Chapter 36
Yuna
THREE DAYS LATER…
“I Didn’t Ask For This Crown”
Itold Ares I needed clothes. And like everything else in his world, he didn’t just make it happen. He overdid it.
When you’re dealing with unlimited money and a man who moves like this, you don’t walk into stores to shop.
The stores come to you.
The entire sitting room of the estate had been transformed into something between a fashion studio and a private showroom.
Rolling racks of clothes lined the walls—Chanel, Dior, Balmain, things I recognized and a lot I didn’t.
Fabric swatches were laid across the long marble table like artwork.
Shoes sat in velvet boxes. Jewelry sparkled.
Two seamstresses moved around me quietly, speaking French to each other as one wrapped a measuring tape around my waist.
“Respirez, s’il vous pla?t,” she said gently. Breathe, please.
I rolled my eyes, but did it anyway.
Today was the first morning I didn’t feel like I was dying, so I was enjoying the treatment.
One of them scribbled numbers down on a tablet.
The other lifted my arm slightly.
“Parfait.” Perfect.
The door suddenly burst open.
“NUNA!”
Before I could even react, a small body came flying across the room.
I laughed for the first time in months. I loved seeing my nephew.
“Lil Z!”
I scooped him up before he could crash into the seamstress, hugging him tight as he wrapped his arms around my neck.
Behind him, Zay stepped into the room first.
Emily followed right behind him.
And Ares walked in last.
Quiet.
Watching.
Always watching.
I barely noticed him at first because Emily was already rushing toward me.
“Oh my God, look at you,” she squealed, hugging me tight. “You look so much better.”
“I feel better,” I admitted.
Lil Z was still hanging off me like a backpack while Emily grabbed my hands, looking around the room.
“Girl, what is this?” she laughed. “Did you rent a fashion house?”
“Something like that,” I muttered.
Emily looked around again, wide-eyed.
“I’m not even mad about it. I’m just happy to be out of Los Angeles.”
“Same,” I said immediately.
We both laughed.
Zay leaned against the doorframe, watching us like we were kids again.
For a moment, the room felt normal.
Like we weren’t surrounded by mafia money and family politics.
Emily started rambling immediately.
“Zay said we can go get French manis and pedis, and go have a girls’ day—”
“We need to talk, Yuna,” Zay interrupted.
Emily groaned. “Already?”
“Yes,” he said calmly.
Ares finally stepped forward with a walkie-talkie.
His voice was smooth when he spoke.
“Personnel, venez montrer à mon invité les chambres à choisir.” Staff, come show my guest the rooms to choose from.
Two house attendants appeared almost instantly.
He nodded toward Emily and Lil Z in my arms.
“Pick whatever room y'all prefer, just not mine,” Ares instructed.
The attendants gently led them toward the hallway.
The seamstress finished pinning a fabric sample against my shoulder before quietly stepping back.
“Nous avons terminé pour le moment.” We're done for now.
She and the other woman gathered their things and slipped out of the room.
When the door closed behind them, the room felt different.
Zay pulled a chair out slowly.
“Sit.”
I didn’t argue.
I sat.
Ares leaned against the far wall with his arms crossed.
Zay rested his elbows on his knees. “I heard you were thinking about turning on me.”
I frowned.
“That’s not necessarily true.” I looked over at Ares and frowned. I knew he had told Zay that.
His expression hardened slightly. “Yu-Yu, everything I’m making you do right now is going to save your life. I told you that a million times.”
I stayed quiet.
He continued.
“I’m not making you marry Ares because of Dad’s bullshit politics.”
Zay’s voice lowered.
“I’m doing it to put you in position.”
“Position for what?” I asked.
“To replace your dumb ass momma.”
My stomach twisted.
“I don’t want her place,” I said immediately.
“You don’t have a choice. Her side of the family holds a lot that I need, and you are the only one who can step into rooms with them, without your momma.”
The words landed heavily between us.
Zay leaned forward slightly.
“You want to get rid of her and Dad, right? Remember you told me that years ago?”
I didn’t answer.
But my silence was enough.
“Then get clean,” he said firmly. “Follow what Ares and I say. Falling in love with this nigga or not?” he added. “That part is your choice.”
I glanced toward Ares again.
Still leaning against the wall.
Still silent.
Zay continued.
“But right now, you act like his bride. And you prepare yourself for a queen role.”
Queen.
The word felt ridiculous in my mouth.
“I never asked for any of this,” I whispered again.
Zay’s face softened. The big brother role replaced the strategist for a moment.
He stood up and pulled me into a hug.
“I know,” he said quietly.
My eyes burned.
“I love you,” he continued. “And I would never put you in harm’s way.”
My arms wrapped around him tightly.
“You live royal now,” he said softly. “Comfortable. Safe. Enjoy it.”
A tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it.
He pulled back. And dropped the bomb.
“Mom and Dad are coming here tomorrow night.”
I turned up my nose.
“For what?”
“Dinner.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t want to see Dad.”
“Shit, me either. He still owes me.”
“I don’t want to see Mom either.”
“We are on the same page, lil sis. Just know that.”
Zay sighed.
“But you need to play your role. They won’t be around much longer anyway.”
His tone was casual. But I heard the truth hiding underneath it.
And he knew I did.
Right then, we heard Zay Jr laughing loudly somewhere down the hall.
Zay stood up.
“I’ll let you finish getting measured.”
He walked toward the door.
“I’ll send Emily back in once we get settled.”
“Okay,” I said softly.
He nodded and stepped out.
Ares pushed himself off the wall.
For a second, I thought he was going to say something serious.
Instead, he looked me up and down slowly.
A smirk curved across his mouth.
“You know,” he said casually, “I’ve seen a lot of women wear expensive clothes.”
He adjusted his jacket as he walked past me toward the door.
“But somehow you make them look like something I want to rip off you.”
His eyes held mine for half a second longer.
Cocky.
Amused.
He followed Zay out of the room.
And just like that—
I was alone again, thinking about the chaos my parents were about to bring into this house.