Chapter 2 - The Husband Who Never Touched Her
“What exactly do you expect from me?”
Daniel Choi turned away from the bedroom window.
“Nothing you haven't already been forced to give.”
Ava stared at him.
“That sounds rehearsed.”
“It isn't.”
“Then tell me why you married me.”
Daniel looked toward the hallway, where his security chief, Marcus Reed, stood outside the partially open door.
“Because someone was going to use your father's debt to get to you. I made sure they had to come through me first.”
Ava almost laughed.
“You expect me to believe you rescued me?”
“No.”
His answer came so quickly that she lost the next words she had prepared.
“I expect you to hate the arrangement. You have every reason to.”
That first night, Daniel left without approaching her.
During the following weeks, he kept his distance.
He ate breakfast before sunrise, returned after dark, and never entered her bedroom without knocking.
But the mansion remained a prison dressed in expensive furniture.
Ava couldn't leave without a driver.
She couldn't visit her father without approval.
And every time she asked why, Daniel gave the same answer.
“It's temporary.”
By the thirty-seventh morning, she had stopped asking.
Now she sat in the bathroom with a positive pregnancy test in her hand, wondering how a man who had never touched her could be blamed for a child he couldn't father.
She knew exactly when the pregnancy must have begun.
Six weeks before her wedding, she had spent one night with someone she believed she would never see again.
His name was Ethan.
At least, that was the name he had given her.
They had met in Baltimore at a waterfront hotel during a business conference Ava attended on behalf of her father's construction company.
He had been quiet, dark-haired, and strangely attentive.
They talked for hours.
For one evening, Ava hadn't been Michael Bennett's daughter trying to save a collapsing business.
She had simply been a woman laughing with a handsome stranger.
The next morning, Ethan was gone.
He left a note apologizing for an emergency and a telephone number that never connected.
Ava had been hurt, then angry, then determined to forget him.
Now forgetting him was impossible.
A soft knock startled her.
“Mrs. Choi?”
It was Margaret Ellis, the mansion's longtime housekeeper.
“Breakfast is ready.”
“I'm not hungry.”
A pause.
“Are you feeling well?”
“Yes.”
Ava slipped the test into the pocket of her robe.
When she opened the bathroom door, Margaret was standing beside the bed.
The older woman's gaze dropped briefly to Ava's trembling hands.
“You look pale.”
“I didn't sleep.”
Margaret hesitated.
“Mr. Choi asked me to tell you that his mother is coming for lunch.”
Ava felt her stomach tighten.
“His mother?”
“Mrs. Eleanor Choi.”
Ava had met Eleanor only once, at the wedding.
The woman had worn emerald jewelry, smiled without warmth, and kissed Ava's cheek as if inspecting an expensive purchase.
“Why?”
Margaret looked uncomfortable.
“She said it's time to discuss the future of the family.”
Three hours later, Eleanor arrived in a black Mercedes accompanied by Daniel's older cousin, Victor Choi.
Victor was forty, charming in the calculated way of a man who considered every conversation a negotiation.
He kissed Ava's hand.
“Our beautiful bride.”
Ava pulled away.
Eleanor examined her from head to toe.
“You look tired.”
“I've had a difficult morning.”
“Marriage requires adjustment.”
“Being traded for debt requires a little more.”
Victor smiled into his coffee.
Eleanor's expression hardened.
“Daniel has been generous to your family.”
“Then perhaps you should thank him.”
Silence settled over the table.
Victor cleared his throat.
“We're here because certain legal matters need attention.”
He opened a leather folder.
Inside was a document titled Marital Succession and Beneficiary Agreement.
Ava scanned the first page.
The document described trusts, voting rights, inheritance, and provisions involving biological children.
She looked up.
“Why would this matter? Daniel can't have children.”
Eleanor's spoon stopped against her saucer.
Victor answered.
“That's precisely why we need clarity.”
He pushed the document closer.
“Any child born during this marriage must undergo immediate parentage verification. Until that process is complete, neither the child nor the mother may claim family trust assets.”
Ava's pulse began hammering.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Routine planning.”
Eleanor watched her carefully.
“Unless there's something you need to tell us.”
Ava forced herself to meet the older woman's eyes.
“No.”
Victor leaned forward.
“Good. Because an illegitimate pregnancy would create complications.”
The word struck harder than Ava expected.
Illegitimate.
As if the child inside her had already committed an offense.
She stood.
“I need some air.”
Eleanor reached for her wrist.
“Sit down.”
Ava froze.
Before she could respond, Daniel's voice came from the doorway.
“Take your hand off my wife.”
Everyone turned.
Daniel stood beneath the archway, his black coat still damp from the rain.
Eleanor released Ava immediately.
“We were discussing the agreement.”
“Without me?”
Victor closed the folder.
“It's standard procedure.”
Daniel walked to the table.
“Then you won't mind discussing it with my attorneys present.”
He picked up the document, glanced at the first page, and tore it in half.
Victor's smile vanished.
“Daniel—”
“You don't bring legal documents into my home and pressure my wife.”
Eleanor stood.
“You're forgetting who built this family.”
“No,” Daniel replied. “I'm remembering exactly who did.”
For the first time, Ava saw something dangerous beneath his restraint.
Victor gathered his papers.
“This isn't finished.”
Daniel stepped aside.
“Then make an appointment.”
When they were gone, Ava sank into a chair.
Daniel looked at her.
“What did they say?”
“Nothing.”
“Ava.”
She shook her head.
“I don't want to talk about it.”
He studied her face.
Then his eyes lowered toward the pocket of her robe.
The white plastic end of the pregnancy test was visible.
Ava instinctively covered it.
Too late.
Daniel went perfectly still.
“What's that?”
Her mouth dried.
“Nothing.”
He looked at her for several long seconds.
Then he asked a question that made the room seem to tilt beneath her.
“Ava, are you pregnant?”
May you like
And before she could answer, Daniel whispered something even more frightening.
“Please tell me you haven't told my mother.”
