Chapter 5
841 Words
The city lights blurred outside the cab window as Elena clutched the contract in her hands. Every bump on the road rattled her nerves, every traffic light felt like it was mocking her. She hadn’t told her friend anything, hadn’t told the doctor about her decision either. This wasn’t a choice you shared with anyone.
This was a choice you made alone.
The cab pulled up in front of Black Enterprises. The skyscraper loomed over her like a predator waiting for prey. Glass, steel, and shadows. A building that belonged to Damian Black — and soon, so would she.
Her throat tightened as she paid the driver and stepped out. Her legs trembled, but she forced them forward, through the grand revolving doors and into the cold, polished lobby.
The receptionist looked up, startled. “Miss Elena? Mr. Black is waiting for you.”
Waiting. The word stabbed her chest.
She took the elevator, clutching the papers so tightly they bent at the edges. The ride up felt endless, every second echoing in her chest like a countdown.
Ding.
The doors opened. His floor.
Her heels clicked against the marble as she stepped out. The glass doors to his office loomed ahead. She froze, heart hammering.
Then his voice. Deep. Commanding. “Come in.”
Her hands trembled as she pushed the doors open.
There he was. Damian Black. Sitting behind his desk, suit jacket off, sleeves rolled up. The dim lighting cast sharp shadows across his face, making him look more dangerous than ever.
His eyes lifted from a file and locked onto her. Cold. Sharp. Yet something flickered in them. Relief? He masked it quickly.
“You came back.” His voice was low, steady.
Elena swallowed hard. “I… I had to.”
He leaned back in his chair, studying her like she was a deal he was about to close. “Do you have an answer for me?”
Her fingers tightened on the contract. She wanted to scream no. She wanted to tell him she wasn’t some pawn to be bought. But then her mother’s frail smile flashed in her mind. The machines. The bills. The cruel reality.
Her voice cracked. “Yes.”
Damian’s lips curved into the faintest smirk. He stood, walking around the desk until he was right in front of her. His height, his presence, made her feel small, trapped.
“Then sign it,” he said simply, pulling a pen from his pocket and placing it on the glass table.
Her eyes burned as she sat down. The contract lay between them, heavy as chains. Her fingers hovered over the pen, trembling.
She whispered under her breath. “What am I doing…”
Damian’s voice cut through her thoughts. “You’re securing your future.”
Her head snapped up, eyes meeting his. “My future? Or yours?”
For a brief second, his jaw clenched, and his eyes softened — but just as quickly, the mask slipped back into place. “Both.”
Silence stretched.
Finally, with a shaky breath, Elena picked up the pen. The tip hovered over the line where her name belonged.
Her chest ached. Her eyes blurred. But she pressed the pen down and signed.
Damian’s gaze never left her. His voice was almost a whisper when he spoke. “Good girl.”
Her hand froze, her heart skipping. The words sounded too intimate, too dangerous.
But it was done.
The contract now bore her name.
Elena leaned back in the chair, tears threatening to spill. Her voice broke. “It’s official then. I’m yours.”
Damian bent over, picked up the contract, and closed it with finality. His eyes gleamed with something unreadable as he murmured:
“Yes. You’re mine now.”
She stood, shaky on her legs, wanting nothing more than to leave, to breathe, to cry in private. But his next words stopped her cold.
“You move in tomorrow.”
Her head whipped toward him. “What?”
He slid the contract into a drawer, locking it. His voice was calm, casual, as if he were stating the weather. “You’re my wife now. My wife doesn’t live in some shoebox apartment across the city. She lives with me.”
Elena’s chest tightened. “Damian, that wasn’t part of the deal.”
He stepped closer, towering over her, his cologne wrapping around her like chains. His lips brushed dangerously close to her ear as he spoke.
“Everything is part of the deal when you belong to me.”
Her hands clenched at her sides, fury mixing with fear. “You can’t control every part of my life.”
He tilted his head, eyes dark, lips curving into that dangerous smirk again. “Watch me.”
The air between them thickened, charged, like fire meeting gasoline.
Elena’s heart pounded as she stumbled back toward the door, her mind screaming at her. What have I done?
And yet, she couldn’t stop shaking at his last words echoing in her chest.
You move in tomorrow.
- Writer
