Mariam laughed.
The sound was sharp and bitter.
“You’re nothing but a coward, Jackson,” she spat.
Had she been able to see Jackson Walsh’s face, she would have noticed the dark shadow settling over his features.
“A coward?” he said coldly.
“You think you’re so brave? You couldn’t even protect your lover.”
“That’s because you’re not playing fair!” Mariam shot back.
“You brought armed men with you. Do you even have a conscience?”
Jackson let out a humorless chuckle.
“Nothing in life is fair. And if we’re talking about conscience, you lost the right to lecture me a long time ago.” His voice hardened.
“Your father is deeply disappointed by your behavior. He asked me to take you back to my estate and keep you there so that you can’t run away before the wedding anymore. A deal is a deal, Mariam. I’ve already fulfilled my part of the agreement by clearing Doyle family’s debt. If you have any conscience at all, you’ll stop making things difficult and honor the commitment your father made.”
Mariam hated Jackson Walsh.
But if she was being honest with herself, she hated her father even more.
The moment the Doyle family’s company began to collapse under mounting debt, her father had treated her less like a daughter and more like a bargaining chip.
Without a second thought, he had offered her hand in marriage in exchange for financial salvation.
As for Jackson, their history only made everything worse.
There had been a time when they were close.
They had laughed together, trusted each other, and shared a friendship that had once meant something to both of them.
Then that incident happened.
Everything changed after that.
For the first time since the confrontation began, she fell silent.
A mocking laugh echoed nearby.
“Where did all that bravery go, girl?” Mikhail taunted.
Mariam slowly lifted her head in the direction of Mikhail’s voice.
A bitter smile tugged at her lips.
“Bravery isn’t measured by how loudly someone talks,” she said.
“It’s measured by what they’re willing to do when they’re afraid.”
Mikhail snorted.
“Is that supposed to impress me?”
“No,” Mariam replied calmly.
“Because men like you aren’t impressed by courage. You’re only impressed by power.”
“Careful with that mouth of yours!”
“Why?” Mariam asked.
“Will you shoot me? Beat me? Is that the only language you understand?”
“You bi-”
“Enough!” Jackson interrupted.
“Mikhail, You know you’re crossing the line.”
Hearing the cold, frosty voice Mikhail immediately shut up.
There was a warning in Jackson’s voice that could absolutely be ignored.
Mariam noticed the exchange and laughed softly.
“There it is.”
Jackson spoke in a languid manner.
“There what is?”
“The truth.” She turned toward his voice.
“For all his barking, he still waits for your permission before he acts.”
Jackson didn’t bite into her bait.
He knew exactly what Mariam was doing.
She was provoking him and trying to prove a point which he didn’t want to indulge in.
He just kept quiet.
His silence was far more unsettling than any angry response.
As the seconds dragged on, Mariam felt a cold knot forming in her stomach.
For the first time since her capture, genuine fear began creeping into her heart.
A bead of sweat slid down her temple.
Her bravado was starting to crack.
Where was he taking her?
What exactly did he plan to do with her?
Would he keep her prisoner?
Use her as leverage?
Mariam forced herself to remain calm, refusing to show weakness in front of them.
For all her defiance, for all her sharp words and fearless acts, she was completely at Jackson Walsh’s mercy.
And she had no idea what fate awaited her.
Last time when Jackson had warned her about not getting in touch with Ronan, maybe she should have listened to him…
***
A month ago.
Bocconi University, Milan, Italy.
The warm Milan sun bathed the campus of Bocconi University in golden light.
Laughter echoed across the sprawling courtyard as graduates dressed in black robes and square caps gathered with their families and friends.
Cameras flashed every few seconds.
Proud parents wiped tears from their eyes while students celebrated the end of years of hard work.
Mariam’s graduation cap was tucked slightly back on her vibrant blonde hair.
A rolled diploma rested in her hand while a faint smile lingered on her face.
Standing beside her was Minghao Kang, her childhood friend and the one familiar face who had accompanied her through the last two years of her life.
The two had known each other since childhood, long before university, before expectations, before family businesses and complicated futures.
Minghao had earned his degree in Business Administration.
Mariam had graduated with a degree in Economics and Management for Media and Entertainment.
The irony wasn’t lost on her.
She had never wanted anything to do with business.
To Mariam, the business world was cold and ruthless—a place where people smiled while calculating how much profit they could squeeze out of each other.
It was a world of contracts, negotiations, acquisitions, and power plays.
A world that reminded her too much of her father.
When she had first announced that she wanted to pursue Media and Entertainment instead of joining the family business, the argument at home had been explosive.
She could still remember her father’s furious face.
“You are a Doyle!” he had roared.
“One day, this company will be yours to run! Your older sister is sick—you know she won’t be able to take over!”
“I still don’t want anything to do with the company,” Mariam replied firmly.
“I am least interested in it. Minghao is going abroad to study…Why don’t you send me with him?”
“But Minghao is going to study business but you are not!”
“What does it matter?!”
The fight had lasted for days.
Eventually, her father had given up arguing.
Instead, he had simply sent her away.
When he learned that the Kang family was really sending their son, Minghao, to study in Milan, he decided his daughter could go too.
At least Minghao was responsible enough to keep an eye on her.
That had been two years ago.
Minghao adjusted the collar of his graduation robe and laughed.
“I still can’t believe it’s over.”
