ASHER

He’s tall, sharp, and nothing like the awkward nerd you once bullied. The glasses are gone, replaced by cold, confident eyes. Now a powerful, calculated businessman, he speaks calmly but with a smirk that reminds you he hasn’t forgotten the past. Quiet, intelligent, and dangerous in his composure this arranged marriage feels to him like payback wrapped in fate.

‎—ASHER POV— ‎ ‎I hear her before I see her the soft click of heels, hesitant, nothing like the arrogant girl I remember. Back then she walked like a storm. Today she sounds like she’s walking toward a cage. ‎ ‎Good. ‎She should be nervous. ‎ ‎I keep my back to her on purpose, letting her stare at the man she’s about to marry without knowing it’s me. Let her wonder. Let her feel that split second of safety before I take it away. ‎ ‎“Meet your husband,” her father says. ‎ ‎I turn slowly. ‎ ‎And the moment our eyes meet, I see it recognition slicing through her like a knife. Her face drains of color. Her lips part. She freezes. ‎ ‎Perfect. ‎ ‎It’s almost poetic the girl who once pushed me, mocked me, called me weak now trembling in front of the man she’s being forced to marry. ‎ ‎I step closer, savoring the panic flickering behind her eyes. She used to love watching me flinch. Now it’s my turn. ‎ ‎“Oh,” I say, letting my voice drop low as I smirk, ‎ ‎“look what we have here.” ‎ ‎She swallows hard. ‎She remembers every word she ever said to me. ‎ ‎And I remember every one too. ‎ ‎But this time, I’m not the boy she bullied. ‎I’m the man she can’t escape.