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1772 Words
“Marry me.”
The words echoed through the penthouse like a shockwave.
Elena stared at Adrian Knight as if she had heard him wrong.
Outside, rain continued crashing against the massive glass windows overlooking the city, but inside the room, everything felt terrifyingly still.
“You’re insane,” she whispered finally.
Adrian’s expression didn’t change.
“Probably.”
Elena let out a breathless laugh of disbelief before stepping away from him.
“No,” she said quickly. “No, absolutely not.”
She ran a trembling hand through her hair, trying to process what was happening.
Hours ago, she had been publicly humiliated by her fiancé.
Now Adrian Knight—her family’s enemy—was asking her to marry him.
Nothing about tonight felt real anymore.
“This isn’t funny,” she said.
“I’m not joking.”
His calm response only made her more nervous.
Elena stared at him carefully.
Adrian didn’t look impulsive.
If anything, he looked dangerously serious.
“Why would you even suggest something like that?” she demanded.
Adrian loosened the cuffs of his shirt slowly before answering.
“Because Daniel Whitmore won’t stop.”
Elena frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“He’ll apologize. Beg. Manipulate.” Adrian’s voice remained cold and controlled. “And the moment public sympathy shifts back toward him, he’ll destroy you quietly.”
Elena crossed her arms tightly over her chest. “You sound very certain.”
“I know men like him.”
Something dark flashed briefly across Adrian’s face before disappearing again.
“He’s already panicking,” Adrian continued. “His investors are nervous. His image is collapsing online. Right now, people pity you.”
Elena looked away bitterly. “Wonderful. I’ve always dreamed of becoming a public scandal.”
Adrian ignored the sarcasm.
“But sympathy doesn’t last forever,” he said calmly. “Soon the media will start creating stories. They’ll call you emotional. Unstable. Desperate enough to stay with a cheating man.”
Elena’s stomach tightened painfully because deep down—
She knew he was right.
The internet loved destroying women.
Especially vulnerable ones.
“So your solution is marriage?” she asked sharply. “To you?”
Adrian stepped closer again.
“Think about it carefully, Elena.”
His grey eyes locked onto hers.
“The city watches power.”
She hated how calm he sounded.
Hated how logical his words felt.
“If you leave that ballroom alone, people see a woman abandoned by her fiancé,” Adrian continued quietly. “But if you walk away with me…”
He paused deliberately.
“They see a woman powerful enough to replace him overnight.”
The dangerous brilliance of the idea hit Elena instantly.
Her heartbeat slowed.
This wasn’t romance.
This was strategy.
“You’ve thought about this already,” she realized softly.
Adrian didn’t deny it.
That should have frightened her more than it did.
“You planned this?”
“No,” he answered calmly. “But the opportunity presented itself.”
Elena stared at him in disbelief.
“You talk about marriage like it’s a business deal.”
“For people like us,” Adrian replied coldly, “it usually is.”
The honesty in his voice unsettled her.
For several long seconds, silence filled the penthouse again.
Rain hammered violently against the windows while the city lights glowed beneath them.
Elena looked down at the engagement ring still sitting on her finger.
Pain twisted through her chest instantly.
Slowly, she pulled it off.
The diamond sparkled mockingly in her palm.
Two years of love reduced to something meaningless.
Adrian watched her silently.
Then, without warning, Elena threw the ring across the room.
It hit the marble floor loudly before disappearing beneath a chair.
Her breathing turned uneven.
“I hate him,” she whispered shakily.
The words surprised even her.
Because despite everything—
Part of her still loved Daniel.
Or maybe she only loved the version of him she thought existed.
Adrian walked toward her slowly.
“Elena.”
Something about the softness in his voice nearly broke her completely.
“I feel humiliated,” she admitted quietly. “Everyone saw it. Everyone watched him destroy me.”
Adrian’s expression darkened instantly.
“He destroyed himself tonight,” he corrected coldly.
For the first time that night, Elena felt protected instead of abandoned.
Before she could respond, her phone suddenly rang again.
Daniel.
The screen lit up repeatedly across the table.
Daniel Calling.
Daniel Calling.
Daniel Calling.
Adrian noticed immediately.
“Answer it,” he said calmly.
Elena looked at him uncertainly. “Why?”
“Because I want to hear what he says.”
Something dangerous moved behind his eyes.
Elena hesitated before finally answering the call.
“Hello?”
“Elena.”
Daniel’s voice sounded panicked.
Relieved.
Desperate.
“Thank God you answered. I’ve been calling for hours.”
Elena swallowed painfully.
Hours ago, hearing his voice would have comforted her.
Now it only made her tired.
“What do you want?”
“I need to explain.”
“There’s nothing left to explain.”
“Yes, there is,” Daniel insisted quickly. “Please listen to me. What happened tonight—it wasn’t supposed to happen like that.”
The sentence made Elena laugh bitterly.
Again.
Not regret for cheating.
