Page 34

I look at my hands, noticing they’re shaking. Moon places his on mine, squeezing reassuringly. Marrying Tian feels like a death sentence. I know he doesn’t like me and is only doing this to please the families, and Moon. I mean I’m nothing. I’m not even blood related. I’ve heard my brothers talk about all the women he’s fucked, all the lives he’s taken. And now he’s about to take mine. What’s one extra, right? I wipe at the tear I feel traveling down my cheek while I take a deep breath. When the door opens, and all the men stand up, I don’t bother to look up; it’s probably the butlers bringing the food. My last meal. I’m not standing for anyone. I won’t bow to no one. I don’t care. And I’m definitely not doing this. I’m never getting out alive if I marry Tian. “I’m,” I say, looking at my shaking hands. Everyone keeps ignoring me.

“I’m not marrying Tian. I’d rather fucking die!” I yell as I stand and slam my palms on the table while angry tears fill my eyes. When I look up, I look straight in the eyes of said man, who just walked through the door.

The whole room goes quiet, and I can feel the anger coming from him. Everyone feels it, judging by the steps back they take leaving a clear path between us. His dark eyes spit fire and turn to little slits. I can feel the disdain radiating from his body. He opens his suit jacket and I’m sure he’s going to take out his gun to shoot me in the face. Instead, he pushes a hand in his pocket, staring me down while he places a black box on the table between us. Our eyes catch. Holy fuck, is there a ring inside?

“That’s for you,” he taunts with a smirk, fixing his suit jacket. But the way his Glock glistens also tells me he’s showing me he can carry his arms like Moon, making him his equal. Not even my brothers or his brothers can carry their guns inside. That’s only an option for those who’ve given their life for the company.

You can hear a pin drop as he takes his seat at the head of the table next to Moon while his eyes flash to mine for a second.

“I’m not marrying you,” spills with disgust from my lips, throwing the box back in his face. He catches it midair, slamming it back on the table. Moon places his hand on Tian’s arm, like he’s holding him back. Tian turns his head in my direction, our eyes locking and the anger burning in them makes my skin break out in goosebumps.

Tian cracks his neck, but doesn’t look at me when he warns, his voice low and rough, “You are marrying me,” without any emotion in his hoarse voice.

“I’m not,” I slowly say, my voice shaking with anger.

Moon nods to one of the guys waiting outside by the open door. He scurries into the room. He looks like a lawyer with his shaking hands. He takes a couple documents from his briefcase and drops them with a loud thud. I’m not surprised when Moon reaches for his gun. The lawyer’s cheeks turn a bright beet shade of red, while he keeps apologizing over and over to Moon and Tian who keep ignoring him. Instead, Tian focuses his killer gaze on me, and my breath catches in the back of my throat. I can’t back down; if I look away now I’m done for. I need to keep his stare although I feel like I’m being studied like a prey. I won’t back down, I can’t, because when I do, I’ve lost before we began playing the game. The side of Tian’s mouth hikes up in a smirk which is gone in a second when he runs his hand over his jaw and says something in Cantonese to the lawyer I don’t catch. The man nods and takes out two black pens from his suitcase. Moon starts to talk to his father about something having to do with their shipping business. Fuck them, my life is nothing but another business transaction.

Tian grabs one stack of papers and starts to flip through it.

“I’d rather fucking die than marry you, asshole.” The whole room falls silent again.

Moon sighs. “Leave,” he orders. The one word alone is enough to get everyone to vacate the room, except for the lawyer and Eliot. The attorney is starting to shake more violently, looking anywhere but at us, sweat coating his face. He pulls out a handkerchief and wipes his forehead with it. Eliot takes a step forward and stands next to me. I make a move to get up and bail the fuck out of here, but Moon growls, “Not you!”

Moon pinches the bridge of his nose, pushing up from the chair. His eyes move between me and Tian. “Both of you behave,” he commands. I open my mouth, but he raises a brow and I keep quiet. He slaps Tian on his shoulder, pinching hard, his knuckles turning white. Tian grimaces, and it draws a smile from me. Moon will always have my back. Eliot places his hands on my shoulder and squeezes. Moon stares him down and Tian chuckles. “I promise,” he says, as Moon flashes me a soft smile before exiting the room with El and closing the door behind them.

What the fuck was that? I watch Tian sign every piece of paper and slam the pen down on the document. He sits back in his chair, with his legs spread wide and crosses his arms over his chest. He straightens his black tie, looking me dead in the eye. “You belong to me now,” he growls, probably thinking he can overpower me with that look and his freaking presence alone.

“I’d rather die,” I tell him again, drawing out every single word.

“You’ll wish you could,” he says, his deep voice leaving no room for negotiation or to fight, “after I’m done with you.” And I know in this moment, the man is going to be the death of me. But not before I kill him first.

Ten years ago, Shanghai

Dash and Tian

“I’m not marrying you,” I repeat, trying my best to not let my voice shake.

The lawyer looks alarmed as he flips through the pages. “You missed this one,” he says to my future husband, his voice quivering as he pushes the pen toward him.

Tian bares his teeth at the poor man. The devil runs a hand through his hair, grabs the pen and signs his name in black. Why not in blood, because he’s signing my death warrant. Without saying a word he holds his pen out in my direction so I can use it to sign too. I know I’m nothing to him, but can he at least acknowledge his wife. My eyes widen in response. I mean no I can’t, I can’t become his wife, I’m not his wife. But something in the back of my mind says you already became his, the moment you were born.

The lawyer’s soft voice cuts through the ice-cold air, making me and Tian stop our staring competition.

“What?” we both say at the same time. The poor man looks like he’s about to faint, and I want to apologize, but the devil growls under his breath like a rabid dog.

“It’s stated in these documents you were promised to him, by Moon.” My mind is racing, why Moon? Why not my adoptive father?

“What the hell? Show me.” I motion to the documents, but the lawyer pushes his glasses up his nose, visibly starting to tremble even more when he looks at Tian. Is he waiting for him to give his consent? I reach for the papers, but Tian beats me to it going through every single page one by one. His eyes flying over the words meticulously. Reading every single line.

“I should read it too, assh—” I begin, but Tian raises a brow as a threat, and I shut my mouth, but still flip him off under the table. Pfft. I win. He makes a low growl sound in the back of his throat. Does the man have X-ray vision or something? I shouldn’t entice him any more than I’ve been doing. Or maybe I should. Maybe I should be the most obnoxious girl he’s ever met. Then he’ll divorce me before the year is up. And I’ll keep my legs closed. This is the one power move I have. I’m not going to sleep with him. Never. I’m going to resist the asshole in every possible way.

His brows draw together while his eyes scan over the text. He starts to swear in Cantonese, locking eyes with me. They fly to the closed door my brother and Eliot disappeared out of.

“He’s not lying, you sign it.”

The lawyer bows, backing away in his chair a little. “After you’ve gone through it too, you still need to sign here and here,” he says addressing me, pointing to the dotted lines.

“I’m not signing shit,” I begin, but me and the lawyer both let out a small cry when my future fucking husband slams his palm flat on the table. He throws a couple papers across the table toward me, my hands tremble when I trace them over his signature, I’m already half married. I mean he’s married to me right now in this very moment.