CHAPTER 3.
1344 Words
My legs felt strangely heavy as I followed Xavier Blackwood through the underground parking garage.
Every step echoed too loudly in the empty space, as if the entire building was listening to the sound of my heartbeat.
I kept telling myself to stop shaking, but it was impossible.
Nothing about this situation felt normal.
Ten minutes ago, I had been sitting in a small café trying to survive another quiet morning. Now I was walking behind the most powerful billionaire in the city toward a press conference that apparently involved my name.
My life had never moved this fast, and Xavier on the other hand didn’t look back as he walked.
He moved with the calm confidence of someone who owned every building, every person, every outcome around him. His hands rested casually in his pockets, his posture relaxed, as if dragging me into a media storm was just another routine task on his schedule.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked finally.
My voice sounded smaller than I intended, then he stopped walking.
Slowly, he turned to face me.
The cold lighting of the parking garage sharpened the angles of his face, making his expression look even more unreadable.
“Doing what?”
“You know what,” I said, forcing myself to meet his eyes. “The headlines, the reporters, the press conference.”
For a moment, he simply studied me, then he stepped closer. Too close.
“Because,” he said calmly, “a public lie spreads faster than the truth.”
My stomach twisted.
“And you’re okay with that?”
His gaze didn’t waver.
“I don’t need the public to like me.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
I swallowed hard.
“You’re letting them destroy my reputation.”
A faint shadow of something crossed his face.
“Your reputation,” he repeated slowly.
The words felt heavier than they should have.
“You’re right,” he continued after a moment.
“My reputation is the only one that matters here.”
The coldness of his response sent a chill through me.
I suddenly understood something very clearly.
This man truly didn’t care what happened to me, I was just a piece in his plan, nothing more.
“Come,” he said, turning away again.
“We’re running out of time.”
We reached a private elevator at the end of the garage.
Two security guards stood beside the doors. The moment Xavier approached, they stepped aside immediately.
No words, no questions, just silent obedience.
Xavier pressed the button.
The elevator doors opened almost instantly.
I hesitated, and he noticed.
“Afraid?” he asked quietly.
I didn’t answer, because the truth was obvious.
Yes, I was terrified, but still, I stepped inside.
The doors closed behind us with a soft mechanical sound.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke, then the elevator began rising.
My reflection stared back at me from the mirrored wall.
I barely recognized the girl looking back.
Her eyes looked wider, more uncertain, like someone standing on the edge of a cliff.
“You should prepare yourself,” Xavier said suddenly.
My attention snapped back to him.
“For what?”
“The press conference.”
My stomach dropped.
“You’re actually doing it.”
He raised an eyebrow slightly.
“You didn’t believe me?”
“No,” I admitted honestly. “I thought it was a bluff.”
He let out a quiet breath.
“I don’t bluff.”
The elevator continued climbing, floor after floor.
My pulse grew faster with every passing second.
“What exactly are you planning to say?” I asked.
His answer came too easily.
“The truth.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“It should.”
I stared at him.
“How?”
He turned his head slightly, looking directly at me again.
“Because after today,” he said calmly, “no one will ever question your connection to me again.”
My chest tightened.
“What connection?”
The elevator slowed, then stopped.
The doors slid open, and the moment they did, noise poured inside. Voices, cameras, and movement.
A large conference hall stretched before us, filled with reporters sitting in neat rows of chairs. Bright lights hung from the ceiling, all pointing toward a stage at the front of the room.
A podium stood in the center, and behind it; a massive screen.
My breath caught as I saw what was displayed on it.
The same headline from earlier.
VALE HEIRESS LINKED TO BLACKWOOD HOLDINGS.
My heart began racing again.
“Xavier,” I whispered, panic creeping into my voice. “What exactly are you doing?”
He stepped out of the elevator, then he turned slightly, looking back at me.
“Ending the speculation.”
My stomach twisted painfully.
“How?”
Instead of answering, he extended his hand toward me.
“Come here.”
The gesture felt strangely formal, dangerously final.
The reporters hadn’t noticed us yet, but they would soon.
I stared at his hand, and something inside me screamed that this was a mistake.
...but the alternative was worse, because if I walked away now, he would release the video.
My father’s past would explode across every screen in the country again.
Slowly, my fingers reached forward.
The moment my hand touched his, the room suddenly erupted.
“Mr. Blackwood is here!”
Cameras flashed wildly, Reporters jumped to their feet.
“Who is the woman with him?”
“Is that Elara Vale?”
My pulse roared in my ears.
Xavier didn’t release my hand, instead, he guided me calmly toward the stage. Step by step, flash by flash, until we stood directly behind the podium.
The room fell silent, and Xavier picked up the microphone.
For a moment, he said nothing.
He simply looked across the crowd of reporters, then his voice filled the entire hall.
“Thank you all for coming on such short notice.”
Dozens of cameras pointed directly at us, and my heart felt like it might explode.
Xavier’s hand tightened slightly around mine.
“Over the past few hours,” he continued calmly, “many rumors have circulated regarding Miss Elara Vale and her presence at Blackwood Holdings.”
The reporters leaned forward eagerly, waiting, and hunting.
Xavier glanced briefly at me, then he spoke the words that made my entire world stop.
“The rumors are correct.”
A wave of whispers exploded across the room.
My breath caught.
Correct?
But I hadn’t..
Xavier raised his free hand slightly, the room quieted again.
He continued speaking, his voice steady and powerful.
“However, the media has misunderstood the situation.”
My heart pounded violently. He turned slightly toward me, and then, he pulled me closer.
My entire body froze as his arm wrapped around my waist.
“To clarify the situation,” he said calmly into the microphone, “Miss Elara Vale did not sneak into Blackwood Holdings.”
Every reporter in the room leaned forward.
“Because,” he continued,
“She belongs there.”
My mind went blank.
The next words shattered the room.
“And starting today…” He paused, then finished the sentence.
“Elara Vale is my fiancée.”
The conference hall exploded into chaos.
Shouts, flashes, and questions flying everywhere.
My heart slammed violently against my ribs.
I stared at Xavier in complete shock, because he had just announced something to the entire country. Something he had never even asked me.
And as the cameras kept flashing around us, I realized something terrifying, this wasn’t a negotiation anymore.
Xavier Blackwood had just trapped me in front of the whole world.
As reporters shouted questions from every direction, Xavier leaned closer to me, so close that only I could hear his next words.
“Smile,” he murmured quietly.
My heart raced.
“Why?”
His voice dropped even lower.
“Because in ten minutes,” he said calmly,
“you’re going to sign the contract.”
- Writer
