Alice's POV
"WE NEED TO MOVE!"
Miles dragged me through the dark mansion as glass continued shattering somewhere behind us. Emma had my other arm, and Margaret ran ahead with a flashlight. Security shouted instructions I couldn't understand over the sound of my own heartbeat.
"Safe room," Miles said, yanking open a hidden door in the wall. "Now."
"What about—" Margaret started.
"Everyone's accounted for. GO!"
We tumbled into a small room lined with metal. Miles slammed the door, and suddenly everything was silent except for our gasping breaths. Emergency lights flickered on, bathing everything in red.
"What's happening?" My voice shook.
Miles was already on a phone built into the wall. "Status report. How many? Where?" A pause. "Keep them outside. I don't care what you have to do." He hung up and turned to me. His face was hard, but his eyes were scared. "Richard Zhao's men are trying to breach the property. Security's holding them off, but—"
"They came for me." My hand went to my stomach. "Because of that birth certificate."
"That certificate is fake," Miles said immediately. "It has to be."
"But what if it's not?" I felt tears burning. "What if my mom lied? What if I really am—"
"It doesn't matter who your father is." Emma grabbed my hand. "You're part of this family now."
"Emma's right," Margaret said firmly. "Whatever that man claims, you're Alice Ashford. Miles's wife. Our family."
"Except I'm not." The words tumbled out. "We're not even legally married yet. That courthouse appointment got canceled because of the attack. I'm nobody to you. Just some girl your nephew got pregnant."
"Stop." Miles's voice cut through my spiral. "Just stop."
He pulled out his phone and made a call. "Judge Morrison? It's Miles Ashford. I need you at my house. Now. Yes, I know it's almost midnight. I don't care. Bring your wedding license paperwork." He paused. "Triple your usual fee. Just get here."
"Miles—" Margaret started.
"No." He turned to face all of us. "We're ending this tonight. Richard Zhao wants to claim Alice as his daughter? Fine. But he can't touch her if she's legally my wife. Protected by the Ashford name, the Ashford fortune, and the Ashford family."
"You can't get married in a safe room during an attack," I said. "That's insane."
"Watch me." Miles cupped my face, forcing me to look at him. "Alice, I told you I'd keep you safe. I meant it. Marry me tonight. Right now. Let me make it legal before he can make another move."
"But—"
"No buts. Yes or no."
I looked around the tiny metal room. Emma nodding encouragingly. Margaret with tears in her eyes. Miles staring at me like I was the only thing that mattered in the world.
This was crazy. Getting married in a safe room while armed men attacked the house. Like something from a movie, except this was my life now.
"Yes," I whispered.
Miles exhaled like he'd been holding his breath. "Thank you."
Twenty minutes later—twenty minutes of waiting and listening to occasional gunfire outside—there was a knock on the safe room door. Security's voice: "Judge Morrison is here, sir. All clear for now."
Miles opened the door carefully. An elderly man in pajamas and a bathrobe stood there, looking annoyed and confused.
"This better be good, Ashford. Do you know what time—" He saw me and stopped. "Oh. Is this the bride?"
"Yes. Can you do it here?"
Judge Morrison looked around the metal room. "I've married people in stranger places. Do you have rings?"
Miles pulled his mother's ring from his pocket—the same one he'd tried to give me before. "Just this one."
"That'll work." The judge pulled out a small book. "Let's make this quick. I have a golf game in the morning."
And just like that, we were getting married.
Emma found a white silk scarf in a storage box and draped it over my shoulders like a veil. Margaret fixed my hair with gentle hands. Miles stood in front of me in his torn shirt, blood on his knuckles from fighting off the attackers, looking at me like I was something precious.
"Dearly beloved," Judge Morrison began, reading fast. "We are gathered here—well, the four of us and security outside—to join this man and woman in matrimony."
It felt surreal. Wrong, somehow. This wasn't how weddings were supposed to happen.
"Miles Ashford, do you take Alice Chen to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
Miles's eyes never left mine. "I do." His voice cracked. Actually cracked, like this mattered. Like this wasn't just about protection.
"Alice Chen, do you take Miles Ashford to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
Everyone was looking at me. Waiting. This was my last chance to run.