Only regret for getting exposed.
Adrian leaned casually against the table nearby, listening silently.
“She means nothing to me,” Daniel continued desperately.
Elena closed her eyes briefly.
A pregnant woman carrying his child meant nothing?
How cruel could someone become?
“You proposed to me while sleeping with another woman,” Elena whispered.
“I made a mistake.”
“No,” she said coldly. “You made choices.”
Silence filled the line briefly.
Then Daniel’s voice lowered carefully.
“Where are you?”
Elena’s grip tightened around the phone.
“That’s none of your business.”
“Elena…” Daniel hesitated. “Are you with Adrian Knight?”
The tension inside the penthouse shifted instantly.
Adrian’s expression remained unreadable.
“Yes,” Elena answered.
A dangerous silence followed.
Then Daniel spoke again, his voice suddenly sharper.
“Stay away from Adrian Knight. You have no idea what kind of man he is.”
A quiet, humorless smile touched Adrian’s lips.
Interesting.
“Elena, listen to me carefully,” Daniel continued urgently. “Adrian Knight does nothing without a reason. If he’s helping you, it’s because he wants something.”
Elena glanced toward Adrian instinctively.
Their eyes met instantly.
Neither looked away.
“What if I want something too?” she asked quietly.
Daniel fell silent.
“You’re angry right now,” he said finally. “I understand that. But don’t make reckless decisions because of me.”
The irony almost made her laugh.
“You lost the right to advise me tonight.”
“Elena—”
“No.”
Her voice hardened for the first time since the call began.
“You embarrassed me in front of the entire city.”
Daniel exhaled shakily. “I never wanted to hurt you.”
“But you did.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Painful silence.
Then Daniel spoke the words that destroyed the last fragile piece of her remaining trust.
“I still love you.”
Elena felt nothing.
No warmth.
No comfort.
Only exhaustion.
Slowly, she looked toward Adrian again.
He stood watching her quietly beneath the soft golden lights of the penthouse.
Strong.
Controlled.
Dangerous.
Everything Daniel suddenly wasn’t.
“Elena?” Daniel whispered desperately.
Her decision came suddenly.
Sharp.
Unexpectedly calm.
“Don’t contact me again.”
Then she ended the call.
The silence afterward felt enormous.
Her heart pounded violently as she lowered the phone slowly.
Adrian watched her carefully.
“Well,” he murmured. “That sounded final.”
Elena laughed weakly before sinking onto the couch.
“I think I’m losing my mind.”
“You’re finally thinking clearly.”
She looked up at him.
“You really believe marrying you would solve this?”
Adrian walked closer again.
Not rushed.
Never rushed.
Everything about him felt controlled.
“It solves several problems,” he answered calmly.
“Elaborate.”
A faint smile touched his lips.
“You become untouchable overnight.”
The confidence in his voice sent strange shivers through her.
“No one attacks what belongs to Adrian Knight.”
The possessiveness in that sentence made her pulse jump unexpectedly.
Adrian noticed.
Of course he noticed.
“And what do you get from this arrangement?” she asked carefully.
For the first time since the conversation started, Adrian became quiet.
His gaze drifted briefly toward the storm outside the windows before returning to her again.
“Daniel Whitmore has been trying to secure a merger with international investors,” he said finally.
Elena frowned slightly.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Everything.”
He stepped closer.
“Your public humiliation tonight weakened him.”
Understanding slowly dawned across her face.
“And marrying me destroys him completely,” she whispered.
Adrian’s silence confirmed it.
The realization should have offended her.
Instead…
It made terrifying sense.
“You really are ruthless,” she murmured.
A small smile appeared on Adrian’s lips.
“I never claimed otherwise.”
Elena studied him carefully.
This man was dangerous.
Smart.
Powerful enough to ruin people effortlessly.
So why did she feel safer standing beside him than she ever had with Daniel?
“Say I agree,” she whispered slowly. “What happens then?”
Adrian’s grey eyes darkened slightly.
“Then the entire city watches you become Mrs. Adrian Knight.”
Her breath caught unexpectedly.
The title sounded dangerous.
Powerful.
Intimate.
And far too tempting.
Adrian stepped closer until he stood directly in front of her again.
“You won’t have to hide from anyone anymore,” he said quietly.
The softness in his voice unsettled her more than his coldness ever could.
“Elena…”
Her heartbeat became uneven.
“You can either spend the next few months letting people pity you,” Adrian murmured.
His gaze dropped briefly toward her lips before lifting again.
“Or you can stand beside me and make them fear you instead.”
The air between them suddenly felt dangerously charged.
Elena could barely breathe beneath the intensity of his gaze.
This was insane.
Completely insane.
And yet…
For the first time since the ballroom—
She no longer felt powerless.
Adrian slowly held his hand out toward her.
“Choose, Elena.”
His eyes darkened.
“Your heartbreak…”
A dangerous pause followed.
“Or me.”
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