
"No," Luca said softly, unexpectedly gentle.
"This will give you a life. A different one. A safer one. A life where you're not alone anymore."
My breath trembled out of me.
"What happens after the year?" I asked.
"I give you your freedom," he said. "And your mother. Healthy, safe, and cared for."
"And during the year?" My voice cracked. "How am I supposed to pretend to be your wife?"
Another pause.
"You won't pretend," he said. "You'll just… stay beside me. Nothing more."
Nothing more.
Then why did his voice sound like he meant everything?
"Go home, Amelia," he said finally. "Think about it. And remember, this is not charity."
"Then what is it?" I whispered.
"A mutually beneficial transaction."
A marriage.
A lifeline.
A leash.
And a door I couldn't close once opened.
The line clicked off.
I stood there, staring at my reflection in a darkened shop window, tired eyes, wind-swept hair, a girl who had already lost too much and was about to gamble what little she had left.
Then, for the first time since the doctor's words shattered my world, I exhaled.
I knew what I was going to do.
But God help me…
I also knew that once I stepped into Luca Moretti's life,
there would be no stepping out.