( Sapphire's POV)
I couldn't breathe.
And I was most definitely not sure about what I was seeing.
And what did he say?
"Hello, fiancée?" As if!
Damian Blackwood wasn't supposed to be here, standing in the middle of our penthouse like he owned it. Like he owned me.
"What are you doing here?" I muttered shakily.
He was taller than I expected, towering, broad-shouldered, every inch of him tailored to perfection. His presence filled the room, sucked the oxygen out of it. My father stood beside him, suddenly small, almost deferential, and that terrified me more than anything.
Victor Montgomery bowed to no one.
Except, apparently, Damian Blackwood.
"That is no way to talk to your soon to be husband." he drawled.
I clutched the door frame as my heart hammered.
"What are you doing here?" I repeated meekly.
Damian's gray eyes slid over me, sharp and calculating, as if he were assessing the value of an art piece he might buy or destroy. Then, with the faintest curl of his lips, he said,
"Introducing myself. After all, we're engaged."
I flinched like he had slapped me.
"We are NOT engaged."
"Not yet," he corrected smoothly, his deep voice laced with a dark amusement.
"But soon. Very soon."
I stole a look at my father, fury boiling in my chest.
"Did you invite him here without telling me?"
My father cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably.
"Sapphire, Damian came to finalize..."
"Don't,"
I snapped, holding up a trembling hand.
My voice cracked.
"Don't you dare finish that sentence, please."
Damian took a slow, deliberate step toward me. His cologne was a subtle intoxicating sensation and it hit me like a drug making my pulse raced.
"You don't have a choice, Sapphire," he said softly, though there was no kindness in his tone.
Only power.
"This isn't about love or consent. This is about repayment."
The words hit me like a brick.
"Repayment?" I whispered unsurely.
Damian's eyes flicked to my father, then back to me. "I see you didn't have enough balls to tell her." He smirked, then turning back to me, he said with an amused expression,
"Your family owes mine. A debt. A very large one. Consider this marriage… a collateral.
I turned to my father, my throat tightening.
"What is he talking about?"
My father wouldn't meet my eyes. His silence was louder than any confession.
"Oh my God," I breathed, the floor tilting under me.
"You're serious! You actually… You gambled away the company? Our lives? My life?"
"Watch your words young lady," my father barked, but it was hollow. He looked… defeated. And for a moment, sad. But my eyes were probably deceiving me.
I felt sick, Betrayed and Trapped.
Damian's gaze never wavered. He was as unbothered as the next man. I half expected him to look at his nails nonchalantly.
"The truth is simple. Your father owes me millions. Marrying you settles the debt. It keeps your family afloat. And it gives me exactly what I want."
My stomach twisted.
"Which is what?"
His smile was razor sharp.
"You."
Heat rushed to my face, humiliation, fear all tangled together.
"I'm not some prize you can buy!"
"You already are," he said coldly.
"Your father signed the papers this morning. The arrangement is legal. Binding. And there is absolutely nothing you can do about it."
He was having too much fun with this.
I staggered back, my vision swimming.
"You can't… you can't do this to me, father, please…this… this is insane, you can't do this to me, both of you. Father, please." I kept begging shamelessly.
But even I knew that I was simply grabbing at straws now.
Damian's hand shot out, fingers curling around my wrist before I could retreat further. His grip wasn't painful, but it was ironclad and immovable.
"Listen carefully, Sapphire," he murmured, leaning down so his lips brushed the shell of my ear.
"You can scream, you can hate me, you can fight, but it won't change a damn thing. In less than a month, you'll stand at the altar, and you'll swear to be mine. For life."
A shiver ran through me despite the fire in my veins. I yanked my wrist free, clutching it to my chest like a wounded animal.
"You're a monster."
He smirked, unbothered.
"So they say."
The way he said it, so casual, almost amused like it was something he heard often from people, sent a chill crawling up my spine. Because it wasn't just arrogance. It was true.
Damian Blackwood was feared. Not just for his wealth.
I remembered the rumors I'd overheard at charity galas, whispered behind manicured hands.
Men who crossed him vanished from the financial world overnight. A CEO who refused him ended up bankrupt in a week. And one man, one poor bastard, was said to have simply… gone terribly broke.
My stomach twisted. Who was this man my father had chained me to?I forced my chin up, swallowing my fear.
"I'll never love you. Not even for a second!"
His smile widened slowly as he stepped closer until his chest nearly brushed mine and I could feel the heat radiating from his body.
"Good," he whispered.
"I'm not asking for love. I'm asking for total submission and obedience."
I froze, every nerve ending on fire.
Damian's gray eyes locked onto mine, merciless and unyielding.
"By the time I'm done with you, Sapphire Montgomery, you'll beg to carry my name."
He stood up straight, sent me a smile that was as cold as ice. I shuddered.
Without another word, he walked away from me, and kept walking until he got to where my father was standing.
He just stared at him for five seconds without a word.
Then he walked out of the house.
I had no idea my father and I were holding our breaths until we both exhaled together.
Without sparing my father another glance, I walked back into my room and shut the door with another loud bang.
How else was I going to make my displeasure known?
But even as I lay in bed, I wondered what kind of power the man wielded to make even my
father look so scared of him?
"Who are you, Damian Blackwoods?"
Tried as I could, he did not once leave my head even as I fell asleep.
This man was out to ruin my life.
I just knew it.