Demi Rodgers lifted the heavy hem of her wedding gown and hurried down the quiet top-floor hallway of the St. Regis San Francisco. Her breathing was shallow as she reached the bridal lounge to grab her reception dress. Just as her fingers brushed the half-open mahogany double doors, a soft, breathy moan slipped through the crack. Her hand froze in midair. Her fingertips turned ice-cold. She bit her lower lip hard and shoved the heavy wooden door open. In the dim light, two tangled bodies on the velvet sofa hit her vision like a heavy hammer. An expensive bespoke suit jacket lay crumpled on the carpet. Ezell Myers, her fiancé of five years and the heir to the Myers family, was burying his face into the neck of the woman beneath him, completely oblivious to the open door. The woman arched under him was Keely Holman. Her blonde-streaked curls spilled across the cushions, and the red rose tattoo on her left collarbone stood out sharply in the shadows. She was the biological daughter of the Holman family, Demi's adoptive sister in name only. Demi sucked in a sharp breath. Her bridal bouquet slipped from her numb fingers and hit the hardwood floor with a loud thud. Ezell sprang back as if electrocuted. He scrambled to tug down his rumpled shirt, his hazel eyes wide with panic as he looked at the doorway. "Demi, listen to me, I can explain!" Keely did not flinch at all. She slowly slid her silk strap back onto her shoulder, her lips curving into a mocking smirk. Demi stared at the man she had trusted for five years, her voice shaking with rage. "At our wedding venue, you're in bed with my adoptive sister?" Ezell dropped his gaze, avoiding her clear amber eyes, though his tone carried a hint of defensiveness. "Demi, the Holman family decided to cancel our engagement. I didn't have a choice." A wave of nausea rolled through Demi's stomach. She stepped forward and raised her hand to slap the coward awake, but Ezell caught her wrist mid-swing. Keely stood up from the sofa, swaying her hips as she walked over and linked her arm through Ezell's. "Don't blame him, little sister. Blame your own bad luck." Demi wrenched her wrist free, digging her fingernails deep into her palms to force herself to stay calm. "What are the two of you plotting?" Keely twisted the diamond ring on her finger, her voice dripping with glee. "Mom and Dad already made the call. They're sending you to the Collier family to take my place and marry that old, ugly, crippled monster." The name hit the room like thunder. Demi's pupils shrank. Everyone on the West Coast knew Bentley Collier, the second son of the Collier empire, was a violent, disfigured recluse with a brutal temper. She stumbled half a step back, her spine hitting the cold wall. "Are you out of your minds? That's a high-stakes corporate marriage. You can't just swap the bride at the last minute!" Ezell straightened his tie, slipping back into his usual hypocritical mask. "The Colliers only requested a daughter of the Holman house to fulfill the contract. Whether it's the biological heir or her adopted sister matters little to them—their reclusive son is in no position to inspect the bride beforehand." Demi's stomach churned violently. She spun around and grabbed her clutch from the table, her voice freezing. "I will never agree to this. I'm going downstairs right now to expose both of you to the press." She took a single step before Ezell roughly blocked the doorway, his eyes bloodshot with a flash of ugly violence. "You aren't going anywhere today!" Demi tilted her chin up, anger burning in her eyes. "Get out of my way, or I'm calling security right now." Keely let out a cold laugh, walking to the bar cabinet to pour herself a glass of champagne. "The guards were all hired by the Holman family. Do you really think they'll listen to a cheap adopted girl like you?" Demi's heart sank like a stone. The entire top floor of the hotel was locked down by the Holmans. She was trapped in a cage. She turned slowly to face the pair, a bitter curve forming on her lips. "Twenty years, and you finally tore off the last shred of your disguise." Keely strolled closer with her glass, looking down at her from above. "You've lived off our family for twenty years for free. It's time you paid your debt." Demi met her gaze without backing down, enunciating every word. "I would rather die than step into that fire pit for you." Ezell looked at Demi's pale, striking face, a twisted possessiveness flickering in his eyes as he lowered his voice. "Demi, as long as you do what you're told today, I'll still take care of you in private later." Disgust rose straight to Demi's throat. She snatched a glass of ice water from the side table and threw it directly into Ezell's face. "You make me sick." Ezell wiped the water from his face and raised his hand in a fury, but Keely grabbed his arm in midair. Keely dabbed at the water droplets on her hem in annoyance. "Don't ruin her face. She still has to take photos and sign the papers in a minute." Heavy footsteps suddenly echoed from the hallway outside, accompanied by the sharp clicking of high heels drawing rapidly closer. Keely smiled in triumph, setting her glass down to smooth her hair. "Looks like Mom and Dad have the agreement ready." Demi kept her eyes locked on the door, her chest heaving as her mind raced for a way out. The brass doorknob turned from the outside with a metallic click, cutting off her only escape route. Demi backed quickly against the vanity table, snatched a pair of sharp eyebrow scissors, and slipped them inside her wide lace sleeve, her eyes cold and guarded. Two burly bodyguards in black suits shoved the heavy mahogany doors wide open from the outside, flooding the dim room with harsh hallway light.

