Chapter 189

DAHLIA

The morning of my unwanted wedding had arrived like a storm I hadn’t wanted but couldn’t stop.

Sunlight filtered weakly through the heavy drapes of the room I had been locked in since we returned to Alex’s family house the previous night. Blame that on Jack giving the right information at the wrong time.

The air smelled faintly of expensive perfume and polished wood, but it felt suffocating, like gilded imprisonment.

I didn’t protest when Alex had escorted me back to the room. I didn’t argue. Every part of me that wanted to scream, to fight, to tear down the walls around me, had been silenced by the calculations that ran through my mind.

Marrying Alex… even temporarily, even unwillingly… would keep Sebastian safe. It might even save my mother completely.

I sat on the edge of the oversized bed, staring at the pristine curtains and the ornate furniture, and tried to steady my thoughts.

My heart pounded anyway, restless and frantic. I ha