"I'll stay."
The words left my mouth before I had time to regret them.
I should have felt relief.
But I didn't.
I felt like I was stepping deeper into something I did not understand.
Damien Voss watched me carefully, like he was waiting to see if I would change my mind. I didn't. I couldn't. There was nowhere left to run.
"Good." His voice held no warmth. Just the cold efficiency of a man who had just closed a deal. "From now on, you are my wife."
I blinked. "What?"
He sat down across from me as if what he said made perfect sense.
"To them, Sarai. To your family. From now on, you are no longer the discarded Wynn heiress. You are Mrs Voss. Legally."
I felt the world tilt under me. "That's insane."
"Maybe. But it is the only way to stop them from erasing you."
I swallowed, shaking my head slowly. "Why are you doing this?"
His answer was immediate.
"To turn the tables."
I looked at him, helpless. "On who?"
"Your father. Your mother. Chloe. Anyone who decided your existence was a liability."
My breath caught.
He was serious.
Dead serious.
"They are trying to get rid of you," he continued. "Not just from the company. From existence. If you disappear, they win. If you are declared unstable, they win. But if you change the narrative… we win."
I could not stop shaking. "Why are you helping me?"
He looked down for the first time since this conversation began. A strange pause.
"Because someone needs to."
That was all he said.
No further explanation.
No sincerity in his tone. Just fact.
I didn't believe him.
But I no longer cared.
He stood. "Get dressed. You are coming with me."
"Where?"
"To figure this out."
Before I could question him further, the door opened. A man stepped in. Older. Grey hair, sharp suit, and eyes that had seen too much.
"Vance," Damien said without looking at him. "Ready the flight."
Vance nodded. Then his gaze fell on me.
"So, this is her."
It was not a question.
Vance looked at me like I was already a complication.
I didn't blame him.
He turned back to Damien. "Your Milan flight is ready. Wheels up in ninety minutes."
"We are leaving in twenty."
Vance hesitated. "Understood."
Damien turned to me. "You're coming."
I didn't argue.
I didn't have the strength.
Or the will.
Vance led me to a bedroom where a simple black dress had been laid out. My size. Somehow. I didn't ask questions anymore. I got changed silently. My ankle still ached, but I pushed through it.
Within half an hour, we were in the car.
Then at the private terminal.
Then boarding a plane that Damien apparently owned.
I sat down in the white leather seat across from him. Vance took the seat behind us. A lawyer joined him shortly after.
I tried to focus. Tried to keep breathing.
Damien poured me water.
Not wine.
That felt deliberate.
"Why Milan?" I asked softly.
He looked at me without blinking. "Because it is the one place your father cannot reach easily."
"And what happens there?"
"We plan."
The engines hummed.
The plane lifted off.
I thought I would feel free once the ground disappeared.
Instead, I felt trapped.
Once we were in the air, Damien opened the folder I had noticed earlier.
"Sign."
I looked at the documents.
Marriage registration.
To him.
I laughed. A hollow sound.
"This is crazy."
"You said you would stay."
"This wasn't part of staying."
"It is now."
I glanced at Vance.
He said nothing.
I looked back at Damien.
"What happens if I say no?"
"Then I land this plane back home and let them find you."
I closed my eyes.
He wasn't threatening me.
He was telling the truth.
I picked up the pen.
I signed.
Not because I trusted him.
Because I had nothing left.
When I set the pen down, Damien took the papers and passed them silently to the lawyer.
I sank back into my seat, feeling the weight of what I had just done settle over me.
"I can't believe I just did that."
Damien glanced at me. "It is just paperwork."
I laughed bitterly. "Marriage is not just paperwork."
"For us, it is."
I looked at him properly then. "Why me? You could have chosen anyone. Paid anyone."
"I do not trust anyone."
"But you trust me?"
"I trust your desperation."
I looked away.
That, too, was the truth.
Damien leaned forward slightly. For the first time, his voice lowered.
"I know you are angry. I know you are afraid. But everything will be alright, Sarai."
I wanted to believe him.
Before I could reply, Vance leaned forward, whispering something into Damien's ear.
I watched the shift.
His entire face changed.
Expressionless before.
Now sharp. Distressed.
Without a word, he pulled out his tablet and flicked through something quickly. His movements were sharper than before.
"What happened?" I asked, voice tight.
He didn't answer.
Instead, he slid the tablet across the table toward me.
"Read."
I picked it up.
At first, the words blurred.
Then they burned.
WYNN INDUSTRIES OFFICIAL STATEMENT:
Director Sarai Wynn Steps Down Amid Mental Health Crisis.
Sources Confirm She is Mentally Unstable and Unfit to Lead.
Family Requests Privacy As Sarai Focuses on Recovery Abroad.
I stopped breathing.
I read it again.
And again.
I felt Damien watching me.
But he said nothing.
Because there was nothing left to say