Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Straight to Bed?

Lila’s POV

The scent that woke me was a sharp, clean blend of cold cedar and an indefinable wildness. It was refreshing, yet it carried an oppressive weight that made my heart race for no reason. My eyelashes fluttered as I slowly opened my eyes to an entirely unfamiliar scene: dark, solid wood furniture that exuded wealth, all sharp, hard lines. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, a forest shrouded in morning mist stretched as far as the eye could see. This was definitely not my small, rented apartment.

I instinctively curled my fingers, the silky, cool sheet beneath me heightening the sense of strangeness. The events of last night suddenly flooded my mind like a movie, each frame painfully sharp. A flush instantly spread across my cheeks, heating the back of my neck. Shame crawled up my spine, and my heart hammered against my ribs—THUMP THUMP THUMP—as if it would burst from my chest. I quickly pressed the back of my hand to my heart, trying to calm its frantic rhythm.

Oh god… I actually slept with my best friend Zoe’s father, Jasper Hale!

The moment the thought surfaced, I wanted to bury myself under the covers. My fingertips brushed against my hot face as I sat up abruptly. The silk sheet slipped from my shoulders, and a faint, stinging pain pricked at my collarbone. I sucked in a sharp breath and looked down—my skin was covered in red marks of varying shades, like someone had stamped them there, glaringly obvious.

’It wasn’t a dream. Everything that happened last night was real.’

The root of all this traced back to three days ago. I was dumped by Caleb—my adoptive brother, the man I’d loved for fifteen years and secretly dated for three months. When he broke up with me, his tone was as casual as if he were saying, “I had a sandwich for lunch today.” With one breezy sentence—”We’re not a good match, and I need a marriage alliance”—he negated my entire youth.

What was even more infuriating was that his fiancée, Penelope, showed up not long after. She looked down her nose at me, sizing me up with a contemptuous gaze, and called me the ugly girl the Goodrich family took in, saying I was utterly unworthy of Caleb.

When I was ten, my parents died in an accident, and I went to live with the Goodrich family. Uncle Arthur and his wife were gentle people. They never let me want for anything, materially speaking, and never let me suffer any injustice. But still… I always felt a certain distance between us. I lacked nothing in terms of material comfort, but my heart felt empty, like a missing puzzle piece. I was always hoping for someone I could truly call my own, someone to lean on.

I once thought Caleb was that missing piece, but he shattered my hopes with his own hands.

Zoe was a freshman I’d helped at my Ivy League university. We hit it off immediately and became closer than sisters. Seeing me crying so hard I could barely breathe, she held me and patted my back for a long time. Then she took my hand and said she wanted to introduce me to a “super reliable” guy—her own father, Jasper.

Zoe pitched her dad hard. Jasper was the big boss of the Hale Group—rich, handsome, and, most importantly, in desperate need of a wife to deal with his family’s pressure to get married. And I happened to fit his requirements perfectly.

“Lila, trust me! My dad is a hundred times better than that scumbag Caleb!” Zoe declared, thumping her chest, her eyes sparkling with conviction. “He might seem a little intimidating and doesn’t talk much, but he’s fiercely protective of his own! If you marry him, you can slap Caleb and that Penelope right in the face, and you’ll finally escape your situation of living under someone else’s roof. Isn’t that great?”

She squeezed my hand, its warmth making me waver. Of course I’d heard the name Jasper Hale. He was a regular on the covers of business magazines. I could even picture his magazine photos: sharp eyes, a defined jawline, and an intimidating aura. He was clearly the type of person you didn’t approach.

I never imagined I would get involved with such a powerful man, let alone marry him. But when I thought of Penelope’s smug face, Caleb’s heartlessness, and the small apartment I could barely afford after leaving the Goodrich family, I acted on impulse and actually nodded.

’It’s just a marriage, right? I have nothing left to lose anyway. I might as well take the gamble.’ That was what I was thinking at the time, driven by the reckless desperation of someone with nothing to lose.

Jasper and I met once, in a high-end café. He was even more intimidating in person than in his photos and said pitifully little. We had barely exchanged pleasantries before he slid a marriage contract across the table. I clutched the contract, my fingertips tight. I had braced myself to be taken advantage of, but the terms were surprisingly fair. He would provide me a place to live and support my career. My only obligation was to cooperate with him when necessary to fend off his family’s pressure to marry. We would be a couple in name only, with no interference in each other’s private lives. And once he had dealt with the family pressure, we could divorce at any time.

Without a second thought, I signed it, my hand trembling slightly as the pen moved across the paper.

That same day, he said he had a business dinner to attend and had his driver move my luggage to this villa by the forest. Zoe had planned to stay with me for a few days, but she got an urgent call from her school and had to leave in a hurry. In the enormous villa, I was left all alone, staring into the empty rooms.

When Jasper returned last night, he smelled of alcohol and didn’t seem as cold and rigid as when we first met. I was in the living room pouring a glass of water when I saw him stumble. I moved to help him out of politeness, but as soon as I got close, he pinned me against the counter.

His scorching breath fanned across my neck, carrying a strange allure. I froze completely, unsure of what to do with my hands and feet. I wanted to pull away, but he held me in his arms, leaving me no escape…

I had never seen a man like that. It was as if his normal, human mask had shattered, revealing nothing but searing emotion in his eyes. He was like an untamed beast. His kisses were fierce and domineering, filled with a force that permitted no refusal, silencing all my struggles and swallowing any words I might have said.

I could smell that scent on him—cedar mixed with wildness—stronger than before. It enveloped me, leaving me breathless and stirring my own hidden desires…

I shook my head hard, trying to banish the blush-inducing images, and threw back the covers to get out of bed. My legs were still a little weak. I steadied myself against the wall as I slowly walked into the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. The icy water sobered me up a bit. I looked up at the mirror—the girl staring back had a lingering flush in her eyes, her lips were slightly swollen, and the red marks on my neck were impossible to hide, glaringly conspicuous.

I raised a hand and poked at the marks. The sensation under my fingertips sent a new wave of shame and panic through me. ’I loved Caleb for so many years, and I was always so careful. I had to summon all my courage just to hold his hand. I’ve never lost control like this. But with Jasper, just this one intimate encounter has completely shattered all my defenses. Even now, something is still fluttering inside me, a tingling current running through my body.’

’I’m in a daze. Was that seductive-looking person in the mirror really me?’

Just then, my phone started vibrating, the BUZZING sound especially loud in the quiet room.

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