Chapter Text
My fingers trembled like leaves in the wind as I raised them, my heartbeat as fast as a hummingbird's. Hanbin’s strong hand was firm and steady as he took mine and placed the ring on my finger.
White gold with twenty small diamonds.
What was meant to be a sign of love and devotion to other couples was nothing more than a testament to his ownership of me. A daily reminder of the gilded cage I would be trapped in for the rest of my life. Till Death Do Us Part was not an empty promise like it is for so many other couples entering the sacred bond of marriage. There was no way out of this union for me. I was Hanbin’s until the bitter end. The last words of the oath men made when they started in the mafia could very well have been the closing of my marriage vow: I enter alive and I will have to leave dead.
I should have run while I still had the chance. Now, with hundreds of faces from Seul and Incheon families watching behind us, running away was no longer an option. Neither was divorce. Death was the only acceptable ending to a marriage in our world. Even if I managed to escape Hanbin’s watchful eyes, as well as his minions, violating our agreement would mean war. Nothing my father could say would stop Hanbin’s family from exacting revenge for making them look foolish.
My feelings didn't matter, they never did. I'd been growing up in a world where choices weren't granted, especially to mpregs and women. This wedding wasn't about love or trust or choice. It was about duty and honor, about doing what's expected.
A bond to ensure peace.
I wasn't an idiot. I knew what else this was all about: money and power. Both were dwindling since the Russian Mafia "the Bratva", the Taiwanese Triad, and other crime organizations had been trying to expand their influence in our territories. All the families in Korea needed to put aside their internal struggles and work together to defeat their enemies. I should be honored to marry the eldest son of the Sung family. That’s what my father and every other male relative had tried to tell me since my engagement to Hanbin. I knew it, and it wasn’t like I hadn’t had time to prepare for this exact moment, and yet fear gripped my corseted body in an unrelenting grip.
“You may kiss the groom,” the priest said.
I raised my head. Every pair of eyes in the ward scanned me, waiting for a flash of weakness. Father would be furious if I let my terror show on my expression, and Hanbin’s family would use it against us.
But I had grown up in a world where a perfect mask was the only protection mpregs and women had and I had no trouble putting on a placid expression. No one would know how much I wanted to escape. No one but Hanbin. I couldn’t hide from him, no matter how hard I tried. My body wouldn’t stop shaking. As my gaze met Hanbin’s cold, gray and black eyes, I realized he knew. How often had he instilled fear in others? Recognizing it was probably second nature to him.
He leaned down to cover the ten inches he towered over me. No sign of doubt, fear or hesitation on his face. My lips trembled against his mouth as his eyes bore into mine. His message was clear: You are mine.