Author's Preface
Rose's POV
The hangover had mostly disappeared. Mostly.
I dragged my feet toward the master bathroom, bracing myself as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Messy violet hair, wide golden eyes, and a pale face that still looked utterly exhausted from the night before.
"...Well, you survived," I muttered, splashing freezing water across my face to shock my system awake.
As I brushed my teeth, fractured memories of the yacht cabin flashed violently through my mind once again.
"I've spent five fucking years avoiding you..."
"What the hell are you doing to me?"
That low, rough voice... Why couldn't I get it out of my head? I let out a heavy sigh, spitting into the sink. "Nope. Not today."
I had far more important things to worry about than a mysterious phantom from a cruise party. After a rushed shower, I slipped into a crisp white blouse tucked tightly into a high-waisted black pencil skirt, layering a fitted cream lab coat over top. I pulled my long purple hair back into a neat, professional ponytail before grabbing my ID badge off the dressing table.
Rose Corvus. Junior Research Scientist.
Science had always been my sanctuary, my ultimate escape. While other twenty-one-year-olds dreamed about wild parties and luxury vacations, I preferred spending my nights isolated inside a laboratory, surrounded by complex chemical formulas and research data. Though, last night had been entirely Lily's fault.
A small smile crept onto my face at the thought of my best friend. "If she hadn't practically kidnapped me from my lab... I would've been sound asleep by ten."
Lily always bitched that I worked myself to death. "You're twenty-one, Rose! Not eighty-one! Live a little!" She was probably right. Because of her relentless dragging, I experienced things I normally wouldn't—even if those experiences usually ended with a lethal hangover.
Grounded by the familiar weight of my work bag, I left my room. The rich scent of freshly brewed coffee drifted up the stairs, signaling that my father was already awake. Richard Corvus believed sleeping past seven in the morning was a sign of a weak, lazy mind. He was strict—painfully so. No drinking, no staying out late, and absolutely no unnecessary friendships. Everything in our house had a strict rule.
If he found out I had stumbled home wasted last night, I was dead.
I quietly crept downstairs, hoping to sneak into the kitchen unnoticed, but my father's deep voice stopped me dead in my tracks. "...Good morning, Rose."
He looked up from his folded newspaper. "Morning, Dad," I replied, my voice tight. He looked calm. Too calm. Suspiciously calm.
I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the living room light as I suddenly noticed someone else sitting on our pristine velvet sofa. "...Victor?"
My eyes widened in shock. Victor Ashford, Lily's older brother. He was tall, with straight orange hair, sharp eyes, and a flawless charcoal designer suit jacket. His expression was completely unreadable, which sent a spike of anxiety straight through me. Victor never came here. Ever. He spent every waking hour running the family empire alongside his father.
Officially, the Ashfords owned luxury hotels, high-end casinos, and international shipping companies. Unofficially, dark rumors claimed they ruled one of the most ruthless, powerful mafia syndicates on the West Coast. No one was stupid enough to ask if those rumors were true.
Lily was standing awkwardly beside the sofa, a coffee mug trembling slightly in her hands. She looked just as blindsided as I felt. "Rose..." she whispered frantically under her breath, "I swear to God, I have no idea what the hell is happening."
Victor remained entirely silent, though even his usual mafia-heir composure looked slightly strained.
My father slowly folded his newspaper and stood up, smoothing his suit jacket. "I was waiting for you to wake up, Rose."
A sickening, heavy feeling settled deep in my gut. "Dad...? What's going on?"
He walked toward me, his gaze shifting coldly between me and Victor. "I've made an executive decision regarding the family's future alignment."
The entire room became eerily, suffocatingly quiet.
"You are going to marry Victor."
Absolute silence. I stared at him, my mind short-circuiting. "...What?"
Lily gasped, nearly dropping her coffee mug. "WHAT?!"
Victor's composed expression finally cracked, his jaw tightening. "...Excuse me, sir?"
My father simply nodded, as though he had merely announced a shift in the weather forecast. "The formal engagement will be arranged by the end of the week."
My mind went completely, terrifyingly blank. Marriage? To a mafia heir? I looked at Lily, who was staring back at me with pure horror. Then, we both turned our eyes toward Victor. For the first time since I had known him, the heir to the Ashford empire looked genuinely, utterly speechless.
And somehow, I had a toxic feeling that this morning was only the brutal beginning of a total disaster.