Trapped By The Cold Billionaire

CHAPTER ONE — HER POV

Chosen to Suffer

“Mum, Dad… please.”

My voice was already broken before the words even left my mouth.

“I can’t marry him,” I cried, shaking my head as tears blurred my vision. “Please… I’m begging you. He’s too cruel. I don’t want to. I really don’t want to…”

My knees hit the cold marble floor before I even realized I was kneeling.

I didn’t care about pride anymore.

I didn’t care about dignity.

I only cared about surviving.

Everyone in this city knew his name.

Lucien Blackwood.

The coldest billionaire.

The most ruthless man alive.

A man people whispered about in fear.

They said he destroyed companies overnight.

They said his employees trembled when he walked past.

They said women who went near him never lasted long.

Some said he ruined them.

Some said he broke them.

Some said he discarded them like trash.

And now… they wanted me to marry him.

I can’t… what will Ethan think?

Ethan had been my only comfort in this house. The only person who chose me.

“So you want my precious daughter to marry him instead?”

That voice, sharp, mocking, cruel cut through my crying.

I slowly lifted my head.

My stepmother, Vanessa Hale, stood in front of me, her arms crossed, her lips curved into a cold smile. Her eyes were dry. Not a single tear. Not a single ounce of pity.

Behind her stood my father, Richard Hale, silent, stiff, avoiding my eyes like a coward.

Vanessa let out a bitter laugh.

“So this is what you’re saying?” she continued. “You want my precious daughter, the one I carried for nine months, the one I raised with love, to be pushed into the hands of a devil like Lucien Blackwood?”

Her hand went to her chest dramatically.

“How cruel of you.”

Cruel?

I stared at her, stunned.

He was right there. My father. And yet, he looked away like I was already someone else’s burden.

“Mum… please,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “I’m scared. Everyone is scared of him. You’ve heard the rumors too. Please… don’t do this to me.”

She took a step closer, her heels clicking sharply against the floor.

“The marriage has already been arranged,” he finally said. His voice was flat, emotionless. “The Blackwood family wants a Hale daughter. This marriage will secure our future.”

I felt my chest tighten.

“But Lydia was supposed to—” I began.

Vanessa cut me off sharply.

“That was before we knew the truth,” she snapped. “Before we understood what kind of man Lucien Blackwood really is.”

She took a step closer to me and looked down.

“My daughter is gentle. She is precious. She was not raised to suffer.”

Then she pointed at me.

“But you… you can endure it.”

I felt my knees weaken.

“So… you’re giving me to him?” I whispered. “Just like that?”

Vanessa nodded.

“Be grateful,” she said coldly. “Not every girl gets to marry into that kind of wealth.”

I laughed weakly, tears streaming down my face.

“Wealth?” I whispered. “If I die there, will that money bring me back?”

No one answered.

Instead, Vanessa turned away.

“Go pack your things,” she said. “You’re leaving soon.”

Soon.

That word echoed in my head as I slowly walked upstairs.

Every step felt heavy.

Every breath hurt.

I closed my bedroom door and leaned against it.

This room…

This was the only place that had ever felt like mine.

My hands shook as I pulled out a suitcase from under the bed.

I folded my clothes slowly, my vision blurred by tears. My heart felt hollow, like something had already been ripped out of it.

I was about to leave this house.

To marry a man everyone feared.

To live a life I never chose.

When I finally zipped my suitcase shut, I wiped my face and dragged it toward the door.

That was when I saw it.

Through the slightly open door of the guest room.

Movement.

At first, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.

I stopped.

Looked again.

Through the glass window beside the door, I saw two figures on the bed.

A man.

A woman.

They were close. Too close.

My heart started beating wildly.

No…

It can’t be.

I stepped closer, my breath stuck in my throat.

Then I saw his face.

Ethan Moore.

My boyfriend.

The man I had loved for three years.

The man I trusted with everything.

And the woman beneath him—

My sister.

Lydia.

They were kissing.

Not an accident.

Not a mistake.

A slow, intimate kiss.

My mind went blank.

I shook my head violently.

This isn’t real.

This isn’t happening.

My hands trembled as I reached for the door handle.

I didn’t want to believe it.

But I needed to see it.

I pushed the door open.

The sound made them freeze.

They turned.

And when Lydia saw me, she didn’t scream.

She didn’t panic.

She smiled.

My suitcase fell from my hand.

“What… what is this?” I whispered.

Ethan sighed, as if I had interrupted something unimportant.

“You weren’t supposed to see this,” he said calmly.

My legs gave out and I leaned against the wall to keep from collapsing.

“I loved you,” I cried. “I trusted you. For three years…”

Lydia sat up slowly, pulling the blanket around her shoulders.

“Oh, stop crying,” she said casually. “It’s annoying.”

I stared at her.

“How could you do this to me?” I sobbed.

She tilted her head.

“Why not?” she replied. “You’re marrying that cruel man anyway.”

Ethan laughed softly.

“Honestly,” he said, looking at me coldly, “this works out perfectly.”

My heart shattered completely.

“So you both knew?” I whispered. “You planned this?”

Lydia stood up and walked toward me, her eyes full of mockery.

“Yes,” she said. “And now you’re going to marry a man who will use you… and discard you.”

She smiled cruelly.

“That suits you, doesn’t it?”

They laughed.

Together.

I covered my mouth as a broken sound escaped me.

I couldn’t breathe.

I couldn’t think.

I turned and ran.

I ran until my chest hurt and my tears blurred everything.

That night, I cried until I had nothing left.

Cried for the man I loved.

Cried for the sister who betrayed me.

Cried for the family who sacrificed me.

And as I lay on the floor beside my suitcase, one thought repeated in my head again and again:

If they chose me to suffer… then I would learn how to survive it.