CHAPTER 1 – The Wedding Night Rulebook
CHAPTER 1 – The Wedding Night Rulebook
The first crack of leather echoed across the marble floor before my husband had even removed his wedding jacket.
The sound was deliberate.
A warning.
I stood motionless in the center of the penthouse bedroom, still wrapped in the white gown his mother had chosen for me. Crystal chandeliers cast warm light across thousands of rose petals scattered over the polished floor. Every detail screamed luxury.
Everything except the man standing in front of me.
Adrian Cole slowly laid a braided leather whip on the table beside an unopened bottle of champagne.
Then he placed a thin, handwritten notebook next to it.
He smiled.
"Welcome to your real marriage."
My fingers tightened around my bouquet.
He flipped open the notebook.
"I've spent two years preparing this."
His voice carried the confidence of someone who had never been told no.
He cleared his throat dramatically.
"Rule One. You never question me."
He turned the page.
"Rule Two. You ask permission before leaving this house."
Another page.
"Rule Three. Every dollar you earn belongs to me."
Another.
"You will give me every password you own."
Another.
"If I raise my voice, you lower yours."
He looked up proudly.
"I have forty-three rules."
I stared at him.
Not the whip.
Not the notebook.
Him.
The man who had spent two years pretending to be patient, thoughtful, respectful.
The man everyone called the city's most eligible bachelor.
The man I'd just married.
"You don't look surprised," he said.
"I'm thinking."
"About what?"
"Whether you rehearsed this."
His smile faded.
"I suggest you take this seriously."
He picked up the whip.
The leather hissed softly through the air before striking the marble beside my feet.
Crack.
"I expect complete obedience."
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Then I noticed something strange.
His phone.
Propped casually against a vase.
The camera lens pointed directly at me.
Recording.
Of course.
This wasn't just intimidation.
It was documentation.
If I cried...
If I screamed...
If I defended myself...
He could edit the footage however he wanted.
The perfect rich husband.
The unstable new wife.
I almost laughed.
Almost.
Instead, I slowly bent down and slipped off my heels.
Adrian chuckled.
"There we go."
"I knew you'd understand."
"No," I replied calmly.
"I'm protecting the carpet."
His eyebrows drew together.
"What?"
Before he could process the answer, he flicked the whip again.
This time, it never reached me.
I stepped forward instead of backward.
Inside its arc.
My hand wrapped around his wrist.
My hips turned.
His balance disappeared.
The next sound wasn't leather.
It was Adrian crashing face-first onto the mattress.
"What the—"
He tried to stand.
I swept one leg.
He hit the floor.
His arm twisted harmlessly behind his back.
Pinned.
Ten seconds.
That was all it took.
His breathing became frantic.
"Get off me!"
"You forgot something."
"What?"
"You never asked what I was capable of."
He struggled harder.
I adjusted my grip.
Not enough to injure him.
Only enough to remind him he wasn't in control anymore.
His confidence evaporated.
"You psycho!"
I leaned closer.
"You wrote forty-three rules."
"I only need one."
His breathing stopped.
"Never threaten someone whose history you've never bothered to learn."
For the first time that night...
Fear appeared in Adrian Cole's eyes.
Then the elevator chimed.
Someone had arrived.
Adrian suddenly smiled.
A smug, victorious smile.
"My mother."
He almost laughed despite being pinned.
"You've made the biggest mistake of your life."
The penthouse doors unlocked.
High heels clicked across the marble hallway.
More than one pair.
I released Adrian and stepped backward.
He scrambled to his feet just as the bedroom doors swung open.
Celeste Cole entered first.
Behind her stood two sharply dressed lawyers.
She looked from her son...
to me...
to the whip lying on the floor.
Then she smiled.
"Oh dear."
"It seems our new bride needs discipline."
May you like
None of them noticed the tiny diamond hanging around my neck.
Its red indicator light had already begun blinking.
