My Dream, My Nightmare, My Revenge.

Chapter 2

The office was a cage of glass and luxury, and Alex was locked inside with the man who held the key. Jayden Radcliffe stayed by the vast window, casting a dark shadow on the floor against the bright sprawl of the city, as if he had been carved from the skyline itself.

“First a cup of coffee, and now you’re throwing yourself at my feet,” he said, his voice a low rumble of mockery. He didn’t move; his posture was one of utter, infuriating control.

“You… you’re a bully,” she spat, pushing herself upright, her cheeks burning with a humiliation that quickly fueled her rage. “A wicked, wealthy…” Her voice trailed off as her eyes fell on the formal document lying open on his desk. The Radcliffe Holdings logo was unmistakable.

“Surprise,” he said, a cold smile playing on his lips as he finally turned to face her. “I’m your new landlord. And I want you off my property.”

“You can’t just do this,” she said, straightening her dress, a useless attempt to gather the tatters of her dignity. “You can’t just take everything away. How can someone with all this,” she gestured wildly at the room, “be so petty?”

“It’s just business.”

“Just for a cup of coffee, you’re evicting me?” The words sounded insane even to her.

“The notice was clear: demolition.” He corrected her, moving toward the desk with an easy, infuriating grace. The false calm in his voice was worse than shouting. “But yes, it’s nothing personal.”

“Nothing personal?” A broken sound, half-laugh, half-gasp, escaped her. “It’s my entire life in that building!”

He leaned forward, his hands pressing down on the glass desktop. “Is it? A life spent hiding in four walls, praying strangers find value in the very thing that offends them enough to warrant assault with coffee?”

The cold dismissal shattered her last thread of control. The image of her father’s arrogant smile superimposed itself over Jayden’s face. They were all the same. They saw her passion and called it a delusion.

“That gallery is the only reasonable thing I…”

“From what I saw, it’s four walls and a dream that’s about to be a parking lot. Emotions don’t pay the bills, Ms. Vance,” Jayden cut in, his voice sharp.

“What do you know about emotions? You have all of… this.” She gestured wildly at the room, the view, all of it. “What do you know about having one single thing you built for yourself taken from you? That gallery… it’s my answer. To all of them. It’s my proof that I’m not just some… some mistake they can just write off!

“All of them?” Jayden asked, stopping a few feet away, studying her. The amusement was gone, replaced by a sharp, calculating intensity. He gave a barely perceptible nod to his assistant, who quietly left, closing the door behind her. “Tell me, Ms. Vance,” he said, his voice dangerously calm. “What is behind all this determination?”

“You don’t have to…”

“What is your driving force?” he pressed, taking another step closer. “Why run all the way here just for a plea?”

“I… I… it’s none of… your busi…” she stammered, fresh tears of frustration and anger spilling down her cheeks.

“Who is ‘them’?” He was right in front of her now, his presence filling the space, leaving her nowhere to hide.

“MY FAMILY!” The scream tore out of her, raw and painful. Her knees felt weak, but she locked them, refusing to collapse. “The ones who said I’d never be anything! That gallery was supposed to be…”

“…your perfect revenge,” Jayden completed, his voice dropping to a whisper that seemed to vibrate in the air between them.

She looked into his eyes and saw it then. His look was not of mockery, but a deep, familiar understanding. A chilling recognition. Something in his gaze drew her in, a shared darkness she hadn’t expected.

“They called me a mistake,” she said, the words a raw admission. She was too defeated to care about her vulnerability now.

“A mistake,” he repeated softly. He nodded slowly, a decision solidifying behind his piercing gaze. “I understand the desire to prove your worth to those who’ve dismissed you.”

He walked back to his desk and picked up a single sheet of paper. It wasn’t the eviction notice. This one was crisp, with dense blocks of text.

“I’m prepared to withdraw the eviction,” he said, his tone all business now. “I will not only cancel the demolition order, but I will sign the deed to the building over to you. Furthermore, I will provide you with a generous grant to fund your gallery’s operations for a whole year.”

Alex’s heart leaped, a hopeful beat. It was everything she wanted. It was too good to be true. “Wh… what’s the catch?”

“The catch, Ms. Vance, is you.” His voice dropped lower.

He took a step towards her, holding the paper out between them like a dare. “For one month. In New York. You stand by my side. You smile, you act thrilled, you make the world believe you are the one thing that has finally captivated Jayden Radcliffe. You become my girlfriend.”

The word landed like a physical blow. Girlfriend.

“You help me show a certain someone that her betrayal was the best thing that ever happened to me. You become my perfect, beautiful revenge.”

The audacity of it left her speechless. He wasn’t just offering a deal; he was offering a war, and he wanted her as his weapon. Her mind raced, the gallery saved, her family silenced, her own revenge served cold.

“And in return,” he finished, his eyes locking with hers, “you get everything you want.”

Alex looked from his unreadable face to the contract. Her dream was in one hand, a devil’s bargain in the other. She could almost hear her family’s laughter, a ghost in one ear, and the hopeful chime of her gallery bell in the other.

Her eyes met his. The panic subsided, replaced by a cold, clear calm. She reached for the paper, her fingers brushing against his. A jolt, sudden and unwelcome, shot up her arm.

“I want the grant amount written in. Initialed by both of us, before I sign anything,” she said, her voice steadier than she felt.

A slow, real smile touched Jayden’s lips. It changed his face completely.

“Smart,” he acknowledged. He picked up a pen. “This is a preliminary agreement. You can sign this now and still back out before the lawyers draw up the full documents tomorrow.” He offered her the pen. “Do we have a deal?”

She didn’t take it. “Who is she?”

“Isabella Reyes,” he said. The name sat in the quiet room. “My ex-fiancée.”

The name tickled something in her memory, a headline she’d half-seen.

“What did she do to you?”

His smile vanished.His jaw tightened, and a raw, unchecked anger flashed in his eyes so brightly that it was almost physical. “You’ll get the details after you sign,” he said, his voice leaving no room for debate. He finally sat down, gesturing to the chair opposite. “Now, do we have a deal?”