Chapter 2: The Morning After the Deal
Elara woke to silence.
Not the comforting quiet of early morning, but the kind that pressed against the walls of her room like a secret waiting to be uncovered. The contract lay open on her nightstand, mocking her with its neat signatures and sharp legal language.
She had signed it. She had made it real.
The Vance family estate had been deathly quiet for weeks now, but today there was movement. She could hear the distant hum of staff returning, summoned by the promise of restored salaries and cleared debts. Damien hadn't wasted time.
She dressed slowly, choosing a deep green blouse and fitted slacks. It wasn't armor, but it would do. When she stepped into the hall, she found her mother already waiting near the staircase.
"You look... lovely," her mother said, hesitant.
Elara raised a brow. "You can say it. I look like a woman walking to her own execution."
Her mother flinched, but said nothing.
They didn't speak as they rode in the black town car sent by Arclight Industries. The streets blurred by, familiar yet distant. Elara sat stiffly, her mind a whirlwind of everything that had led to this moment.
She wasn't just marrying a man she didn't love—she was marrying the man who had burned her father's life's work to ash.
The wedding was scheduled to be private. No press, no guests, no extravagance. A legal formality, Damien had called it. Just enough to seal the deal.
When she arrived at the courthouse, he was already there, dressed in a charcoal suit, calm as ever. He looked like he was preparing for a meeting, not a marriage.
"You're late," he said without looking at her.
"I had to grieve the last ten minutes of my life," she said coolly.
Damien's lips twitched. Not a smile. Just recognition.
The officiant was brisk, emotionless. Elara barely registered the words. Her eyes flicked to Damien only once—when he slid the ring onto her finger. It was a thin band of platinum, simple, cold.
He didn't hesitate when he said, "I do."
Neither did she.
When it was over, she felt... nothing.
No celebration. No kisses. Just a quiet moment as Damien turned to her and said, "Welcome to the Arclight dynasty, Mrs. Vance."
Her chest tightened.
The penthouse Damien brought her to was in the heart of the city—an ivory tower of luxury, high above the chaos below. Elara stepped out of the elevator into a space that felt more like a showroom than a home: polished floors, floor-to-ceiling windows, minimalist furniture.
"This is where I live," Damien said, moving ahead of her. "You'll have your own bedroom. We won't interfere in each other's lives more than necessary."
"Charming," she muttered. "You really know how to sweep a woman off her feet."
"I'm not here to charm you, Elara. I'm here to make a deal work."
She turned sharply to face him. "Why me? Why not just buy the company, blackmail my father, and be done with it? Why drag me into it?"
Damien's eyes darkened. "Because your family wasn't just a business. It was a symbol. Everyone believed in the Vance legacy—your father, your mother, you. I wanted it to fall from the inside. Not through a boardroom. Through bloodlines."
"That's twisted," she whispered.
He didn't deny it.
"But if you hated us that much," she said, stepping closer, "why offer to save us now?"
Damien looked at her then, really looked.
"For reasons that don't concern you," he said softly.
Elara didn't like the way his voice dropped when he said that. It wasn't cold—it was conflicted.
She turned away, the weight of the ring on her finger suddenly unbearable.
That night, she couldn't sleep.
The guest bedroom—her bedroom, now—was pristine, untouched, too quiet. The city lights blinked outside the window, but they didn't comfort her.
She got up, wrapping a silk robe around herself, and wandered through the apartment until she found the study. Damien's office. Papers were stacked neatly on his desk, files color-coded, as if he had dissected every part of the world and boxed it into manageable folders.
One folder had her name on it.
She stared at it. Reached out.
"Curiosity is dangerous, Elara."
She spun around. Damien stood in the doorway, barefoot, his shirt untucked, sleeves rolled up. It was the first time she'd seen him looking even remotely... human.
"You were watching me?"
"I hear everything in this place," he said, stepping in. "Including the sound of someone breaking into my files."
"It had my name on it," she said, not backing down.
"And that doesn't make it yours."
They stared at each other, the tension thick.
"Tell me something," she said suddenly. "If I asked for a divorce tomorrow, would you let me go?"
Damien didn't answer right away. He walked past her, resting a hand on the folder before slowly closing it.
"No," he said simply.
"Because you'd lose control?"
"Because I didn't go through all this just to lose you after a day."
She laughed bitterly. "So I'm a trophy.
"You're leverage," he said. "Let's not pretend otherwise."
Elara stepped back, her heart pounding—not out of fear, but out of fury.
"You don't get to own me just because you bought my family's silence," she snapped.
Damien's eyes were calm. "Then prove it."
She frowned. "What?"
"Make me regret this," he said. "Fight me. Play the part. But don't pretend to be weak."
The air sizzled between them.
And Elara realized something that both terrified and thrilled her
He didn't want a submissive wife.
He wanted a worthy opponent.