Chapter 1
1114 Words
Chapter 1
“You have seventy-two hours before your company collapses.”
Gabriel Stuart’s cold voice cut through the luxurious office like a blade.
Gerald Nelson sat stiffly across from him, his palms damp against the leather armrest. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city glittered beneath the afternoon sun, but inside the office, the air felt suffocating.
For the first time in twenty years, Gerald Nelson looked defeated.“Please,” he said quietly. “There has to be another solution.”
Gabriel finally lifted his gaze from the documents on his desk.
“There is.”
He pushed a file forward.
“Your daughter marries my grandson.”
Gerald froze,the words echoed heavily inside the silent office.
Gabriel leaned back in his chair, calm and unreadable.
“The cooperation agreement will be signed immediately after the engagement is confirmed.”
Gerald stared at the contract, his chest tightening.
Everyone in the business world knew Andrew Stuart.
He was cold,ruthless,untouchable.
And now his daughter was being dragged into that world,but what choice did he have?
Nella Corporation was drowning.
If the deal failed, thousands of employees would lose their jobs,his life’s work would disappear.
Slowly, Gerald closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
---
Ella stepped into the dining room while fastening the buttons of her blazer.
“Morning, Dad.”
Gerald looked up from his untouched coffee.His smile came too slowly,that alone made her pause.
“You’re leaving early again?” he asked.
Ella narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
“You’ve asked me that three times this week.”
A faint smile touched Gerald’s lips.
“At least I get to see you before the company steals you away.”She laughed softly and walked over to hug him.
At twenty, Ella already carried herself with quiet elegance. She had graduated with a degree in accounting two months earlier and insisted on working at Nella Corporation instead of hiding behind her title as heiress.
She wanted to earn her place.
“I’ll be back before dinner,” she said.
Gerald nodded, though guilt twisted painfully in his chest.Ella noticed it immediately.
“Dad?”
“It’s nothing.”
But it clearly wasn’t.Still, she didn’t push further.
“Don’t overwork yourself,” she said before grabbing her bag.
Outside, the morning air was crisp as Ella drove toward Nella Corporation.
The towering building reflected sunlight across the busy streets of Mayfair. Employees greeted her respectfully the moment she entered the lobby.
But Ella barely noticed.
Her father’s expression lingered in her mind,something was wrong.Very wrong.
---
By noon, Ella had completely lost focus.Numbers blurred across her computer screen,her father still hadn’t left his office all morning.
Then her phone buzzed. It was her father
“Come to my office”, he said
Her stomach tightened instantly.
Ella stood, smoothing invisible wrinkles from her skirt before heading upstairs,the moment she opened the office door, she stopped abruptly.
A man sat on the sofa beside her father.
He was tall,broad shoulders,black suit,sharp jawline.
But it wasn’t his appearance that unsettled her.
It was his presence.
The entire room felt colder around him.
His gray eyes lifted toward hers slowly, calmly, as though he already knew exactly who she was.
Then suddenly realization hit her,she knew who he was
Andrew Stuart.
Her pulse stumbled.The infamous heir of Stuart Corporation,the man every business magazine described as ruthless.
Her father cleared his throat.
“Sit down, Ella.”
She obeyed silently,something about the atmosphere made her uneasy.Andrew leaned back slightly, his expression unreadable.
“I told them this marriage is unnecessary,” he said calmly.
Marriage?
Ella’s head snapped toward her father.
“What?”
Gerald looked away,the fear in his eyes terrified her more than the announcement itself.
“Our company is collapsing,” he admitted quietly.The words hit her harder than expected.
Ella stared at him.
“No…”
“We need the Stuart cooperation deal to survive.”
Her chest tightened.
“And the condition?” she whispered,Gerald’s voice broke.
“Your marriage to Andrew.”Silence swallowed the room,Ella laughed softly in disbelief.
Then she laughed again a bitter laugh,
“So that’s it?”
Her eyes burned,“You built this company for twenty years and now I’m the payment?”
“Ella—”
“No!”
She stood abruptly,“You can’t ask me to marry someone I don’t even know!”
Andrew remained silent throughout the outburst, watching her carefully,not mocking,not angry,just expressionless and observing.
“Everyone talks about him like he’s some kind of monster,” Ella continued, tears gathering in her eyes. “And you want me to spend the rest of my life with him?”
Gerald’s shoulders slumped,for the first time in her life, her father looked small.
“Please,” he whispered.
Ella froze.
Her father never begged.Never.
The desperation in his voice shattered something inside her,Andrew suddenly stood.
“This conversation is pointless right now,” he said coldly,his gaze shifted toward Gerald.
“Forcing her won’t change anything.”Then his eyes met Ella’s briefly,there was something unreadable inside them.
“Neither of us wants this marriage.”
With that, he walked out.
The office felt strangely empty after he left,Ella slowly sat back down,tears rolled down her cheeks silently,Gerald covered his face with trembling hands.
“If this deal fails…”
His voice cracked.
“We lose everything.”
Ella looked at the man who had sacrificed his entire life building the company,the man who raised her alone after her mom divorced him and left with her 8 months old sister,she was just 3 years when they divorced.
The man who had never once asked her for anything.
Her throat tightened painfully.
“Will this really save the company?” she asked.
Gerald nodded.
Ella stared at the floor for a long moment,then she whispered the words that would change her life forever.
“Okay.”
Her father looked up immediately.
“I’ll do it.”
The moment the words left her mouth, her heart shattered quietly inside her chest.
---
Outside the building, Andrew stood beside his car,Joe, his assistant, opened the back door carefully.
“Young master?”
Andrew loosened his tie slightly.
For some reason, Ella’s tear-filled eyes refused to leave his mind,“She looked terrified,” Joe said carefully.
Andrew’s expression darkened,“She should be.”
Yet even as he said it, something about the situation felt wrong,this was supposed to be a business arrangement.
Nothing more,so why did the image of her trembling hands bother him so much??,he got into the car silently.
For the first time in years, Andrew Stuart felt uncertain.
And he hated it.
- Writer
