Chapter 5 – Chains of Gold
"I heard you," she continued, her voice quivering with rage.
Elias slowly looked up, not disturbed. His dark, sharp gaze stayed on her without blinking. "And what did you hear, exactly?"
"Don't play coy." She moved forward till the desk was only a few inches away. "You cursed my family." You promised us money.
His lips moved, but they weren't quite a smile. "Did I?"
"Yes." With every phrase, her chest lifted and sank. "So, don't say it. Say you didn't mean it.
Elias put the pen down carefully, with his long fingers moving slowly. "Why would I lie?"
Serena blinked in shock at how honest he was. "You admit it?"
"I don't waste words," he said, his voice steady and his face set in stone. "I meant what I said."
Her hands were clasped at her sides, and the silk gloves were crinkled. "Why are you here then? If all you desire is revenge, why take her up on her offer?
Elias murmured softly, leaning across the desk, "Because sometimes the best way to kill a beast is to walk into its lair."
The air between them got very tense. Serena gulped hard and wouldn't look away.
"You think you can come in here and insult everything about me?" Serena's voice was harsh and her eyes were on fire.
Elias answered quietly, "You think you're your empire." "You're not the same."
Her jaw was fixed. "I take it. I bleed for it. "Don't tell me I'm separate."
Elias said, "Then you're stupid." His voice never became louder, yet it cut like a knife. "A prisoner who thinks her chains are jewels."
Her breath caught, and her anger was mixed with something else. "You don't know me."
He turned his head. "I know enough."
"No," she said sharply, moving closer. "You know how to chatter. You know voices that come from the dark. You don't know anything about the woman in front of you.
Elias's smirk slipped for the first time. He looked at her face quickly, taking in her trembling lips and eyes that showed both defiance and pain.
He whispered softly, "You're lonelier than you let on."
The words cut deeper than any insult.
Serena's eyes grew wide, and her speech was scarcely audible. "You think too much."
"And you hide too much," Elias said softly.
After he spoke, the silence was dense and tense.
Serena put her hand on the glossy desk to steady herself. Her voice broke, and it was gentler now, without armour. "I've never had a choice."
Elias stopped, the sharp answer on his mouth fading. He really looked at her, past the mask and the heiress.
She lowered her lashes. "Everything has been decided for me since my father died. Where I go. People I grin at. "Who I will marry."
She laughed harshly, but her eyes were bright. "And you say I'm spoilt."
Elias's chest felt tight. He fought it, but his eyes softened. He moved closer, and the shadows moved with him. His tall frame made her feel little.
"You wear the crown," he continued in a low voice, "but you've never sat on the throne."
Her eyes sprang up in surprise at how soft his voice was. For a moment, the room felt smaller, and the space between them disappeared.
Elias's hand was close to hers on the desk, but not touching. The air felt like it was burning where they almost touched.
For the first time, his mask broke, and she could see the man behind the steel.
After Serena told the truth, the room got quiet. Elias stood close by, his tall body casting a shadow over her. His hand was only a few inches from hers on the tabletop. Neither of them moved, yet there was a buzz in the air that neither of them could name.
She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She only breathed in short, shallow breaths, as if she was afraid that even her breath would give her away. His eyes—dark and sharp—looked at her with the same intensity that they had looked at her father's picture, but this time there was no hate, only recognition.
"You hide well," Elias said in a low, private voice, as if he were talking to himself.
Serena looked him in the eye and didn't back down. "You play a game with people when you read them." "Am I your next puzzle?"
He leaned a little closer and whispered, "Not a puzzle." "A mirror."
The word made her heart race. She moved back, but the desk's edge held her in place. "You are wrong."
"Am I?" His smirk faded; he was less arrogant and more curious now. "You have chains on you like I do." That's why you're so angry. I make you think of yourself.
Serena's throat got constricted. It was suffocating and unsafe for him to be so close, yet she didn't move away.
"You don't know me," she said, but it didn't sound as strong as she meant it to.
Elias responded, "No," and his eyes quickly moved to her shaking hands. "But I could."
The air between them changed, full with tension, as if the walls were leaning in to hear what they were saying.
Her breath touched his cheek. For a moment, the gap seemed like it would break, and the line between hate and something much worse faded away.
With a swift twisting of the handle, the moment broke. The door opened wide, letting in a lot of light from the hallway.
Serena jumped back, her chest rising and falling. Elias stood up straight, and his face went back to being cold and detached.
Vivienne came in with a strong scent and a smile that looked like a knife. She walked with authority in every step, dressed in green silk. Adrian Cross walked next to her, looking perfect in a navy suit. His golden hair shone beneath the chandelier.
Vivienne said in a beautiful but demanding manner, "Serena, I thought it was time you were properly introduced."
Adrian's eyes were fixed on Serena for too long and too intently. His lips slowly, deliberately turned into a smile that made her tummy flip.
Elias's jaw got tight, but he didn't say anything. His hand went back into his pocket, hiding the storm behind his eyes.
Vivienne's eyes moved back and forth between them, happy that she had come at just the perfect time. "Serena," she began, her voice cutting through the room, "meet your future husband, Adrian Cross."
Serena's blood froze.
