Ariana's POV

I don't even know how many days it's been since the wedding. Not that the word 'wedding' really fits what happened. There were no flowers. No friends. No white dress. Just silence. An exchange. A transaction. And me, shoved into a new life that feels more like a sentence than a beginning.

The mansion is massive. Beautiful, yes. Grand enough to take your breath away the first time you walk in. But it hums with a coldness that settles in your bones. Every wall feels like ...