The news broke before Ivy even made it out of the building.
Her phone vibrated violently in her hand as the glass doors of Vale & Partners slid shut behind her. One notification. Then another. Then ten more—stacking so fast her screen blurred.
BREAKING: Billionaire Lawyer Lucien Vale Announces Sudden Marriage
Her breath caught.
"No… no, no—"
She opened the first alert.
A photo filled the screen.
Lucien Vale. Immaculate as ever. Standing on the steps of his firm.
And beside him—
Her.
The image had been taken less than five minutes ago. Her face pale. Her posture rigid. Her hand still resting against the desk where she had signed her life away.
The caption burned.
"Lucien Vale Confirms Marriage to Ivy Moore. Wedding Date Undisclosed."
Ivy's knees buckled.
She leaned against the marble wall, her chest tightening as the world tilted violently around her.
He had promised tonight.
Not now.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She didn't want to answer.
It rang again.
And again.
Then her screen changed.
Lucien Vale.
Her fingers trembled as she accepted the call.
"What did you do?" she whispered.
Lucien's voice came through calm. Controlled. Unaffected by the chaos he had unleashed.
"I told you the announcement would go out," he said. "I never said when."
"My face is everywhere," Ivy hissed, lowering her voice as people began to glance at her. "You released my name. My picture. Do you know what that does to me?"
"Yes," he replied. "That was the point."
Her stomach dropped.
"You wanted this public," she said slowly.
"I needed it public," Lucien corrected. "Private marriages invite speculation. Public ones create fear."
"Fear of what?"
"Of touching you."
Ivy closed her eyes.
She finally understood.
She wasn't his wife.
She was his shield.
"Get back inside," Lucien said.
"I'm outside."
"I know. Turn around."
Her heart slammed as she looked up.
Lucien stood just beyond the glass doors now, his presence commanding the space around him like gravity itself. Employees froze. Conversations died. Phones lowered.
The man everyone feared had stepped into the open.
And he was looking at her.
"Come," he said, holding the door.
Every instinct in her screamed to run.
Instead, she walked back toward him.
The moment she crossed the threshold, cameras flashed from across the street. Shouts erupted.
"Mr. Vale! Is the marriage real?"
"Who is Ivy Moore?"
"Was this arranged?"
"Is she pregnant?"
Ivy flinched.
Lucien's hand landed at the small of her back.
Firm. Possessive. Public.
The crowd went silent.
"She's my wife," Lucien said coolly. "That's all you need to know."
His hand tightened—just enough to remind her of the contract.
Inside, the elevator doors slid shut, cutting off the noise.
The silence inside the lift was suffocating.
"You didn't warn me," Ivy said, staring straight ahead.
"I did," Lucien replied. "You just didn't listen."
Her jaw clenched. "You said this marriage would protect me."
"And it will."
"By turning me into bait?"
Lucien studied her reflection in the mirror. "You were already prey when you walked into my office."
The elevator dinged.
Penthouse level.
When the doors opened, Ivy froze.
This wasn't an office.
It was a fortress.
Floor-to-ceiling windows. Steel and glass. Controlled lighting. Security screens lining one wall. The city spread beneath them like a conquered kingdom.
"This is where you live now," Lucien said.
Ivy stepped out slowly. "I have an apartment."
"Had."
Her throat tightened. "You could've at least let me pack."
Lucien removed his jacket and draped it over a chair. "Everything you need is already here."
She turned on him. "You don't get to decide that."
Lucien stepped closer.
Too close.
"I decide everything," he said quietly. "For the next twelve months."
Her chest rose and fell rapidly. "And if I refuse to stay here?"
"Then the press will discover exactly how much debt you owe. How many cases your father lost. How quickly public sympathy evaporates."
Her hands curled into fists.
"You're cruel."
Lucien's gaze didn't soften.
"I'm precise."
She laughed bitterly. "You married me to punish someone else."
A pause.
Just a fraction of a second too long.
"You talk too much," he said.
"And you hide too much."
For the first time, his expression hardened—not with anger, but with something darker.
"You will attend the formal announcement dinner tonight," Lucien said. "You will smile. You will say nothing unnecessary."
"And if I don't?"
Lucien leaned in, his voice low.
"Then you'll learn why people don't survive my contracts."
Ivy swallowed.
She had wanted help.
She had found a war.
As Lucien turned away, her phone buzzed again.
A message—from a blocked number.
You shouldn't have married him.
This ends badly.
Her blood ran cold.
Ivy looked up.
Lucien was watching her.
And she knew, with terrifying certainty—
This marriage wasn't the beginning.
It was the first move in something far more dangerous.