I didn't move.
The words "The year starts now" kept echoing in my head, over and over.
Alexander didn't seem to notice... or care. He straightened his cuffs, calm as ever, and said, "Pack what you need. My driver will take you to your apartment. You have one hour."
"One hour for what?" My voice cracked. "To pretend this is normal?"
He looked up, steady, cold. "To decide what you can't live without."
I hated the way he said it, like my life was a spreadsheet and he'd already balanced the numbers.
"And if I refuse?"
"Then your father goes to prison."
No threat. Just fact.
I wanted to scream. Instead, I stood there and said nothing.
He glanced at his watch. "You'll move into my house tonight."
"Your house?"
"My rules. My schedule. My terms."
He didn't blink. "You agreed."
"I agreed to save my father, not to..."
"To live with the consequences of his choices," he cut in.
He stood, and suddenly the room felt smaller.
He stopped just in front of me... close enough that I could see the light catch in his gray eyes.
"Don't look at me like that, Miss Hale," he said. "You signed willingly."
"You really think you can buy obedience?"
"I already did."
The line hit harder than I expected.
I wanted to hit him back with something equally sharp, but all I said was, "Maybe you should've bought silence, too."
For a second, I thought he might actually smile. "I don't like silence. It wastes potential."
He pressed a button on his desk. Harris appeared almost instantly, like he'd been waiting outside the whole time.
"Take Miss Hale to her apartment," Alexander said. "She has one hour to collect her things. She moves in tonight."
"Yes, sir."
"I'm right here," I snapped. "You don't have to talk about me like I'm..."
"Collateral?" He met my eyes. "That's exactly what you are."
It took everything in me not to flinch. "You enjoy this, don't you?"
"What I enjoy," he said, "is order. You'll understand that eventually."
He turned away, done with me. Just like that.
Harris gestured toward the door. I didn't move.
Alexander looked up again, patient but dangerous.
"Don't be late," he said. "I dislike waiting."
---
The elevator ride was silent.
Harris opened the car door without a word. The black leather interior gleamed like everything else that belonged to Alexander, cold and expensive.
Outside, the city looked different. Smaller somehow.
At my apartment, I packed fast. Clothes. Laptop. One framed photo of my mother I almost left behind.
One suitcase. That was it.
When I came back down, Harris was still there, waiting.
"Everything?" he asked.
"Everything that matters."
He took the bag, placed it in the trunk, and didn't say another word.
The drive was long. Streetlights flashed across the window in streaks of white and gold. My reflection looked like someone I didn't recognize.
When we turned past the gates of his estate, I stopped breathing.
The house was huge... stone walls, iron gates, nothing soft in sight.
Power. That's what it looked like. Power made of money and control.
Harris opened my door. "Mr. Ward is waiting in the study."
Of course he was.
The hallways were endless. Polished wood. Gold frames. Portraits of people who looked like they'd never heard the word no.
He was standing by the fire when I walked in.
No smile. No welcome. Just that same look... steady, unreadable.
"Miss Hale," he said. "Welcome to your new home."
Home. The word didn't sound right coming from him.
He poured himself a drink, didn't offer me one. "You'll find your room upstairs. Second door on the left."
"That's it?"
"For now," he said. "We'll talk about the rules in the morning."
He turned his back.
Conversation over.
---
The room they'd given me was perfect... too perfect.
Cream walls, tall windows, everything in order.
I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the suitcase.
Everything I owned in one place. Everything else gone.
Somewhere down the hall, a door closed.
Firm. Final.
I didn't have to guess whose it was.
The year had officially begun.
--
I woke up to sunlight cutting through curtains I didn't recognize.
For a second, I forgot where I was. Then I saw the suitcase by the door, and it came back all at once.
The house was silent. Too big. Too clean.
No city noise. No chaos. Just quiet that felt expensive.
A knock came at the door.
"Miss Hale?" Harris. Calm, polite, impossible to read. "Breakfast is served at seven-thirty."
"What time is it?"
"Seven-thirty-five."
Of course.
I pulled on jeans and a sweater. No makeup. I didn't plan on impressing anyone.
I still checked the mirror before leaving. Habit. Weakness.
The hallway stretched forever. Every step echoed on the polished floor until I reached the dining room.
Alexander was already there.
Dark suit. White shirt. A man who looked like he'd never been late a single day in his life.
He didn't look up right away, just folded his newspaper in half like it was part of a routine I didn't belong in.
When he finally did, his gaze hit like a punch.
"Seven-thirty," he said. "Not seven-thirty-five."
"I'm five minutes late."
"You're five minutes wrong."
I sat down. Harris poured coffee I didn't ask for.
Toast. Fruit. Eggs. All arranged too perfectly. Like everything else here.
Alexander spoke first.
"We should set expectations."
I took a sip of coffee. "Rules, you mean."
"Yes."
I set the cup down. "Of course you have rules."
"Rule one," he said. "You don't leave the property without my permission."
"Rule two. You answer when I call."
"Rule three. You don't contact your father."
"Rule four. You don't lie to me."
I stared at him. "That's a lot of you in one breakfast."
He didn't react. "It's simple."
"What do I get?"
"My protection. The end of your father's trial. Peace, if you can manage it."
"I'm not sure I want peace," I said. "I want my life back."
"You gave that up when you signed."
"Or when you bought it," I shot back.
He didn't flinch. "Same difference."
I hated how calm he was. Like my anger was just background noise.
"Why the prison rules, Mr. Ward?"
His eyes sharpened. "Don't call me that."
He leaned forward slightly. "After you had my cock in your mouth, you don't get to pretend we're strangers."
The air thickened. I froze. My face burned, but I refused to look away.
"Fine," I said. "Alexander."
The way his name sounded between us felt dangerous.
He smirked, like he'd won something small but important.
"Rule five," he said quietly. "Don't test how far I'll go."
"Is that a warning?"
"It's advice."
"Do you give advice to all your… guests?"
"Only the ones who confuse curiosity with courage."
I stared him down. He didn't move. Didn't blink.
It was infuriating... and something else I didn't want to name.
Harris appeared beside us, holding a phone on a silver tray.
"Mr. Ward," he said. "A call. From Mr. Hale."
My father.
The air changed. Sharp. Heavy.
Harris looked at me. "Miss Hale?"
Alexander didn't break eye contact. "If you answer that call, the deal is void."
I froze. "You can't..."
"I can. And I will."
The phone kept ringing.
I stared at the screen like it might explode.
"What happens if I don't?" I asked.
"You choose your side."
"This isn't a war."
"You're wrong," he said. "You just don't know what's worth fighting for yet."
The phone rang again. Louder this time.
I didn't breathe.
"Decline it," Alexander said.
I didn't move.
He leaned back in his chair, expression unreadable. "Last ring."
It stopped.
The silence that followed felt heavier than the sound had.
"No message," Harris said softly.
Alexander didn't look away. "Breakfast is over."
I stood too fast. My chair scraped the floor. "You like control, don't you?"
He took a slow sip of coffee. "I like precision. Control is a byproduct."
I hated that answer almost as much as I hated how calm he looked saying it.
"Tonight," he said, "you'll join me for dinner with investors. You'll observe. You'll listen. You'll learn."
"You expect me to be quiet and smile?"
"I expect you to notice who's watching. And why."
"Is that another rule?"
"It's survival."
He stood, and the air seemed to shift with him.
He was too close again, heat and distance all at once.
"Remember this, Isla," he said quietly. "I don't need you obedient. I need you precise. If you want freedom at the end of this year, earn it."