FLASHBACK
* THREE YEARS AGO*
My marriage was finalised not in a living room but in a boardroom like a business deal. My father's company, Lin Industries, was on the brink of collapse. The Wang Corporation offered a lifeline: a massive cash infusion in exchange for a "strategic alliance."
That alliance was me. I was 23, fresh out of a jewellery design school, and suddenly my future was treated like a business deal. My father, desperate and ashamed, pleaded to me.
"This marriage can save hundreds of jobs. This marriage is important to save our family. For your family, you've do this."
I felt less like a daughter and more like a sacrificial lamb.
My first meeting with Asher was even more memorable. The Wang mansion was less like a house and more like a museum of modern art. I stood in the vast foyer, my heart beating fast. My parents were escorted to his father's study to discuss business. I smoothed down the simple blue dress I'd bought for the occasion, feeling out of place.
A door opened down the hall, and Asher walked out. He was taller than I'd expected, and even more handsome in person. He wasn't on his phone or reading a document. He looked at me, not with curiosity, but like a collector evaluating a new piece.
"Rysa Lin?"
"Yes. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Wang."
He didn't answer. Instead, he gestured towards a sitting area.
"Shall we?"
We sat opposite to each other. The silence was awkward. I clasped my hands in my lap to keep them from shaking.
"I understand our families have come to an arrangement." I began, trying to break the silence.
"They have. It's a good business decision."
"Business decision?" I repeated.
"Of course." He leaned back. "This marriage provides stability for your father's company and expands my family's influence. It's mutually beneficial."
"And what about the people involved? Does that factor into the mutual benefit?"
For the first time, I could see annoyance on his face.
"People are the variable in any business equation. They can be managed." He looked at me with a slight frown. "You're younger than I expected. Do you understand what will be required of you?"
"To be your wife."
"To be the public face of this deal." He corrected . "You will attend events. You will be photographed. Your personal life, your ambitions will become secondary to that purpose."
He said these words in a simple tone as if that didn't matter at all.
"My ambitions are in jewellery design."
"A suitable hobby. As long as it doesn't interfere with your obligations."
Before I could respond, his phone buzzed on the table between us. He glanced at it and stood up abruptly.
"I have a conference call. My father will see you for dinner."
And with that, he turned and walked away, leaving me alone in the cold room. Our meeting had lasted for less than ten minutes. In that time, he hadn't asked me a single question about myself. He hadn't smiled. He had simply laid out the terms of my new life. I was not a person to him. I was an asset.
Our "courtship" afterwards, consisted of one awkward dinner at their home. I wore my best dress for the dinner.
"Rysa, my dear, you're even more lovely than your photos. Asher, isn't she lovely?" His father commented as we sat on the dining table.
Asher, who had been staring out the window at the city lights, turned his head slowly.
"She's fine." He replied, and again turned towards the window.
I had never felt so humiliated before. What I didn't realize was that this moment marked the beginning of countless humiliations in my future.
The rest of the dinner was a blur with his father explaining the "benefits of the union" while Asher remained silent, occasionally checking his phone. When his father pushed him to "get to know your fiancée," Asher had looked at me and asked one question.
"Do you have any political affiliations or controversial hobbies that could negatively impact my company's stock price?"
I was too stunned to answer. He took my silence as a no and went back to his phone.
The disinterest continued throughout the months of our wedding planning. His secretary emailed me a budget, it was huge, really huge.
"Mr. Wang has allocated this for the wedding. Please ensure it is not exceeded."
I tried to involve him.
"Asher, the wedding planner needs to know about flowers. Do you have a preference or any colors you like?" I asked him.
"Whatever is most suitable. I trust your judgment." He replied without looking away from his tablet.
It wasn't a compliment. It was a dismissal.
The wedding dress shopping was the worst. My mother and sister came with me. I found a dress I loved. It was elegant with delicate lace sleeves. I stepped out of the fitting room, with a smile on my face.
"What do you think?"
"Oh, Rysa... you look like a dream." My mother commented.
At that moment, Asher walked into the boutique, sent by his father.
"Mr. Wang! Don't you think your bride looks stunning?" The consultant asked him.
He glanced at me with a blank expression.
"It's a very normal dress." He then turned to the consultant. "Is there something that goes with my status?"
I felt the smile die on my lips. I bought the first dress the consultant brought, that according to him went with his status.
The final straw was the cake tasting. He showed up ten minutes late, still on a business call.
"Mr. Wang, we have a vanilla bean with raspberry filling, or a dark chocolate…" Pastry chef was explaining.
