Chapter 2: A Night With No Home
329 Words
The rain showed no mercy.
Ariana walked without knowing where she was going, her soaked wedding dress dragging across the pavement.
Her phone rang again.
"Mom."
She stared at the screen before answering.
"Mom..."
"Ariana!" Her mother's voice trembled. "Where are you? The guests are calling. What happened?"
Ariana closed her eyes.
"It's over."
Silence.
Then her mother whispered, "Come home."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because if I walk through that door wearing this dress, I'll break all over again."
She ended the call before the tears could return.
An hour later, she found herself standing outside a small hotel.
"I'm sorry, miss," the receptionist said apologetically. "We're fully booked."
The second hotel said the same thing.
So did the third.
By midnight, Ariana sat alone on a bench, shivering from the cold.
Her stomach growled.
She hadn't eaten since morning.
Headlights suddenly swept across the empty street.
A sleek black Rolls-Royce stopped in front of her.
The rear window slid down.
A deep voice broke the silence.
"Get in."
Ariana frowned.
"I don't even know you."
The man looked at her calmly.
"I know."
"Then why are you offering to help me?"
His eyes settled on the ruined wedding dress.
"Because someone ruined your wedding."
"And?"
"And I hate men who humiliate women."
For a moment, Ariana hesitated.
Everything her parents had ever taught her screamed not to get into a stranger's car.
Yet she had no money.
No hotel.
No plan.
The rain grew heavier.
The man opened the door himself.
"I'm Damian Knight."
The name hit her like lightning.
Everyone in the city knew Damian Knight.
CEO.
Billionaire.
One of the most powerful men in the country.
He wasn't just rich.
He was the kind of man whose decisions made headlines.
Ariana swallowed hard.
"What do you want from me?"
Damian's expression didn't change.
"I have a proposal."
Before Ariana could ask another question, he added quietly—
"And it might change both of our lives forever."
- Writer
