Fifty Million and a Ring
Damian sat down, his divine features carved into an unreadable mask. Legs still crossed, he radiated a terrifying calm, so composed it made Eva's pulse race. It wasn't his silence that scares her; it was the storm she sensed brewing beneath it.
"Before code and the Lopez empire, I was in medical school," Damien said casually, like discussing the weather. "So, I know my way around medical tools."
Eva flinched, instinctively shifting away from the items he had placed beside her.
"I'll ask you one more time, Eva. What happened that night when you brought me home?"
She shook her head softly.
Then harder.
Then violently like a rattle.
But her lips stayed sealed. She bit down on them hard. No. She wouldn't say a word. How could she explain what happened? What she did to a drunk man? What if he remembered nothing? What if she triggered something he'd forgotten?
No, she swore to herself. Not even if he pointed a gun at me, never would i say a word.
But her resolve melted when she saw what Damien did next.
Damien suddenly reached for the syringe.
Then he lunged without warning.
Eva screamed and tried to escape, hence she fell on her back to the sofa, but Damien held her down and grabbed the syringe and was about to insert it into her veins. Despite her scream and struggles he wouldn't budge, he was like a mountain strong and firm, and when she saw that she couldn't even struggle in his strong arm, he was way too strong, she had to quickly give up, especially when she felt the needle hovered just above her skin.
Her struggles weakened.
It seemed her fear for needles surpasses her rationale.
"Okay! I'll talk, I promise I'll talk!" she cried, voice breaking.
Damien paused. His brow arched.
Then he let go of her, straightened his shirt, and sat back down with calm elegance, his long legs folding neatly again.
"I'm listening," he said coolly.
Eva sat up, trembling. She regretted ever stepping into his house. She thought, hoped, he'd forgotten everything. But clearly, he hadn't.
"I... I only wanted to help," she began shakily. "You were drunk and Eric wasn't around. So, I called someone, and they told me to come with you to your house. I swear I didn't plan anything, I only just wanted to help..."
Damien said nothing.
She continued.
"When I tried to help you sit up so you could drink the hangover soup I made, you... you probably mistook me for your girlfriend and..."
"And what?" His voice was low.
"...and you took advantage of me," she said in a whisper, staring at the floor.
Damien blinked.
"So, I took advantage of you?" he repeated slowly.
Eva nodded. "Yes. I swear I didn't do anything. It was all you."
Lies, full lies, but she clung to them like armor.
Damien looked at her, his expression unreadable.
"Oh. I'd thought it was the other way around," he muttered, reaching for one of the bitter tablets and turning it in his hand dramatically.
Then he looked up again.
"One more question," he said, tone sharper now. "You and Victor Lawson. Are you two sexually involved?"
Eva flinched. Her lips parted. Her eyes fluttered closed for a moment.
Then she shook her head.
"No, sir."
Damien scoffed, the memory hitting him like a slap. when she kissed him at the hotel... she had lied. Lied that she mistook him for her boyfriend,? His jaw tightened, and a slow, disbelieving gasp escaped his lips.
He clenched his jaw.
"So let me get this straight, what you are trying yo say in a nut shell is," his voice dropped to a dark murmur, "I took advantage of you... and your virginity?"
His eyes pierced through her like X-rays, searching, scanning, and she gave the slightest nod.
Damien froze, stunned. His breath caught in his throat. He had misjudged her, completely.
She was a virgin?
Damien's breath caught. Oh, She was a virgin after all.
Interesting.
Stunning. Elegant. Seductive. Yet untouched?
Wow.That definitely wasn't easy. Despite her spellbinding and breathtaking beauty, with those killer curves, that could bring a man to his knees, she still managed to carry herself with such grace and decency. That kind of self-restraint? And dignity? Rare, precious, almost unheard of.
Then something clenched tightly in his chest, he knew with even more certainty, he had to hold on to her. He couldn't let her slip away.
In that moment, something shifted in him. His annoyance cooled. His disbelief melted into something else. Something deeper.
"I'm... I'm sorry about that," he finally murmured, his voice oddly gentle, almost raw. "I didn't know."
"No, it's totally fine," Eva stammered, her voice trembling. "I... I understand. You weren't in your right frame of mind. It's not your fault."
Of course, it wasn't entirely my fault. Damien thought, biting back the urge to smirk. I tried to resist, but she kept tempting me... again and again.
But Damian decided to let her keep the assumption that he was drunk and not expose her.
None of it would've happened if she hadn't been seducing and toying with him, teasing, tempting, like blood wasn't flowing in his veins, perhaps she treated him like a log. Yet now, she acted like the victim, claiming innocence and shifting all the blame onto him. He let out a dry smirk, eyes dark with unspoken thoughts, and chose to let her be. For now.
"I'm a man of integrity," he said firmly. "And I take full responsibility for my actions. Which is why I plan to compensate you."
"Oh no, don't bother..." she began, until reality crashed into her.
The debt.
"Er... unless you mean deducting it from the fifty million I still owe you?" she added with a dry laugh, her tone faltering.
Damien scoffed, leaning back lazily. "Fifty million? Like I said earlier, Is your body made of gold?"
Eva frowned, her voice barely a whisper. "My virginity is... precious."
He heard her. Oh, he heard her, and it made something stir inside him. But he scoffed again, deflecting the heat simmering in the air.
"Are you blackmailing me now, Eva?" he asked with a lifted brow. "Was this your plan? Paying me back... with your body?"
