Chapter 2
518 Words
The car ride home was painfully quiet.
Selene watched the Ravenson gates disappear behind them, her hands folded neatly in her lao. She could still feel Damien's cool gray eyes lingering in her memory -- assessing, weighing, dismissing.
A man carved from restraint and steel.
Across from her, Mari checked her reflection for the tenth time, fluffing her honey-blonde curls with a satisfed sigh. The green of her eyes still sparkled with triumph.
"Well," Mari said finally, "that went beautifully."
"For you," Selene replied softly.
Mari didn't bother hiding her smirk. "Of course. Ethan's exactly the type of man i deserve -- kind, charming, handsome. And Damien... well... good luck turning him into husband material."
Selene suppressed the urge to sigh. Mari always spoke like that -- half-joking, half-cruel, wholly self-serving.
"I'll manage," Selene said, keeping her voice even.
"You'll try," Mari corrected with a bright smile.
Selene turned to the window again, letting her sister's word wash over her without response. Dignity wasn't something you put on -- it was something you didn't let others take from you.
Even if that "other" happened to be your own sister.
The hart home felt smaller than usual when they returned.
Her mother, Aria, hurried into the foyer, smoothing her hair and straightening her blouse even though there was no one to impress. Her father, Thomas, stood behind her, leaning slightly on the worn banister, quiet as always.
"Well?" Aria asked breathlessly. "Which brother did you each choose?"
Mari stepped forward with a gleam of pride. "I chose Ethan. Obviously."
Aria clapped her hands together. "Oh, wonderful! He seemed so gentle, so refined."
Then her gaze slid to Selene.
"And you?"
Selene lifted her chin. "Damien."
Silence. Aria's smile faltered. Thomas blinked.
"Oh," her mother said, the word stretched thin. "He's... intimidating."
"He's a CEO," Thomas murmured, rubbing the back of his neck. "An intense one."
Mari snorted. "Intense is a nice word for it. He barely looked at Selene. At least Ethan was polite."
Selene ignored that. Her mother, however, didn't.
"Well... Selene can handle it," Aria said too quickly. "She's... adaptable."
Selene caught what she meant between the lines.
Selene makes herself small when she has to.
She silently moved past them.
That night, Selene lay away in the soft glow of her bedroom lamp, replaying the day in her mind.
Damien's cold expression. His crisp black suit hugging his sharp frame like armor. The way he stood a step behind his family but somehow commanded more presence than all of them combined.
He looked at her just long enough to pass judgement. Not beautiful enough. Not bold enough. Not impressive enough.
He hadn't said those words aloud.
He didn't need to.
Selene turned onto her side, pulling the blanket around her shoulders. For a moment, she let herself feel small, overwhelmed, unprepared.
Then she exhaled slowly.
She would enter that marriage with grace. She would win the family's respect. She would prove -- through action, not noise -- that she belonged.
And one day... Damien Ravenson would see her.
Not as an obligation.
But as his equal.
- Writer
