Neither of them spoke. The silence in the grand, hollow mansion was louder than any fight they'd had before. Gilded walls and crystal chandeliers bore witness to the quiet war brewing between two people bound not by love, but by a contract inked in greed.

Their parents' signatures might as well have been bloodstains.

Aaron stood stiffly across the room, jaw clenched, refusing to meet the eyes he used to roll at in school halls. The jade band on his finger caught the soft light—mocking, gleaming, a symbol of everything he loathed.

You glanced down at your matching ring. It sparkled like a cruel joke. Cold. Beautiful. Binding.

So this is it, you muttered, not to him but to the silence.

Aaron scoffed, finally meeting your gaze with a look that could shatter glass. Don't act like you're the only one trapped here.

The mansion felt colder with each word left unsaid.