-Levi POV-
"Your engagement, of course." Ansel said that cheerfully. "To Amilie, it was proposed weeks ago. And now that you're here, we thought Saturday evening would be perfect for a formal dinner. She'd been dying to meet you."
My blood ran cold.
I turned to my father slowly. "You didn't think to mention that?"
His expression didn't shift. "It wasn't relevant until now."
"It wasn't relevant?" My voice was low, dangerous.
Ansel raised his hand slightly. "We didn't mean to spring it on you like this. But Amelie was so happy. She couldn't make it for lunch, unfortunately. So we've arranged a dinner for you two to get acquainted. This Saturday."
I felt every instinct in me flare. Every boundary break. I wanted to shut this down right here and now. Publicly.
But then I remembered the name I carried. People are watching. The press that could whisper in hours what took years to build. So this is it. This is what my father has been planning.
I forced my jaw to be unclenched.
"Saturday." I said, voice like steel. "Fine."
Ansel grinned.
I didn't.
My father raised his glass. "To the future."
I didn't lift mine.
Because this wasn't my future.
It was a goddamn setup.
//SKIP//
I told my father that I wanted to talk, and he just agreed without arguing. The private meeting room in the Ackerman Group's New York office was as cold as I remembered. Glass walls, no windows, silence like a threat.
I waited there alone for five minutes. When he finally walked in, he didn't say anything. He just sat across from me, like this was any other executive debrief.
I didn't waste my time.
"You set up my engagement." I said that flatly. "Without telling me."
He glanced up. Eyes calm. Indifferent. "Yes."
"You think that's acceptable?"
"I think it's necessary."
I clenched my jaw. "Necessary for what? Aligning with a family that reeks of desperation to stay relevant through curated prestige?"
He tilted his head slightly, unfazed. "Forma Atelier is expanding globally. Their CEO controls major design branches from the Middle East to Northern Europe. Not to mention their firm is the biggest architecture firm in the US. Marrying into that means extending Ackerman Art's influence broader than before."
He paused before continuing to speak. "Their daughter has very good eyes in arts and has made a name globally. And not to mention, the rumours that L. Schatz is going to make a comeback soon. We could use her to get close to him too."
Hah. So this is it. He wanted to have a connection with L. Schatz, which is me, and he didn't even know that. I wonder what his reaction will be if he knows the truth.
I stared at him.
"You mean using me as leverage."
His voice didn't even rise. "You're the next heir, Levi. You were born to be leveraged. This is the weight of your name."
I stood, pushing the chair back with a sharp scrape. "You crossed the line."
"You don't get to decide where the line is."
"I'm not some pawn you move for business…"
"Oh?" He cut in, voice still calm. "Then what have you been doing, playing around with Mr. Auclair like the world isn't watching?"
I froze.
He leaned back in his chair, fingers tapping once on the table.
"I know, Levi."
My fists clenched at my side.
"I know what you and Mr. Auclair have been doing. All of it. Your little domestic routine. The stolen glances during meetings. The way you look at him like he's your world."
"Don't." I said lowly. "Don't bring him into this."
"You made him part of this." He snapped, voice sharpening for the first time. "You think this is just about you? Do you realise the position you've put him in? A respected member of the Auclair Family, being whispered about behind closed doors because of you."
"He did nothing wrong." I growled. "You don't get to use him as a weapon."
"Then prove it." He said coldly. "Do what you were born to do. Sacrifice. For your family. For the name you carry. If you don't care about your reputation, fine. But think about this."
My chest tightened. My vision blurred at the edges.
I hate to admit it, but he wasn't wrong.
If it were just, if it were only my legacy on the line, I would've walked out and set the whole table on fire.
But Haruka…
Haruka didn't deserve that. He didn't ask to be dragged into this world. And I would never forgive myself if my defiance ruined his.
I breathed in through my nose, slow and sharp.
"Say it." My father said, "Say you'll do it."
I didn't look at him when I answered.
"I'll go along with it. For now. But promise me you won't drag Haruka into this matter again." I said that firmly.
There was silence. Then the faint sound of his chair shifting as he stood.
"Well, if you did what I said, then we're good." He said with a smirk.
As he turned to leave, I spoke again.
"But don't think this means you've won." I said quietly. "This isn't over."
He didn't even turn around.
"It never is."
And with that, the door clicked shut behind him.
And I stood there alone in that sterile room, the weight of the family name is heavier than ever.
Not for me.
But for him.
For Haruka.
Because if I had to burn in silence to keep him untouched, so be it.
//SKIP//
I slammed the door behind me harder than I meant to.
The penthouse was quiet. Too quiet. My coat hit the floor. My tie followed.
I stood there, in the middle of the polished silence, feeling like I'd just sold part of my soul for the sake of the name I was starting to hate.
I'm getting engaged.
To someone I've never met.
Because my father said so.
Because our legacy demanded it. No, actually my father's the one who demanded it.
Because if I didn't agree, he's going to ruin Haruka's life, drag him down with me, turn whispers into headlines, and disgrace him in ways he didn't deserve. And Haruka… he wasn't built for scandal.
My phone buzzed. It's Haruka.
Haruka: Did the meeting go okay? Are you back at the hotel yet? Text me when you're done.
God.
Even through text, he always sounded gentle. Like warmth when everything else was stone cold. I stared at the screen for a long time, knuckling white around the phone. I could've told him. I could've broken down. He would've listened. He always did.
But then, he'd blame himself.
He'd look at the entire thing as a consequence for us.
