Chapter 1: The Ring and the Stranger
The first thing Elara Jameson noticed was the silence.
Not the comforting kind—the eerie kind. The kind that screams something is wrong.
Her eyes fluttered open slowly. Soft sunlight streamed through sheer white curtains. The sheets beneath her were silk, ivory in color. The air smelled faintly of cedar and something expensive. This wasn't her bedroom. This wasn't her apartment.
She bolted upright.
Panic rose like a tidal wave in her chest. The bed was massive, king-sized, and she was the only one in it. She was still wearing a dress—deep red, strapless. Wrinkled, but not torn. Her heels lay discarded on the floor. Her head throbbed like someone had stuffed cotton in her skull.
Where am I?
She pushed the covers aside and stood on unsteady legs. The room was gorgeous, cold, minimal. Modern furniture. Expensive taste. She'd never been here before in her life.
She looked down at her left hand—and froze.
There, on her finger, was a ring.
Not just any ring. A massive, cushion-cut diamond set in white gold. Her heart stuttered.
What the hell?
A sudden rustle from behind made her spin.
A man stepped into view from the hallway. Tall. Broad-shouldered. Dressed in a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black slacks. Dark hair, tousled. Sharp jawline. He looked like he'd walked off the pages of a magazine—if that magazine catered exclusively to cold, ruthless billionaires.
Her breath caught in her throat.
"Good morning," he said, his voice like velvet soaked in ice. "You're awake."
"Who are you?" she demanded, taking a step back.
He arched a brow. "You don't remember last night."
"No. I don't even know where I am, or—" She held up her hand. "Why the hell am I wearing this?"
He stepped forward calmly, slipping a folded sheet of paper from the counter behind him. "That would be because you signed this."
Elara snatched it from his hand. Her heart thudded louder as she scanned the document.
A marriage certificate.
Her name. His name.
Killian Blake.
Her blood ran cold.
She looked up at him slowly. "You… You're the CEO of Blake Global."
He nodded once.
"You destroyed my father's company," she whispered.
"I made an offer. He refused. Business is business." He said it like they were discussing the weather.
She stared at him. "You married me."
He looked her dead in the eye.
"No. You married me."