The bride vanished fifteen minutes before the engagement banquet began. And I was left by her to face the most untouchable man in all of Fiaris.

“Hand over Valeria. If you do not, you will take her place at the wedding in two weeks.” Ajax Grimwald slid the wedding ring toward me, his voice cold as a verdict.

Valeria ran from her engagement, so why should I sacrifice my whole life for it?

“I truly do not know where she is.” My throat tightened.

Ajax sat across from me, his tone steady. The hairs on the back of my neck still stood on end.

Downstairs, the engagement banquet between the Grimwald and Fetter families was about to start. This was not the wedding itself, yet it carried immense weight: the two houses would seal their betrothal before relatives and business partners, and Ajax would marry Valeria Fetter in two weeks.

Valeria was gone now.

And I, Penelope Vilehart, was the last person to see her. Worse still, she had fled wearing my coat.

Ajax lifted his gaze to meet mine.

I understood in that instant why women in Fiaris still flocked to Ajax Grimwald even knowing how dangerous he was.

His handsomeness carried an aggressive edge. The black suit framed his broad shoulders and narrow waist, his features deep and detached, his jawline sharp and arrogant. He only sat there with one long leg crossed over the other, yet he radiated nobility, restraint, danger. And devastating sex appeal.

“Surveillance footage captured you and Valeria swapping clothes.”

“She begged me to.” I tightened my grip on my skirt, crumpling the fabric beneath my fingers.

“She left through the back door wearing your coat.”

“She said she only needed to step outside for some fresh air.”

“The note she left states you would help her.”

I jerked my head up, a heavy weight settling in my chest.

Ajax pushed the letter across the table. The handwriting belonged unmistakably to Valeria.

【Poppy, you are my best friend. You will help me win my freedom. Once all this is over, I will come back for you.】

Those few short lines landed like a slap. My fingertips turned icy, yet anger burned inside my chest.

She had not panicked on impulse. She had planned every detail. She wanted freedom, and a stand-in to bear the consequences for her — and that stand-in was me.

Hours earlier in the lounge, she had grabbed my wrist with tear-filled eyes and begged. “Poppy, just ten minutes. I cannot breathe. Can you cover for me?” She said the engagement suffocated her, that she only wanted quiet on the terrace and swore she would return.

I believed her and handed her my coat with its hood.

Ten minutes passed, and she did not come back. At fifteen minutes, the Fetters started searching for her. At twenty, the Grimwalds pulled the surveillance footage. Then I was “escorted” up to the top floor.

The whole process stayed polite, yet black-suited bodyguards lined the hallway and every exit was sealed. This refined confinement pressed heavier than outright violence.

I stepped back instinctively to flee the moment I walked in, and a guard blocked my path at once. Ajax lifted his gaze faintly. “Stand aside. She is not a prisoner.”

The guard retreated immediately.

My tensed shoulders relaxed a little, and a flicker of hope crossed my mind. Perhaps the rumors were exaggerated, and he was not unreasonable.

That hope shattered the next second when he pushed the letter toward me. “Explain.”

He was not gentle. He only excelled at cornering people with civility.

“She lied to me.”

Ajax tapped the ring box with one fingertip. “I can choose to believe you, but the guests downstairs will not.”

My nails dug unconsciously into my palms. Sharp pain spread, and cold crept through my veins.

Ajax kept his tone even. “Guests fill the venue tonight — kin, board members, business associates. Everyone expects me to marry Valeria in two weeks. Word of this elopement will make the Grimwalds a laughingstock, breach the Fetter contract, and sink both families’ projects.”

“Then go find her!” My speech quickened, panic rising in my eyes. “I am a victim too!”

“I will search for her. But the guests downstairs need an explanation within fifteen minutes.” Ajax looked straight at me. “You have two choices.”

My heart constricted hard. My back pressed against the cool chair, and a foreboding weight settled over me.

“First, tell me where Valeria is. Second, bring her back within two weeks.”

I froze, my mind blank for a moment. “What if I cannot find her?”

Ajax slid the ring box an inch closer to me. “You marry me.”

The air seemed to drain out of the room instantly. My pupils trembled, and I wondered if I had misheard. “That is impossible!”

Ajax’s expression did not shift, as though negotiating a corporate acquisition.

“Mr. Grimwald, have you lost your mind?” I shot to my feet, my knee striking the table edge to send a dull ache through me. “I am not Valeria. I am no Fetter heiress. I do not belong to your circle at all!”

“You do now.”

“She tricked me!”

“That gives you all the more reason to locate her.”

“She is your fiancée!”

“She was.”

That single word struck hard against my heart. He had already struck Valeria from the list of his intended bride, terrifyingly calm.

