Chapter 1: The Wedding Proposal
1060 Words
Rain hammered against the glass walls of the Sydney Herald newsroom.
Inside, every television screen flashed the same headline.
BLACKWOOD GROUP DENIES FRAUD ALLEGATIONS.
Isabella Hart stared at the report she had spent six months investigating.
Every document...
Every interview...
Every sleepless night had led to one conclusion.
Someone inside Australia's most powerful corporation had stolen billions.
She reached for her coffee.
Her phone vibrated.
Unknown Number.
"Miss Hart, if you publish that story... you'll be dead before sunrise."
The line went silent.
She swallowed hard.
Minutes later, chaos erupted.
Editors shouted across the newsroom.
Police officers rushed inside.
"The servers have been hacked!"
"Every file is gone!"
Isabella's heart stopped.
Her investigation...
Six months of evidence...
Vanished.
Then another message appeared on her phone.
RUN. THEY'RE COMING.
She looked outside.
A black luxury SUV had parked across the street.
Three men in dark suits stepped out.
They weren't police.
They were hunters.
Without thinking, Isabella grabbed her bag and sprinted through the emergency exit.
The rain soaked her clothes as she raced through the crowded streets of Sydney.
She didn't know where she was going.
She only knew she had to stay alive.
A deafening screech echoed behind her.
Another black car cut across the road, blocking her path.
The men closed in.
"There she is!"
Isabella backed away until her shoulders hit a cold brick wall.
There was nowhere left to run.
Suddenly...
A sleek matte-black Rolls-Royce Phantom glided silently between her and the men.
The rear door opened.
A deep, calm voice broke through the rain.
"Get in."
She hesitated.
The man inside wore a tailored black suit, his sharp features unreadable, his steel-gray eyes colder than the storm outside.
Everyone in Australia knew that face.
Adrian Blackwood.
The billionaire no one dared challenge.
"The next decision you make," he said evenly, "will determine whether you live or die."
The men chasing her froze.
Even they were afraid of him.
With trembling hands, Isabella climbed into the car.
As the door shut, the Rolls-Royce pulled away, leaving her pursuers standing helplessly in the rain.
Silence filled the luxurious cabin.
After several minutes, Adrian finally spoke.
"I know who wants you dead."
Isabella looked at him.
"Why are you helping me?"
His expression remained emotionless.
"I'm not."
He slid a leather folder onto her lap.
Inside was a marriage contract.
"I need a wife."
Isabella stared at him in disbelief.
"And you," Adrian said, meeting her eyes without emotion, "need someone powerful enough to keep you alive."
Outside, Sydney's glittering skyline disappeared into the storm as Isabella realized that accepting his proposal might save her life...
Or become the biggest mistake she would ever make.
The Rolls-Royce glided through Sydney's rain-soaked streets, its cabin so silent that Isabella could hear the rhythm of her own heartbeat.
She looked down at the marriage contract again.
Everything about it felt impossible.
"You're joking," she whispered.
Adrian Blackwood didn't smile.
"I've never joked about business."
She studied him. His tailored charcoal suit was immaculate despite the storm outside. His expensive watch caught the faint glow from the city lights. There wasn't a trace of fear in his expression—as if the armed men who had just tried to corner her were nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
"Why me?" she asked.
"There are thousands of women in Australia."
"There are," Adrian replied. "But only one who unknowingly stumbled onto something that threatens every powerful family connected to this case."
Her breath caught.
"So... this isn't just about your company?"
"No."
His answer was immediate.
"It's much bigger."
The car entered a private tunnel beneath the Blackwood Tower, disappearing from the city above. Massive steel security gates slid open after facial recognition scanners identified the vehicle.
Isabella had never seen security like this.
The underground garage resembled a military bunker more than a billionaire's headquarters.
Armed guards stood at every entrance.
Luxury vehicles lined the polished concrete floor, each worth more than she would earn in a lifetime.
The chauffeur opened her door.
Adrian stepped out first.
"Come."
His voice left little room for refusal.
Inside, the private elevator shot upward without a single button being pressed.
The doors opened into an entire penthouse occupying the top floor of the skyscraper.
Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked Sydney Harbour. The Opera House shimmered beneath the rain while the Harbour Bridge glowed in the distance.
The view should have been breathtaking.
Instead, Isabella felt trapped.
A woman in a black business suit approached.
"Good evening, Mr. Blackwood."
She glanced politely at Isabella.
"The legal team is waiting."
Adrian nodded.
"Cancel them."
The assistant blinked in surprise.
"Sir?"
"I'll handle this personally."
"Yes, Mr. Blackwood."
As the assistant disappeared, Isabella turned toward him.
"You just cancelled a meeting worth millions for me?"
"I cancelled it because time is running out."
He handed her a slim tablet.
She switched it on.
Her face turned pale.
Security footage.
She watched herself leaving the newspaper office.
Then the black SUVs.
The men chasing her.
One of them carried a suppressed handgun.
Another frame appeared.
Someone was watching her apartment building.
Then another.
A photograph of her younger brother leaving university.
"No..."
Her hands began to shake.
"They know where Daniel is."
"They've known for weeks," Adrian said quietly.
Tears threatened to form.
"You investigated alone."
"You trusted the wrong people."
"You underestimated your enemies."
Every sentence struck harder than the last.
She sank into the nearest chair.
"I've destroyed my family's lives."
"You still have time to save them."
She looked up.
"How?"
Adrian walked to the panoramic window overlooking the city.
"By marrying me."
Silence stretched between them.
She wanted to refuse.
Every instinct told her to run.
But there was nowhere left to run.
Finally, she asked the one question she feared most.
"If I say no..."
Adrian didn't turn around.
"They'll kill you."
He paused.
"And everyone you love."
Lightning flashed across Sydney Harbour.
For the first time in years, Adrian Blackwood allowed a flicker of emotion to cross his face.
Not fear.
Regret.
Because there was one truth he hadn't told Isabella.
The people hunting her...
Were the same people who had murdered his parents twenty years ago.
And this marriage wasn't only meant to protect her.
It was the first move in a war that would shake Australia's most powerful empire to its foundations.
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