I came home early with roses and found Celeste pouring wine across the floor while Inés scrubbed on her knees. “Do it again—that’s what we pay you for,” my fiancée sneered. I said nothing. I spoke to every employee alone, and Inés handed me a tiny black notebook. At the altar, when Celeste whispered, “Say I do,” I opened it—and gave her the answer she never expected...

Friday night—the eve of the wedding. The mansion was eerily quiet. Most of the staff had been sent home early by Celeste under the pretense of giving us "privacy," but I knew the real reason: she didn't want any eyes watching as she moved her final personal belongings into my master suite.

I sat in my dimly lit study on the second floor, watching the security camera feeds on my laptop.

At 11:42 PM, the office door monitor flickered. A shadow moved across the hallway outside.

I minimized the camera app and opened a personal spreadsheet, pretending to be engrossed in routine financial reports. A moment later, the study door creaked open. Celeste walked in wearing a silk robe, holding two glasses of red wine.

"You're working late, my love," she murmured, walking around the desk and setting a glass down beside my hand. "It's our last night as single people. You should be in bed."

I looked at the wine glass. The deep red liquid swirled in the crystal—a poetic mirror to the Bordeaux she had poured across the marble floor three days ago to humiliate Inés.

"Just reviewing some final documents," I said smoothly, closing the laptop screen halfway. "I want to make sure everything is clean before tomorrow."

Celeste slid onto my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck. Her perfume was suffocating. "Everything is taken care of, Adrian. Victor checked the legal filings with our corporate counsel this afternoon. All you have to do tomorrow is stand at the altar, look handsome, and say 'I do.'"

"And the prenuptial agreement?" I asked, tracing a finger along the rim of my untouched glass. "The asset merger clause?"

"It's already placed inside the ceremonial binder at the altar," she whispered against my ear, her voice dripping with artificial warmth. "We’ll sign it right after the vows, in front of everyone. It’ll be poetic. Two empires becoming one."

"Poetic indeed," I said.

She reached down, her manicured fingers gently probing the pocket of my suit jacket hanging on the back of the chair. She was looking for my thumb-drive key—the physical security token that authorized direct wire transfers from Hale Enterprises' master treasury.

I let her fingers slide near it, then casually stood up, stepping toward the window. "I should get some sleep. Big day tomorrow."

Celeste’s eyes flashed with a brief moment of frustration as her hands came up empty, but she covered it instantly with a sweet smile. "Yes. Get some rest, darling. Tomorrow, your life changes forever."