No Way Out
273 Words
CHAPTER 2
Amara didn’t remember agreeing.
One moment she stood in the storm outside the Blackwood mansion. The next, she was inside his car.
The door shut with a heavy click.
Final.
Rain blurred the world outside. The mansion faded, then the gates, then everything she knew.
Adrian Blackwood sat beside her.
Silent.
Unshaken.
Amara gripped her coat. “You can’t be serious.”
“I just did.”
“I’m not agreeing to this.”
“Agreement isn’t required.”
Her breath tightened. “You can’t force me.”
“I know,” he said calmly.
She reached for the door.
“Locked,” he said.
Panic rose. “Open it.”
“No.”
“You’re k********g me.”
“I know enough.”
“That I worked for you?” she snapped.
“You’re inside my space.”
“I’m not yours.”
“You are now.”
Her chest tightened.
“If this is about what I saw, I’ll stay quiet.”
“It’s not.”
“Then what?”
“Your father owes a debt.”
“No.”
“He signed it.”
He placed a folder on her lap.
Amara opened it.
Her father’s signature stared back.
Her breath broke.
“What does this have to do with me?”
“Everything.”
“You become my wife,” he said, “and it’s gone.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Everything is lost. Including you.”
Silence.
“I have conditions,” she whispered.
“You don’t.”
The car stopped.
“Home,” he said.
Amara looked out.
Nothing looked like home.
- Writer