Mariam chuckled.
“Right…Two years flew by in the blink of an eye. It feels like we arrived yesterday.”
“And to think I spent half that time torturing myself with exchange programs.”
“Please,” Mariam scoffed.
“You weren’t torturing yourself. You signed up for every exchange program you could find because you were bored.”
“Bored?” Minghao repeated, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes, bored.”
Mariam folded her arms and gave him a knowing look.
She knew there had been another reason as well.
A certain arts student named Nuozhi Wang.
For two years, Minghao had somehow managed to arrange exchange programs, elective courses, and academic projects that repeatedly brought him into the orbit of the Arts Department.
It was almost impressive.
Of course, he would never admit it.
Whenever anyone mentioned Nuozhi, he would deny everything with a straight face.
But Mariam wasn’t fooled.
She knew her childhood friend better than anyone!
Minghao noticed the look she was giving him and narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“What?”
Mariam’s smile widened.
“Nothing.”
That only made him more suspicious.
At that moment, Mariam’s phone rang.
The cheerful expression on her face instantly froze as her gaze dropped to the screen.
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the caller ID.
Father.
For several long seconds, she simply stared at the screen in disbelief.
The sight alone felt unreal.
Her father never called her—not on her birthdays, not during holidays, not when she had first arrived in Italy, and certainly not when she received academic awards or achieved something significant.
Most of the time, Mariam wasn’t even sure he remembered she existed.
So why was he calling today?
Why on her graduation day of all days?
Against her better judgment, a small flicker of hope ignited inside her chest.
Perhaps he had finally remembered what day it was.
Perhaps he was calling to congratulate her.
Perhaps, for once, he wanted to acknowledge her achievement.
With slightly trembling fingers, she accepted the call and brought the phone to her ear.
“Dad?” she said brightly, unable to completely hide the hopeful note in her voice.
The hope died almost instantly.
There was no warmth on the other end of the line.
There was no congratulatory remarks.
Only a brief silence before her father’s cold, emotionless voice cut through the speaker.
“The Doyle Group has gone bankrupt.”
The smile vanished from Mariam’s face.
“What?” she breathed.
“Also…Your older sister…”
Mariam’s stomach dropped.
A terrible sense of dread crawled up her spine.
“What happened to Megan?” she asked, her voice suddenly unsteady.
“She has been fighting cancer for a long time. Her body couldn’t endure it any longer…. ”
Mariam’s grip tightened around her phone until her knuckles turned white.
Her breathing became shallow.
“That can’t be…” she whispered.
The answer came immediately.
“The doctors did everything they could, but they weren’t able to save her.”
The world stopped.
The sounds of laughter, celebration, and conversation around her seemed to fade into nothingness.
Mariam felt as though all the air had been violently ripped from her lungs.
Her face drained of color.
The graduation certificate slipped from her numb fingers and nearly fell to the ground.
Beside her, Minghao immediately noticed the drastic change.
Only moments ago she had been smiling and laughing.
Now she looked as though someone had shattered her entire world in a matter of seconds.
“Mariam?” he called out, alarm filling his voice.
Her eyes widened, but no sound came out.
“Mariam, what’s wrong?” Minghao asked, shaking her stiff shoulders.
She couldn’t answer.
She couldn’t even breathe properly.
Images of her older sister flashed through her mind—the way she had always encouraged Mariam behind her parent’s back.
Megan had been the one person who still believed in her.
She was the only person who was close to Mariam in this family.
And now she was gone.
Meanwhile, her father continued speaking.
“As for the company’s debts…”
Mariam barely heard him.
Her ears were ringing.
“The remaining liabilities were too large.”
Forcing herself to focus, she swallowed hard.
“What debts?” she asked weakly.
“The Doyle Group owes hundreds of millions. We couldn’t cover them.”
Mariam squeezed her eyes shut.
The company had truly collapsed.
Everything her family had spent generations building was gone.
Then her father spoke a name she had not heard in years.
“Jackson Walsh stepped in.”
Jackson Walsh?
The name felt like an old wound being ripped open.
In the two years since she moved abroad, he had rarely crossed her mind.
He was completely out of her thoughts.
Yet somehow, Jackson Walsh always found a way back into her life.
“What does Jackson Walsh have to do with this?”
“He paid the debt.”
“What did he ask for?”
A chill settled deep in her chest.
Nothing Jackson Walsh ever did came without a price.
She knew that better than anyone.
A man like him didn’t hand over hundreds of millions out of kindness.
There had to be a catch.
Her father’s answer came.
“He requested collateral.”
“What collateral?”
There was a long pause, almost as though even her father understood how ridiculous and outrageous it sounded.
Then he said it.
“Your hand in marriage.”
For several seconds Mariam genuinely thought she had misheard.
“What? Jackson Walsh wants to marry me?”
The same Jackson Walsh she had spent years hating?
The same devil of a man she had sworn never to see again?
“Yes.”
The word exploded from her mouth.
“Absolutely not!”
Several nearby graduates turned to look at her, but Mariam didn’t care.
“No!” she shouted again, her voice shaking violently.
“You can’t be serious!”
“The agreement has already been finalized.”
Mariam felt physically sick.
“You had no right!”
Her father ignored her outrage completely.
“You’ll return to the United States immediately.”
“Dad—”
“You have a wedding to prepare for.”
The line went dead.