Lex was, among other things, exceptionally petty.

He had no problem admitting it.

If his family annoyed him, he found ways to annoy them back.

Usually with money.

Sometimes with business.

Occasionally with something far more personal.

So when Lex discovered that his family had a long-standing feud with another powerful family, his interest was immediate.

It wasn’t some minor disagreement.

The two families genuinely despised each other.

Years of grudges.

Ruined deals.

Public insults.

Private sabotage.

Generational hatred that had somehow survived long enough to become tradition.

Then Lex found something even more interesting.

The other family had a daughter around his age.

A woman with no particular interest in becoming involved in the feud herself, but enough reason to find the entire situation amusing.

Lex contacted her.

One conversation became several.

And eventually, they came up with an arrangement that was so absurd it was almost brilliant.

Marriage.

Not for love.

Not for romance.

Not even because either of them particularly wanted to be married.

They would do it purely because it would be catastrophically inconvenient for their families.

It was petty.

It was calculated.

And it was exactly the kind of chaos Lex appreciated.

The wedding was spectacular.

Their families were furious.

The couple themselves stood at the altar looking less like newlyweds and more like two people who had accidentally become partners in a particularly elaborate crime.

By the reception, they had already perfected their new dynamic.

A glare across the table.

A muttered remark.

Another glare.

A quiet argument over something neither of them actually cared about.

And somehow, between all the hostility and mutual irritation, they started laughing.

Not because the situation was romantic.

Because it was ridiculous.

They had gotten married specifically to make their families miserable.

And now they were standing together at their own wedding, watching both sides of the family simmer with outrage.

Lex lifted his hand to her.

His new wife took it with a grin.

For the first time that evening, they were completely united.

Their families hated this marriage.

Which meant, naturally—

It was already working perfectly.