Always make you mine

Episode Eleven

The next seventy-two hours became the longest of Evelyn’s life.

She told no one the truth — not even Zara.

When her best friend called later that afternoon, excited and curious about how the meeting with Damien Blackwood had gone, Evelyn kept her answers vague and carefully rehearsed.

“It went okay,” she said, forcing lightness into her voice while sitting on her bedroom floor. “He gave us three more days to come up with a counter-proposal. It’s not much, but it’s something.”

Zara sounded skeptical. “Three days? That’s it? Girl, you walked into the lion’s den and that’s all you got?”

“Yeah… that’s all,” Evelyn lied. She couldn’t bring herself to say the words contract marriage. The idea still felt too surreal, too humiliating, too terrifying to speak aloud. If Zara knew, she would either talk her out of it or push her to accept immediately. Evelyn needed to wrestle with this decision alone.

The first day was pure torment.

She replayed Damien’s cold proposal in her mind on an endless loop. One-year contract marriage. You marry me for one year. In return, I will personally ensure that all of your father’s debts are cleared… Every time the words resurfaced, her stomach churned with a sick mixture of disgust and desperate hope.

How could she even consider marrying a man like Damien Blackwood? A man who looked at her like she was nothing. A man whose reputation painted him as ruthless and emotionally frozen. Yet the alternative was watching her father lose everything he had built. The house. The company. Their stability. Her parents’ future.

By evening, Evelyn felt physically ill. She barely touched dinner, claiming a headache. Her parents spent the night hunched over financial documents, excitedly drafting what they believed was a strong counter-proposal, completely unaware of the real bargain their daughter was contemplating.

The second day was worse.

Evelyn dragged herself to the small gallery for her scheduled shift. She had hoped the familiar routine would help clear her head. Instead, it became a disaster.

Her mind refused to focus. While arranging a new exhibition of local artists, she knocked over a small ceramic vase. It shattered loudly on the hardwood floor. Later, she mixed up two customers’ purchases and gave the wrong receipt to an elderly patron who became visibly upset. When she tried to ring up a modest sale, she entered the wrong amount twice, forcing her manager to step in.

“Evelyn, what is going on with you today?” her boss asked during the afternoon lull, arms crossed. “You’ve been distracted for weeks, but this is unacceptable. This is the third mistake this month.”

“I’m sorry,” Evelyn whispered, cheeks burning with shame. “I’ve had a lot on my mind with my family—”

Her manager sighed heavily. “I understand times are tough, but we’re a small gallery. We can’t afford these kinds of errors. I’m sorry, but I have to let you go. Effective immediately. We’ll mail your final paycheck.”

The words landed like a punch. Fired. She had just lost her only steady source of income — however small it was.

Evelyn left the gallery in a daze, walking the Brooklyn streets without direction. Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Everything was crumbling. Her job. Her father’s company. Her own future. And now this impossible choice hanging over her like a guillotine.

She found a quiet bench in a small park and sat for hours, staring at nothing. The internal battle raged violently inside her.

How can I marry him? He’s cold. He’s terrifying. I don’t even know him.

But then another voice answered:

How can I not? If I refuse, Dad loses the company in less than a week. Mom and Dad could lose the house. Everything they worked for — gone. And I’ll have to watch them suffer every single day.

She thought about her father’s tired smile. Her mother’s quiet strength. The way they had sacrificed for her education and dreams. Could she really let their lives collapse when she had the power to prevent it?

By late afternoon on the second day, the decision crystallized.

Evelyn pulled out her phone with trembling fingers and sent a short message to Martin Kane, whose contact details had been given to her after the meeting:

“I accept the terms. Please inform Mr. Blackwood.”

The reply came within minutes:

“Mr. Blackwood will be in touch shortly. A formal contract will be prepared.”

There was no warmth. No congratulations. Just cold efficiency.

That evening, while Evelyn sat numbly in her room, the doorbell rang. A courier delivered a thick envelope addressed to her father. Richard opened it at the dining table with shaking hands, Maria leaning over his shoulder.

Inside was a revised offer from Blackwood Group.

The letter stated that, after further internal review, Blackwood Group had decided to extend a generous rescue package instead of full acquisition. All outstanding debts would be cleared immediately. A substantial line of credit would be extended to Hayes Construction. The company would remain under Richard’s ownership, with only a minority stake and land-use agreement granted to Blackwood Group for their waterfront project. The terms were structured to allow the company to stabilize and grow within the next twelve months.

Richard stared at the documents, tears glistening in his eyes.

“I… I don’t understand,” he whispered. “This is far better than anything I hoped for. They’re not taking the company. They’re actually helping us.”

Maria covered her mouth, sobbing with relief. “It’s a miracle, Richard. After all these weeks of fear… we’re going to be okay.”

Evelyn stood in the doorway, watching her parents embrace. She forced a smile when they turned to her, pulling her into the hug.

“You did this,” her father said, voice thick with emotion. “Going to see him… it must have made a difference. I don’t know how to thank you, sweetheart.”

Evelyn swallowed the lump in her throat and hugged them tighter. She couldn’t tell them the truth. Not yet. Maybe not ever. The real price of this “miracle” was one she would pay alone — her freedom, her future, and one year of her life tied to a man who saw marriage as nothing more than a business transaction.

Later that night, alone in her room, Evelyn stared at the ceiling. The relief on her parents’ faces replayed in her mind, giving her some comfort. They were happy. Safe. For the first time in weeks, there was real hope in their home.

But as she lay there in the dark, a cold weight settled in her chest.

In a few days, she would sign a contract binding her to Damien Blackwood for one year. She would move into his world. Live in his penthouse. Pretend to be his wife in public.

And no one — not her parents, not Zara — could ever know the real reason.

Tears finally slipped down her cheeks.

She had saved her family.

But at what cost to herself?

Three days had been enough time for her to make the hardest decision of her life.

Now there was no turning back.

Somewhere across the glittering city,Damien Blackwood had likely already been informed of her acceptance. To him, it was probably just another deal closed — cold, efficient, and emotionless.

To Evelyn Hayes, it felt like stepping off a cliff into darkness.

She closed her eyes and whispered into the quiet room:

“I hope I’m doing the right thing.”

But deep down, she already feared the answer.