The Contract That Changed Everything
The city never slept—it only watched.
From the glass walls of Blackwood Tower, the skyline glittered like a promise Elara Wynn had never been allowed to believe in. Lights shimmered over steel and ambition, over men who ruled boardrooms and women who learned how to survive them.
Elara stood at the center of it all, spine straight, hands folded, pretending her life wasn't about to collapse.
"Sit."
Lucien Blackwood didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to.
Elara obeyed.
The office smelled of leather, money, and control. The man behind the desk embodied all three. Lucien Blackwood—CEO, billionaire, corporate tyrant—was twelve years older than her and infinitely more dangerous than the rumors claimed.
He slid a document across the desk.
"A marriage contract," he said calmly.
Elara stared at the bold header, her heartbeat roaring in her ears. "This is a joke."
"It isn't."
She laughed—sharp, disbelieving. "You're my boss."
"And you're about to be unemployed," Lucien replied, unbothered. "Arrested, if the evidence against you is released."
Her blood ran cold.
"I didn't leak those files," she said. "You know that."
"I know," he agreed. "That's why you're here."
Lucien stood, tall and imposing, walking around the desk with unhurried steps. Every click of his shoes felt like a countdown.
"You were framed because you're disposable," he continued. "No family name. No backing. Easy target."
Elara clenched her fists. She had learned long ago that dignity was expensive—and she couldn't afford it.
"What does marriage have to do with this?" she asked.
He stopped in front of her.
"Everything."
Lucien placed a finger on the document.
"One year. A legal marriage. Completely secret."
Her eyes shot up. "Why me?"
His gaze hardened. "Because I need a wife no one would suspect. And you need protection only my name can give."
Silence stretched between them, heavy and dangerous.
"And after one year?" Elara asked quietly.
"Divorce," he said. "Clean and compensated."
She looked down at the contract again. At the clauses. The rules.
No public intimacy.
No emotional attachment.
Absolute obedience in public spaces.
She swallowed. "And if I refuse?"
Lucien leaned down, his voice dropping just enough to bruise.
"Then the city eats you alive."
Elara closed her eyes.
She had survived worse. Poverty. Betrayal. Being invisible.
But this?
This was a deal with the devil in a tailored suit.
She picked up the pen.
"Fine," she said. "I'll marry you."
Lucien straightened, unshaken—but something dark flickered in his eyes.
"Good," he said. "Because once you sign this—"
The pen scratched across the paper.
"—you belong to my world."
Outside, the city lights burned brighter.
And Elara Wynn had no idea she had just signed away her heart, her future…
and the beginning of a war she was never meant to survive.