Shattered promises chapter 3
1282 Words
The Devil I Chose.
I didn’t sleep that night.
Not even for a second.
Every sound felt louder. Every shadow felt closer. Every passing car made my heart jump like someone was coming for me.
Because someone was.
You’re being watched.
The message replayed in my mind over and over again.
By morning, the fear hadn’t disappeared.
It had changed.
Hardened.
Turned into something colder.
Something dangerous.
Resolve.
I stood in front of my mirror, staring at my reflection.
I barely recognized the woman looking back at me.
Two weeks ago, I was planning a wedding.
Now?
I was walking into the world that got my fiancé killed.
“Then let’s finish this,” I whispered to myself.
And I left.
Blackwood Holdings wasn’t just a building.
It was a statement.
Glass walls that reflected nothing. Steel edges that felt sharp even from a distance. Security so tight it practically screamed power lives here.
The kind of place ordinary people didn’t walk into.
But I wasn’t ordinary anymore.
Not after Liam.
The moment I stepped inside, I felt it.
Eyes.
Watching.
Judging.
Measuring.
The receptionist barely looked up at first.
“Do you have an appointment?”
Her tone was polite, but her eyes said something else entirely.
You don’t belong here.
“No,” I said calmly. “But he’ll want to see me.”
Now she looked at me properly.
“And why is that?”
I held her gaze.
“Tell him Olivia Carter is here… and I know about Liam Parker.”
The silence that followed was instant.
Sharp.
Her fingers paused mid-air over the keyboard.
For a split second, I saw it.
Recognition.
And something else.
Concern.
“Please wait,” she said quickly.
The elevator ride felt too slow.
Each floor ticking by like a warning.
You can still turn back.
You can still walk away.
But I didn’t.
Because I had already lost everything worth protecting.
The doors opened to a different world.
Quiet.
Controlled.
Dangerous.
And at the center of it—
Him.
Sebastian Blackwood stood by the window, his back to me, one hand resting casually in his pocket.
But there was nothing casual about him.
He didn’t move.
Didn’t turn.
And yet, I felt it.
He already knew I was there.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” he said.
His voice was low.
Calm.
The kind of calm that made you nervous.
I closed the distance between us slowly.
“Then maybe you should’ve made sure I didn’t find you.”
A pause.
Then he turned.
And for a moment…
I forgot why I was there.
Because Sebastian Blackwood didn’t just look powerful.
He felt like it.
Dark eyes that held too much. A sharp, controlled expression that gave nothing away. Every detail about him was precise, intentional—like a man who never made mistakes.
Nothing like Liam.
And yet…
Something about him made my chest tighten.
Not fear.
Something deeper.
More dangerous.
“Olivia Carter,” he said, like he’d been expecting this moment.
“Liam talked about you.”
My throat tightened.
“What did he say?”
His lips curved slightly, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“That you were the one thing in his life he didn’t deserve.”
The words hit harder than they should have.
Because a part of me still wanted to believe that version of Liam.
But I crushed it.
“Then why was he with another woman the night he died?”
The air shifted instantly.
Cold.
Heavy.
Real.
Sebastian’s gaze sharpened.
“Careful,” he said quietly. “You’re stepping into something you don’t understand.”
“Good,” I snapped. “Because I’m done being the only one who doesn’t understand.”
Silence stretched between us.
Long enough for doubt to creep in.
Long enough for me to wonder if I had just made the biggest mistake of my life.
Then—
He moved.
One step closer.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Like a predator closing in.
“Liam wasn’t who you thought he was,” he said.
“I already know that.”
“No,” he replied, his voice dropping slightly. “You know he lied to you. That’s not the same as knowing why.”
My breath hitched.
“Then tell me.”
His eyes searched mine.
Not quickly.
Not carelessly.
Like he was weighing my worth.
My strength.
My limits.
“You’re not ready for that truth,” he said finally.
Anger flared instantly.
“Don’t decide that for me.”
“And don’t pretend you understand what you’re asking for,” he shot back.
The tension between us snapped tight.
But I didn’t back down.
“I lost him,” I said, my voice lower now, steadier. “I deserve to know what took him from me.”
Something flickered in his expression.
Gone in a second.
But I saw it.
He stepped closer again.
Now there was barely any space between us.
Close enough for me to notice the faint scent of his cologne.
Close enough for my heart to betray me… just a little.
“If you keep digging,” he said, “you will get hurt.”
“I already am.”
His jaw tightened slightly.
And then—
Something shifted.
Not in me.
In him.
“And if I help you,” Sebastian continued slowly, “you don’t get to walk away when things get complicated.”
I held his gaze.
“When things get ugly,” he added.
A beat.
“Try me,” I said.
And I meant it.
That was the moment everything changed.
Because something in his eyes darkened.
Not with anger.
Not with warning.
With interest.
Dangerous interest.
“Alright,” he said quietly.
The word felt like a door closing behind me.
“From this moment on, you don’t move without me knowing.”
I frowned. “That sounds like control.”
“It’s protection.”
“I didn’t ask for it.”
“No,” he said, his voice calm but firm.
“But you walked into my world.”
Silence again.
But this time…
It was different.
He wasn’t pushing me away anymore.
And I wasn’t trying to leave.
That scared me more than anything else.
“What really happened to Liam?” I asked softly.
Sebastian studied me for a long moment.
Then he walked past me.
Straight to his desk.
Opened a file.
And slid it toward me.
“Start here,” he said.
I hesitated before picking it up.
But when I did…
My heart dropped.
Photos.
Transactions.
Names.
Secrets.
And right at the center of it all—
Liam Parker.
A man I didn’t recognize.
My hands trembled slightly.
“This… this isn’t him.”
Sebastian’s voice came from behind me.
Low.
Certain.
“It is.”
I shook my head slowly.
“No… you’re wrong. He wouldn’t—”
“He did,” Sebastian cut in.
And for the first time…
His voice wasn’t cold.
It was certain.
Final.
And that’s when it hit me.
This wasn’t just about betrayal anymore.
This was something bigger.
Darker.
More dangerous than I had imagined.
I looked up at Sebastian.
Really looked at him this time.
At the man who held answers.
At the man who could destroy me…
Or become the only person standing between me and whatever killed Liam.
And somewhere deep inside me…
I made a choice.
Not out of love.
Not out of trust.
But out of something far more dangerous.
“I’m not walking away,” I said quietly.
Sebastian held my gaze.
“I know.”
And just like that…
I stepped into his world.
- Writer
