Chapter One: The Man She Chose(Part One)
904 Words
The first lie Elena Hart ever believed was that love could fix fear.
She was eight years old when her grandmother placed an old parchment into her tiny hands beneath the shade of a sprawling oak tree in Savannah, Georgia.
The paper smelled of age and cedarwood, its edges worn from generations of careful handling. Two crimson wax seals sat proudly at the bottom, each stamped with a different family crest.
One belonged to the Harts.
The other...
To a family Elena had never heard of.
"Drakos."
She stumbled over the strange name, her childish voice struggling with the foreign syllables.
Her grandmother smiled, though there was a sadness in her eyes that Elena was too young to understand.
"One day," she had said, smoothing a strand of hair away from Elena's face, "a man from the Drakos family will come for you."
Elena frowned.
"Why?"
"Because before you were born, your grandfather and his oldest friend made each other a promise."
"What kind of promise?"
"The kind that lasts longer than a lifetime."
Eight-year-old Elena didn't understand.
She only knew one thing.
She didn't like promises made without asking the people who had to keep them.
"I don't want to marry a stranger," she'd declared, hugging her knees.
Her grandmother laughed softly.
"You have many years before you have to worry about that."
"But what if he's ugly?"
That earned a genuine laugh.
"Oh, sweetheart..."
"I doubt that will be the problem."
Years passed.
The parchment was folded carefully and hidden inside a carved wooden jewelry box her grandmother gave her before she died.
But the name remained.
Drakos.
It appeared in newspapers.
Business magazines.
Television interviews.
Financial reports.
As Elena grew older, so did the legend surrounding the family she'd been promised to.
"The Drakos Empire acquires another international shipping company."
"Greek billionaire Nikos Drakos becomes the youngest CEO in company history."
"The Ice King closes billion-dollar deal."
"Ruthless. Brilliant. Untouchable."
Every headline painted the same picture.
A man who smiled only when someone else lost.
A billionaire whose negotiations ended in tears.
A businessman who never forgave betrayal.
By the time Elena turned twenty-one, the internet had already given him countless nicknames.
The Greek Devil.
The King of the Aegean.
The Billion-Dollar Tyrant.
She had never met him.
Never spoken to him.
Never exchanged so much as a letter.
Yet somehow...
He haunted her imagination.
At night, she'd imagine a cold-faced stranger arriving one day to claim a promise she had never made.
The thought terrified her.
Then Adrian Moretti walked into her life.
It happened on a rainy Thursday.
Elena had been balancing two cups of coffee, a laptop bag, and a folder full of interior design sketches when someone rounded the corner too quickly.
The collision was inevitable.
Coffee splashed across the polished marble floor.
The folder burst open.
Dozens of sketches scattered like oversized snowflakes through the hotel lobby.
"Oh my God!"
Elena dropped to her knees.
"I'm so sorry."
Another pair of hands reached for the papers.
"You should apologize to the coffee," a warm voice teased.
"It had dreams."
She looked up.
For a second...
The world seemed to pause.
He was ridiculously handsome.
Dark hair.
Hazel eyes.
A perfectly tailored navy suit.
The kind of smile that instantly put people at ease.
"I'm Adrian."
He offered her the least stained sketch.
She took it, laughing despite herself.
"Elena."
"Nice to meet you, Elena."
"It would've been nicer if I hadn't baptized your shoes with coffee."
He glanced down.
"They've survived worse."
"You don't even know these shoes."
"I don't."
"But they look resilient."
She laughed again.
He smiled.
And just like that...
Something shifted.
Three years later...
She still remembered that smile.
She still believed it had saved her.
The penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park glowed beneath the golden light of the setting sun.
Elena stood barefoot in the living room, carefully wrapping a small velvet box in silver ribbon.
Inside rested a vintage Swiss wristwatch.
Not because Adrian collected watches.
Because six months ago, while walking past a boutique on Fifth Avenue, he had stopped for barely three seconds.
He'd looked through the glass window and murmured almost absentmindedly,
"That's beautiful."
Then he'd walked away.
He never mentioned it again.
Elena never forgot.
For six months she quietly accepted freelance design work after her full-time job.
She skipped lunches.
Took the subway instead of Ubers.
Turned down shopping trips with Sophia.
Even sold a pair of diamond earrings her mother had left her.
All to buy one watch.
Not because Adrian asked.
Because loving him made paying attention feel effortless.
She tied the ribbon into a neat bow.
Perfect.
Just like tonight was supposed to be.
Their third anniversary.
A private dinner.
No investors.
No board meetings.
No family obligations.
Just the two of them.
For once.
Her phone buzzed on the marble kitchen island.
A message from Adrian.
"Running late. Don't wait for me. Big client meeting. I'll make it up to you. ❤️"
Elena stared at the screen.
A tiny knot formed in her stomach.
Then, almost automatically...
She smiled.
"It's okay," she whispered to herself.
"He's working."
He always worked hard.
That was one of the reasons she admired him.
She reached for the gift anyway.
Maybe they'd celebrate tomorrow.
Or the day after.
Love wasn't about perfect timing.
It was about understanding.
At least...
That's what she'd always believed.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD