Chapter 1

~ Ivy's POV ~

I never thought my life could change in a single moment. But I guess fate was just playing a cruel joke with me.

The champagne in my hand was lukewarm, matching the fake smile I had been wearing for three hours now in this suffocating place.

"To the happy couple," a woman in a silver silk dress chirped, clinking her glass against mine. "Ivy, you’re so lucky.” She smiled with a hint of jealousy in her gaze. “Marcus is the catch of the season."

"I guess I really am lucky," I echoed back, the word tasting sour as I forced the smile back to my face. My jaws were already aching.

I wasn't lucky in the slightest bit, I was only a transaction. This grand engagement gala wasn't a celebration of love, it was merely a merger between Sterling Logistics and the Miller Group. My father, Arthur Sterling, stood across the ballroom, his eyes tracking me like a hawk, anytime I moved.

I really didn't like the idea of being forced into marriage, thankfully Marcus wasn't a jerk and I thought I could live peacefully with him at least.

"Have you seen Marcus?" I whispered to my best friend, Mila, as soon as the socialite fluttered away to go bother someone else.

Mila frowned, scanning the ballroom. "He said something about taking a call from his father ten minutes ago. He headed toward the east wing library."

"I should find him," I said, setting my glass down on a passing tray as I gripped the clutch in my other hand tightly. "The jeweler is coming over to photograph the rings in twenty minutes."

Mila waved me off as I wove through the crowd, my heels clicking against the marble tiles. The east wing was quieter, the air thick with the scent of old paper and expensive floor wax. As I approached the heavy oak doors of the library, I heard a sound that made my blood turn to ice.

A high pitched giggle that was intimately familiar. It sounded like Elena.

My hand froze on the handle as I told myself I was only being paranoid. Elena was my stepsister and my maid of honor, so she definitely wouldn't do this to me. But then came Marcus’s voice, that low, gravelly sound, and filled with a heat he hadn't shown me in months.

"Careful, princess. If we leave a mark on your neck, your father will kill me before the wedding bells even ring."

"Let him," Elena purred. "He’s the one who forced you to propose to the boring sister anyway. We both know who you really want." Her voice was sweet like honey.

The sound of a zipper sliding down cut through the silence like a bomb and my body reacted immediately.

I didn't think as I pushed the door open.

The scene before me was a cliché out of a bad soap opera. My fiancé had my stepsister pinned against the desk, his hands tangled in her blonde hair. Elena’s dress was halfway off her shoulders, her eyes widening with a flash of triumph when she saw me.

"Ivy!" Marcus scrambled back, his face flushing a guilty shade of red as he fumbled with his belt. "It’s… this isn't what it looks like."

"Really?" My voice was surprisingly steady, though my heart was about to fly out of my chest. "Because it looks like you’re screwing my sister on the desk where our marriage settlement was signed this morning."

He reached out to touch me, “Please listen…”

I shrugged him off as if his hand burned. “Don't fucking touch me you asshole.” I shrieked with irritation.

Elena smoothed her dress, a cat-like smirk playing on her lips. "Oh, Ivy don't be so dramatic. It was just a moment of weakness. Besides, you can’t blame him for wanting a little… variety."

"Are you serious right now?" I hissed as I stared at her. “You stupid bitch! You dare to do this with the man I was supposed to marry and you think you are still worthy to call me by my name?” I sneered.

"Ivy, be reasonable…" Marcus started, stepping toward me.

"I said don't fucking touch me!" I snapped, the fire finally breaking through the ice as I hit his face with my clutch. His head snapped to the side and Elena was at his side in an instant.

“Do you want to kill him?” Elena shouted at me as she cleaned the little blood on his cheeks with her hand.

I heaved as I watched them. “Isn’t it better that he dies?” I spat out.

Marcus turned to me, his eyes blazing. “You psycho bitch!” He growled. “This is the very reason I can't bear to tolerate you. So violent and vulgar, unlike your sister here.” He spat, his eyes full of rage.

“You're so fucking boring and stiff that I keep thinking how I'd have to spend the rest of my life with such an uninteresting woman, and worse of all you won't even let me touch you as I please.” He scowled.

“You horny bastard!” I spat back. “If I was not your type then you could have easily rejected the union and spared us both this humiliation. You know what?” I sneered, "The engagement is off. Get the hell out of my house!" I screamed in annoyance.

"Is that so?" A hard voice boomed from the doorway. My father stood there, his face full of rage. He didn't look at Marcus’s disheveled clothes or Elena’s smirk. He looked straight at me.

"Father, thank God," I breathed relieved. "Marcus and Elena, they were…."

"I don't care what they were doing," Arthur Sterling growled, stepping into the room and slamming the door behind him. "Close your stupid mouth and fix your makeup. Stop making a scene with your fiancé."

I blinked, stunned. "Are you even trying to listen to me? This so-called fiancé cheated on me with your other daughter!"

"And you let yourself get caught in a scandal on the night of the most important merger in a decade!" My father stepped into my personal space, his finger jabbed toward my chest. "You are twenty four years old this year, Ivy. You have no skills, no business scent, and apparently, you can’t even keep a man’s interest long enough to get to the altar. You are a liability like your dead mother." He sneered, his eyes hard.

"A liability?" I choked out as tears stung my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. "He betrayed me!"

"And if you call off this wedding, you betray this family," he hissed. "The board meets at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. If you don't show up with a husband and the Miller shares secured, I’m done with you. I’ll strip your name from the trust and I’ll hand your position to Elena, then you’ll be on the street with nothing but the dress on your back. Do you understand me?"

He looked at Marcus. "Fix your tie, son. We have guests to entertain." Then he walked out.

Marcus hesitated before following behind father. Elena lingered for a second, her eyes victorious, then she blew me a mock kiss before following them.

I stood in the silent library, the scent of their betrayal hanging in the air. I looked at the desk, at the life that had just been stripped away.

"A liability," I whispered to the empty room.

I walked to the mirror, wiped the smudge of mascara from under my eye, and straightened my spine. If my father wanted a marriage by 9:00 AM, I’d give him one.

But it wouldn't be to a Miller.

I grabbed my clutch and headed for the back exit. I needed a strong drink. And I needed a man who was dangerous enough to make my father regret every word he’d just said.