Chapter 4
1100 Words
DOMINIC’S POV
“Become my wife for one year…”
My voice came out colder than I felt.
“…and I’ll save your family.”
Silence.
Elara stood frozen near the door like the words hadn’t fully reached her yet.
Her fingers tightened slightly around her bag.
“…What?” she finally whispered.
I didn’t move.
Didn’t let anything show.
That was the only way I survived her being here.
“I’m not repeating myself.”
Her breath hitched slightly.
And for a split second I saw it.
Shock.
Fear.
Disbelief.
Then anger quickly tried to cover it.
“You’re joking.”
I almost laughed.
But I didn’t.
“I don’t joke about business.”
Her eyes narrowed instantly.
“Business?”
There it was.
That tone.
That same fire she always had when she felt cornered.
Good.
At least that part of her hadn’t died.
I walked slowly back toward my desk, putting distance between us on purpose.
“Your company is collapsing,” I said calmly. “Your debts are rising faster than you can breathe. Investors are gone. Banks won’t touch you.”
Her jaw tightened.
“I know that.”
“Good,” I replied. “Then you also know you don’t have options.”
A sharp silence followed.
I watched her carefully.
Every breath she tried to control.
She hated feeling powerless.
Finally she spoke again.
“And your solution is… marriage?”
“Yes.”
The word landed heavy.
Final.
Elara let out a short, disbelieving laugh.
But there was no humour in it.
Only pain.
“This is insane.”
“No,” I said quietly. “It’s practical.”
Her eyes snapped to mine instantly.
That hit harder than I expected.
Because five years ago, she used to look at me like I was everything.
Now I was just… a stranger offering a transaction.
“How does that even help my company?” she asked sharply.
I leaned back slightly.
“It gives you stability. Investors don’t back broken companies. They back associations.”
Her brows furrowed.
“Association?”
“Kane Industries attached to Vance Holdings,” I said. “Publicly.”
Her breath slowed.
She understood.
“You want to use me,” she whispered.
I didn’t deny it.
Because that was part of it.
But not all of it.
“Yes. Just like you used me those years ago”
Those words made her flinch.
Good.
She deserved the truth more than lies.
Elara stepped forward slightly now, anger replacing shock.
“You hate me,” she said firmly. “Why would you help me at all?”
That question hung in the air.
Dangerous
Because I didn’t have a clean answer.
I stared at her for a long moment.
Then finally.....
“Because I can. And because I'm the only one who can.” I said flatly.
Not the real reason.
Her lips parted slightly.
Like she wanted to say something.
But nothing came out.
Silence was safer.
I walked back toward my desk and picked up the contract file I had already prepared.
Of course I had it ready.
I always prepare for destruction before it happens.
I placed it on the table between us.
“One year,” I said. “No extensions.”
Elara stared at the file like it was poison.
“What exactly do I have to do?”
My eyes lifted slowly to hers.
A pause.
Then....
“You become my wife in public, we act like the perfect couple,” I said. “And nothing else changes privately.”
Her expression tightened.
“So… a lie.”
“Yes.”
That word settled between us.
Heavy.
She swallowed.
“And you get what from this?”
I almost answered immediately.
Control.
Revenge.
Closure.
But none of those were entirely true anymore.
So I said the only thing that made sense.
“Access.”
Her brows furrowed.
“Access to what?”
“To the people who will suddenly care about your company because it has my name attached to it. Access to every single lie you've told.”
That was the business answer.
The clean answer.
The lie I could live with.
Elara looked down at the contract again.
Her fingers trembled slightly when she touched the edge.
I noticed.
I always noticed everything about her.
She exhaled shakily.
“If I refuse?”
I didn’t hesitate.
“Then you walk out of here and everything collapses.
Cruel.
Honest.
Her eyes lifted back to mine instantly.
And for the first time since she entered my office…
I saw it.
Pain.
Raw.
Unfiltered.
The same pain I lived with for five years.
“I don’t have a choice, do I?” she whispered.
“No,” I said quietly.
A lie again.
Because she always had a choice.
Just not a good one.
Silence stretched again.
Longer this time.
Heavier.
Elara closed her eyes briefly.
When she opened them again, something inside her had changed.
Acceptance.
Not peace.
Not trust.
Just survival.
“I’ll do it,” she said softly.
Something inside my chest tightened instantly.
But my face stayed still.
“Sign it,” I replied.
She reached for the pen on my desk.
Her hand shook slightly as she flipped the contract open.
I watched her carefully.
Every movement.
Every hesitation.
Every breath.
Five years ago, she destroyed me with no hesitation.
Now she was trembling while saving herself.
Funny how life worked.
She signed her name.
Elara Vance.
Final.
Permanent.
Something in the room shifted the second the ink touched paper.
She placed the pen down slowly.
And for a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then she looked up at me.
“What happens now?”
I picked up the contract and closed it.
“Now,” I said calmly. “You move in tomorrow.”
Her eyes widened slightly.
“Move in?”
“Yes.”
“That wasn’t part of....”
“It is now.”
Silence.
I turned away first, walking toward the window.
I needed distance again.
Because this close…
It was already getting difficult to breathe normally.
Behind me, I heard her voice again.
Smaller this time.
“Why me?”
That question stopped me.
I stared out at London.
Rain hitting glass.
Memories hitting harder.
Then I answered without turning around.
“Because you’re the only person who ever ruined me completely…”
A pause.
My jaw tightened.
“…and I still let you walk away once.”
Silence.
I didn’t look back.
Because if I did…
I wasn’t sure I’d stop there.
- Writer
