"You have two choices, Elena."
The man sitting across from me didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to. Power lived in his silence, in the way everyone else in the room avoided his eyes.
Marcel Blackwood.
The most feared billionaire in the city. A man whose name didn't appear in tabloids—but whose shadow controlled them.
I clenched my hands under the table. "You said you wanted to talk."
"And we are talking," he replied calmly, folding his cufflinks as if he wasn't about to destroy my life. "I'm simply being efficient."
"Choice one," he continued, sliding a folder toward me. "You walk out of here tonight. Tomorrow morning, the evidence inside that folder is delivered to the police. Your brother goes to prison for murder."
My blood turned to ice.
Slowly, I opened the folder.
Photos.
Security footage.
A bloodstained knife.
My younger brother's face—pale, terrified—frozen in a frame from a back alley camera.
"No," I whispered. "This isn't—he didn't—"
"He killed a man," Marcel said flatly. "Accidentally. Self-defense. Unfortunately, courts don't care about intentions when the victim is politically connected."
Tears burned my eyes. "Why are you showing me this?"
His dark gaze lifted to mine, sharp and unblinking. "Because I own the evidence."
My heart pounded painfully. "How?"
"I own everything," he said simply.
I swallowed hard. "What's the second choice?"
He leaned back in his chair, studying me the way a predator studies a trapped animal.
"You marry me."
The words slammed into me harder than the photos.
"What?"
"A legal marriage. One year," he continued. "You move into my mansion. You obey my rules. In return, your brother walks free. His record disappears. His name is clean."
"You're insane," I said, standing abruptly. "You think I'll sell myself to you?"
In one smooth motion, he stood too—towering over me.
"You already have," he said quietly.
I froze.
"You've been working in my company for six months," Marcel continued. "Long hours. No overtime pay. Smiling politely while my executives humiliate you. All to pay hospital bills and student loans."
He stepped closer.
"You sold your pride long before you walked into this room."
My nails dug into my palms. "I didn't know it would come to this."
"No," he agreed. "You didn't."
His gaze dropped briefly to my lips, then back to my eyes.
"But I did."
The document was thick.
Too thick for a normal marriage.
I flipped through it with shaking hands.
Living arrangements.
Behavior clauses.
Public appearances.
Non-disclosure agreements.
Then I saw it.
Clause 17.
The wife may not leave the Blackwood Estate without the husband's permission.
My breath caught. "This is a prison."
He didn't deny it. "It's protection."
"For who?" I snapped.
"For you."
I laughed bitterly. "From you?"
His jaw tightened. "From the world."
I shoved the contract back at him. "I won't sign this."
Marcel leaned down, placing his hands on the table, caging me in.
"You will."
"I won't!"
He straightened and tapped his phone. A video played.
My brother.
Handcuffed.
Bleeding.
Crying my name.
I broke.
"Stop," I sobbed. "Please."
The video ended.
Marcel's voice softened—not with kindness, but certainty.
"You're not my victim, Elena. You're my solution."
My vision blurred. "Why me?"
For the first time, something flickered in his eyes.
Obsession.
"Because you don't belong to this world," he said. "And yet you survive in it. I admire that."
"That's not a reason."
"It's the only one I need."
I stared at the pen.
One year.
Twelve months.
Three hundred sixty-five days in hell.
I signed.
On the wedding, tihere was no ceremony.
No guests.
No flowers.
Just signatures in a cold government office and a judge who didn't meet my eyes.
When Marcel slid the ring onto my finger, it felt heavy—like a shackle.
"Congratulations, Mrs. Blackwood," the judge muttered.
I didn't respond.
Marcel did.
"She's overwhelmed."
His hand closed around my wrist—not tight, but firm.
Possessive.
The Blackwood Estate rose out of the darkness like a fortress.
Tall iron gates.
Stone walls.
Guards everywhere.
My chest tightened as the car passed through the gates and they slammed shut behind us.
"This place is enormous," I whispered.
"It needs to be," Marcel replied. "Enemies are everywhere."
The car stopped.
Before I could move, he opened my door himself.
His hand hovered at my lower back as we walked inside.
Claiming.
The doors closed with a heavy thud.
The sound echoed.
"You'll be staying in the east wing," he said. "My room is next door."
"I won't sleep with you," I said quickly.
He turned slowly, eyes darkening.
"I didn't marry you for sex," he said. "I married you for ownership."
The words chilled me.
"However," he added calmly, "don't mistake restraint for weakness."
He gestured to the stairs. "Come."
In the bedroom—larger than my entire apartment—he handed me another document.
"House rules," he said.
I skimmed them.
No leaving without permission.
No private phone calls.
No guests.
No lies.
I laughed weakly. "You forgot 'no breathing without approval.'"
His lips curved slightly. "You may breathe freely. I enjoy watching it."
My stomach twisted.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked.
He stepped closer.
"Because you're dangerous," he said quietly.
"Me?"
"You don't realize it yet," he murmured. "But you will."
He reached out, brushing a strand of hair from my face.
I flinched.
His hand stilled.
"Fear is good," he said softly. "It keeps you alive."
Then he stepped back.
"You may lock your door at night," he added. "I won't touch you unless you ask."
I blinked. "Why?"
His gaze burned into me.
"Because when you finally do," he said, "I want it to be surrender."
That night, I couldn't sleep.
The silence was too loud.
I slipped out of bed and tried the door.
Unlocked.
My heart raced.
I crept down the hallway, past sleeping guards, toward the main entrance.
Freedom was right there.
I reached for the handle—
"Running already?"
I screamed.
Marcel stood in the shadows, watching me.
"How did you know?" I gasped.
He stepped forward slowly.
"You forget," he said calmly, "this house listens to me."
He reached out, lifting my chin.
His thumb brushed my lower lip.
"You can try to escape," he whispered. "But understand this."
His eyes darkened.
"I will always find you."