The penthouse felt like it shrank around me the second Sebastian shoved his tablet in my hands. My eyes darted over the headline shouting in ugly, red letters on a celebrity news app:

"THE TYRANT'S TRUE BRIDE RETURNS? HEIRESS VICTORIA STERLING LANDS IN NYC AFTER SCANDALOUS SECRET LIAISON AT VANCE HEADQUARTERS!"

Right under that, there she was: Victoria Sterling, breezing through an airport. Honestly, she looked like she was born for this world tall, flawless, wrapped in a cream trench and giant sunglasses, blond waves practically glowing. But it was the screenshot of her social media post that really made my blood freeze:

"Heading home to my one and only, @SebastianVance. Distance only makes the heart grow fonder. See you at the altar, darling. 🤍"

I could barely get my voice out. "Who is she?" I whispered, glancing up at Sebastian's rigid, furious face. "The contract said you didn't have any old family ties or drama. You told me you needed a quiet woman because you were single."

He snatched the tablet back, jaw locked. "We broke off the engagement six months ago," he growled, pacing in front of my bedroom door like he was about to fly apart. "Her family's Sterling Global they own half the phones on the East Coast. It was all a business merger. When I caught her feeding her father insider info, I ended it. Immediately."

"Then why is she saying you're still getting married?" My voice sounded steadier than I felt as I crossed my arms, trying to hide that I was shaking. "If she's leaking this stuff, she's tearing up everything we just agreed to."

He spun toward the window, fists clenched tight behind his back. "Because my board votes on my CEO position at noon. Victoria knows if the board wants 'stability,' a public reunion with her shoots my stock price back up. Her father wants into my company, and this is how they're going to force it. They're cornering me into marrying her."

All I could hear was my own heartbeat stuttering in my chest. Corporate money and boardroom coups meant nothing compared to what really mattered to me. "What about Julian?" I couldn't keep the fear out of my voice, so I just let it out. "If the board pushes you out, you can't protect my brother. You promised me, Sebastian!"

Something inside him shifted when I said his name. He turned, eyes stormy and dark, something wild and dangerous simmering behind them. For a second, I wanted to take a step back. But I forced myself to stand my ground.

Two strides, and he was in front of me, reaching out his hand landing around the back of my neck, steady but not painful. He tilted my face up, letting me see every flicker of the hurricane in his eyes. The scent of him cedar and mint swirled in the air between us. My heart tripped over itself.

"I don't break promises, Clara," he said, voice barely above a growl, vibrating through my bones. "But the rules just changed. Victoria thinks she's trapped me. She thinks I'll pick her money over a scandal. She has no idea who she's threatening."

I could barely breathe. "So what now?" My lips were a whisper from his, and my pulse thudded hard enough he couldn't miss it.

He grinned, slow and deadly. "We're playing her game. Only dirtier. She wants a media circus? I'll give her the whole damn show. You're coming to headquarters with me, right now."

I blinked down at myself oversized silk shirt, bare feet. "Like this?"

"My stylists are already waiting." His thumb brushed under my jaw, gentler, and then his hand dropped away, cold and impatient. "You have thirty minutes to become Mrs. Vance. If you don't sell it to the press, your brother's in an orange jumpsuit by tonight."

Twenty minutes later, I sat frozen in front of a vanity, three stylists attacking me with curling irons and lip gloss. My hair got swept into soft waves, my face painted flawless, and they slid me into an emerald-green dress so expensive it probably had its own security guard.

I barely recognized myself a stranger in the glass: sharp cheekbones, emerald silk, gold stilettos.

Then Sebastian walked in, dressed like a thunderstorm in a midnight three-piece suit. He paused at the door, perfect and powerful, his gaze dragging over every inch of me. I caught a crack just for a second-in his icy mask. He looked almost... impressed.

I tried to cover my nerves with a joke. "Will this do, Mr. Vance?"

He was all business again in a blink. "Perfect." Then he reached out his arm. "Remember, Clara. As soon as we step into that elevator, you are madly in love with me. Don't break the act-not even for a second."

I slid my hand into the crook of his arm, feeling the muscle tense under my palm. "Don't worry, I can act when my brother's life depends on it."

We rode the private elevator down in silence. The air felt like a death sentence. When the doors slid open to the VIP garage, chaos hit a wall of paparazzi, flashes exploding, reporters screaming. Security barely held the line.

Sebastian's arm tightened around my waist, yanking me close as we headed for the armored car.

"Sebastian! Are you back with Victoria Sterling?" someone shouted.

"Who's the brunette? Is this some PR thing?" another voice yelled.

He ignored them, face stone-cold, steering me straight through the blinking madness. I forced myself to look up at him soft smile, adoring gaze. We'd practiced this. I pretended he was my whole world.

Once we were in the backseat, the noise cut out. The SUV peeled away. I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding.

"You did well," Sebastian said, adjusting his cuffs, eyes anywhere but me. "But that was just the warm-up. Victoria's already inside, waiting. She thinks she's running the show."

The air in Vance Enterprises was thick with nerves. Through the glass-walled boardroom, I saw investors shifting, tense. But right outside the doors, sipping a macchiato in her designer suit, stood Victoria Sterling.

As we stepped out of the elevator, Sebastian's hand gripping mine, Victoria spun around. She was all smirks until she saw us. Her good mood curdled in record time.

"Sebastian, what is this?" Her voice went shrill as she pointedly ignored me. "Who is she?"

He pulled me closer, his thumb stroking the back of my hand like he meant it. "Victoria, meet Clara. My real fiancée. We're here to sign before the board."

She actually laughed. "Fiancée? She doesn't even have a ring. The board will never believe this..."

I glanced at my ringless left hand, stomach dropping. She was right Sebastian had forgotten the one thing that mattered most in this show.

But he just smiled, eyes glittering. He turned, blocking Victoria out. "Forgive me, darling," he said loud and clear. "I shouldn't have kept it in my pocket this long."

He reached into his vest not for a box, but for a massive, emerald-cut diamond ring that looked like it belonged in a museum. He slid it onto my finger. Cold, heavy... perfect.

Victoria's mouth dropped open.

"Now," Sebastian said, smiling like he already owned the world, "let's tell the board why you're taking her place."

But before he could open the boardroom door, chaos broke through again his assistant sprinted down the hall, terror written on her face.

"Mr. Vance! Stop! Someone just leaked the accountant's confession the country knows who your new fiancée really is. She's trending as a federal criminal!"