Her head dropped in shame as she fumbled nervously with her fingers.
"Well then," he said, eyes narrowing. "If that's the case... you'll pay with your body, for the rest of your life."
"Sir?" she blinked, confused.
"I'm taking responsibility," he said coolly. "I'm marrying you."
"What?!" The blood drained from her face. Her heart slammed against her ribs. Marriage?
She remembered Victor's threat. The danger. The chaos. Everything she was trying to outrun.
"N-no, sir. Please, don't bother," she stuttered.
"I'm not asking you," Damien said sharply. "I'm ordering you."
Her lips parted in silent shock. She couldn't speak. Couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.
"Wait for me," he said with a command that brooked no refusal.
It felt like her body moved without her consent, as though possessed. She stood there, frozen, as she watched him walk away.
Moments later, he returned. Fully dressed. Car keys in hand. His expression unreadable, sharp like a blade. He barked into his phone.
"Send someone to the Bureau of Records. I'll be there in thirty minutes."
Then he turned to her again.
"Follow me."
That was all he said.
And she did.
She slid into the passenger seat of his sleek black Bugatti La Voiture Noire car, barely buckled her seatbelt when he zoomed off like a man on a mission. The city lights blurred past as her heart pounded faster than the engine. Minutes later, Damien parked in front of a tall, imposing building.
When Eva glanced up and saw the engraved name Bureau of Civil Registry, her eyes widened. Wait_ what?! She hurried after him, heels clicking against the polished floors. It was past 7 PM. Surely the place would be closed. But just as they stepped in, a breathless middle-aged man in a suit jogged through another door.
"Oh_ I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting, Mr. Lopez!" he said, straightening his tie and fumbling with a stack of documents.
Damien gave him a tight nod. "Just do your job"
The Signing.
They sat at a long mahogany table. The registrar adjusted his glasses and pointed to the signature lines. Eva's hands trembled. Damien, calm and unshaken, signed with the flourish of a man closing a business deal.
When it was her turn, Eva hesitated, pen hovering midair, her heart hammering inside her chest. Damien gave her a steady look. No words, just a gaze heavy with command. Slowly, shakily, Eva signed.
Just like that, it was done. A signature. A few strokes of ink. And now, she was legally Mrs. Eva Lopez.
As soon as they returned to the car Eva slid quietly into his sleek Bugatti, her silver-studded evening dress shimmering under the city lights. She bit her finger nervously, her mind a whirlwind of doubt and tension, the silence between them louder than any words.
Then Damien shut the door beside her, it was as though the fog in her brain suddenly lifted. She blinked, stared at Damien with wide, horrified eyes and gasped.
"Wait... what did I just do?"
Damien raised an eyebrow, suppressing a grin. "Stupid as always," he muttered under his breath, but for once, he said it fondly. Her foolishness had just played into his hands perfectly and everything favoured him.
But this time... he was genuinely glad. Now, she was his. Legally.
Let's see what tricks Victor plans to play now, Damien thought. He won't touch her. Not anymore.
Meanwhile, Eva kept mumbling in disbelief as they drove.
"Oh my gosh... What just happened? Oh my goodness... I can't believe this. What did I do? What did i just do? Mummy..."
She stared out the window, then down at the ring on her finger, as if hoping it might vanish. But it didn't. It was still there. Solid. Real. Binding.
Damian had instructed the officials to get him the most expensive rings available, and the purchase was made right there, while they were still on the road, the transfer done in minutes. Just like that. The ring was bought.
Damian had truly stunned her today. The way he handled everything, so impromptu, yet flawlessly efficient, left her breathless. First, it was the ring. Then came the dress. They had stopped briefly at a luxury mall earlier, where Damian had casually pointed at a white evening gown. Simple, yet breathtakingly elegant. Eva's jaw nearly dropped when she overheard the price, seven digits. Curious, she took a closer look and realized the fabric was studded with real silver stones. It was, without a doubt, the most expensive item in their cart.
And then came the shoes. He pointed to a pair without hesitation, and when she slipped them on, they fit as though they were made just for her.
The entire mall trip lasted under five minutes. And true to his word, less than thirty minutes later, they were standing before the bureaucracy office, every detail flawlessly executed.
Is that how people get married? she kept asking herself, again and again.
A bitter laugh threatened to escape her lips.
You'vedone it now, Eva. You've really screwed things up.
You're in trouble, its over for you Eva, you are so finished.
Damien, however, was in a quietly satisfied mood. A rare smile tugged at his lips. He had sealed the deal.
After a while, Eva suddenly turned to him.
"Can you please pull over? I need to get something down that road," she said in a quiet voice.
Damien narrowed his eyes at her. "Now?"
She nodded innocently.
Suspicious, but amused, he found a quiet corner and parked.
Eva opened the door slowly, stepped out gently, and then, to Damien's surprise, she did something that really shocked him.
She suddenly took off her shoes.
And then she ran.
Fast.
Like lightning.
Like a mad woman.
Like Usain Bolt on steroids.
Damien blinked once. Then again.
And then, he burst into laughter.
"Did she just ran away from me? From me?" he said, slapping the steering wheel, shaking his head in amusement.
"This certainly is definitely going to be a very interesting marriage, no doubt."
From a distance, he watched her stop a motorcycle, hop on it, and zoom off like her life depended on it.
He chuckled again.
"Run, sweetheart. But you're already mine. I wish it was that easy to escape from me."