"No, the quarterly reports need to be on my desk by Friday." Asher interrupted and looked at the chef. "The first one is fine." He took a tiny bite of the vanilla, nodded, and stood up. "I have a meeting."
He left without tasting the chocolate, or even looking at me. I sat there, surrounded by cakes, and finally let the tears fall.
I wasn't planning a wedding. I was managing a project for a client who couldn't be bothered to show up. The message was clear: I, and the marriage, were simply the items on his to do list, to be dealt with as quickly and efficiently as possible. The grand wedding everyone would see was nothing but a beautifully wrapped empty box.
The cathedral was a sea of unknown people. Sunlight filtered through glass windows, each step I took led me deeper into a golden cage. On my father's arm, I felt like a prisoner being escorted to the dungeon, dressed in a couture gown worth more than my entire education.
At the altar, waiting, was Asher Wang. He looked devastatingly handsome in his suit, however his expression was blank. He didn't watch me walk toward him. His gaze was fixed on the guests. As I reached his side, he offered a small nod. There was no smile, no warmth.
The priest began the ceremony. His words about love, honor, and cherishing felt like a joke.
"Asher, do you take Rysa to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?"
There was a pause. I glanced at him. His jaw was tight.
"I do."
"Rysa, do you take Asher to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I do." I whispered.
"The rings." The priest announced.
The best man, handed Asher a heavy platinum band. This was the moment I'd seen in a thousand movies.
Asher took the ring. He didn't reach for my hand. Instead, he held it out on his palm, and looked at me.
"Your ring." He said in a low voice, meant only for me to hear. It was an instruction.
Stunned, with my hands trembling, I had to pick the ring up from his palm. I fumbled, my fingers clumsy with humiliation, before finally sliding it onto my own finger.
"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife." Priest said. "You may now kiss the bride."
Asher turned to me. He didn't smile. He didn't cup my face. He simply leaned down, and his lips brushed mine. It was a brief contact. It lasted less than a second. It was less a kiss and more like a sealing a document.
The guests applauded. Asher immediately turned away from me, offering his arm in the same way he used to pick up his briefcase. I took it, and we walked back down the aisle. He didn't look at me. He was more interested in talking to the guests.
The reception that followed was a masterpiece of luxury and emptiness. We sat at a beautiful table. He ignored the cake, the champagne fountain, and me.
Finally, he was called upon for a speech. He stood, tapping his glass, and the room fell silent.
"Thank you for coming." He began. "Today marks a significant alignment. The merger of our families represents not just a union of hearts, but a consolidation of vision and stability." He spoke about shared futures and fortified legacies. He sounded like he was reading an annual report. He raised his glass. "To a prosperous partnership."
The crowd echoed his words.
"To a prosperous partnership!"
He drank from his glass. Then, without a single word to me, without a touch or a glance, he set it down, turned, and walked out of the ballroom. He just left.
I sat there, at the table, in my white dress, completely alone. The music started but the party felt over. The new Mrs. Wang had been wed, toasted, and abandoned, all within two hours.
An hour later, I found myself in the marital suite of his vast penthouse. It was a large room filled with silence. I was still in my wedding dress. I didn't know how to take it off. There had been no laughing, fumbling newlywed struggle with the buttons. There had been no one to help.
Someone knocked at the door. My head snapped up.
Was it him? Had he come back?
"Come in." I said.
The door opened. It wasn't Asher. It was an elderly housekeeper, her eyes filled with pity.
"I've come to prepare the bed, Mrs. Wang." She said. "And to see if you needed help with your dress."
Mrs. Wang.
The name sounded like a stranger's.
I just nodded, unable to speak. As she began to gently unbutton the gown, the last flicker of hope died. I realized that the silence of the room was my future.
Once the housekeeper left, I sat on the bed, wearing a silk robe, listening to the sound of the clock.
Then, another sound of knock came. My head jerked up.
Asher?
I stood up, my hands trembling as I tightened the robe. I walked to the door, a new hope bloom inside me. I took a breath and pulled the door open.
It wasn't Asher.
A young maid stood there.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, Mrs. Wang. I've come to prepare your bath. Mr. Wang mentioned you might appreciate it after the long day."
The hope shattered.
Mr. Wang mentioned.
He wasn't coming. He was elsewhere in this vast penthouse giving instructions to the staff about his wife's bathing schedule.
He wasn't just absent. He had no intention of coming. The door to the golden cage wasn't just locked, the key had been thrown away.
I nodded, unable to speak, and moved aside to let the maid in. As the sound of running water filled the suite, I stared at the empty hallway. This wasn't a marriage. It was a life sentence, and the first night of my imprisonment had just begun.