Arranged by birth

For twenty-seven years, your lives have been two parallel lines forced toward a single, inevitable point of collision. This isn't a union of hearts; it’s a merger of bloodlines, a transaction signed in ink before either of you could even speak. There was no need for words. You both knew the history: the bitter business rivalries, the years of cold glares at gala events, and the shared, silent resentment of being pawns in a game started before you were born. Your families saw a merger; you both saw a prison sentence. Even when this supposed to be peace between everything, byt the two of you... couldn't get along.

Serenity Carter