And that… I couldn't let it happen.
The phone lit up again. Incoming FaceTime.
I inhaled once. Straightened my posture. And answered.
His face appeared soft from the lamplight. He looked cozy, wrapped in a blanket, hair tousled, one of the kittens resting on his shoulder.
"Hey." He said, a smile tugging at his lips. "Sorry, I couldn't wait. I got worried."
I forced my voice steady. "No need to be."
"You look exhausted." He murmured. "Was the meeting that bad?"
I shook my head. "Long. That's all. Too many buzzwords. You'd have hated it."
He chuckled slightly. "Still, I'm still your best secretary."
God, his laugh. That softness. That is ease.
And here I was, tied to a woman I didn't love just to protect the person I was staring at right now.
"Are they serious about the collaboration?" He asked.
"Yeah." I said. "They're ambitious. There's potential."
Haruka nodded. Eyes still studying me. "You seem… distant."
I looked away from the screen. "Just tired."
"Levi… you'd tell me if something happened, right?"
That almost broke me.
I looked back at him and lied the way I'd been trained to lie since I was a kid. By my father, of course.
"Nothing happened."
He didn't look convinced, but he let it go. Maybe he trusted me too much. Maybe that's what hurt the most.
"It's late over there. You should get some sleep." I said with a low, gentle voice.
"Tomorrow's the weekend, so it's okay. If someone really needs sleep, it's you. You need to get enough rest, Levi." He said with his sweet voice.
I gave him a faint smile. "I will. I'm going to take a shower first and then rest."
"Alright. Call me back when you're done, okay?" He said, adjusting his blanket. I know he's going to fall asleep anytime soon.
"Just stay on the line. I'm not going to hang up." I said, grabbing my towel.
"Just wake me up if I fall asleep, okay?" He grinned.
I didn't reply. I gave him a smile before heading to the bathroom.
And I promised myself again. I'd protect him.
Even if it meant bleeding quietly behind glass walls.
Even if I lost everything but him.
//SKIP TO DINNER//
The restaurant was private. Candlelit, expensive, and painfully silent. Exactly the kind of place designed for political marriages and fake smiles.
I sat at the table alone for twenty minutes.
She was late.
I didn't care. I wasn't here to be charmed.
The waiter refilled my wine without asking. I didn't touch it.
Finally, the door opened, and she walked in. Amelie Grace Fontaine. The CEO's only daughter, the woman I was now promised to.
She was dressed well. Tasteful, but not flashy. Her hair was pinned neatly. Eyes sharp, though not in the way I expected. Her expression shows something. Not nervousness, not excitement. More like… annoyance. She walked over and sat down without a greeting.
I watched her for a moment and then said, "For someone who said yes to an engagement, you seem uninterested."
She let out a quiet sigh and picked up her glass.
"Of course I'm not." She said flatly. "I thought I was going to be engaged to your brother, Louis. Not you."
I blinked once. Slowly.
"Wait. You thought this engagement was with Louis?"
She didn't look at me. Just nodded. "My father only said Ackerman. He never mentioned which one, so I thought it was Louis since he's living here. And Louis and I… we've known each other for a while."
I leaned back, staring at her.
She didn't look ashamed. Just irritated, like someone who got on the wrong train by accident and had no way off.
"So you agreed to an engagement because you thought it was with him?" I asked her.
"Yes."
"And you only found out it was me. When?"
"Yesterday." She said without hesitation. "Seriously, if I had known it was you, I wouldn't have said yes. I wouldn't want to marry a playboy like you."
She looked annoyed.
Soft, elegant face — sharp-edged words. That contrast was something.
I scoffed under my breath.
"Well," I said, tone dry. "You're not the only one who was misled."
Amelie finally looked up at me.
And for the first time, something passed between us that wasn't forced or guarded. It was simple. Mutual disdain for the arrangement, not each other.
She spoke again, this time quieter. "You didn't ask for this either?"
"No." I replied. "I was after the meeting yesterday. During lunch. Hah. Seriously, if it wasn't for the family's name I carried, I would burst on the spot."
Her mouth twisted slightly. "God. Fathers, huh?"
"My father threatened to ruin someone I love if I refused."
That got her attention. She sat up straighter. "Seriously?"
I didn't elaborate. I didn't need to.
After a long pause, she exhaled and muttered. "He's going to be furious."
"What about your father?" I asked.
"My father didn't threaten me, of course. Because I said yes." She said, looking away. "But… the one I wanted to be with is Louis."
I stared at her. Expression unreadable.
"Wait… my brother didn't know? Your feelings towards him?" I asked in disbelief.
She shook her head. "No. Not yet. But we've been talking to each other a lot lately." She looked down.
"Then you don't have to worry. Your love is not one-sided." I said, and a faint smile formed on my lips, but I quickly brushed it off.
"How could you know that?" She looked up at me.
"We may not be that close, but I know my brother really well. Trust me, he's going to say yes." I said that with a gentle voice.
She was quiet for a moment, then gave a small laugh. The first real sound of warmth in the entire evening.
"For someone who had a number of scandal rumours, you sure had this gentle side of you."
"Maybe because I've been tamed to be this gentle by that person." I said, my voice lowering. " He changed me."
"To tame and change a playboy like you…" She smiled, soft and bittersweet. "I could say that must be really admirable. You're so lucky."
I looked down at my untouched wine.
"Yeah." I murmured. "I am."
But even as I said it...
I couldn't help but wonder how long I'd be allowed to keep that luck.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!