The sound of the elevator door sliding shut felt like the final nail in a coffin. My coffin. I leaned back against the cool metal wall, closing my eyes for a brief moment, letting the weight of the last hour settle over me like a suffocating blanket.
Mrs. Anderson. The name echoed in my head like a taunt. It would take more than a title to break me.
My phone buzzed again, snapping me out of the spiral.
"Where are you?"
It was from Maddie, my assistant. Her efficiency was both a blessing and a curse. Today, it felt like the latter. My thumb hovered over the screen as I considered how best to respond. The truth? A lie?
No. There was no time for either. I didn't have the luxury of breaking down or wallowing in self-pity. Not when the board meeting was less than twenty minutes away.
"On my way," I typed back quickly, my hands steadier now.
I straightened up just as the elevator dinged open, spitting me out onto the glossy marble floors of Carson Enterprises. My empire. My legacy. The one thing Jake Anderson couldn't take from me, no matter what kind of twisted marriage contract we had just signed.
My heels clicked sharply against the floor as I walked with purpose toward the boardroom. No one would see the chaos swirling inside me. No one would know I was silently replaying every detail of that marriage contract in my head, trying to figure out how I could escape the inevitable.
But there was no escape. Not from Jake Anderson.
Jake Anderson.
I couldn't shake the way he had looked at me during the signing. Not smug exactly. Something else. Like he was calculating, watching, waiting for me to fall into the trap he'd set.
I gritted my teeth as I stepped into the boardroom, forcing a mask of calm onto my face. The room buzzed with low murmurs, and as I entered, every head turned. My arrival always had that effect.
"Good morning, everyone," I said, my voice cool and commanding as I took my seat at the head of the table. "Let's get started."
I could feel the weight of their eyes on me, watching, analyzing. They didn't know, of course. No one knew yet. The details of the forced marriage were still buried under layers of non disclosure agreements and legal paperwork. But they would find out eventually. They always did.
The meeting droned on, a flurry of numbers, reports, projections. I listened, nodded at the right moments, even threw in a few suggestions, but my mind wasn't in the room. It was still in that office, with Jake, signing my life away.
Halfway through a presentation on quarterly earnings, the door to the boardroom swung open.
I didn't need to look up. I felt it, felt him the moment he stepped inside.
The air shifted. The room fell silent, the only sound the faint click of his shoes as Jake Anderson strolled into the room like he owned it.
Which, in a way, he now did.
My stomach twisted as he took a seat directly across from me, his lips curling into that infuriating half smile.
"Hope I'm not interrupting," Jake said smoothly, his voice cutting through the silence like a blade.
I wanted to throw something at him. Preferably the heavy projector sitting at the edge of the table.
"You are," I replied evenly, not bothering to look at him. "But since you're here, why don't you make yourself useful?"
He chuckled, the sound low and amused. "I'll be sure to contribute when it matters."
My hands clenched under the table, out of sight. I kept my expression neutral, professional, but inside I was seething. Every word that came out of his mouth was designed to get under my skin, to test my patience.
Two could play that game.
"Gentlemen, ladies," I addressed the room, keeping my gaze fixed firmly on the charts in front of me. "Let's not waste any more time. Shall we continue?"
The rest of the meeting dragged on, an unbearable tension filling the room. Jake didn't say much he didn't need to. His presence alone was enough to unsettle everyone. Especially me.
The moment the meeting ended, I shot out of the room.
I couldn't be near him. Not now. Not after the disastrous morning we'd just had. But I didn't get far before his voice stopped me in my tracks.
"Emily," Jake called, his voice that infuriating mix of command and charm that I hated.
I turned slowly, my heart pounding in my chest as I faced him. He was leaning casually against the wall, arms crossed, looking at me like I was a puzzle he was close to solving.
I hated the way his presence filled every room he walked into. The way his confidence radiated like some invisible force field that no one could resist. No one except me.
I wouldn't fall for his games.
"We need to talk," he said, his tone serious now, the playful smirk gone.
I raised an eyebrow.
"Actually, there's a lot left to say." He pushed off the wall and took a step toward me, his gaze locking onto mine. "Like how you plan on keeping this marriage from ruining us both."
Us both? I almost laughed. "I'm not worried about us both. I'm worried about me. You've made it very clear that this is just a game to you."
"A game?" He scoffed, his jaw tightening. "You think this is a game to me? Trust me, Emily, I didn't want this any more than you did. But now that we're stuck in this mess, we need to figure out how to make it work."
"Oh, I'm sorry," I shot back, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "Did you get blackmailed into marrying your biggest competitor, too? Or is this just another one of your brilliant business strategies?"
He stepped closer, his dark eyes narrowing. "You think I haven't sacrificed anything? You think I don't know what it's like to lose?"
There it was. The crack in his armor. The hint of vulnerability that he tried so hard to hide. For a second, I almost felt some pity, maybebbut it vanished just as quickly as it came.
"Whatever sob story you're about to sell me, I'm not buying it," I said coldly. "You may have tricked me into this marriage, but don't think for a second that I'll ever let you control me."
For a long moment, he didn't say anything. Just stared at me, his expression unreadable.
Then, to my surprise, he smiled. Not his usual smug smirk, but something softer. Almost… genuine.
"You really don't know me at all, do you?" he said quietly.
I opened my mouth to respond, but no words came out. I didn't know him. Not really. I knew the version of Jake Anderson that the world saw the ruthless businessman, the corporate shark who would do anything to win. But the man standing in front of me now… he was different.
I didn't know what to make of it. And I wasn't sure I wanted to.
"We'll see about that," I muttered, turning on my heel and walking away before he could say anything else.
As I walked out of the building, my mind was racing, thoughts colliding at breakneck speed. I hated him. I hated the situation we were in. But more than that, I hated the way he got under my skin. The way he made me question everything.
I had a plan. A strategy.
But for the first time in years, I wasn't sure if it was enough.