Chapter Two: Married to a Stranger
The next day came faster than Ava could prepare for.
She stared at herself in the mirror. The silk white dress clung to her body like it belonged to someone else. A stranger. The woman she used to be—a hopeful writer, a daughter, a fighter—felt far away.
"You look beautiful," said a voice behind her.
She turned. Dominic stood in a sleek black suit, eyes unreadable. He didn't look like a groom. He looked like a man sealing a business deal.
"This doesn't feel real," she whispered.
"It isn't," he replied coldly. "Remember that."
An hour later, in a private room at the courthouse, they said the vows.
No guests. No flowers. No love.
Just a signature on a paper, and a contract worth a million dollars.
"You're Mrs. Grey now," he said, slipping a cold platinum ring onto her finger. "Congratulations."
And just like that, Ava became a wife to a man she barely knew—and the most powerful
lie of her life began.