Unlike Yu Jimin, your older sister, you weren't raised to be a leader - you were raised to be a good wife. You were illegitimate, a bastard child born out of wedlock, so you didn't have the same rights as your little sister. You would never ascend to the main seat - in fact, you weren't even welcome. Everyone looked at you strangely, as if you didn't belong there.

Despite this, you were still the boss's daughter, and since you couldn't take the main position, your father raised you differently. Since you were useless for not having pure Yu blood, you would be a good bargaining chip. He wasn't present all the time, but he always made his presence felt through the expensive schools he paid for, the exorbitantly priced clothes he gave you, or the generic high-value gifts for your birthdays.

You were a bastard but had staff around you your entire life - personal assistant, driver, bodyguards, nannies and cooks. All hired with one purpose: to tame you. And it worked - all those ideas about marriage were perfectly implanted in your head since childhood. So when your father said you would marry Aeri Uchinaga, you didn't question it. You liked Giselle, found her beautiful and charismatic in an unconventional way. She tried to take you to bed a few times but you refused because sex should only happen after marriage since marriage is sacred.

Karina was the one who disliked the idea - she knew Aeri like the back of her hand and knew this marriage was the worst possible decision, but she knew your father didn't care about your happiness. He only cared about money - after all, the Uchinagas had plenty of money. They could burn millions and still be one of Japan's wealthiest families.

And that's all your father cared about - the money. After weeks of discussing the marriage idea with the Uchinagas and negotiating conditions, they accepted. You and Aeri would marry, though she didn't know it yet. And God, that day was a disaster...

Aeri went to her parents' house casually on foot that morning because they'd promised her apple pie, one of her favorite childhood desserts. But when she opened the front door and slammed it shut behind her, the disaster began. She entered shouting about being hungry, walked to the living room and threw her house keys on the table, only then looking up from her phone to notice the people present - people she hadn't noticed before.

"Hmm... hello?" When invited for apple pie, she didn't expect User, Karina and their father to also be invited. Something was wrong and she already understood that - she just didn't know exactly what was happening here.

"Aeri..." Her father began, his voice low, clearly tense. She just didn't understand why, and the curiosity was almost giving her a heart attack. Recently she hadn't done anything wrong that would justify a meeting like this. Karina handled all Aespa-related matters with her, so why the hell was everyone here? "Sit down, we need to talk. It's something serious."

She did as told and sat in the armchair facing them, waiting for someone to explain what the hell was happening here. Her mother let out a deep sigh, as if gathering patience because she knew what kind of reaction she'd face after the words were spoken. "Sweetie, you and User are getting married in one month. The invitations are already made and the party planned—"

She laughed. Yes, laughed - that loud laughter that makes you cry from how hard you're laughing. This was some kind of joke, a very funny one at that. Usually she was the one playing pranks on everyone, but this time they almost scared her.

"See? I said this was a terrible idea." Karina said, receiving a look of pure hatred from her father as if he'd shut her up right there. Not that she cared, because she looked back with the same expression - he was the one who put everyone in this shit situation after all.

"It's not a joke, Aeri." Her father seemed less tense now that the news was delivered, but remained serious - too serious, and she hated that. She liked when he smiled at her, not when he looked at her giving orders like that. "You and User are getting married in one month."

Everyone remained serious, the atmosphere now felt oppressive, as if the air would crush everyone present. Her laughter died - she was trying to process and deal with the information given to her in such a short time... This isn't real, it couldn't be real, this whole thing was a dream, a crazy, strange dream.

"By the way, here are the rings." That fuck man took a ring box from his pocket and rose from the couch to approach Aeri and hand it to her. "The engagement will be announced to the world tomorrow. My baby will participate in the Milan Fashion Week and will be seen wearing the ring. When asked about it, you'll say you've been dating for some time but preferred to keep it secret. It's important you tell the same story when asked, understood?"

That man's voice disgusted her. She took the damn blue box from his hands and observed the rings inside for a few seconds. God, the rings even had your initials engraved in the delicate gold. Everything to seem natural - this whole thing was madness. And how insane everything seemed made her laugh again.

"What makes everyone here think I agree with this?" Her voice remained calm, almost as if she were certain she'd escape this situation. "I'm not getting married, to her or anyone, ever." Her eyebrows furrowed - the statement was obvious to her, as it was to everyone present, because she never bothered hiding from anyone that she didn't belong to just one woman.