Chapter 1 CHAPTER ONE: PRINCESS PROBLEMS

“Another blind date?”

“Not another blind date; Aiden would be your husband.” Damian, my father declared as his spoon dropped to the plate in front of him.

Aiden Knight – the man whose name alone made my blood boil.

“My husband?” I asked, my eyes moving from my mother to my father. “You can’t be serious.”

“We are, darling,” my mom, Sera, said softly. She shifted under the chandelier, its light catching the neat strawberry-blonde waves of her hair.

I knew very well my parents were serious. They must have chosen Aiden for me, and I knew why. Our families were two pillars of this city’s elite, and a union would be more than a marriage. It would be a merger.

But they didn’t know what I knew. What the whole circle whispered. I couldn't marry him – anyone but him. I let out a loud gasp that was followed by a silent chuckle.

My parents exchanged a glance. “Zara, honey, you are going to be the owner of the company one day and you…”

“I need to get married to make it happen,” I finished for my father. Every time they had sent me out on a blind date, and I ruined it, they always said the same thing. The company’s sustainability rested on my shoulders.

“I don't mind marriage, but not to Aiden.” My knuckles hurt from how hard I was gripping the stem of my glass. “Never!”

He cleared his throat, and a frown wrinkled his lips as she shifted in place.

“Aiden is a good choice for you,” Sera remarked.

“A good choice? And who decides who a good choice is?” My voice was threatening to shake, but I managed to steady it as I held their gaze.

“We do; we are your parents.” Damian’s tone was final. It felt like the walls were closing in on me. They had made this decision, and it was final. I had no say in it, did I?

“I refuse to marry anyone without meeting them first; I've repeated this many times,” I stated.”

That was my tactic for delaying getting married. I knew that in my world, marrying for love was not an option, but I at least wanted to marry a man I chose, not be traded as a commodity to expand the company.

“And that is the reason we allowed you to go on blind dates before now…”

“Blind dates that you organised,” I cut my father off.

“You managed to sabotage every one of those dates,” Sera added. “Are you saying that not one of those men was good enough for you? ”

“I am saying I am not ready to be wed; I am only twenty-three.” I shrugged, taking up my wine glass and swirling the contents gently.

“I was twenty-three when I got married to your father.”

“And that is your life.” I let the smile on my lips linger for a while before it dropped. “This is my life, and you do not have the right to try and control me.”

“This marriage with Aiden Knight would be a strategic collaboration; it would give you the backing you need when I finally name you chairman.”

“I can marry anyone else, even my driver, but certainly not Aiden.” I dropped the glass onto the table, watching the liquid in it swirl.

“Aiden is an excellent match,” Sera insisted. “He’s sharp, established—and from what we’ve heard, quite striking.”

“He’s also arrogant, cold, and thinks he’s above everyone—including us,” I shot back.

Memories of whispered rumours flooded my mind. Aiden Knight never denies rumours… except one. Months ago, at the Clayton charity gala, someone had joked that he and I would make a “power couple.” The room had laughed. He hadn’t.

Word was, he’d turned to his aide and said, loud enough to be overheard:

“The Crawfords? Ambitious, I’ll give them that. But I don’t marry climbers. I marry equals.”

The comment had spread like wildfire. By the next morning, every insider knew: Aiden Knight saw my family as social climbers—parasites, in his view—and me as nothing more than a spoiled heiress riding on her family’s coattails.

He didn’t just reject me—he dismissed everything my family had built.

“What has gotten into you?” Damian’s voice cut through my thoughts. “This alliance would secure everything we’ve worked for.”

“So I’m a bargaining chip now?” I pushed back from the table, my chair scraping loudly against the marble floor. “You want to trade me to a man who thinks we’re beneath him?”

“Where did you hear such a thing?” Sera’s voice was tense.

“It doesn’t matter where I heard it. What matters is that it’s true. And I won’t be humiliated—not even for this company.”

“Zara,” my father’s voice was final, the kind he used in boardrooms. “This marriage will happen. It’s already been arranged.”

I stood, my hands trembling from fury.

“Then you’ll have to drag me to the altar.”

Without another word, I turned and walked out, my heels echoing through the silent, opulent hallway.

I didn’t stop until I was in my car, my chest tight, my mind racing.

“Take me to the farthest bar you can find,” I told the driver, my hands clutching my phone on my lap as my chest rose and fell rapidly.

He drove in silence, and twenty minutes later, I stepped into a dimly lit bar, the kind of place where no one knew my name.

I slid onto a stool and tapped the counter.

“Something strong,” I said. “Strong enough to make me forget tonight ever happened.”

The bartender turned, and for a moment, my breath caught.

Icy blue eyes met mine. Wavy, dirty-blond hair fell across his brow, and his jaw looked like it had been carved from marble. Handsome didn’t begin to cover it.

“Rough night?” he asked, his voice smooth and low.

“You could say that.” I leaned forward slightly, a reckless idea forming in my mind. If I was going to be trapped in a marriage I never wanted, I would have one last night of freedom, on my own terms.

“How much,” I said slowly, holding his gaze, “for you to spend the night with me?”

He blinked, his cheeks flushing just slightly. But he didn’t look away.

After a pause, a slow smirk touched his lips.

“Let’s start with a drink,” he said, sliding a glass toward me. “And we’ll see where the night takes us.”