Elena sat at the long, cold table, her hands trembling in her lap. The room was far too silent for her comfort, except for the slow, deliberate tapping of her father's fingers against the glass tabletop. She didn't look at him. She couldn't. Not after what he'd done.
"You'll behave," he said finally, his voice low and warning. "No more of this nonsense."
She blinked hard, fighting back the tears burning behind her eyes. Nonsense. That was what he called her begging. Her pleading. Her desperate attempts to escape the nightmare that had swallowed her whole overnight.
A marriage.
To a stranger.
To a man who didn't even want her.
To Adrian Knight.
Elena had heard of him. Who in the city hadn't? Ruthless. Dangerous. The kind of man who made other men lower their heads. He built empires in silence and destroyed them without remorse. And now, somehow, she belonged to him.
The door creaked open.
Her father stood immediately, straightening his suit like the coward he was. Elena couldn't help it—her heart lurched, her body stiffened. She couldn't even turn her head at first.
But she felt him.
Before she saw him.
The air changed when Adrian Knight entered the room.
When Elena finally looked up, the first thing she noticed wasn't his expensive suit or his towering height. It wasn't even his cold, unreadable expression.
It was his eyes.
Black.
Lifeless.
Like looking into the eyes of a man who had buried every part of himself that was human.
He didn't look at her. Not directly. His gaze swept the room once, cold and clinical, and then he took the seat across from her.
And said nothing.
Her father broke the silence.
"Mr. Knight, the paperwork is ready."
Adrian didn't move. He didn't even blink. For several suffocating seconds, Elena wondered if he'd heard.
Then he spoke.
"I'm not here for paperwork."
His voice was deep. Calm. Terrifyingly emotionless.
Elena's father cleared his throat awkwardly, pushing the thick stack of documents toward him. "Your legal team—"
"I said no."
Elena's breath caught.
Her father paled.
"B-but the contract—"
Adrian leaned forward slightly, his cold gaze flicking to Elena for the first time. She felt it like ice against her skin.
"I don't need her signature," he said flatly. "She's already mine."
Elena's heart stopped.
Her father said nothing.
The silence between them said everything.
This wasn't a marriage by choice.
It wasn't even a contract.
It was a sale.
She'd been sold.
And Adrian Knight? He didn't care if she agreed. He didn't care if she cried or screamed or begged.
He'd already bought her.
The chair scraped as Adrian stood, pushing it back without effort. His gaze didn't leave Elena this time.
"I'll send a car for you at midnight."
She couldn't speak.
He turned without waiting for a response.
The door clicked shut behind him.
Her father let out a shaky breath and sat back down. "See? It's done now."
But Elena wasn't listening.
She was staring at the door.
At the space where Adrian Knight had stood.
Her future had just walked out of the room—and taken her life with him.