Signed to the devil billionaire

The Contract.

The contract felt heavier than paper should.

I sat across from Lucien Blackwood inside his office while the city stretched endlessly behind him through the glass windows. Everything about this room felt intimidating. The silence. The height. The man sitting across from me watching my every reaction without looking emotional at all.

I lowered my eyes back to the document in my hands.

The words blurred slightly.

Contract Marriage Agreement.

Even seeing it written officially made this situation feel unreal.

“You’re staring at the first page like it insulted you personally,” Lucien said calmly.

I looked up immediately.

“You find this normal?”

“No.”

That answer surprised me.

Lucien leaned back slightly in his chair.

“I find it useful.”

Of course he did.

I continued reading quietly.

One year of public marriage.

Public appearances together.

Confidentiality agreement.

No interference with business matters.

Mutual respect.

Separate private spaces.

My chest tightened slightly at how cold the entire thing sounded.

Marriage reduced to terms and conditions.

“You really planned all this already?” I asked quietly.

Lucien’s expression did not change. “I prepared the contract last night.”

Last night.

While my entire life was falling apart.

The thought should have angered me more than it did.

Instead, exhaustion settled heavily inside me again.

I placed the papers down slowly.

“Why does this feel like I’m selling my life away?”

Lucien studied me silently for a moment.

“Because your emotions are involved.”

“And yours aren’t?”

“No.”

The answer came too quickly.

Too easily.

But something about his eyes made me feel like that was not entirely true.

I looked away first.

Dangerous.

That was the word that constantly came to mind around him.

Not because he raised his voice.

Not because he acted cruel.

Because he remained calm while saying things that should have shaken ordinary people.

“You really don’t believe in love,” I murmured.

Lucien’s gaze shifted toward the city behind me.

“Belief has nothing to do with reality.”

That sounded personal.

Very personal.

But before I could ask more, a knock interrupted the silence.

The office door opened and a woman entered carrying a tablet.

She looked elegant and composed in a dark suit.

“Mr. Blackwood, your meeting with the Tokyo investors has been moved to one o’clock.”

Lucien nodded once. “Reschedule it.”

The woman blinked slightly.

“It’s important.”

“So is this.”

Her eyes moved toward me briefly.

Not judgmental.

More curious than anything else.

“Yes sir.”

She left quietly.

The second the door closed, silence filled the office again.

I shifted slightly in my seat.

“People here seem scared of you.”

Lucien looked genuinely unconcerned. “Fear improves efficiency.”

“That’s a terrible management style.”

“And yet my company succeeds.”

I almost rolled my eyes.

Almost.

Lucien noticed.

A small flicker of amusement crossed his face before disappearing.

It shocked me how different he felt outside the ballroom chaos.

Still intimidating.

Still cold.

But strangely easier to talk to than Nathaniel had been these past few months.

That realization made guilt twist painfully in my chest.

I hated comparing them.

Lucien stood from his chair slowly and walked toward the coffee machine near the shelves.

“Tea or coffee?”

I stared at him suspiciously.

“You make coffee yourself?”

“I am capable of basic human tasks.”

The deadpan response nearly caught me off guard.

“Tea,” I answered quietly.

Lucien prepared both drinks in silence.

No unnecessary conversation.

No awkward politeness.

Just calm efficiency.

When he handed me the cup, our fingers brushed briefly.

Warm.

My chest tightened unexpectedly.

I hated how aware I suddenly became of him standing so close.

Lucien returned to his side of the office like nothing happened.

Probably because to him it meant nothing.

I sipped the tea slowly to distract myself.

“You still haven’t asked the most important question,” Lucien said.

I frowned slightly. “Which is?”

“What happens after people see us together.”

Right.

My stomach tightened again immediately.

The media.

The rumors.

The attention.

Lucien walked toward the windows again.

“The moment this agreement becomes public, your life changes permanently.”

“You keep saying that.”

“Because you still do not fully understand.”

I stood slowly from my chair.

“And what exactly am I supposed to understand?”

Lucien turned toward me fully.

“That people will hate you simply because you stand beside me.”

The honesty in his voice unsettled me.

I crossed my arms quietly.

“You say that like it doesn’t bother you.”

“It doesn’t.”

“How?”

Lucien looked at me for a long moment before answering.

“Because people stopped seeing me as human a very long time ago.”

The room suddenly felt quieter.

I did not know why that sentence affected me so much.

Maybe because for the first time since meeting him, he sounded tired.

Not physically.

Emotionally.

I studied him carefully.

Lucien Blackwood looked untouchable from the outside.

But now I wondered how lonely someone had to become before speaking like that.

“You really are difficult to understand,” I whispered.

Lucien held my gaze calmly.

“That makes two of us.”

Before I could answer, my phone suddenly vibrated loudly inside my bag.

The name on the screen instantly made my stomach twist.

Nathaniel.

Lucien noticed my expression immediately.

“Answer it.”

“I don’t want to.”

“He will continue calling.”

Unfortunately, he was right.

I hesitated briefly before finally picking up.

“What?”

Nathaniel exhaled softly on the other side.

“You’re with him.”

Not even a question.

I frowned immediately. “How do you know that?”

“You’re at Blackwood Tower.”

A cold feeling slid down my spine.

How did he know that?

Lucien’s expression darkened slightly as he watched me.

