Chapter 12 012
Chapter 12 012
IRIS POV
Vale's office was different at night. The city lights filtered through the glass walls, casting long shadows across the floor. I'd been summoned, no explanation, just a text that said, "My office. Now."
I found him standing by the window, hands in his pockets, looking out at the skyline like he was contemplating something monumental.
"You wanted to see me," I said, keeping my distance.
He turned slowly, and the look on his face made my stomach drop. This wasn't anger. It was something calculated, something that had been planned.
"Sit," he said, gesturing to the chair across from his desk.
I didn't move. "I'd rather stand."
"Sit, Iris." His voice left no room for argument.
I sat.
He walked to his desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a folder. Thick, official looking. He placed it in front of me with the kind of care you'd use handling evidence.
"What is this?" I asked, though part of me already knew. Part of me had been dreading this moment since I signed that first contract.
"A solution," he said simply.
I opened the folder. The first page made my vision blur.
MARRIAGE CONTRACT.
"You're insane," I whispered.
"I'm practical." He sat on the edge of his desk, arms crossed. "The legal investigation into your falsified report is accelerating. Julian Marrow is pushing for a formal inquiry, and Sera's podcast is gaining traction. In three months, maybe less, you'll be facing charges."
My hands trembled on the paper. "So what, you marry me and it all goes away?"
"Spousal privilege." His voice was clinical, like he was explaining a forensic procedure. "Anything you tell me becomes protected. Any evidence I have against you becomes inadmissible in certain contexts. And more importantly, as my wife, you'd have legal protections and resources that would make prosecuting you nearly impossible."
I stared at him, trying to find the lie, the angle. "You can't be serious."
"I'm completely serious." He leaned forward. "This isn't romance, Iris. It's strategy. You need protection, and I need leverage."
"Leverage for what?"
"To make sure you don't run. To make sure you finish what we started." His eyes were dark, unreadable. "To make sure you help me find out what really happened to my sister."
I shook my head, standing up. "This is crazy. You can't just marry someone as a business transaction."
"People do it all the time." He stood too, moving around the desk. "Arranged marriages, green card marriages, marriages of convenience. This is no different."
"It's completely different! You hate me."
"I don't hate you." His voice dropped, something shifting in his expression. "I hate what you did. But you? You're complicated."
The word hung between us, loaded with meanings I didn't want to examine.
"I won't do it," I said, backing toward the door. "You can't force me to marry you."
"No, I can't." He pulled out his phone, tapped something, then turned the screen toward me. "But I can send this email to the state forensic board, the DA's office, and every major news outlet in the city."
The email was already drafted. Subject line: Evidence of Falsified DNA Report in Victim 482 Case. Attachments included scanned documents, my signature, timestamps.
Everything.
"You're blackmailing me into marriage," I said, my voice breaking.
"I'm offering you a choice." He pocketed the phone. "Marry me, and I protect you. We work together, find the truth, and when it's over, we dissolve the marriage. Clean, simple."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then I hit send." He moved closer, and I could smell his cologne, feel the heat of him. "Your career ends. Rowan gets dragged into it because he covered for you. Your father's legacy becomes a footnote in a scandal. Everything you tried to protect falls apart."
My chest tightened. I couldn't breathe. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because I need to know you won't disappear." His voice was rough now, almost vulnerable. "I need to know that when things get hard, when the truth gets ugly, you'll still be there. And the only way I can trust that is if you're legally bound to me."
"That's not trust. That's control."
"Call it whatever you want." He gestured to the contract. "But it's the only way forward."
I looked down at the papers. The terms were spelled out in brutal detail. Six month marriage, renewable if necessary. Public appearances required. Shared residence. Financial arrangements. It read like a business merger, which I supposed it was.
"This is insane," I repeated, but my voice was weaker now.
"It's necessary." He picked up a pen, held it out to me. "Sign it, and I protect everything you care about. Refuse, and I destroy it."
I stared at the pen. My hands were shaking so hard I wasn't sure I could even hold it.
"What about Rowan?" I asked quietly.
"What about him?"
"He'll never understand this."
"Then don't tell him." Vale's expression hardened. "This stays between us. As far as anyone else knows, we fell for each other. Quick engagement, private ceremony. People will talk, but they'll accept it."
"And when it's over?"
"We go our separate ways. You get your life back, minus the legal trouble." He stepped closer. "But until then, you're mine. In name, in law, in every way that matters to keep you safe."
The possessiveness in his voice should've scared me. Instead, it did something else, something I didn't want to acknowledge.
I took the pen.
"If I do this," I said slowly, "if I sign this, you promise to protect Rowan too. He doesn't get dragged down with me."
Vale considered this. "Fine. He stays out of it."
I flipped to the last page, where the signature lines waited. My hand hovered over the paper.
"If I can't trust your honesty," Vale said quietly, leaning in so close his breath touched my ear, "I'll bind your loyalty."
I signed. My signature looked shaky, desperate, but it was there. Legal and binding.
Vale took the pen, signed his own name beside mine. Then he straightened, looking at me with something that might've been satisfaction or regret.
"Welcome to our Christmas," he said softly.
I stared at the contract, at our names side by side, and wondered what the hell I'd just done.