Always make you mine

Episode Ten

Evelyn barely slept that night. The memory of confronting Damien Blackwood outside his tower replayed endlessly in her mind. By morning, anxiety had twisted into a tight knot in her stomach. She dressed carefully in her white blouse and black pencil skirt, added light makeup to hide her exhaustion, and left the house before her parents could ask too many questions. She told them she had an early errand.

The ride to Blackwood Tower felt longer than ever. When she reached the security desk and gave her name, the guard checked his screen and nodded. “Mr. Kane is waiting for you on the executive floor.”

The private elevator carried her upward in silence. Martin Kane met her when the doors opened, his face professionally blank.

“Miss Hayes. This way. You have fifteen minutes.”

He led her down the sleek corridor and stopped outside heavy double doors. After a single knock, he opened them.

“Miss Evelyn Hayes, sir.”

Damien Blackwood sat behind his large mahogany desk, looking every inch the powerful CEO. The morning light streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows behind him, outlining his broad shoulders. His sharp gray eyes lifted and fixed on her immediately. There was no warmth in them, only cool assessment.

“Sit,” he commanded quietly.

Evelyn lowered herself into the chair opposite him, clutching her purse tightly in her lap. The office felt colder than she remembered. The silence stretched for a moment before she found her voice.

“Thank you for agreeing to see me, Mr. Blackwood. I know you’re very busy.”

Damien leaned back slightly in his chair, studying her with clinical detachment. “You have fifteen minutes, Miss Hayes. Tell me why you’re really here.”

Evelyn took a steadying breath and met his gaze as best she could. “Your acquisition offer will destroy my father’s company. Hayes Construction is more than just assets and land to him. It’s his life’s work. Twenty-five years of blood, sweat, and honesty. If you take it at the price you’re offering, everything he built will be gone. I’m begging you to reconsider. There must be another way — a loan, a partnership, anything that gives us a real chance to save the company instead of a forced takeover.”

Damien listened without interrupting, his expression unchanging. When she finished, he remained silent for several long seconds, his fingers tapping once against the arm of his chair.

Finally, he spoke, his voice low and icy. “Your father’s company is failing, Miss Hayes. That is a fact, not an opinion. However, I am willing to offer an alternative solution. One that would save Hayes Construction completely.”

Evelyn’s heart leaped with sudden hope. She leaned forward slightly. “What alternative?”

Damien’s gray eyes locked onto hers with unnerving intensity. “A 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, the bank pressure disappears, and Hayes Construction receives sufficient capital to stabilize and grow. I will not acquire the company. Your father will retain ownership, though under a structured agreement with Blackwood Group for the land parcels. At the end of the year, we divorce quietly. You walk away with your father’s company intact and a generous settlement.”

The words hit Evelyn like a physical blow. She stared at him, stunned into silence. For a moment, she wondered if she had misheard him.

“A… contract marriage?” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “You want me to marry you?”

“Yes.” Damien’s tone remained cool and businesslike, as if he were discussing a simple merger. “It would be a private, contractual arrangement. No emotions. No expectations beyond public appearances when required. You would live in my penthouse for the duration. In exchange, your family’s financial ruin ends immediately.”

Evelyn’s cheeks burned with a mix of shock, embarrassment, and rising anger. She shook her head fiercely. “No. Absolutely not. I won’t sell myself to save the company. That’s insane. My father would never agree to something like this.”

Damien didn’t flinch. “Your father doesn’t need to know the full terms. He only needs to know that the debts are cleared and the company is safe. The decision is yours.”

“I refuse,” Evelyn said firmly, her hands trembling in her lap. “I won’t marry a stranger — especially not you — just to save my family’s business. There has to be another way.”

Damien watched her reaction with the same detached calm. He leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on the desk.

“Three days,” he said flatly. “You have three days to reconsider. Think carefully, Miss Hayes. Seven days from now, the bank will begin foreclosure proceedings. Without my help, your father will lose everything. With my help — through this arrangement — he keeps his life’s work. The choice is simple.”

Evelyn’s breath came faster. “Why? Why would you even suggest this? You don’t know me. You don’t care about me. Why would someone like you need a contract marriage with someone like me?”

Damien’s expression remained unreadable, though his gray eyes darkened slightly. “My reasons are my own. They are not sentimental. This is a mutually beneficial transaction. You need money and stability for your family. I require a wife for a limited period — for appearances, family expectations, and certain business advantages. Nothing more.”

He paused, letting his words sink in.

“Three days, Miss Hayes. My assistant will contact you. If you agree, we move forward immediately. If not…” He shrugged slightly, the gesture cold. “I will proceed with the original acquisition offer. The choice is entirely yours.”

Evelyn rose from her chair on unsteady legs, her heart pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears. “I don’t need three days. My answer is no.”

Damien stood as well, towering over her. “Take the three days anyway. Desperation has a way of changing perspectives. Martin will show you out.”

Evelyn turned and walked toward the door, her mind reeling. She paused at the threshold and looked back at him one last time. Damien was already seated again, his attention returning to his laptop as if their conversation had been nothing more than a minor interruption.

Martin Kane escorted her silently back to the elevator. The ride down felt suffocating. When she finally stepped out into the bright morning sunlight, Evelyn leaned against the cool stone wall of the building, trying to catch her breath.

A contract marriage.

To Damien Blackwood.

The ruthless Ice King who had looked through her four times like she barely existed. Now he wanted her to become his wife — on paper — for one year in exchange for saving her father’s company.

She felt sick.

The subway ride back to Brooklyn passed in a daze. When she finally walked through the front door of the brownstone, her parents were waiting anxiously in the living room.

“Evelyn, where have you been?” her mother asked, worry clear in her voice.

Evelyn sank onto the couch, her hands still shaking. She couldn’t tell them the full truth — not about the marriage proposal. Not yet.

“I went to see Mr. Blackwood again,” she said quietly. “I asked for another option instead of the takeover. He… he gave us three more days to think about things. He said he might consider helping the company if we can present a strong enough case.”

It wasn’t entirely a lie, but it hid the shocking reality of his actual offer.

Richard rubbed his face, exhausted but clinging to the small thread of hope. “Three days… It’s not much, but it’s something. We’ll work day and night on a counter-proposal. Every projection, every idea we have.”

Maria reached over and squeezed Evelyn’s hand. “You’re so brave for trying, sweetheart. But please don’t put yourself in danger. Damien Blackwood is not a man to challenge lightly.”

Evelyn forced a small smile and nodded, but inside she felt torn apart.

Upstairs in her bedroom, she finally allowed herself to collapse onto the bed. Damien’s cold voice echoed in her mind: A one-year contract marriage… In exchange, your father keeps his company.

She closed her eyes tightly.

Why her?

Why now?

And how could she possibly consider saying yes — even for her family?

Three days.

That was all the time she had before she had to face the Ice King again and give him her final answer.

Outside her window, the familiar Brooklyn street looked the same as always. But inside Evelyn Hayes, everything had irrevocably changed.

The collision between their worlds was no longer accidental.

It had become dangerously personal.