The heavy satin of the wedding dress rustled against the carpet, Kailee walked fast.

Chaya jogged to keep up, her tablet clutched to her chest. A notification pinged.

Chaya looked down at the tablet, her face went from pale to ash gray.

"Oh no," Chaya whispered.

She tapped the screen, a video expanded. The audio was tinny, echoing in the long hotel corridor.

"Screw the family merger!" Julian's voice. Slurred. Drunk. "Tonight is for the boys! And the real girls!"

The camera swung wildly. It showed the interior of a VIP suite-the one three floors above them. Julian's face filled the frame, sweaty and red. He pulled Annabelle into the shot. She was giggling, her dress strap falling off her shoulder.

"Say hi to my boring sister!" Annabelle shrieked, kissing Julian's cheek.

Chaya clamped her hand over her mouth. "He's live. He's streaming this. He forgot to set it to Close Friends."

Kailee stopped, she turned around and took the tablet.

She watched the man she was supposed to marry in twenty minutes groping her younger sister, them laugh at her name.

She tapped the screen. Screen Record, then she handed the tablet back to Chaya.

"Send this to the audio-visual booth in the ballroom," Kailee said. "Tell them to hold it in the queue. Standby."

Chaya stammered. "You... you're going to play this? At the wedding?"

"Do it."

Kailee turned to the elevator bank, she pressed the button for the Penthouse Executive Lounge.

"Kailee, you can't go up there," Chaya hissed, looking around for security. "That's Hendricks territory, it's restricted. Ervin Hendricks is... he's dangerous."

"If you want a job tomorrow, stop talking."

The elevator dinged. The doors slid open.

Two men in black suits blocked the entrance.

Kailee didn't flinch. "Tell Ervin Hendricks I have a solution to his board problem," she said.

The guard on the left blinked, he touched his earpiece. He murmured something low, indistinguishable.

Silence stretched for ten seconds.

The guard stepped aside. "Mr. Hendricks will see you."

Kailee stepped into the elevator. The doors closed, sealing her in.

The Executive Lounge was dim. In the corner, a silhouette sat on a high-backed chesterfield sofa. A glowing ember of a cigar floated in the darkness.

Ervin Hendricks didn't stand up. He didn't offer a greeting. He sat with the stillness of a predator waiting for movement.

Kailee walked toward him.

"The bride," Ervin's voice was gravel, deep and scraping. "You're supposed to be downstairs, crying into a handkerchief."

"Julian is gone," Kailee said. She stopped three feet from him. "I need a groom."

Ervin laughed. It was a dry, sharp sound. "And you came shopping here? You think I'm a spare part, Ms. Lynn?"

"I think you're a businessman," Kailee said.

She took a step closer. She could see his face now-sharp angles, eyes that looked like black glass. She lowered her voice.

"I know your board is implementing a new ethics and morality clause next month. I know they're using your 'personal life' as leverage to block your acquisitions. They want a stable, traditional family man. You don't have one, you don't have time to find one."

Ervin's smile vanished. The air in the room dropped ten degrees.

Viktor, the guard in the shadows, took a step forward, his hand moving to his jacket.

Kailee didn't look at the gun, she looked at Ervin.

"Marry me," she said. "I'm the solution. I'm being investigated as part of my family's financial scandal. That means I'm already under a dozen NDAs. I'm legally incentivized to be silent, stable, and spotless in public. I am the perfect, controllable, temporary wife, and in return for your legal protection and clearing my name, I will sign over the voting shares in my trust. The ones that give you a controlling interest in the Lynn-Hendricks merger."

Ervin stared at her. The cigar smoke curled around his face. He looked at her dress, then at her eyes. He was looking for fear.

He didn't find any.

"The shares," Ervin repeated softly.

"And my complete, legally-bound silence," Kailee said. "A perfect public image for you. A lifeline for me."

Ervin didn't answer immediately, he leaned forward, the leather of the sofa creaking under his weight.

"Do you know what happens to people who try to leverage me with my own problems?" Ervin asked.

A chill ran down Kailee's spine, she ignored it, she forced the corners of her mouth up.

"It's not leverage, Mr. Hendricks. It's a merger."

She pulled out a folded document."A copy of my trust agreement, outlining the share transfer. And the contact for my lawyer, who can draw up the terms before the ceremony ends."

Ervin took the paper. His fingers brushed hers-his skin was rough, calloused. He scanned the document in the low light.

A spasm of pain shot through his left leg, his jaw tightened. The tremor was microscopic, but Kailee saw it.

He crushed the cigar into the crystal ashtray.

