Aria’s POV

The villa smelled like paradise and captivity at once. Sea salt, orchids, money — and the faint metallic scent of fear I couldn’t wash off.

Everyone kept saying how lucky I was. How beautiful the honeymoon was. How every girl dreamed of this.

If only they knew.

Carl had spent the morning in meetings, even here — men who flew halfway across the world to talk about expansion, mergers, and power. I sat through it all, the perfect wife, the perfect smile. My ...