Lightning flashed across the skyline, and for a brief moment, the reflection of Elena Cruz flickered in the mirrored elevator doors. Pale. Drenched. Desperate.
She shouldn't be here. Every instinct screamed that the man she was about to meet was dangerous. The kind of man whose name was whispered, not spoken. But when your brother is dying, when the hospital threatens to pull the plug because you can't pay, you stop listening to instinct. You start listening to desperation.
The elevator doors opened with a low hiss, spilling golden light onto marble.
A woman in a black suit stood waiting. Her expression was unreadable.
"Miss Cruz?"
Elena's throat tightened. "Yes."
"Mr. Vale will see you now."
The secretary turned, her heels clicking softly as she led the way down a long corridor lined with abstract art. Cold, expensive, impersonal. Everything here reeked of power. The kind of power that didn't ask, didn't beg, didn't forgive.
At the end of the corridor stood a pair of tall glass doors. The woman pushed them open.
"Enter."
Elena hesitated on the threshold.
The office was massive. More like a throne room. Floor-to-ceiling windows framed the storm outside, the city lights below like a field of dying stars. A single desk sat near the center, sleek and dark, and behind it… him.
Adrian Vale.
He didn't look up immediately. He was signing something. Sharp movements, deliberate, precise. The light caught the edge of his watch, a glint of steel against his wrist. He wore a black suit that fit like sin, the top button of his shirt undone.
When he finally raised his head, she forgot to breathe.
Cold gray eyes met hers. Eyes that didn't just look, but measured. The air seemed to shift, heavy, electric.
"Miss Cruz," he said, his voice low and calm, but there was something coiled beneath it. Power. Control. Danger. "Sit."
She obeyed without a word, clutching her soaked bag in her lap.
He studied her for a long moment. "You're smaller than I expected."
Elena flinched, unsure if it was an insult or an observation. "I...I came because your lawyer said you could help me."
Adrian leaned back in his chair. "You're aware that I don't give handouts, Miss Cruz."
"Yes, but… he said you had an offer."
His lips curved faintly. Not a smile, more like a predator showing interest in its prey. "An offer. Yes."
He tapped a finger against the file on his desk. "Your brother, Miguel Cruz. Nineteen. Diagnosed with congenital heart failure. Needs an immediate transplant. The hospital has already refused to operate without payment. Am I correct?"
Elena's heart stopped. "How do you..."
"I know everything worth knowing," he cut in smoothly. "Including that you've already sold your mother's jewelry, your apartment lease, and every possession of value."
Her cheeks burned. "Then you know I have nothing left."
"On the contrary," he said quietly, standing. "You have exactly what I want."
He walked around the desk, slow and deliberate, until he stood before her. The scent of rain and expensive cologne surrounded her. Dark, clean, intoxicating. He placed a document on the table between them.
"Sign this, and your brother will live."
Elena stared at the papers. "What… what is this?"
"A marriage contract," he replied. "One year. You will become my wife. In name, in public, and occasionally, for convenience. In return, I will pay for your brother's treatment and ensure his full recovery."
Her breath caught. "A marriage? Why me?"
Adrian's gaze didn't waver. "Because you're ordinary."
She blinked. "That's supposed to be a reason?"
He smirked, a flash of cruel amusement. "It means you have no connection to my world. No political ties. No hidden motives. Just desperation. Which makes you predictable."
Elena stared down at the papers, her hands trembling. "There has to be another way."
"There isn't."
His tone cut through the room like glass. "You sign, or your brother dies. It's that simple."
For a moment, the sound of rain filled the silence between them. She thought of Miguel. His thin arms, the way he smiled even when he was in pain, the promise she made to never give up on him.
Her eyes burned. "What's the catch?"
Adrian's expression darkened. "There are rules. You will live in my house. You will obey my public schedule. You will attend events when I ask. There will be no emotional involvement from either of us. After one year, the contract ends, and you disappear from my life. Permanently."
He handed her a pen. "Do you understand?"
She stared at him, the sharp jawline, the eyes that seemed carved from ice. "And if I say no?"
He leaned in slightly, his voice a whisper of steel.
"Then I'll make a call to St. Augustine Hospital, and by tomorrow morning, they'll transfer your brother to the public ward, where people like him don't last long."
Her heart broke.
He was a monster. A cold, heartless monster.
And yet, as she looked into his eyes, she saw something. A flicker of pain, a shadow that didn't belong to a man untouched by guilt.
Maybe that was what terrified her the most.
Her hand shook as she reached for the pen.
"Wait." His voice stopped her. "Understand something before you sign, Miss Cruz."
She looked up.
"This isn't love. It's business. You belong to me for one year. During that time, I expect loyalty, obedience, and silence."
He paused, his gaze piercing into her soul.
"If you break the contract, your brother's life ends with it."
The pen slipped in her fingers. "You can't mean...."
"I always mean what I say."
Tears welled in her eyes, but she blinked them back. If she cried now, she'd drown.
"Then I'll sign," she whispered.
Her voice cracked on the word.
She bent over the paper and pressed the pen to the line. Her signature looked small, fragile. A mark that sealed her fate.
Adrian watched her, unreadable. When she was done, he took the papers, glanced at them briefly, and slid them into a folder.
"It's done."
"Can I go?" she asked, her voice shaking.
He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he stepped closer. So close she could see the faint scar running along his jaw. His hand brushed a strand of wet hair from her cheek.
"You're trembling," he murmured.
"I just sold my soul," she whispered.
His lips twitched. A ghost of a smirk, but his eyes… something flickered there. Something she couldn't name.
"Souls are overrated," he said quietly. "Get some rest. My driver will take you to the estate. Your new life begins at midnight."
She stood on unsteady legs, gripping her bag. "Why midnight?"
He looked past her toward the rain-lashed windows.
"Because nothing good ever begins in the light."
Later That Night
The city blurred through the tinted window of the car as Elena sat in silence, the contract folder clutched in her lap. Every second felt unreal. She wasn't sure if she'd saved her brother or doomed them both.
Outside, thunder rolled.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she heard Adrian's voice. Smooth, calm, unshakable.
You belong to me for one year.
She looked down at her hands.
They were shaking again.
In another part of the city, on the top floor of the Vale Tower, Adrian stood alone by the window. The papers she'd signed sat neatly on his desk.
He poured himself a glass of whiskey, watching the rain.
"She'll hate me," he muttered.
A man in a gray suit. His advisor, perhaps, stepped forward. "You made the right call. The girl fits the profile. She'll keep suspicion away."
Adrian's jaw tightened. "That's what I keep telling myself."
He turned back to the storm, eyes distant.
But deep down, he knew, something in her eyes had already cracked the walls he'd spent years building.
And for the first time in a long time, Adrian Vale wasn't sure he was still in control.