I could not stop myself from asking. “Does the identity of the bride not matter to you?”

Ajax looked at me. “It does not. I need a wife who will stand at the wedding on time, to steady Victor Grimwald and stabilize tonight’s situation.” “Anyone would suffice?”

“Not anyone.” His gaze returned to me. “You.”

I laughed sharply from frustration. “That sounds even worse.”

The corner of Ajax’s mouth lifted the faintest fraction. A thin crack split his cold, rigid aura — dangerous, arrogant, and unbearably tempting. I hated that I noticed his looks even trapped in this hopeless predicament.

“What if I refuse?”

Ajax pushed a document forward, its cover marked: Draft Prenuptial Agreement. “You may refuse. Grimwald’s lawyers will pursue damages from the elopement. The Fetters will bear the brunt, and you will be investigated as an accomplice. The letter and footage may not secure a conviction, yet they can haunt you endlessly.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“No. I am offering you a choice.”

I stared at the agreement, my fingertips cold. “You may continue your schooling and work after marriage. I will not interfere with your life. The union lasts one year. If you wish to divorce once that year ends, I will cooperate and provide compensation enough for you to live independently.”

I stared in surprise. This was not the brute forced marriage I had anticipated. Evidence, damages, consequences, terms — everything laid out plainly, so calmly it left me with no way to resist.

“What makes you think I will agree?”

Ajax watched me steadily. “The Vileharts will not decline on your behalf. Your father Angelo Vilehart’s company faces a strained cash flow. Your stepmother Berta Johnson detests you. You hold no voice in that household and cannot support yourself financially.”

Valeria was not the only one who betrayed me. He had already uncovered every detail of my circumstances.

“Penelope.” This was the first time he spoke only my given name. “Go ask them. If the Grimwalds propose this alliance, do you believe they will reject it out of consideration for your wishes?”

I wanted to say “they would”, yet the words stuck in my throat. I knew the truth. Berta would care nothing for me. My father might hesitate briefly, yet he would urge me to be sensible when the gains were large enough.

I had never been a protected daughter in the Vilehart house. I was merely someone to arrange, sacrifice, and trade for value.

The overture for the banquet drifted up from downstairs. Ajax walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, his tall back like a monarch controlling a chessboard. “We will announce Valeria is unwell and cannot appear for now. The wedding remains scheduled for two weeks later.”

My voice turned dry. “What about me?”

He turned to face me. “You have two weeks to clear your name and find her.”

“And if I fail?”

Ajax’s gaze locked onto mine, clear and unescapable. “You become my bride in two weeks.”

I fully understood then. Valeria had run away with more than her freedom; she dragged my whole life down into the abyss with her.

Nestor the butler escorted me personally downstairs after I left the hotel. Ajax stayed by the window and never turned around.

Nestor opened the car door for me with respectful formality, as though everything was already settled. “Mrs. Grimwald, please.”

My body stiffened. “I am not yet.”

Nestor lowered his eyes gently. “Master has ordered every member of the Grimwald household to address you that way starting now.”

I almost laughed. I had not consented, yet my new surname was already in effect.

The car pulled away from the hotel, and the banquet hall still blazed with lights. No one knew the bride had fled, nor that I had been forced to inherit the fate she abandoned.

Twilight sank low as the car stopped before the Vilehart manor gates. This place was where I grew up, yet it had never truly been a home.

A sharp voice hit me the moment I stepped out. “Penelope! You finally decide to come back?” Berta stood on the porch with her arms folded, full of impatience. “I told you to tend the garden this afternoon. Where did you run off to laze about?”

I closed my eyes for a second. Ajax had told me hours before that I might marry him in two weeks, yet here I stood, enduring my stepmother’s accusation of slacking off. My life twisted into nothing short of farce.

“I was not slacking. Ajax Grimwald wants to marry me.”

Silence hung in the air for two beats. Berta burst into a sneering laugh, as though I had told her an absurd joke. “What did you say? Ajax Grimwald? Penelope, keep your fantasies reasonable.”

I tugged at the corner of my mouth. “I wish this were a dream.”

I turned to head inside after speaking, but Berta’s gaze skipped past me and fixed on the black luxury car slowly driving away. Her sneer froze little by little. “Wait.”

She reached out to grab me. I dodged sideways, and her hand hung empty in midair.

Watching her failed grasp, I recalled Ajax’s words — she is not a prisoner. How ironic. I retained a modicum of dignity before outsiders, yet no one in this so-called home had ever asked what I wanted.

Berta stared toward the vanishing car, shock melting into jealousy, then the familiar glint of calculation. She lowered her voice and spoke each word deliberately. “Penelope, how exactly did you manage to catch Ajax Grimwald’s attention?”