"If this is a lie," Ervin said, his voice low, "I will make you wish you had never been born."

"Deal," Kailee said.

Ervin picked up the internal phone on the side table. "Get my tuxedo. The black velvet."

Viktor's eyes widened. He looked from his boss to the woman in the wedding dress. "Sir?"

"We have a wedding to attend," Ervin said.

Kailee let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Her knees felt like water. She locked them, forcing herself to stand tall.

Ten minutes later, Ervin stood up. He was massive, towering over her, he extended his arm.

"Take it," he commanded. "If we are doing this, we are doing it."

Kailee placed her hand on his forearm, the muscle beneath the velvet jacket was hard as rock.

They walked to the elevator.

"Your nephew is still livestreaming," Kailee said, checking her phone as the numbers counted down. "Twelve thousand viewers."

"Good," Ervin said. "Let him dig the grave deeper."

The elevator doors opened on the ballroom level.

The flashbulbs hit them like a physical blow.

The murmur of the crowd died instantly.

They saw Kailee Lynn, and they saw the man on her arm. Not Julian.

Ervin Hendricks. The head of the family, the man who ate companies for breakfast.

Ervin didn't look at the crowd, he looked straight ahead, his face a mask of arrogant indifference. He led Kailee through the parted sea of guests.

A glass shattered on the floor. One of Julian's friends dropped his champagne flute.

His phone was in his hand, he was typing frantically. Julian, you are dead. Your uncle just stole your wife.

Kailee felt the eyes on her skin. Judgment. Confusion. Fear. She lifted her chin.

They reached the stage. The officiant looked like he wanted to faint.

Ervin let go of Kailee's arm, he stepped to the microphone. He grabbed the stand, his knuckles distinct.

"Due to the default of the junior partner," Ervin's voice boomed through the speakers, deep and resonant.

He looked out at the crowd, his gaze landing on the empty seat where his nephew should have been.

"The terms of the merger have been amended. The ceremony will proceed with the new principal."

Julian woke up to a headache, he was tangled in silk sheets that smelled of stale perfume and sweat.

"Ugh," he groaned, rolling over.

Annabelle was tracing circles on his chest with a manicured fingernail. "I bet she's crying her eyes out right now," she giggled. "Poor, sad Kailee."

Julian smirked, eyes still closed. "She's probably giving a speech to the empty chairs. Pathetic."

His phone on the nightstand buzzed, it didn't stop.

Julian reached out blindly, "Dammit!"

He grabbed the phone, ten missed calls from Mike.

He swiped to answer. "What the hell, Mike? I'm busy."

"Where are you?!" Mike was screaming, the background noise was chaos. "Check Twitter! Now!"

"Why? Did Kailee kill herself?" Julian laughed.

"She married Ervin! Your uncle Ervin!"

Julian's brain stopped working. The words didn't make sense.

"You're drunk," Julian said. "Ervin hates everyone, he doesn't date."

"Check the hashtag, you idiot!"

Julian dropped the phone on his face. He swore, sitting up, ignoring the throbbing in his head, he opened Twitter.

Trending 1: LynnHendricksShock

He tapped it.

The photo loaded.

Ervin Hendricks, looking like a dark god in a tuxedo, his hand possessively on Kailee's waist. Kailee looked... powerful. Not sad. Not broken.

Julian felt the blood drain from his face, his stomach turned over.

"No," he whispered. "That's my merger, that's my controlling interest."

If Ervin married, the succession line changed. Julian would be pushed down, he would be irrelevant.

Annabelle leaned over his shoulder, she gasped, "Is that... Ervin? With Kailee?" Her voice went shrill. "Why would he want her? She's so old!"

Julian shoved Annabelle away, she hit the headboard with a thud.

"Get dressed!" Julian yelled. He jumped out of bed, tripping over his own pants. "It's a scam! She's tricking him!"

"Julian, wait!" Annabelle cried.

"Shut up!" Julian was buttoning his shirt wrong, he missed a hole, but he didn't care. "I have to stop this. If he signs those papers, I'm out. The board will push me out completely!"

He grabbed his jacket, didn't tie his shoes.

He turned to Annabelle. "Stay here. Don't make this worse."

He ran out of the suite, slammed the button for the elevator. He punched the wall while he waited, pain shot up his knuckles, sharp and grounding.

The doors opened.

His phone buzzed again, a text from a board member: We are reviewing your position, don't come to the office tomorrow.

Julian slammed his fist into the metal wall of the elevator.

The doors opened on the ballroom floor, the music drifted in-classical, elegant.

Julian took a breath, ran toward the double doors.