Through the open double doors, Gloria Holman strode into the bridal lounge wrapped in a luxurious fur shawl, her pointed heels clicking sharply before her husband, Gray Holman, shuffled in behind her. Demi tightened her grip on the scissors hidden in her sleeve, her nails biting into her palm as she watched the couple who had raised her like a servant. Gloria swept her cold, narrow eyes across the room, frowning in disgust when she saw the water dripping down Ezell's chin. "You can't even handle a girl. Useless thing." Ezell shrank back, dropping his head without a word as he retreated behind Keely, all his earlier arrogance gone. Gray pulled a cigar from his pocket with fingers stained yellow from decades of smoking. As the nominal chairman of the Holman Group, he lit the cigar, took a deep puff, and looked away from Demi toward the ceiling. Gloria sat down on the velvet sofa, the massive emerald ring on her right index finger glinting dully under the chandelier. "Give her the paperwork." A man in a tailored suit pulled a thick document from his briefcase and placed it flat on the vanity table in front of Demi. The bold black letters on the cover read Substitute Marriage Agreement. The words felt like a bucket of ice water poured straight over Demi's head. Demi didn't even reach for the pages. She straightened her spine, her voice tight. "I'm not signing this. This is illegal coercion." Gloria let out a sharp laugh, picking up a teacup to take a slow sip. "Illegal? You ate my food and wore my clothes under my roof for twenty years. This is called paying off your debt." Demi bit her lower lip until she tasted rust, her eyes reddening with fury. "You adopted me from the orphanage just for today?" Gloria set the porcelain cup down with a loud clatter. "What else? Did you actually expect me to love you like my own flesh and blood? You're nothing but a nameless stray with unknown parents." The last sliver of illusion in Demi's chest shattered completely. She let out a cold laugh and looked at Gray through the haze of cigar smoke. "Father, is this what you want too?" Gray blew out an anxious cloud of smoke, hunching his shoulders to avoid her eyes. "Demi, just consider it doing the family a favor. The Colliers are billionaires. They won't treat you badly financially." Demi's chest heaved. She snatched the agreement off the table and ripped it cleanly in half, the sound of tearing paper cutting through the quiet room. Keely shrieked and lunged forward too late, pointing a trembling finger at Demi's nose. "Have you lost your mind? If we offend the Collier family, our entire company will go bankrupt!" Demi threw the torn scraps straight into Keely's face. "Whether your family lives or dies has nothing to do with me!" Gloria shot up from the sofa, marched up to Demi, and swung her hand across Demi's cheek with a loud crack. Demi's head snapped to the side. Her left cheek swelled instantly, a thin line of blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. She didn't shed a tear. She pressed the tip of her tongue against the cut and turned her head back to glare at Gloria. Unsettled by her icy stare, Gloria raised her chin and scoffed. "Do you think tearing up one copy changes anything? The lawyer has plenty of backups." The lawyer immediately pulled two fresh copies from his briefcase, laid them neatly on the table, and uncapped a black Montblanc pen. Gloria folded her arms across her chest, looking down at Demi. "If you refuse to sign today, I will cut off your tuition at Bay Area United University immediately, and I'll make sure not a single company in the Bay Area ever dares to hire you." Demi's heart contracted painfully. Her degree at United University was her only ticket out of this mud pit, and Gloria had grabbed her directly by the throat. She stared at the cold metal pen on the wood, her fingers trembling as her mind raced for a way to survive. Keely sneered from the side, rubbing her cheek where the paper had hit her. "Hurry up and sign it. Or do you really want to end up homeless sleeping under a freeway overpass?" Demi drew in a slow, ragged breath, forcing down the humiliation burning in her chest. Fighting them head-on right now would leave her with nothing. She reached out, picked up the pen, paused for a second above the dotted line, and signed her name in sharp strokes. A satisfied smile spread across Gloria's face. She reached for the contract, but Demi slammed her palm down over the paper. Demi looked up, her amber eyes hard as flint. "I signed it, but we are adding a supplemental clause at the bottom." Gloria frowned impatiently. "What kind of trick are you trying to pull now?" Demi spoke slowly, her voice echoing in the lounge. "From this moment on, I sever all legal and family ties with the Holman household. Whether I live or die, we never see each other again." The room went dead silent. Gray froze with the cigar halfway to his mouth, staring in shock at the girl who had quietly endured their abuse for two decades. Gloria barked out a laugh filled with contempt. "I couldn't ask for more. Lawyer, write it in for her." The lawyer quickly drafted the severance clause at the bottom of both copies, and Demi pressed her thumb into the red ink pad, stamping her print over her signature without hesitation. She stood up, ripped the heavy lace bridal veil from her hair, threw it like a dirty rag at Ezell's feet, and strode toward the open doors.

