The tapping of a mahogany pen against the glass table shattered the stifling silence inside Charlotte Corp’s main boardroom. The room felt bone-chillingly cold, steeped in the pungent scent of aged wood and crushing failure.
Olivia Charlotte sat rigid at the head of the table, her slender fingers curled tightly into fists upon her lap. Spread out before her were three thick, black-bordered folders—the marriage alliance documents that would surrender every remaining shred of her autonomy to the Lysander family.
"Ten seconds left, Miss Charlotte," a cold voice cut in.
The man standing beside the floor-to-ceiling window was Hector Vane, Kinsey Lysander’s personal attorney. Dressed in a flawless charcoal suit, he looked down at Olivia as if she were nothing more than a deficit line on a balance sheet.
"If you hesitate, my client has no objection to letting the stock market crush your father’s empire tomorrow morning at nine o'clock sharp," Hector added ruthlessly.
Olivia glanced at the older man sitting to her right—Arthur Charlotte, her own father. The man who had once helmed this business dynasty now sat with his head bowed, unable to meet his daughter's eyes.
"Father... is this truly your decision?" Olivia asked, her voice calm yet weighed down by suppressed despair.
Arthur didn't say a word. His trembling hands merely pushed a gold pin and a black-inked pen toward Olivia.
"It’s for the family, Olivia," Arthur rasped out, hollow and stripped of all dignity. "Only Kinsey Lysander has the liquidity to save us."
"Save us? Or purchase what little honor we have left?" Olivia whispered.
Hector stepped closer, pulling out a chair opposite Olivia before laying an open folder between them. Right on the final page, the signature line sat completely bare, waiting for her surrender.
"Kinsey Lysander has no use for the Charlotte family honor, Miss," Hector said with a provocative edge. "He only requires the legality. Sign it, Olivia. You aren't selling your soul—you're merely leasing it to a devil."
Those words struck Olivia's chest like a physical blow. A devil.
Kinsey Lysander's name was synonymous with ruthless cruelty. Olivia had never met him in person; she knew him only through business broadcasts and high-end publications. He was a towering, imposing figure, icy, with a sharp jawline and an intimidating gaze that could crush opponents without ever uttering a word.
All at once, unbidden thoughts crept into her mind. The vivid image of the man—his broad shoulders, the solid contours of his chest beneath bespoke suits, and his long, capable fingers—now holding legal claim over her body, her name, and her freedom from this moment on. Olivia caught her breath. A sudden, strange heat flared in her throat and traveled swiftly down to her chest, stirring an illicit pulse of desire intertwined with pure dread. The man who was her family’s greatest enemy would soon be the lawful owner of her very breath.
"And what if I refuse this last page?" Olivia challenged, locking eyes with the lawyer.
Hector offered a faint, humorless smile. "If you refuse, the guards outside won't let you leave this room until Charlotte’s bankruptcy is broadcast across every television network. The choice is simple: become Mrs. Lysander, or become a royal beggar."
Olivia closed her eyes for a fleeting second. She drew a deep breath, feeling the chill bite into her lungs. She couldn't afford to look fragile. If she had to walk straight into hell, she would do so with her head held high.
She picked up the pen, pressed its gold nib against the fine paper, and carved her name with unflinching resolve: Olivia Charlotte.
Scratch.
"It's done," Olivia whispered, tossing the pen back onto the table. "Now call your master and tell him this unholy transaction is official."
Hector picked up the document, verified her signature, and let out a satisfied smirk. "A very wise decision, Mrs. Lysander."
Before Olivia could even stand, the boardroom doors swung open violently. Julian Charlotte, her younger brother, burst inside, his face deathly pale. Clutched in his hand was an emergency edition printout of a business newspaper that had been published just ten minutes prior.
"Olivia! Don't sign anything!" Julian cried out hysterically.
"You're too late, Julian," Hector interjected smoothly, slipping the document into his leather briefcase.
"He set us up!" Julian yelled, slamming the newspaper onto the center of the glass table. "Look at the front page! Someone leaked all of Charlotte's core technological secrets to the public! The ink on that contract hasn't even dried, but our stock value has been completely wiped out as we speak!"
Olivia snatched the paper. Plastered across the front page was a massive headline: CHARLOTTE CORP'S PROPRIETARY ASSETS LEAKED—KINSEY LYSANDER REPORTEDLY SEIZES ALL PATENTS.
Olivia’s eyes widened in horror, her chest heaving heavily. "These documents... this is top-secret data kept exclusively in Father's personal safe!"
Arthur Charlotte sank lower into his seat, completely speechless.
Olivia turned her gaze toward Hector, her eyes blazing with raw fury. "This is Kinsey's doing, isn't it? He leaked it to drive Charlotte's valuation to zero, so this marriage wouldn't cost him a single cent in restitution!"
"My client is a businessman, Miss Charlotte. He doesn't play clean; he plays to win," Hector replied smoothly, not even bothering to deny the accusation. "Your duty now isn't to debate, but to fulfill your obligations as a wife. The car is waiting downstairs."
"Send that car away," Olivia hissed, her voice trembling with the rage burning through her veins.
"Pardon?" Hector frowned.
Olivia reached for the newspaper on the table. With slow, deliberate force, she tore the paper straight down the middle and tossed the pieces to the floor.
"Tell your master... I don't need his car or his guards to face him," Olivia said coldly. Her fingers smoothed the front of her form-fitting black dress. "I will go myself. I want to see just how brave this devil is when he has to look me in the eye after what he's done."
"Olivia, don't be crazy! He's dangerous!" Julian pleaded, reaching out to catch her arm.
Olivia brushed her brother's hand away firmly. "I died the moment I signed that paper, Julian. And the dead have nothing left to fear."
Without giving her silent father a single backward glance, Olivia strode out of the boardroom. She walked down the quiet corridors of the Charlotte building, ignoring the sympathetic glances from the few remaining staff. Every strike of her high heels against the marble floor echoed like a drumbeat to war.
Outside, a light drizzle had begun to coat the city streets. Olivia turned down the umbrella offered by Lysander's guard. She stepped up to a public taxi idling at the curb and gave the driver a single destination known to everyone in the city: Lysander Tower Penthouse.
The drive through the night felt like a endless nightmare. Contemporary Jakarta sparkled through the rain-streaked taxi windows, but Olivia's mind remained completely consumed by the man waiting for her at the end of the line.
When the cab pulled up at the forecourt of Lysander Tower, Olivia stepped out without hesitation. She swept past the quiet main lobby; the private elevator's security system scanned her fingerprints and recognized her new identity as Mrs. Lysander, instantly granting her unhindered access to the top floor.
Bzzzt.
The gold-plated elevator doors glided open on the 60th floor. Rain droplets still trickled from the ends of Olivia's dark hair, clinging damply to the low neckline of her black dress. Goosebumps broke out across her skin—not merely from the cold air conditioning, but from the sudden, charged pulse of forbidden intimacy drawing near.
The massive double doors of the penthouse stood imposing before her. Without knocking, Olivia pressed down hard on the marble door handle and threw it open with every ounce of courage she possessed.
"Kinsey Lysander!" Olivia called out, her voice echoing sharp and clear in the dimly lit room.
The doors swung wide open.
Olivia froze mid-step, the breath catching right in her throat.
