Bound By Contract, Claimed By Fate

CROSSED LINES

ADRIAN

I hadn’t planned for Bianca’s message to arrive right when Katherine was softening. Her guard was lowering, her voice unsure, her eyes searching mine like she wanted to believe me — to trust me. Then my phone buzzed. Her name flashed across the screen, and everything I’d built crumbled in a single heartbeat.

Now, as I parked outside the quiet café on the east side of the city, I couldn’t stop thinking about Katherine’s face — the way her expression had shuttered, the disappointment flickering in her eyes before she turned away.

Bianca was already there, waiting. She sat at the corner table, sunglasses perched on her head, a glass of wine half full in front of her. When I walked in, her red lips curved into that familiar smirk — the one that always meant trouble.

“So,” she started, swirling her drink lazily. “How did it go with Katherine?”

I sighed, sliding into the seat opposite her. “It was going fine… until your text came in.”

Her smirk faltered slightly. “My text?”

I nodded. “She saw it. And now she thinks I’m still seeing you — that I’m playing her while pretending to care.”

Bianca leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table, her eyes narrowing. “And are you not?”

“What?”

“Still seeing me.” Her tone sharpened. “Because the last time we spoke, you made it sound like this was all part of our plan — you get close to her, make her trust you, and then destroy her from the inside. That was the deal.”

Her words cut through the air like a blade.

I looked away, jaw tightening. “It is the plan.”

She laughed — soft, bitter, mocking. “You don’t sound so sure.”

“I said it is, Bianca,” I repeated, forcing the words out. But the conviction wasn’t there. Even I could hear it.

She noticed too. She leaned closer, her perfume — something expensive and venom-sweet — wrapping around me like a warning. “Don’t tell me you’re catching feelings, Adrian.”

“I’m not.”

Her eyes glinted with suspicion. “Because it would be such a shame if you fell for her. You’d lose everything. Your name. Your chance. Me.”

I scoffed, trying to sound unaffected. “You think I care about that?”

“You should.”

Silence stretched between us — thick, tense, dangerous. She studied me for a moment, as if searching for cracks in the armour she’d built around me. And maybe there were cracks now.

Because the truth was… Katherine wasn’t like Bianca. She didn’t play games with her emotions. She didn’t smile only when she wanted something. Katherine had this annoying way of making me feel human again — like I wasn’t just another pawn in the Beaufort war.

But that was the problem. I couldn’t afford to feel.

“You’re thinking about her right now, aren’t you?” Bianca said suddenly.

I didn’t answer. That was enough for her. She laughed again, this time low and cruel. “I knew it. You’re pathetic, Adrian. I give you one simple task — break her — and you’re already wavering.”

“You think it’s easy?” I snapped. “Dominic watches her every move. If I push too hard, he’ll catch on.”

“Then push smarter,” she said coldly. “You wanted this alliance, remember? You wanted to rise. Don’t forget why you started this.”

Her words echoed like poison.

I had my reasons — revenge, power, payback. The Beaufort name was more than a family; it was a battlefield. And Dominic had ruined mine. This was supposed to be my redemption, to make him suffer everything he made me suffer while I take what was rightfully mine.

He was always the golden boy—the one everyone loved, the one who could do no wrong.

And me? I was the shadow in his light. The forgotten one standing at the edges of our father’s empire, watching Dominic bask in the glory that should’ve been mine.

Father never hid his disdain for me. To him, I was the disappointment, the reckless mistake who’d never amount to anything. Every comparison, every look of disappointment, carved deep into me until resentment became my only language.

So I made it my mission. My purpose.

Let him rot in his curse while I rise from it. Let him drown in the empire he was so desperate to protect—because in the end, everything he built will belong to me.

But Katherine… she wasn’t part of the plan.

And that’s the problem.

There’s something about her that unsettles me, something I can’t quite explain. It’s like she’s tethered to him in ways that shouldn’t be possible. I’ve watched her eyes soften when she looks at him, and even when she tries to hate him, I can see the threads of their connection pulling tight.

And deep down, I can’t shake the feeling—

that she’s the key.

That she’s tied to his fate… and maybe even to mine.

But Katherine... she was never supposed to make me feel.

Bianca tilted her head, watching me quietly now. “Tell me the truth,” she said softly, almost curious. “Do you still want this?”

I met her gaze. “Of course I do.”

“Good,” she said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Because I won’t tolerate betrayal. Not from you. Not from anyone.”

Before I could respond, the café door opened. A shadow fell across the table.

I turned.

Damien stood there.

For a heartbeat, the entire world went silent. His expression was unreadable — calm, almost too calm — as his gaze flicked from Bianca to me, then to the untouched wine glass.

My stomach dropped. How much had he heard?

“Damien,” Bianca said quickly, her voice turning syrup-sweet. “We were just—”

But he cut her off with a raised hand. “Save it.” His tone was quiet, but there was something in it — steel, suspicion, a promise of consequences.

He looked at me again, eyes cold and assessing. “I hope, for both your sakes, I didn’t hear what I think I did.”

Then he turned and walked away.

Bianca’s smile vanished. She stared after him, pale. I sat frozen, pulse pounding.

Because for the first time, I realised something terrifying —

If Damien had heard even a fragment of our conversation, everything — the plan, the alliance, my cover — was about to collapse.

And maybe… so was I.