Chapter 2 The Deal I Couldn't Refuse
1506 Words
Kiara's Pov
The car was too quiet. The kind of quiet that makes you hear your own breathing and then you start thinking about everything all at once and it just gets worse.
I sat stiffly in the back seat, my hands folded on my lap, trying not to look at him.
Ethan Blackwood.
The man who just walked into my worst moment ever and somehow made it even more confusing.
I stared out the window as the city lights passed by in long, blurry lines.
Everything felt unreal.
Like I was inside a movie.
Or maybe a nightmare.
I still couldn’t believe what had just happened.
The way everyone stared.
The way my heart broke.
And then… Ethan.
“I claim her.”
My cheeks burned just thinking about it.
What did that even mean?
I glanced at him quickly, then looked away again.
He hadn’t said a single word since we got into the car. He just sat there, calm and quiet, like nothing dramatic had just happened.
How was he so normal?
I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Why did you say that?” I blurted out.
My voice sounded louder than I expected in the quiet car.
Ethan didn’t look at me immediately.
For a second, I thought he would ignore me.
Then he turned his head slightly.
“Say what?”
I frowned.
“You know what,” I said. “Back there. In front of everyone.”
He held my gaze this time.
“You needed help.”
That was it?
“That’s your reason?” I asked.
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
“That’s not a real answer.”
Surprisingly he didn’t look annoyed or angry. He just looked calm.
“It’s the only answer you need right now.”
I huffed and crossed my arms.
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Not everything has to make sense immediately,” he said.
That made me even more annoyed.
“Of course it does!”
“No,” he said simply. “You just want it to.”
I opened my mouth to argue again, but then I stopped.
Because somehow he was right and I didn’t like that.
I looked away again, pressing my lips together.
The car kept moving. The silence came back. But this time, it felt heavier.
After a few minutes, I spoke again, more quietly.
“Where are we going?”
“To my place.”
My head snapped toward him.
“What?!”
He didn’t react to my shock.
“Relax. I’m not k********g you.”
“That’s exactly what this feels like!”
“It isn’t,” he said calmly. “You can leave whenever you want.”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Then take me home.”
He paused.
Then he said something that made my stomach twist.
“Which home?”
My chest tightened. The place I used to feel safe. The place that now felt different. Daniel knew where I lived and Chloe had been there so many times. Everything suddenly felt contaminated. Like I didn’t belong there anymore.
I looked down at my hands.
“I…” My voice came out small. “I don’t want to go there.”
Ethan didn’t say “I told you so.”
He didn’t smile.
He just nodded once.
“Then we’ll go somewhere else.”
The car slowed down and turned into a long driveway surrounded by tall gates.
The gates opened automatically.
My eyes widened.
This place was huge. Like unbelievably huge.
The car stopped in front of a massive house no, not a house.
A mansion.
The lights glowed softly, making it look almost magical.
I stared at it with my mouth slightly open.
“You live here?” I asked.
“Yes.”
Of course he did.
We stepped out of the car, and I felt even smaller standing in front of it.
Everything about Ethan’s world felt big. Inside, it was even more overwhelming.
The floors were shiny, the ceilings were high, and everything looked expensive.
I was afraid to touch anything.
“What am I doing here?” I asked quietly.
Ethan turned to face me.
Now he looked serious.
More serious than before.
“We need to talk.”
My heart started beating faster again.
That didn’t sound good.
He led me into a large room with a couch and gestured for me to sit.
I sat slowly, holding onto my dress.
He didn’t sit immediately.
He stood in front of me, watching me like he was trying to figure something out.
Then he finally spoke.
“What happened tonight,” he said, “is going to spread everywhere by morning.”
I swallowed.
I knew that already.
People loved gossip.
Especially about things like this.
“You’ll be humiliated,” he continued. “Talked about. Pitied.”
Each word felt like a tiny stab.
I looked down.
“I already was.”
“Yes,” he said. “But it can get worse.”
I didn’t respond.
Because I knew he was right.
“There’s only one way to stop it,” he added.
I looked up at him slowly.
“What way?”
He held my gaze.
“Make them believe you chose something better.”
I blinked.
“I don’t understand.”
He walked closer.
Then he said it.
“Marry me.”
My brain stopped working.
For a few seconds, I just stared at him.
Waiting for him to laugh.
Or say he was joking.
But he didn’t.
“You’re joking,” I said.
“I don’t joke about things like this.”
My heart started racing.
“You don’t even know me!”
“I know enough.”
“That doesn’t make sense!”
“It doesn’t have to,” he said again.
I stood up quickly.
“This is crazy!”
“Yes,” he agreed calmly. “It is.”
I blinked.
Wait what?
“You’re agreeing with me?”
“Yes.”
I stared at him, confused.
“Then why are you suggesting it?!”
“Because it works.”
I ran my hands through my hair.
“No, no, no. I can’t just marry a stranger!”
“You wouldn’t be marrying a stranger,” he said.
“You’d be marrying a solution.”
That made me pause.
A solution.
“To what?” I asked.
“To everything you lost tonight.”
My chest tightened again.
Ethan continued, his voice steady.
“You get protection and a ffresh start.”
“And what do you get?” I asked.
He didn’t hesitate.
“A wife.”
I frowned.
“That’s it?”
“No,” he said. “But that’s all you need to know for now.”
I shook my head.
“This doesn’t feel right.”
“It doesn’t have to feel right,” he said. “It just has to make sense.”
I went quiet.
Because again he wasn’t wrong.
And that scared me.
“What if I say no?” I asked softly.
Ethan looked at me for a long moment.
Then he said,
“Then I take you wherever you want to go and everything goes back to the way it was.”
My stomach dropped.
I looked down at my hands again. They were shaking.
I hated this.
I hated that I even had to think about it. But I did. Because the truth was I had nothing left to go back to.
Slowly, I looked up at him.
“What kind of marriage would this be?”
His expression didn’t change.
“A contract.”
Of course.
“There will be rules,” he added.
“And when it ends?” I asked.
“It ends.”
Just like him.
I took a deep breath.
My heart was pounding so loud I could hear it.
This was insane.
But so was everything that happened tonight.
I met his eyes.
And for the first time, I didn’t look away.
“Okay,” I said quietly.
Ethan’s gaze sharpened slightly.
“Okay?” he repeated.
I nodded slowly.
“Okay i’ll do it.”
The words felt heavy as they left my mouth.
Everything was changing again.
Ethan studied me for a second.
Then he gave a small nod.
“Good.”
Good?
That was all he said?
Before I could react, he added,
“We start tomorrow.”
Tomorrow?!
My eyes widened.
“That fast?!”
“Yes.”
I stared at him, my heart racing all over again.
“What did I just agree to?”
Ethan turned slightly, already walking away.
“Something you won’t regret.”
I wasn’t so sure about that. But it was too late now. Because somehow I had just agreed to marry the most powerful man in the city. And I had no idea what I had just gotten myself into. Or why it felt like my life was only about to get more complicated.
- Writer
