“I hate that you’re probably right.”
“I know that too.”
Chapter Five - Elara
I wake up on my wedding day feeling like I’m drowning in cotton.
Everything is muffled, distant, like I’m watching someone else’s life unfold from behind thick glass. The morning light filters through the penthouse windows, casting long shadows across the guest room that’s been my prison for the past three days.
Today, it stops being temporary. Today, I become Mrs. Nikola Sharov, and the cage door locks permanently.
I sit on the edge of the bed, staring at my hands. They look the same as they did a week ago, before my world imploded. Same pale skin, same chipped nail polish I haven’t had the energy to fix. They feel foreign now, like they belong to someone else. Someone who makes tactical alliances instead of choices. Someone who trades freedom for survival.
A soft knock interrupts my spiral. “Elara? It’s me.”
Suzanne’s voice cuts through the fog, familiar and grounding. I unlock the door, and she slips inside carrying a garment bag and a small overnight case. Her auburn hair is pulled back in a neat bun, her green eyes soft with concern she’s trying to hide behind a smile.
“How are you holding up?” she asks, setting her bags on the dresser.
I want to tell her the truth; that I feel like I’m dissolving, that I can’t tell where my decisions end and his manipulation begins, that I’m terrified of what I’ve agreed to.
Instead, I shrug. “I’m here.”
She nods like that’s answer enough. That’s what I love about Suzy—she doesn’t push for explanations I can’t give oremotions I can’t access. She just shows up and holds space for whatever version of me exists in the moment.
“Leon’s downstairs with Nikola,” she says, unzipping the garment bag. “The other brothers should be here soon. It’ll be small, just family.”
Family. The word tastes strange on my tongue. I haven’t had real family since my parents died in that car accident five years ago. Just distant relatives who send Christmas cards and friends who’ve slowly drifted away as my life became more complicated.
Now I’m supposed to inherit an entire network of people who’ll call me sister, protect me, claim me as their own.
“I brought options,” Suzy continues, revealing three dresses. “I wasn’t sure what you’d want to wear.”
The first is cream silk, flowing and romantic with delicate lace sleeves. The second is navy blue, structured and professional, the kind of dress you’d wear to a business meeting. The third is white—simple, elegant, with clean lines and a modest neckline that somehow makes it more striking than flashier alternatives.
I reach for the white one without thinking.
“Are you sure?” Suzy asks gently. “White’s very… traditional.”
I know what she means. White for weddings that matter, for brides who are happy, for ceremonies that celebrate love instead of necessity. Maybe that’s exactly why I need it. White for purity I never had. White for sacrifice I’m making. White for a life I didn’t choose but have to inhabit.
“This one,” I say.
She doesn’t argue. She helps me into it, zips the back with gentle fingers, arranges the fabric so it falls properly. The dressfits my curves like it was made for me—which, knowing Nikola’s attention to detail, it probably was. The thought sends a chill down my spine.
“You look beautiful,” Suzy says, and there’s no false brightness in her voice. Just quiet truth.
I catch my reflection in the full-length mirror and freeze. The woman looking back at me is a stranger—elegant, composed, ready to walk down an aisle toward a man she barely knows. The dress transforms me into someone worthy of the Sharov name, someone who belongs in their world of controlled violence and strategic alliances.
Someone who isn’t me.
“Suzy,” I whisper, panic clawing at my throat. “I can’t do this.”
She appears behind me in the mirror, hands gentle on my shoulders. “You can. You’re stronger than you think.”
“What if I’m making a mistake? What if there was another way and I was too scared to find it?”
“Then you’ll deal with the consequences later.” Her voice is steady, anchoring. “But right now, today, you’re making the choice that keeps you alive. Everything else can be figured out afterward.”