But where would I go? Back to my old life? To Derek and Lily? To being nobody?
"I do," I said.
"Rings?"
Miles slid his mother's ring onto my finger. It fit perfectly, just like before. He had nothing for himself, but I grabbed his hand anyway.
"By the power vested in me by the state, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Kiss her quick so I can go home."
Miles hesitated. "Alice?"
I nodded, and he kissed me. Soft and gentle, nothing like our first night together. Like I might break. Like I was valuable.
When he pulled back, his eyes were wet.
"Okay, sign here." Judge Morrison shoved papers at us. We signed quickly—Miles, me, Emma and Margaret as witnesses. "Congratulations. You're married. Can I leave now?"
"Security will escort you out," Miles said, not looking away from me. "Thank you."
The judge left. Security reported the attackers had retreated. We were safe for now.
But I didn't feel safe. I felt like I'd just made the biggest decision of my life in the worst possible way.
"Welcome to the family, officially," Emma said, hugging me. "That was the weirdest wedding ever, but at least you're stuck with us now."
Margaret hugged me next. "We'll have a proper ceremony later, dear. With flowers and cake and everything you deserve."
"I should show you to our room," Miles said quietly. "It's late. You need rest."
Our room. My stomach flipped.
He led me up the grand staircase to the third floor. The hallway was long with thick carpet that muffled our footsteps. Miles opened a door at the end, and I stepped into the biggest bedroom I'd ever seen.
Two beds. There were two beds, separated by a nightstand.
"I had them bring in a second bed," Miles said quickly. "I know this all happened fast. I know you don't—" He stopped, running a hand through his hair. "I won't touch you unless you want me to. You have my word."
I stared at him. "You married me and don't even want to—"
"I want to." His voice was rough. "God, Alice, I want to. But not like this. Not when you think this is just about duty. Not when you're scared and confused and only said yes because you didn't have a choice."
"I had a choice."
"Did you?" He stepped closer. "Be honest. If I hadn't forced this, would you have chosen me?"
I didn't answer because I didn't know.
Miles nodded like I'd confirmed something. "That's what I thought. So I'm giving you space. Time. However long you need to figure out if this—if I—am what you want."
He started toward his bed, and I felt something crack in my chest. This man had just married me in a safe room during an attack. Had promised to protect me. Had looked at me during those vows like I was everything.
And he was going to sleep alone.
"Miles?"
He turned back.
"Thank you," I said quietly. "For today. For everything."
He smiled, but it looked sad. "Sleep well, wife."
I climbed into my bed, still wearing my everyday clothes because we hadn't had time to change. The sheets were soft and expensive. The room was warm. I should have felt safe.
But I couldn't stop thinking about Miles in the other bed, so close yet completely separate. About how his voice had cracked during the vows. About how he was giving me space when most men would demand their wedding night.
I was almost asleep when my phone buzzed.
A text from an unknown number: "Congratulations on your wedding, daughter. But a piece of paper won't keep you from me. I'm coming for what's mine. And when I do, your new husband won't be able to stop me. See you soon. —Dad"
Attached was a photo. Not of me. Of the ultrasound from my first doctor's appointment.
The ultrasound I'd never shown anyone except Miles.
Someone had been in my medical records. Someone knew about my baby. Someone was watching closer than we thought.
I sat up, my heart pounding, and looked at Miles's bed.
He was already sitting up, staring at his own phone. His face was white.
"Alice—" he started.
"I got one too," I whispered.
We stared at each other across the darkness. Married for less than an hour, and already my father—if he really was my father—was threatening everything.
"He has someone on the inside," Miles said quietly. "Someone close. Someone who knew about your appointment."
"Who?"
But before Miles could answer, his phone rang. He answered, his face going from white to gray.
"What? When? How is that possible?" A long pause. "Don't let anyone leave. I'll be right there."
He hung up and looked at me with something like horror.
"Margaret's gone," he said. "Security just checked her room. Empty. And there's a note." His voice shook. "It says: 'I told you I'd take what's mine. Your aunt for my daughter. Fair trade. You have 24 hours to decide. —Richard Zhao.'"
The woman who'd welcomed me like a daughter had been kidnapped.
And it was all my fault.