Chapter 9
975 Words
The masked man stepped forward, ignoring the guards that we're trying to block his path. His footsteps were unhurried, steady, and far too calm for someone who wasn't invited. The air shifted with every step he took like the room itself was waiting for something to break.
My father's smile vanished instantly.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
The man didn't answer.
He didn't bow.
He didn't hesitate.
He kept walking… straight toward me.
My breath caught in my throat.
Why me?
Whispers erupted around the hall.
"Is he security?"
No, look at the mask, he doesn't seem to be one."
"Is he from another family?"
"He doesn't seem like someone who is supposed to be here."
"Why isn't Blackwell stopping him?"
I swallowed hard, feeling the weight of every stare.
My father lifted a hand, but it trembled. "I asked you a question. Identify yourself."
The masked man finally stopped just a few steps away from me. Up close, he was taller, broader, commanding without saying a single word.
He turned his head slightly, just enough for his cold gaze to lock with mine.
Something flickered in my chest.
Fear.
Recognition.
Something in between.
Then he spoke in a low, calm, and terrifyingly controlling way.
"I heard an announcement was made in my name."
The entire room went dead silent.
My father stiffened. "Y-Yours?"
The masked man tilted his head. "A marriage announcement."
My pulse hammered so loudly I could barely hear anything else.
This was him.
It had to be.
Damien Anderson.
The man no one had ever seen.
The heir with the hidden face.
The mystery in every rumor.
And he was angry.
Very, very angry.
He took another step toward me.
"In case there was confusion," he said, his voice dropping into something colder, "I do not appreciate receiving surprises."
His gaze never left mine.
"A-Are you M-Mr. Anderson?" My father asked stuttering a little.
"What do you think?" Damien asked with a scoff.
"You held an engagement ceremony without my consent." Damien turned towards my father, taking a step towards him. "There was an agreement, and everything was supposed to be kept a secret."
My dad was visibly shaking, his face covered in sweat despite the coolness of the room.
"Mr Anderson, I admit it was my mistake. I appol-"
"I don't need your apology" Damien said cutting my dad off.
My father lowered his head immediately and that surprised me because it was a reaction I had never seen from him before.
He always made others bow. He never bowed himself.
Damien took a slow step closer. The guards tensed, but they did not move.
No one dared to.
"You made a decision that did not belong to you."
His voice was dangerously calm. "You do not speak for me. You do not control me."
My father swallowed hard. "It was meant to honor the agreement we—"
"Honor?" Damien’s scoff echoed against the marble walls.
"Do not use words which you do not understand."
My breath tightened. The energy around him was wrong.
Not human. Not normal.
There was a power in the air I could feel crawling up my spine.
Then Damien turned his head, his eyes landing on me again.
I felt pinned in place.
My feet refused to move.
My lungs refused to work.
It was like he was looking somewhere deeper than my face.
Somewhere beneath my skin.
His voice dropped, it was quiet, but it commanded the room.
"You."
The word hit made me jolt.
"I will take him with me," Damien said without taking his eyes off me. "Tonight."
My heart lurched.
Wait. What?
My father blinked, confused. "W–With you? Why tonight? The marriage arrangements—"
"That is no longer your concern," Damien cut in, dismissive.
"He is mine to deal with. Not yours."
Mine.
The word echoed in my skull… too intimate… too familiar.
"I don't— I don’t even know you," I whispered before I could stop myself because no matter how familiar he felt, it was true that I had never met him before.
Damien's gaze sharpened.
"No you don't" he said softly, voice smooth and cold like midnight steel.
"But you will."
He turned his back on the entire room, as if the conversation was finished, because it was, and everyone knew it.
"Come here" he commanded.
I didn't move.
My father looked between us, panic flaring in his eyes.
"Jeremy, do not go with—" my father tried to speak, acting like he actually cared about me. But Damien cut him off.
Damien paused mid-step.
His aura shifted, it felt darker, heavier. The chandelier above us flickered.
"Be very careful, Blackwell."
His voice dropped into something almost inhuman.
"He belongs to me now. And I do not tolerate interference."
Belongs to him?
My pulse was racing.
My legs were shaking.
Damien extended a gloved hand toward me and it was not gentle. Not tender.
It was a silent order I was being forced to obey.
I stared at it. At him.
At the life I was being dragged into.
I had to make a choice. Just one choice:
Obey the monster I didn't know…
or remain the possession of the monster I did.
My fingers moved before my fear could stop them, because somehow I knew that no matter the choice I made, I'd still have to go with him.
I placed my hand in his.
Gasps rippled through the room.
His grip tightened it was strong, unyielding and he pulled me to his side as if I had already been there for years.
Without another word, he led me out of the ballroom…
out of my father's control…
and into the unknown darkness that waited beyond the estate walls.
And for the first time tonight, I wasn't sure which danger was worse.
- Writer
