Chapter 3: We're Getting Married

Keyla opened her eyes. Her body felt destroyed — as though every inch of bone had been snapped apart and forced back together.

She glanced at the white sheets, now bearing a dried crimson stain — a silent witness to the honor she'd traded for a pile of her family's casino debts.

Beside her, the man was still asleep. His hard-edged face, shadowed with faint stubble along his jaw, looked strangely peaceful — a stark contrast to the madness he'd unleashed the night before.

Keyla held her breath, trying to rise without a sound.

I need to go. Mother needs to know the job is done. I'm free, she told herself.

But the moment her feet touched the floor, a deep voice — rough with sleep — froze her mid-motion.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Keyla flinched, instinctively yanking the sheet to cover her bare body. She turned and found the man already propped on one arm, watching her with razor-sharp eyes.

"I... I'm going home. My job is done, isn't it?" Keyla answered softly, her voice barely surviving her own throat.

Dominic scoffed. He sat up, letting the sculpted muscles of his chest catch the light without a care. "Who said your job is done? Clean yourself up. I'll be waiting downstairs in thirty minutes."

Keyla's brow furrowed — confused and afraid at the same time.

"What do you mean, sir? I don't want anything more to do with you. My family's debt has been paid off, hasn't it?"

Keyla knew her stepmother's nature. If she kept any connection with this man, Siska would never stop wringing her dry — turning her into a cash cow with no end in sight.

All Keyla wanted was to go back to her normal life. Classes. Studying. And forgetting this nightmare ever happened.

Dominic stood and moved toward her, his aura of intimidation sucking the oxygen out of the room. "We're getting married."

"W-what? Married?" Keyla shrieked, her eyes going perfectly round. "Are you insane? I am not marrying you! I'm still in college, I have a future, and... and I have a boyfriend!"

At the word boyfriend, the corner of Dominic's mouth lifted into a cold, mocking smile.

"A boyfriend? What kind of girl has a boyfriend but sells herself to a stranger like me for money?" Dominic caught Keyla's chin, forcing her face up. "That boyfriend of yours would be pretty disgusted if he knew what we did — repeatedly — last night, don't you think? He wouldn't touch another man's leftovers."

Thud.

Keyla's heart seemed to stop. Those words drove straight into her chest like a blade.

It was true — if her boyfriend found out, their world would be destroyed. But marrying this stranger? That was just walking into a different lion's den.

"Stop arguing. I hate waiting more than anything. Get into the bathroom now, or I'll drag you in there myself," Dominic said coldly, then began dressing as if Keyla's presence in the room were nothing more than a breeze.

For Dominic, his life philosophy was simple but ironclad. His father and mother had raised him with a rigid code of honor — if you break something, you take responsibility.

And last night, he hadn't just broken something. He'd taken something that could never be given back.

If his mother found out he'd abandoned a virgin he'd slept with, his head would quite literally roll under their family traditions.

"Damn it. I shouldn't have gotten tangled up with this girl," Dominic muttered, pressing his fingers to his temple as he stepped out of the room.

But deep down, he couldn't deny it — Keyla's scent and the sounds she'd made last night had already become an addiction that was starting to poison his logic.

*

*

Outside the room, Marco stood at attention in a slightly rumpled suit. His bloodshot eyes and the dark circles hanging beneath them proved he hadn't slept a single minute.

"All done, sir? Can we please go home now before I pass out from caffeine deprivation?" Marco said, his voice limp with exhaustion.

Dominic pulled out a cigar and lit it calmly. "Idiot. You could've waited in another room and enjoyed the women at this club instead of standing here like a statue in front of my door."

Marco rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I don't do street food, sir. I have standards. If I'm going to do it, I want it with a woman I actually like — and more importantly, one who actually wants me back. Not one I have to guard the door for so she doesn't escape."

"Save the speeches. Get the paperwork ready. I'm marrying the girl inside."

Dominic stopped abruptly, and Marco crashed straight into his back.

"Ow! My nose... Wait, what? What did you just say?" Marco blinked his drowsy eyes, instantly jolted awake by shock. "You're serious about marrying her? Making her your second wife? Are you still sane, sir? What happens when Miss Mod— I mean, your wife finds out? She'll turn your house into World War Three!"

"She's the one who gave me permission yesterday, isn't she? Told me I could sleep with whoever I wanted as long as I didn't bother her," Dominic replied casually, continuing toward the elevator. "It would be a waste to let a green light like that go unused."

"But what about your parents? This isn't about your wife's permission — this is about bringing a stranger into the family bloodline, sir!" Marco hurried alongside him, his steps frantic.

"Their concerns are tomorrow's problem!" Dominic stopped in front of the elevator doors and fixed Marco with a sharp look. "What matters right now is that this girl carries my heir. She has what Clara doesn't — obedience and purity. That's enough."

Marco could only stand there, mouth hanging open. He stared at his boss's back with a tangled mess of emotions.

Dominic — the man who once worshipped Clara — was now willing to take a second wife and risk everything just for an heir.

"Dear God... my world is about to end," Marco muttered, dragging a hand down his face. "After this I'll need to prepare a marriage certificate, then tomorrow probably a divorce decree, or worse — a coffin for myself when the two of them start clawing each other's hair out. Or maybe a shootout. An aide's salary really doesn't cover this kind of mental damage!"

Dominic paid no attention to his assistant's rambling. His mind had already locked onto one thing — Keyla. The girl who would become his escape.

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