The flash of the camera felt like a gunshot. The clerk's forced congratulations were a bitter irony. Not a word was spoken as Jude dragged her from the building and shoved her into the back of the waiting Maybach. Only when the doors were sealed did he release her, the silence in the car becoming more suffocating than his grip had been.
The interior of the black Maybach was suffocating.
The car glided away from City Hall, leaving the Cantrell family motorcade stuck at a red light two blocks behind them.
Alysia looked down at her lap.
Resting on her thighs was a thin piece of paper bearing the seal of New York State.
A marriage certificate.
Her mother's penthouse was safe.
Jude sat on the opposite side of the spacious backseat.
He reached up and yanked his silk tie loose, his jaw clenched so tight a muscle ticked in his cheek.
He turned his head, glaring at Alysia with absolute disgust.
"Don't confuse this piece of paper for reality," Jude said, his voice cutting through the silence like a scalpel. "You are a tool. Nothing more."
Alysia let out a soft, breathy laugh.
She picked up the thirty-page prenuptial agreement from the seat between them and dropped it onto his lap.
"Read it."
Jude sneered.
He picked up the document and scanned the first page.
His thick eyebrows snapped together.
"Clause one," Alysia recited from memory, staring out the window. "Absolute physical distance. No physical contact without explicit verbal consent."
Jude let out a dark chuckle.
"You flatter yourself. I wouldn't touch you if you were the last breathing thing on earth."
He flipped the page.
"Clause two. The wife will not interfere in the husband's personal or corporate affairs. Clause three..."
Jude's voice stopped.
His eyes locked onto the bold print.
"If the husband unilaterally breaches this contract or files for divorce before the one-year term expires, he owes the wife a penalty of ten million dollars."
Jude slammed the folder shut.
He threw it hard against the center console.
"Are you out of your mind?" he roared, his voice shaking the windows. "You think you can extort me?"
In the driver's seat, Alex's hands jerked on the steering wheel.
The Maybach swerved slightly before correcting.
Alysia turned her head slowly.
She met Jude's furious gaze without blinking.
"Ten million dollars is the exact price of buying your freedom from your grandfather for a year. It's a bargain, Cantrell."
Jude unbuckled his seatbelt.
He shifted his massive frame across the leather seat, closing the distance between them in a second.
He leaned in.
His face was inches from hers.
Alysia's stomach dropped.
Her muscles locked up, preparing for an impact, but she forced herself to keep her chin raised.
"You better pray that AI code works," Jude whispered, his breath hot against her cheek. "Because if you played me, I will ruin you so completely you'll wish you never existed."
Alysia didn't back away.
She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a small, encrypted titanium USB drive.
She pressed it flat against the hard muscle of Jude's chest, right over his heart.
She slid it upward and dropped it into the breast pocket of his suit jacket.
"The full patch is on that drive," she said, her voice a cold whisper. "It'll make you a god at the board meeting tonight. But the decryption key stays in my head until tomorrow."
Jude looked down at the pocket.
He felt the weight of the metal drive against his chest.
His eyes snapped back to hers, dark and dangerous.
He slowly pushed himself back to his side of the car, adjusting his cuffs.
Before he could speak, his private cell phone vibrated violently against the leather seat.
The screen flashed the name: Cora Cantrell.
Jude picked it up and hit accept.
"Are you insane?!" Cora's shrill voice bled through the speaker. "Grandfather is losing his mind! He said you married a nobody at City Hall!"
Jude stared at Alysia as he listened.
"Bring her to the Elysium Art Club right now," Cora demanded. "The entire family is here. You owe us an explanation."
Jude ended the call without saying a word.
He tossed the phone aside.
"Your first job starts now," Jude said, his tone flat. "My family is waiting at Elysium. They are going to tear you apart."
Alysia opened her purse.
She pulled out a compact mirror and a tube of dark, blood-red lipstick.
She uncapped it and applied it with terrifying precision.
"Is there anyone I shouldn't offend?" she asked, snapping the compact shut.
Jude watched the transformation.
The exhausted girl from City Hall vanished, replaced by a woman wearing war paint.
"Just don't embarrass the Cantrell name," Jude said, looking away. "I'll handle the fallout."
Alysia looked out the window as the Maybach turned onto a private, tree-lined street.
Her pulse beat a steady, violent rhythm against her throat.
She was ready.
