my lovely servant

--- *EPISODE 1: SOLD TO THE DEVIL* --- The man behind the desk didn’t look up when I entered. He didn’t need to. Damian Blackthorne knew exactly what I looked like: desperate. The marble floors of Blackthorne Tower were colder than his reputation. My heels clicked, too loud, echoing through an office bigger than my entire apartment. Floor-to-ceiling windows showed Port Harcourt like a toy city beneath us. He owned half of it. And in ten minutes, he’d own me too. “Ms. Eze.” His voice cut through the silence. No ‘please sit’. No ‘hello’. Just my name, like a sentence. I clutched my bag tighter. “Mr. Blackthorne.” Now he looked up. God help me. Photos didn’t do him justice. Midnight-black hair, sharp jaw, suit that probably cost more than my father’s life savings. But it was his eyes — cold, gray, and empty of anything human — that made my throat close. This was the man Forbes called “The Devil of Wall Street Africa.” The man who bought companies for fun and crushed CEOs before breakfast. And I was here to sell myself to him. “Your father’s debt.” He slid a folder across the glass desk. Didn’t touch it. Like I was contaminated. “Three hundred million naira. Due last Friday.” My stomach dropped. “I know. I—” “You have nothing.” It wasn’t a question. He already knew. He’d investigated me, my family, my empty bank account. “But you have one thing I need.” My blood went cold. I’d heard rumors about what men like him _needed_ from women. He opened another folder. A contract. Thick. “A wife.” I blinked. “...What?” “One year. Contract marriage. You play the devoted Mrs. Blackthorne at galas, board meetings, and to the press. In return, your father’s debt disappears. Your mother gets the surgery. You walk away with ten million naira when we divorce.” Ten million. My mother’s heart surgery. My father’s freedom. The price was me. “Why me?” My voice cracked. “You could have any woman—” “I need someone desperate enough to obey rules, Ms. Eze. Not someone who’ll fall in love with me.” His lip curled. Like love was a disease. “Someone whose family will be destroyed if she disobeys. That’s you.” He stood. Six-foot-four of tailored power and menace. He walked around the desk until he was inches away. His cologne hit me — cedar, smoke, and something darker. Danger. “Rule #1: We are never husband and wife. This is business.” His finger tilted my chin up, forcing me to meet those arctic eyes. “Rule #2: You do not touch me. You do not speak to me unless spoken to. You do not exist unless I require you.” I should’ve slapped him. I should’ve run. Instead, I whispered, “And Rule #3?” His thumb brushed my bottom lip, just once. Possessive. Claiming. “Rule #3: On paper, you’re mine, Aria. Break that, and I will ruin everyone you’ve ever loved.” My name in his mouth sounded like a threat. He dropped his hand and went back to his desk like I wasn’t shaking. “Sign. Or watch your father go to prison tomorrow.” The gold pen glinted. My father’s terrified face flashed in my mind. My mother’s hospital bed. I was twenty-four. I’d never been kissed. And I was about to marry a monster. My hand trembled as I picked up the pen. “What if I say no?” Damian Blackthorne smiled for the first time. It wasn’t kind. “Then you’ll find out why they call me the Devil.” The pen touched paper. That’s when the office doors slammed open. “LIKE HELL SHE’S SIGNING THAT!” A woman stormed in — red dress, red lips, fury in her eyes. She looked like she owned the world. Maybe she used to. Damian didn’t even flinch. “Vanessa. You’re late.” Vanessa? _The_ Vanessa Okoro? Billionaire heiress. Damian’s ex-fiancée. The woman tabloids said he’d marry. Her glare could melt steel. Then she looked at me. Really looked at me. And her expression shifted to something worse than hate. Pity. “Honey,” she said to me, voice dripping fake sympathy. “You have no idea what you’re signing. He doesn’t want a wife. He wants a _shield_.” Damian’s jaw ticked. First emotion I’d seen. “Leave. Now.” Vanessa stepped closer to me, ignoring him. “He’s being hunted, sweetheart. There’s a clause in that contract he didn’t mention. Clause 9B. If he dies in the next year, you inherit _everything_. Blackthorne Industries. Billions.” My hand froze over the signature line. “He’s making you a target,” Vanessa hissed. “Someone wants him dead. And now they’ll want _you_ dead too, to get to his empire.” Damian was suddenly between us, a wall of fury. “Enough.” Vanessa just smiled. “She deserves to know why the Devil needs a wife so badly. Tell her, Damian. Tell her about the—” “Security.” His voice could freeze hell. Two guards appeared instantly. “Remove her.” As they dragged Vanessa out, she screamed one last thing at me: “ASK HIM WHY HIS LAST FIANCÉE IS IN A COMA, ARIA!” The doors shut. Silence crashed back down. Damian adjusted his cufflinks. Calm. Like nothing happened. “Sign.” I stared at the contract. At Clause 9B. At the word _inherit_. At the man who might have put his last fiancée in a coma. My mother needed surgery in 3 days. My father would be arrested tomorrow. And the Devil was waiting. I met his gray eyes. “If I do this... if I’m your shield... you protect my family first. Not after. _First._” Something flickered in his gaze. Surprise? Respect? Gone in a second. “Deal.” I signed. Aria Eze. He picked up the contract, eyes scanning my signature like he’d just bought a company. “We wed Friday. You’ll move in tonight.” Tonight. He pressed a button on his desk. “Simmons will take you home to pack. One bag. You won’t need your old life again.” I turned to leave, legs numb. “Aria.” His voice stopped me at the door. I looked back. He was already reading again, like I wasn’t there. Like I hadn’t just sold my soul. “Rule #4,” he said without looking up. “Don’t fall in love with me. I’ll make you regret it.” The door closed behind me. And I finally let myself breathe. One year. I could survive one year with the Devil. Right? --- *A/N: CHAPTER 2 DROPS AT 100 VOTES!! 😭* *Damian just made Aria his shield... but who wants him DEAD?! And what happened to his last fiancée?!* *We’re at 0/100 votes. Damian says he’ll only explain Rule #4 if you vote! Make him talk 💚* *Vote + Comment "TEAM ARIA" if you want her to outsmart the Devil!