They move quickly once control is threatened.
Fahad is summoned before dawn.
I don't see it happen, but I hear about it—how his reassignment becomes suspension, how his access to palace records is revoked, how his presence is quietly reclassified as temporary. A polite word for disposable.
When I finally see him later that day, it's from across the courtyard. Guards flank him—not aggressively, just enough to remind him where he stands.
Our eyes meet.
I want to run to him.
I don't.
That restraint costs me more than the ceremony ever did.
My ultimatum comes hours later.
My parents stand together this time, unified, immovable.
"You will issue a formal apology," my father says. "You will confirm your commitment to Khalid. And you will do it within forty-eight hours."
"And if I don't?" I ask quietly.
My mother's voice is almost gentle. "Then Fahad leaves the country."
The words sink deep.
"No business ties. No partnerships. No protection," my father adds. "We will make sure of it."
My hands tremble. "You're using him to control me."
"Yes," my mother replies honestly. "Because it works."
I have never felt smaller.
"You were raised to understand sacrifice," my father says. "This is yours."
When they leave, the room feels hollowed out.
This isn't about love anymore.
It's about survival.
Lex finds me that night.
She doesn't knock.
"You don't have forty-eight hours," she says bluntly.
I turn sharply. "What are you talking about?"
She closes the door behind her. Her face is pale, eyes burning with something between fear and resolve.
"I overheard Khalid," she continues. "Not rumors. Instructions."
My chest tightens. "Instructions for what?"
"For Fahad's removal," she says. "Permanent removal from palace affairs. They're building a case—conflict of interest, breach of protocol, influence over the crown."
"That's a lie."
"Lies don't matter when power agrees on them," Lex snaps. Then she exhales. "I also found something."
She hands me a thin folder.
Inside are copies—messages, altered documents, timeline discrepancies. Proof that Khalid manipulated council authorizations long before the engagement. Proof that this was never mutual.
"This ends him," Lex says softly. "But it ends everything too."
I look up at her. "Why are you giving this to me?"
Her voice breaks just a little. "Because loving him quietly nearly destroyed all of us. And I'm done being quiet."
That night, Fahad is allowed one final meeting with me.
Supervised. Brief. Controlled.
He looks exhausted—but steady.
"They gave you a choice," he says.
"Yes."
"And you hate it."
"I hate that you're the price," I whisper.
He shakes his head. "I would pay it willingly."
"That's not love," I say fiercely. "That's surrender."
He steps closer, ignoring the guards' unease. "Ria, whatever you decide—do it for yourself. Not me."
I press the folder Lex gave me against my chest.
For the first time, I understand the truth clearly:
Silence will save faces.
Truth will burn the palace down.
And I am the match.
I look at Fahad, then past him—to the future they planned without me.
"I won't apologize," I say quietly. "And I won't let them erase you."
He searches my face. "What are you going to do?"
I meet his eyes.
"I'm going to tell the whole truth."