Avery stood motionless in front of the full-length mirror inside one of the private fitting rooms at Parker Tower. The dress was breathtaking. A floor-length ivory gown with delicate lace detailing across the bodice and subtle gold embroidery along the sleeves. It hugged her figure perfectly before flowing gracefully to the floor. The personal stylist hired by Elena Parker adjusted the hem with careful fingers.
“You look stunning, Miss Sinclair,” the stylist said warmly. “Mr. Parker will not be able to take his eyes off you.”
Avery stared at her reflection. She barely recognized the woman looking back at her. The dress made her appear elegant, refined, and every bit the future wife of a billionaire. But inside, she felt like a beautiful bird being placed inside a golden cage.
Elena Parker sat on a cream-colored sofa nearby, watching with quiet approval. “It suits you perfectly, Avery. The engagement party will be the first time many important people see you as part of our family. We must make the right impression.”
Avery touched the delicate fabric. “It feels like a costume. Like I’m dressing up to play a role I never auditioned for.”
Elena sighed softly. “I understand this is not the love story you dreamed of. But Ferdinand is a good man beneath everything. He has been through a lot.”
“So have I,” Avery replied. “Yet no one seems to care about what I want.”
Elena stood and gently touched Avery’s shoulder. “Sometimes duty comes before desire. In our world, marriages like this build empires. They create stability. Love can grow later.”
Avery met the older woman’s eyes in the mirror. “With all due respect, Mrs. Parker, I don’t think your son has any intention of letting love grow. He has made that very clear.”
Elena offered a small, sad smile but said nothing more. She excused herself, leaving Avery alone with the stylist for final adjustments.
Meanwhile, on the sixty-eighth floor, Ferdinand sat through a long video conference with international partners. His mind, however, kept drifting. The image of Avery in that emerald gown from the gala kept appearing in his thoughts. Then the memory of her in the black dress at the rooftop bar, fiercely defending herself. She was becoming impossible to ignore.
Claire entered the office quietly after the meeting ended. “The dress fitting is going well. Your mother says Avery looks beautiful.”
Ferdinand gave no visible reaction. “Good. Make sure security is tight for the engagement party. I want no surprises.”
Claire hesitated. “Sir, if I may speak freely. Miss Sinclair seems different from the women you usually encounter. She has spirit.”
Ferdinand’s voice turned colder. “Spirit can become defiance. I need a wife who understands her position. Nothing more.”
After Claire left, Ferdinand allowed himself a rare moment of honesty. He walked to the window and stared at the city below. Sophia’s betrayal had broken him in ways he still struggled to admit. He remembered how deeply he had loved her. How he had given up his luxurious life just to prove his love was real. For three years, he had cherished every smile, every touch, every whispered promise.
She had called him her soulmate. Her one true love. And he had believed her completely.
The day she left him for Jesse, something inside him had frozen solid. He had knelt on that wet floor begging the woman he adored not to leave. The humiliation still burned whenever he remembered it. That single night had taught him that love made men weak and foolish. Hiding his identity had been his greatest mistake. Never again would he trust anyone with his heart.
Yet Avery Sinclair refused to fit into the neat box he had created for her. She challenged him at every turn. She looked at him with neither fear nor greed, but with honest frustration and fire.
It disturbed him.
Later that afternoon, Avery was still in the fitting room when Ferdinand decided to check on the preparations himself. He entered without knocking and stopped short at the sight of her.
Avery turned slowly. The ivory gown shimmered under the soft lighting. Her dark hair had been styled in loose waves, and her hazel eyes widened slightly when she saw him.
Ferdinand stood frozen for several seconds. She looked breathtaking. For a brief moment, something stirred deep in his chest. Something warm. Something dangerous. He crushed it immediately.
“You look acceptable,” he said flatly.
Avery’s expression hardened. “Acceptable? That’s the best you can say?”
Ferdinand walked closer, his hands in his pockets. “This is not a romance, Miss Sinclair. You do not need compliments from me. You need to understand your role.”
Avery stepped down from the small platform, the dress flowing around her. “And what exactly is my role? Pretty decoration? Silent wife? Business asset?”
“All of the above,” Ferdinand replied without hesitation. His voice remained cold and detached. “In public, you will be charming and supportive. In private, we maintain distance. I will not interfere with your design firm as long as you do not interfere with my life.”
Avery felt her chest tighten with anger and hurt. “You really are empty inside, aren’t you? Even now, looking at me in this dress, you feel nothing.”
Ferdinand’s dark eyes scanned her from head to toe. “I feel what I choose to feel. Nothing more.”
He moved even closer until only a foot of space remained between them. “Sophia taught me valuable lessons. She loved me when I had nothing. When I revealed who I truly was, or rather when she discovered it through someone else, she discarded me. I will never allow another woman to have that kind of power over me.”
Avery searched his face desperately. “I am not Sophia. I would never betray someone like that.”
“You say that now,” Ferdinand said, his tone icy. “But people change when money and power enter the picture. I trusted once. I loved deeply once. That mistake cost me everything. I will not repeat it.”
For a long moment, they stood in silence. The air between them felt charged with unresolved tension.
Avery finally spoke, her voice softer. “Then why marry me at all? Why not find someone who is happy with a cold arrangement?”
“Because our families need this,” he answered. “And because I need a wife who will not embarrass me. You are strong enough to handle this world. That is sufficient.”
He turned to leave but paused at the door. “The dress looks fine. Wear it to the engagement party.”
After he left, Avery sank onto the sofa, the beautiful gown suddenly feeling heavy. Tears pricked at her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She would not cry over a man who had already decided she meant nothing to him.
Ferdinand returned to his office and closed the door. He leaned against his desk, breathing deeply. Seeing Avery in that wedding dress had affected him more than he wanted to admit. For one dangerous second, he had imagined what it would be like if this marriage was real. If he could allow himself to feel again.
He shook his head sharply.
No.
He had hidden his identity once in search of genuine love. He had given Sophia his entire heart. And she had crushed it without mercy. The ice around his heart was there for a reason. It protected him.
Even if Avery Sinclair was beginning to make that protection feel more like a prison.