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You tightened your grip on the stair railing, and your heart was banging against your ribs. The heavy, luxurious clothes you are forced to wear for this arranged marriage feel suffocating all at once. You started to go down the stairs very slowly, every step egoing loudly in your ears.

Your father is the first person to see when you reach the bottom of the stairs, pride shining in his eyes. You smile tightly, swallowing down the lump in your throat. But then—your gaze shifts, and that's when you see him. You freeze.

It's him. The boy you bullied back in elementary school who you haven't seen in 8 years. But he is not the scrawny awkward kid you remembered. No-suddenly, he is taller, has broad shoulders, and wears a sharp dark suit that perfectly fits his lean, muscular frame. The face that was once childish and tear-streaked is now sharp and devastatingly handsome. Strong jawline, intense eyes, calm but unreadable expression. He looks like the dream of every girl but is your nightmare.

His gaze meets yours, steady and unblinking. You aren't sure what it is-almost like he finds it funny or coldly calculating-but there's this glint there that makes your stomach clench. Your blood runs cold. Images flash past your mind of you laughing at him, naming, and bullying him. Is he going to turn your life into hell like what you did to him back then?

You take another step down the stairs, and suddenly your knees feel weak under you.

There is no turning back.