HAPPILY NEVER AFTER

The night the promise was made, the stars hung low in the sky, casting a silver glow over the estate where two best friends sat with glasses in hand.

Liam's father, proud of his newborn son, raised his glass with a smile. "If you ever have a daughter," he said, eyes gleaming with the certainty of youth, "let's unite our families. My son, your daughter-one day, they'll marry."

Emma's father, laughing with the ease of someone who believed in the future, clinked his glass in agreement.

It was a simple, casual promise made in the warmth of friendship, a future sealed with a toast and blind faith in the inevitability of their bond.

But promises, like time, have a way of shaping lives in ways no one ever imagines.

Years passed. Liam grew into a man driven by ambition, his heart hardened by the weight of his family's empire and the relentless demands of success. He had little time for love, much less for a marriage that had been arranged before he could even speak.

Emma, on the other hand, blossomed into a fiercely independent woman, carving her own path, far from the shadow of the promise that loomed over her.

Yet, fate had a cruel sense of humor.

The day came when the old promise was called to life, and neither Liam nor Emma could escape it.

Bound by the words their fathers had spoken long ago, they were forced into a marriage neither wanted. It wasn't love that brought them together, but an obligation as cold as the steel empires they had been born into.

Now, standing across from each other, Liam and Emma saw nothing but disdain and resentment in each other's eyes.

It was the beginning of a bitter war-one fought not with weapons, but with hearts hardened by hate.
The marriage was set.

And as they took their first steps toward a future neither had chosen, one thing was certain: Liam and Emma would tear each other apart before they ever let this promise bind their souls.

It was the beginning of a war.