THE WOMAN OF MY DREAMS

CHAPTER ONE

The grandfather clock in the far corner of the master suite ticked with a heavy, agonizing slowness. For six long months, this massive, gold-leafed bedroom had been nothing but a battlefield of absolute silence.

Elena sat at the edge of the king-sized mattress, her fingers tightly gripping the edges of the dark silk nightgown pooled around her thighs. Her eyes were fixed on the glowing screen of the tablet in her lap, but she wasn't processing the words. Instead, her ears were strained, listening intensely to the quiet, hollow echoes of the sprawling mansion outside her door.

Xavier King was a man completely governed by contracts, fine print, and unyielding, iron-clad boundaries. He was the undisputed ruler of the King corporate empire, a multi-billionaire whose name alone could shift the stock market by a fraction of a per cent overnight. When he had signed the legal papers to bind Elena to him six months ago, he hadn't done it out of love, romance, or even basic affection. It had been an arrangement born out of necessity. He had stood before her in his pristine office, looked down his straight nose with ice in his dark eyes, and laid out the terms of their marriage with a chilling precision.

Separate bedrooms. Public appearances only. Absolutely no personal entanglements.

Xavier had made it brutally clear that he had no intention of putting anything into this marriage that wasn't explicitly stated in the legal clauses. He didn't want a partner; he wanted a functional piece of jewellery to show off to his board of directors when the occasion demanded it. For half a year, he had successfully ignored her presence in his house, treating her like an invisible ghost trapped inside a gilded, luxury prison. He never dined with her. He never asked about her day, and he never crossed the threshold into her private quarters. He played by the rules of the contract, and he expected her to do the same.

But tonight, the heavy air inside the master suite felt different. It was thick, charged with a suffocating, electrical tension that had been quietly building with every passing day they spent under the same roof.

The silence shattered instantly when the heavy oak double doors clicked, swinging open with a sudden force that made Elena flinch.

Xavier stood in the doorway, his massive, towering frame completely blocking out the bright light from the hallway behind him. The pristine, untouchable CEO who usually appeared in the media looked entirely unravelled. His tailored suit jacket was gone, thrown somewhere downstairs, and his white button-down shirt was unbuttoned at the throat, revealing the sharp, rugged lines of his collarbone His dark hair was slightly mussed, as if he had been running his fingers through it in frustration, and his eyes were wild, glittering with a dangerous, erratic fury that Elena had never witnessed in him before.

He marched into the room, his heavy leather shoes striking the polished hardwood with an ominous rhythm. Before Elena could even speak, he slammed a thick manila folder down onto the mahogany desk in the centre of the suite. The impact sounded like a gunshot in the quiet room. High-quality surveillance photographs spilt out across the dark wood, scattering under the dim light of the crystal chandelier.

"Who the hell is he, Elena?" Xavier’s voice was a low, terrifying growl that seemed to vibrate directly through the floorboards.

Elena’s heart hammered violently against her ribs, a sudden spike of adrenaline making her breathing shallow. She swallowed the lump of fear in her throat, refusing to look weak in front of him, and stood up slowly from the edge of the bed. The midnight silk of her gown clung to the curves of her body, catching the light as she walked over to the desk to look down at the images.

The photos were crystal clear. They showed her sitting in a secluded, candle-lit corner of an upscale café earlier that afternoon. Across the small table from her was a tall, sharp-featured man in an expensive grey suit. In three of the frames, the man’s large hand was resting briefly, comfortingly over hers.

"His name is Julian," Elena said, her voice remarkably steady despite the chaotic storm raging in her chest. She lifted her chin, meeting Xavier’s murderous gaze directly. "He’s an old family ally. My father trusted him implicitly before everything fell apart."

"The contract explicitly states that you do not meet with anyone outside our approved list without my personal security detail present," Xavier stepped closer, his jaw clenching so hard that a sharp muscle twitched beneath his tanned skin. The dangerous scent of cedar, expensive whiskey, and winter rain rolled off his massive body, completely enveloping her senses. "You broke the protocol, Elena. You bypassed my men. You were smiling at him. You sat there in public and let another man touch you."

"Because he is the only person in this entire city who actually cares about what happens to me right now!" Elena countered, her pride igniting under his heavy, aggressive interrogation. She took a fierce step forward, refusing to back down from his towering height. "You want to know what happened, Xavier? I’ll tell you exactly what happened. Julian found a legitimate lead on where my father has been hiding since the empire collapsed. I was losing my mind with anxiety, and he was comforting me. He was giving me hope. Unlike you, who acts like I am nothing but an unwanted burden in this house!"

Xavier’s chest rose and fell in ragged, heavy breaths, his broad shoulders tensing as her words cut through the room. The icy, hyper-calculating mask he wore to protect his multi-billion-dollar empire was completely cracking, splintering into pieces to reveal a raw, fiercely possessive beast under He didn't look like a businessman anymore; he looked like a predator whose territory had just been threatened.

"You look at him like he’s your saviour," Xavier muttered, his voice dropping into a dangerously quiet register that sent a shiver down her spine. He took another step, closing the remaining distance between them until he was looming directly over her, his dark eyes fixed entirely on her trembling lips. "Do you love him, Elena? Is that why you went behind my back? Is that what this is?"

Elena stared up at him, her breath catching completely in her throat. For six months, she had craved even a single glance of acknowledgement from this man. She loved Xavier—fiercely, desperately, and with a quiet passion that had nearly consumed her during those lonely nights in her separate room. Seeing him this completely undone, his perfect composure utterly destroyed by the mere thought of another man touching her hand shifted something fundamental inside her. It wasn't just anger in his eyes; it was a deep, unhinged jealousy that he couldn't control.

"I don't love him," she whispered, her voice dropping into a breathless, intense declaration that locked his gaze onto hers like a vice. "But at least Julian doesn't treat me like a cold business transaction on a piece of paper."

Xavier let out a harsh, bitter laugh, the sound dripping with dark frustration. He ripped his eyes away from hers, turning sharply on his heel. "We're done talking about this tonight. Go back to your bed, Elena, before I lose my mind and say something I will regret tomorrow morning."

He began to walk toward the double doors, his back broad and rigid, his massive hands clenched into tight fists at his sides. He was going to do it again. He was going to walk away, lock himself behind his invisible walls, and ignore her existence for another six months to protect his precious contract rules.

Elena’s body moved before her mind could even process the impulse. She refused to let him retreat into the dark.

With a sudden surge of adrenaline, she rushed across the plush rug. Before Xavier could reach the door, she threw her arms out, her small hands catching the crisp fabric of his white button-down shirt. With every ounce of strength she possessed, she yanked him back.

Xavier spun around in absolute shock, his dark eyes widening as her sudden, fierce movement broke his momentum. But before he could utter a single command or reassert his dominant authority, Elena leaped forward, throwing her arms tightly around his neck and pulling her soft body completely against his hard, unyielding frame in a desperate, breathless hug.

The moment her front pressed against the massive expanse of his muscular chest, Xavier froze entirely, his arms locking rigidly at his sides as the rules of their contract went up in flames.