Chapter 1 The Heir Found in Ruin
The first thing Adrian Vale noticed was the smell.
Cold coffee.
Bitter. Forgotten.
It clung to the air of the living room like something left behind too long, just like the silence that followed him when he was dragged back into the Vale mansion at dawn.
No one spoke.
A maid stood near the table, her hands wrapped tightly around a silver tray. The coffee cups rattled softly when her fingers trembled. No one told her to leave, nor did anyone tell her to stay.
Adrian dropped onto the sofa.
Not carefully. Not politely.
His body sank deep into the cushions, his head falling back against the leather as if it were too heavy to hold up. The lights above him felt too bright. He closed his eyes for a second, just one.
But the silence didn’t disappear.
Footsteps echoed across the marble floor.
Slow. Sharp. Angry.
His father’s.
Dominic Vale paced from one end of the room to the other. His shoes struck the floor with perfect rhythm, the sound controlled, precise—like everything else about him.
Adrian didn’t look.
He focused instead on the faint crack in the ceiling. He had stared at it as a child once, lying on the same sofa after scraping his knee. He remembered thinking it looked like a broken lightning bolt.
Now it just looked tired.
“You’ve embarrassed this family.”
Dominic’s voice was calm.
That was worse than shouting.
Adrian didn’t move.
Across the room, a chair scraped slightly. Someone shifted their weight. Someone else sighed.
His siblings were all there. He could feel their eyes on him even without looking.
Judgment came in many forms. Silence was one of them.
“You crossed every line, Adrian,” Dominic said again, stopping directly in front of him.
Adrian opened his eyes slowly.
“I didn’t hurt anyone,” he said. His voice was hoarse, dry. “That should count for something.”
Julian laughed quietly. Not amused. Not kind.
“You were found in a motel room with two women and drugs on the table,” his brother said. “By morning, that’s all anyone will know. Not the truth. Just the headline.”
Adrian turned his head slightly and finally looked at them.
Julian stood near the window, arms crossed, jaw tight. Iris leaned against the wall, her nails digging into her sleeves. Caleb sat forward, restless, his knee bouncing. Naomi kept her gaze on the floor. Rowan stared openly, anger flashing in his eyes.
Then there was his mother.
Helena Vale sat perfectly straight, her back stiff, her hands folded so tightly in her lap that her knuckles had gone white. She hadn’t said a word. She didn’t need to.
Her eyes were red.
Adrian swallowed.
“We need to talk about your future,” Dominic said.
Adrian let out a short breath. It almost sounded like a laugh. “Do I still have one?”
Dominic’s eyes hardened.
“Our shares dropped this morning,” Julian said. “Partners are calling. Investors are watching. Your name is poison right now.”
“Good,” Adrian muttered. “Maybe they’ll finally stop pretending I’m something I’m not.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“You were given everything,” he said. “And you threw it away.”
Adrian pushed himself upright, his elbows resting on his knees. He ran a hand through his messy hair and laughed again, this time sharper.
“Everything?” He looked up. “You mean the company? The expectations? The life you planned before I even learned how to choose?”
Helena flinched.
Dominic’s jaw tightened. “Enough.”
He inhaled slowly, visibly restraining himself.
“There is a solution,” he said.
The room went still.
Even the maid froze.
Adrian frowned. “A solution to what? Me?”
“To the damage you’ve caused,” Dominic replied. “And to the future you’re determined to destroy.”
Adrian leaned back again. “I’m listening.”
Dominic met his gaze.
“You will get married.”
The words landed wrong.
Too calm. Too heavy.
For a moment, Adrian thought he had misheard.
“…What?”
“I said you will marry,” Dominic repeated.
Someone gasped softly. Someone else swore under their breath.
Adrian stared at his father, then burst out laughing. Loudly this time.
“Marriage?” He shook his head. “You think a ring will fix this?”
“It will fix your image,” Dominic said. “And that’s all that matters right now.”
Adrian stood up so fast the coffee table rattled.
“I won’t marry some stranger to clean up your mess,” he snapped. “That won’t change who I am.”
Dominic didn’t raise his voice.
“If you refuse,” he said calmly, “your accounts will be frozen. Your cars will be confiscated. Your position in the company will be terminated.”
The words were delivered like facts. Not threats.
Adrian’s smile vanished.
He searched his father’s face for hesitation.
Found none.
“You wouldn’t dare,” he said quietly.
Dominic pulled a phone from his pocket and tapped the screen once. Then he looked up.
“Check your balance.”
Adrian froze.
Slowly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. His fingers hesitated before unlocking it.
One glance.
That was all it took.
The color drained from his face.
Without another word, he turned and walked out of the room. His footsteps were loud this time, echoing up the staircase. A door slammed upstairs, shaking the walls.
No one followed.
Helena covered her mouth, a quiet sob escaping her. Julian exhaled sharply and turned away.
Dominic walked to the bar and poured himself a drink.
“There’s a shareholder,” he said after a moment. “A man who owes me a great deal. He’s bankrupt.”
“And?” Iris asked, her voice tight.
“He offered a solution,” Dominic replied. “A contract marriage. His daughter, in exchange for his debt.”
The room went cold.
Naomi’s head snapped up. “You’re trading a woman like property.”
“She was raised for this,” Dominic said. “To be a wife.”
Helena’s shoulders shook. “My son is broken,” she whispered. “Ever since that woman left him at the altar… I don’t recognize him anymore.”
Julian clenched his fists. “And what if he destroys this girl, too?”
Dominic took a slow sip of whiskey. “Then I’ll end the contract myself.”
No one spoke again.
Upstairs, Adrian stood alone in his dark room, his back pressed against the door, his chest rising and falling too fast.
Marriage.
A stranger.
A life decided without him.
And somewhere across the city, a young woman named Serena Hale was about to learn that her future had already been signed away.