Demi pushed past the bodyguards at the lounge doorway, her heels thudding rapidly against the thick hallway carpet as she fled the suffocating room. Gloria's shrill voice echoed right behind her. "Don't even think about running away! Our men are guarding every exit downstairs. You're walking down that aisle today whether you like it or not!" Demi didn't look back. She gathered the heavy folds of her white skirt and walked faster, the tears she had held back finally blurring her vision. The crystal wall sconces melted into fuzzy halos of light. Only one thought pounded in her skull: she could not let the Holman family get away with this. She needed a man—any man—just to walk into that ballroom and blow this wedding to pieces, turning the Holmans into the biggest laughingstock in San Francisco society. Blinded by tears and moving too fast, she rounded the sharp corner of the top-floor corridor without seeing the group of men striding toward her. She slammed headfirst into a hard chest, the crisp scent of cedarwood mixed with faint tobacco instantly filling her nose. The impact knocked her off balance. She gasped as she tipped backward, squeezing her eyes shut. A strong arm whipped around her slender waist and hauled her firmly back against a broad, warm chest. Demi's eyes flew open, her gaze crashing straight into a pair of deep, icy blue eyes. Her breath caught in her throat. The man towering over her wore an immaculate black bespoke suit. His features were strikingly handsome, sharp and cold like a ruler who didn't belong in the mortal world. Bentley Collier looked down at the woman in his arms—her eyes rimmed with red, her cheek slightly swollen, wearing a rumpled wedding gown—a flicker of intrigue crossing his dark blue gaze. Behind him, his chief special assistant, Carter Brooks, sucked in a sharp breath and stepped forward to pull the reckless woman off his boss. Bentley slightly raised his free left hand, halting Carter with a tiny gesture while keeping his eyes locked on Demi's face. Demi froze for three full seconds before realizing she was clutching the lapels of a stranger's jacket, wrinkling the expensive fabric in her fists. She let go as if burned and tried to step back. "I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." Bentley didn't release her right away. Instead, his large hand tightened slightly around her waist, the scorching heat of his palm pressing right through the thin satin of her dress. His low, gravelly voice rumbled in the quiet hallway. "Running in such a hurry, little bride? Trying to escape your own wedding?" The casual remark hit Demi like a bolt of lightning. Looking at the commanding, breathtaking man in front of her, a wild idea took root in her mind. Instead of pulling away, she stepped closer and grabbed Bentley's sleeve, tilting her head up to look straight into his eyes. The man's gaze darkened instantly, the air around him dropping several degrees, yet he stood still and waited for her to speak. Demi bit her lower lip, her voice trembling slightly but desperate. Desperation overriding her better judgment, Demi grabbed his sleeve and whispered frantically, "Sir, are you looking to earn some fast cash?" Behind him, Carter nearly choked on his own saliva. In all of California, someone was actually asking the billionaire CEO of the Collier Group if he wanted to make quick cash. Bentley raised a dark brow, a trace of amusement surfacing in his icy eyes. "Oh? How?" Demi took a deep breath and pointed down the hall toward the grand ballroom doors. "Walk through those doors with me in ten minutes and pretend to be my groom." She unclasped a diamond bracelet from her wrist—the only piece of jewelry left to her from her college scholarship awards—and pressed it into his palm. "This is the deposit. Once the wedding is ruined, I'll wire you another hundred thousand dollars." Bentley looked down at the diamond bracelet still warm from her skin, his thumb slowly rubbing the cold cut of the stones as the corner of his mouth curved upward. A glint of chilling, absolute calculation flickered in his deep blue eyes, his knowing smirk suggesting he already saw right through the entire desperate sham of this wedding and the frantic pawn standing before him. Seeing his silence, Demi thought he wasn't satisfied with the price and added urgently. "As long as you help me wreck this ceremony, you can name whatever terms you want!" Heavy footsteps of the Holman bodyguards echoed from the far end of the corridor. Her time was running out. Bentley leaned down slightly, bringing his handsome face close to her ear. His warm breath brushed against the sensitive skin of her neck, sending a shiver straight down her spine. His voice dropped so low only the two of them could hear. "Whatever terms I want? Are you sure you can afford the price?" Pressed back by his overwhelming presence, Demi retreated half a step until her spine hit the wall, yet she stubbornly lifted her chin. "I'm sure." The guards' footsteps reached the edge of the corner. Demi squeezed her eyes shut, thinking her desperate gamble was over. Just as the guards rounded the turn, Bentley suddenly reached out, wrapped his fingers around her wrist, and pulled her firmly to his side. "Deal."