Chapter 3: The Invitation
686 Words
Chapter 3: The Invitation
The iron gates of Blackridge Manor swung open without a sound.
Ivy tightened her grip on the black receipt as she walked through them. Every instinct screamed at her to turn around, but she had already lost everything. If the man behind these walls had truly bought her yesterday, then he also held the answers to the mystery that had stolen her life.
The mansion looked less like a home and more like a fortress. Marble statues lined the driveway, while dark roses bloomed beneath towering oak trees. Security cameras followed her every step.
A tall man in a black suit opened the front door before she could knock.
"Miss Ivy Dawson," he said calmly. "Mr. Blackwood has been expecting you."
Her heart skipped.
"I never told anyone I was coming."
"You didn't need to."
The butler stepped aside.
"Please follow me."
Ivy entered a grand hall illuminated by crystal chandeliers. Priceless paintings covered the walls, yet something about the house felt cold—like every smile had been replaced by silence years ago.
She was led into a vast library where a man stood with his back to her, staring through floor-to-ceiling windows.
He wore a perfectly tailored charcoal suit. His broad shoulders radiated quiet authority.
Without turning around, he spoke.
"You came sooner than I expected."
His voice was deep, calm, and dangerously confident.
"So you're Adrian Blackwood?"
He finally turned.
For a moment, Ivy forgot how to breathe.
He was devastatingly handsome, with piercing gray eyes that seemed capable of reading every secret she had ever buried. Yet behind those eyes was something darker—a loneliness that wealth could never erase.
"You've been looking for me," Adrian said.
"I've been looking for answers."
He studied her silently before nodding.
"Fair enough."
Ivy held up the receipt.
"This says someone bought my yesterday."
"I know."
"My landlord doesn't know me. My workplace erased me. My best friend thinks we've never met."
"I know."
She stepped closer, anger replacing fear.
"Then fix it."
"I can't."
Her eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean you can't?"
"Because I didn't erase your past."
"You bought it!"
"I bought what remained of it."
His answer only confused her further.
Before she could demand another explanation, Adrian opened a hidden drawer inside an antique desk and placed an old photograph on the table.
Ivy froze.
It was a picture of her.
She couldn't remember ever taking it.
A little girl, no older than eight, stood beside another child whose face had been carefully burned away. Behind them was a magnificent estate that looked strangely familiar.
On the back of the photograph were four handwritten words.
She must never remember.
Ivy's hands trembled.
"What is this?"
"A warning."
"From who?"
Adrian hesitated.
"For now... that's the wrong question."
She slammed her hand against the desk.
"I'm tired of riddles!"
"So am I."
For the first time, the billionaire's calm mask cracked.
"I've spent fifteen years trying to find the truth about what happened to you."
"You knew me?"
"No."
"Then why do you care?"
His silence answered before his words did.
"Because the same people who destroyed your past also destroyed my family."
The room became painfully quiet.
"Our lives became connected long before we ever met."
Before Ivy could respond, every light inside the mansion suddenly went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
A loud alarm echoed through the house.
The butler rushed inside.
"Sir!"
Adrian was already reaching for a locked drawer.
"They found us."
"Who?"
Instead of answering, Adrian pulled out a sleek black handgun and slipped it into his jacket.
"You have exactly sixty seconds to decide whether you trust me."
Outside, tires screeched.
Several black SUVs burst through the front gates.
Armed men poured out, surrounding Blackridge Manor.
Adrian grabbed Ivy's wrist.
"If they take you..." he said quietly, "you'll lose far more than yesterday."
The library windows exploded inward.
Glass rained across the floor.
A masked man stepped through the smoke, pointing a rifle straight at Ivy.
"There she is," he said.
"Bring her back."
End of chapter 3.
By Jasmine
- Writer
