Chapter 03~ The Price of A Name

ALVINA

I woke to a silence so heavy it felt physical.

For a long moment, I lay paralyzed, watching the silver moonlight filter through heavy velvet curtains. This wasn't the cramped, drafty bedroom of my childhood where the smell of stale beer and my father’s disappointment clung to the walls. Here, the air smelled of heirloom roses and old money. The sheets beneath me were silk, cool and smooth like water, but they felt like a shroud.

The memories hit me in a sickening wave: the rain, the hunters, the cathedral doors, and the cold, gold band Ethan Kael had slid onto my finger to seal a lie.

I bolted out of bed, my bare feet sinking into a rug so plush it felt like moss. I ran for the door and gripped the ornate brass knob. I twisted. It didn't budge. I twisted harder, pulling until my muscles ached.

Locked.

I was a prisoner in a palace. I sank to the floor, pressing my back against the cold wood, listening to the house breathe. I tried to tell myself he had locked it to keep the hunters out, but the truth was more jagged: Ethan Kael didn't save me, he had just changed my owner.

When the lock finally clicked at dawn, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

A maid stood there, her hands shaking so violently the china on her silver tray rattled. She didn't look at my face; she looked at the floor as if I were a ghost she wasn't supposed to see.

“The master wants you downstairs,” she whispered. “Please. Now.”

“Why was I locked in?” I demanded.

She flinched. “The master says it is for your own good,” she murmured, scurrying away before I could ask another question.

I wrapped my mother’s old shawl tightly around my shoulders—a thin, pathetic shield—and followed. As I reached the grand staircase, a war of words rose from the foyer, echoing off the vaulted ceilings.

“You’ve humiliated the Kael name, Ethan! You gave the Hart family your word!” A man’s voice roared.

“I made my choice,” came the reply. It was Ethan. His voice was a low-frequency hum—steady, dangerous, and utterly unyielding. “The merger is irrelevant if the bride is replaceable.”

“Replaceable? With that?”

I froze at the top of the stairs. The air in the foyer felt like it had curdled. A woman stood in the center of the room, draped in pearls and fury. Beside her stood a younger man who looked at me with pure, unadulterated disgust.

The moment I stepped into view, Ethan’s mother pointed a manicured finger at me. Her eyes flashed with venom. “That is the creature you traded Vivienne for? That... gutter girl?”

“I—I’m sorry,” I stammered, my voice sounding small in the face of such immense wealth. “I didn't mean to—it wasn't supposed to be like this—”

She moved with the speed of a viper.

CRACK.

The slap was so loud it echoed. My head whipped to the side, my knees buckling as I slammed against the mahogany banister. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth instantly.

“Don’t speak,” the mother hissed, leaning into my space. Her perfume was suffocating, the scent of expensive lilies and rot. “One more lie from those lips and you’ll pray for the gutter you crawled out of. Did you plan this? How much did it cost to buy your way into my son’s bed?”

“I didn't plan anything!” I sobbed, clutching my burning cheek. I looked toward Ethan, desperate for the protection he’d promised.

He was leaning against a pillar, watching the scene with the detached interest of a scientist observing a specimen in a jar. He didn't look angry. He looked... bored.

The mother raised her hand to strike me again. “I’ll kill you myself before I let you take a cent of Kael money. I’ll make sure the world knows you’re nothing but a—”

“That’s enough!”

Two words. That was all it took. The room’s heartbeat stopped.

Ethan walked toward us, his predatory grace making the hair on my arms stand up. He stopped right in front of me, so close I could feel the radiant heat of his body. He didn't look at me; he looked at his mother.

“This will be the last time you lay a finger on her,” he said. His voice was quiet, but it had the weight of a falling guillotine. “She is a Kael now. Which means she is mine. And I do not allow my property to be damaged.”

“You’re serious?” the mother spat. “You’re choosing this bitch from the slums over Vivienne?”

Ethan’s jaw tightened. “Alvina is my wife. Whether you approve is irrelevant. If Vivienne can’t accept her fate, that is her burden. Not mine.”

He turned to me then. His hand rose, and I flinched, expecting another blow. Instead, his thumb brushed the cut on my cheek where his mother’s sapphire ring had sliced the skin. His touch was terrifyingly gentle, a sharp contrast to the ice in his eyes.

“Are you alright?” he asked, though he didn't wait for an answer. He turned to a servant. “Get her something to clean the wound. Then, bring her to my study.”

He leaned down, his voice dropping to a whisper that made my blood run cold.

“Wash the blood off your face, darling. It’s time we discuss the price of your life, and exactly how you're going to pay it back.”