Nathaniel continued speaking.

“Elena, listen carefully. Whatever he offered you, reject it.”

I looked toward Lucien instinctively.

He remained calm.

Too calm.

“You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore,” I said quietly.

“Elena.”

“No.”

Pain tightened inside my chest again but I forced myself to continue.

“You lost that right yesterday.”

Silence.

Then Nathaniel lowered his voice.

“You think he wants to protect you?”

I closed my eyes briefly.

“I don’t know what he wants.”

“That should scare you.”

Maybe it did.

But somehow Nathaniel’s concern no longer felt genuine.

Not after what he did.

“Goodbye, Nathaniel.”

I ended the call before he could continue.

The office became silent again.

Lucien studied me carefully.

“You still love him.”

The words hit too directly.

I looked away immediately.

“That’s none of your business.”

“It becomes my business if you sign the contract.”

I hated how reasonable that sounded.

I tightened my grip on my phone.

“I don’t know what I feel anymore.”

Lucien nodded once like he expected that answer.

Then he walked back toward his desk and placed a pen beside the contract.

No pressure.

No dramatic speech.

Just quiet certainty.

“One year,” he said calmly. “After that, you walk away with complete freedom.”

I stared at the contract again.

My entire future sitting in front of me.

One signature.

That was all it would take.

And somehow, the most terrifying part was realizing I was actually considering it.

My throat tightened slightly.

“What exactly do you gain from this?”

Lucien slid both hands into his pockets.

“Stability.”

“That’s too vague.”

“It’s intentional.”

I frowned.

“You really enjoy avoiding questions.”

“And you ask too many dangerous ones.”

The response annoyed me more than it should have.

I stood from the chair completely now and walked toward the massive windows behind me. The city below looked so small from up here.

Cars moved like tiny dots.

People looked invisible.

I wondered if Lucien viewed the world that way too.

Small.

Controlled.

Easy to manage.

“You know what the craziest part is?” I asked quietly.

Lucien remained silent, waiting.

“I should hate you.”

That finally got his attention.

I turned toward him slowly.

“You walked into the worst moment of my life and offered me a contract marriage like it was some business opportunity.”

Lucien’s expression remained calm.

“And yet you came here.”

The frustrating part was that he was right again.

I hated how often he was right.

“I think part of me came here because I wanted someone to tell me my life wasn’t over,” I admitted softly.

Something flickered in Lucien’s eyes at that confession.

Gone almost instantly.

“It isn’t over.”

Simple words.

But hearing them still affected me more than I expected.

I looked away quickly.

Dangerous again.

Every conversation with him somehow became dangerous without me realizing it.

A sudden knock interrupted the silence.

The office door opened slightly.

“Sir,” the assistant said carefully, “the press is downstairs.”

My stomach dropped immediately.

“The press?” I repeated.

Lucien did not look surprised at all.

“They’ve been waiting since this morning.”

My chest tightened.

“They know I’m here?”

“Yes.”

Of course they did.

I should have expected that.

Nothing stayed private around powerful people.

Panic slowly crept into my chest.

“If they see me leaving here, the rumors will get worse.”

“They already suspect something,” Lucien said calmly.

“That’s supposed to make me feel better?”

“No.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

Sometimes I genuinely could not tell if he lacked social skills or simply did not care.

The assistant hesitated near the door.

“There’s something else.”

Lucien looked at her.

“The Laurent family released a statement this morning.”

The room suddenly felt colder.

I swallowed hard.

“What statement?”

The assistant looked uncomfortable now.

She handed Lucien a tablet silently.

His expression darkened slightly as he read it.

That alone terrified me.

“What does it say?” I asked quietly.

Lucien looked up at me.

“They announced that the engagement ended because of incompatibility issues.”

I frowned slightly.

“That’s not so bad.”

A pause.

Then Lucien spoke again.

“They also implied you became emotionally unstable before the separation.”

The words hit me like ice water.

Emotionally unstable.

My stomach twisted painfully.

Of course.

Of course Nathaniel’s family would protect their reputation first.

Anger burned sharply inside my chest.

Humiliation.

Again.

Lucien watched my reaction carefully.

“They’re trying to control the public narrative,” he said.

I laughed bitterly.

“That sounds nicer than calling me crazy.”

“You are not crazy.”

The firmness in his voice surprised me.

For the first time since meeting him, Lucien actually sounded irritated.

Not at me.

At them.

I stared at him quietly.

“You really hate the Laurents.”

Lucien’s jaw tightened slightly.

“No,” he said calmly. “I simply dislike cowards.”

Silence filled the room again.

I looked down at the contract still sitting on the desk.

Then toward the tablet in Lucien’s hand.

Then back at the city outside.

Emotionally unstable.

By tonight that rumor would spread everywhere.

I could already imagine the whispers.

Poor Nathaniel.

Imagine dealing with a woman like that.

Maybe he had no choice.

My hands clenched slowly.

I spent four years loving that man.

And this was how he repaid me.

Lucien’s voice broke through my thoughts quietly.

“If you sign the contract, nobody will dare speak about you that way publicly again.”

I looked at him slowly.

Not because they would respect me.

Because they feared him.

And somehow that should have scared me more than it did.

Instead, for the first time since the engagement party, I finally felt something different beneath the heartbreak.

Anger.

And maybe that was even more dangerous