"Do you remember me, Maddox?"
The question sliced through the room like a knife, and for a moment, time stood still.
Maddox Raye's gaze shot up from the desk, his eyes narrowing in confusion. His hand froze mid-motion, the pen hovering over the contract he'd been signing. There she stood, impossibly real, impossibly here, a woman he thought he'd buried in his past.
Cambria Vale.
But no, it wasn't the trembling girl he'd once discarded. This woman, standing before him with that cold, almost mocking smile, was someone entirely different. Her presence filled the room with an unsettling confidence, and the sharpness of her gaze held nothing but calculation. She was not the girl who had once worn his ring she was something more dangerous.
He didn't recognize her at first not the way he used to. Gone were the soft features, the hesitant glances, the quiet obedience. This woman was polished, poised, and undeniably powerful. The sleek black dress she wore hugged her figure in a way that felt deliberate, and the subtle gleam of triumph in her eyes made it clear she wasn't here to reminisce. She was here to take.
"I'm sorry, but I think you have the wrong " Maddox began, his voice betraying a flicker of uncertainty as he stood, trying to mask the growing discomfort gnawing at him.
"Don't lie to me," Cambria interrupted, her voice cutting through the air like ice. "You know who I am. You just don't recognize me."
The words hit him harder than he expected. His stomach clenched. His mind raced, trying to piece together the fragments of the woman from his past, the meek, broken bride who'd disappeared the moment his betrayal had broken her.
The woman who had never fought back. The woman he had thought he'd ruined forever.
"You've changed," he murmured, his gaze scanning her anew. She looked the same, yet... different. There was power in the way she held herself now, in the way she looked at him like she was the one in control.
"I didn't change, Maddox. I evolved." She took a step forward, her heels clicking with purpose. "And now I'm back. To collect what's mine."
A pulse of realization struck him. The woman before him wasn't just some random rival or opportunist. She was Cambria the wife he'd once destroyed, the woman he'd betrayed without a second thought.
And now she was standing here, with something far more lethal than revenge in her eyes.
"Why are you here?" His voice was strained, his throat tight as if the simple act of saying her name again brought back a thousand painful memories.
She smiled a smile that was both cold and satisfying as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. "I'm here because you need me, Maddox. And you always have. The difference is, now, you don't have the power to destroy me."
His chest tightened. His hands were clammy. This was the moment. The moment he realized how deeply he'd underestimated her. She was no longer the shy girl he'd dismissed; she was a woman who had rebuilt herself into someone capable of shaking the very foundations of his empire.
He knew he should feel anger, regret, and guilt he did. But instead, there was a deeper, darker feeling rising inside of him: fear.
Fear of losing the one thing he'd fought so hard to maintain. Control.
Her presence made it clear he no longer held the reins. She did.
"You think you can just walk in here, after everything, and make demands?" His voice was rough, but there was a trembling edge to it now. His usual confidence seemed inadequate in the face of her calm, almost predatory demeanor.
Cambria raised an eyebrow, the barest hint of a smirk playing at her lips. "I think," she said slowly, "that I'm not the one making demands. I'm offering you a solution."
A shiver of unease slithered down his spine. "What solution?"
She stepped closer, just enough to let her words hang between them. "A solution to your little problem. Your empire is crumbling, and the board's growing impatient. You need someone they can trust. Someone with a reputation. Someone who can handle the pressure. I'm that someone."
Her voice, low and confident, rattled him. She wasn't here for him to save. She was here to save herself and take everything from him in the process.
"I'm not marrying you again," he said, though the words lacked conviction. It was the knee-jerk reaction of a man who still thought he could control her.
Her eyes flickered with something dark amusement, maybe. "You don't have a choice. The board insists. And I'm the only woman left who can fix the damage you've caused. All I need is a little... paperwork." She reached into her bag and pulled out a crisp, white contract, tossing it onto the desk with a casual flick of her wrist.
Maddox stared at the paper, disbelief clouding his mind. Was this really happening? He had built an empire. He had done the unthinkable to protect it and yet here she was, offering him a deal he couldn't refuse.
He reached for the contract, his fingers brushing the paper. His heart raced, blood pounding in his ears. He felt cornered, trapped in a game he hadn't been prepared for.
"What is this?" His voice trembled as he picked it up, scanning the terms in a daze. "A marriage contract?"
"Yes," she answered, voice smooth as silk. "And it's the only way you'll save face, Maddox. Your reputation, your future it all depends on this. You need me. You always did. But this time... it's on my terms."
He slammed the contract back onto the desk, his hands shaking, but there was no anger left in him only the crushing weight of inevitability. He couldn't deny it. Not to himself, not to her.
"Sign it," she commanded, her voice a soft whisper that carried the weight of a thousand consequences. "Or lose everything."
Maddox stood there, torn between the man he used to be, the man who never needed anyone and the desperate, vulnerable man he'd become. The empire, his power, his pride everything was slipping through his fingers. And in front of him stood the woman who could either destroy him or save him.
He didn't know what to do. But he knew this: he had no choice.