Seraphina Beaumont POV:
I pushed myself up and walked to my desk.
I opened my laptop—a device that, in this era, fused ancient draconic rune-tech with modern electronics; its search engine could access not only ordinary news but also encrypted databases reserved for Dragon-blood society.
I began to search, frantically, for everything I could find on Gideon Montgomery.
The results were frustrating.
Beyond the official press releases-the enigmatic owner of the Montgomery Trade Guild, the adopted stepson of the Carlisle family, a Dragon Lord known for his ruthless efficiency-there was nothing. His personal life was a void, an ocean shrouded in impenetrable fog. His power was such that he could erase himself from the world.
This only hardened my resolve. A man who could protect his own information so perfectly possessed a power beyond imagination.
A soft knock on the door broke my concentration. It was a housemaid, carrying a breakfast tray. Her eyes were full of pity.
"Miss, the master ordered this. He said you are not to leave your room until you've thought things through."
The breakfast was exquisite but cold, just like the affection I received in this house. I had no appetite. I told her to leave the tray on the table.
I opened my encrypted communicator and contacted the only person I could trust.
Chloe Sullivan.
"Sera! Oh my god, you finally answered! Are you okay? I heard about last night..." Chloe's anxious voice crackled through the speaker.
I cut her off. "Chloe, I need your help. Something big."
I told her everything, my words clipped and precise-the house arrest, the stolen engagement. On the other end, I could hear Chloe practically exploding with rage.
"Those bastards! How dare they do that to you! That two-faced witch, Isabelle!"
I waited for her to finish cursing. "Yelling won't solve anything, Chloe. I need an opportunity. A chance to break free from the Sterling family for good."
"What kind of chance? Just say it! I'll go through hell and high water with you!"
I took a deep breath, the words feeling alien and insane on my tongue. "I need to meet with Gideon Montgomery. I'm going to propose to him."
The line went dead silent. For a full ten seconds, there was nothing. Then, Chloe's incredulous shriek.
"You... what did you say? Propose? To that Gideon Montgomery? Are you out of your mind?"
Just then, my door was thrown open violently. Arthur and Eleanor stormed in, their faces even uglier than the night before.
Arthur threw a document onto the desk in front of me. "Take a look. This is the new path the Carlisle family has 'arranged' for you."
I picked it up. It was a marriage contract. The groom's name was Lord Valerius, a frontier Dragon Lord infamous for his cruelty and old age. He had already outlived three wives. This was their revenge for me calling the Dragon Guard.
"You're marrying me off to him?" My voice trembled with a rage so cold it burned.
Eleanor sneered. "It's an honor for a Dragonless like you to marry a Dragon Lord. Lord Valerius was 'impressed' by your performance last night. He's willing to overlook your background and accept you."
"Impressed?" I understood. They were going to destroy me completely.
Arthur spoke impatiently. "The contract has been drafted. In three days, Lord Valerius's envoy will come to collect you. This is the last contribution you will make to this family."
They turned and left, as if they had just disposed of a piece of unwanted furniture.
I stared at the contract, a death sentence in my hands. My blood ran cold. I was on the edge of a cliff, one more step and I would be shattered to pieces.
I picked up the communicator, my voice urgent, speaking to the still-stunned Chloe. "Chloe, you heard them. I'm out of time. I have to see Gideon Montgomery."
"But why him?" Chloe asked, bewildered. "The rumors say his Dragon Soul is flawed, that he's violent and unstable. That's why he's never had a Fated Mate and has to rely on a political marriage..."
That rumor, that supposed weakness, was my only hope.
"That's exactly why I have a chance," I said, my thoughts clearer than ever before. "He needs a wife to stabilize his position and silence the rumors. I need a powerful patron to escape the Sterlings and Valerius. We each have something the other needs. It's a transaction."
I was convincing Chloe, and I was convincing myself. This was my only way out.
Chloe was silent for a moment, then her voice was firm. "Okay. I get it. My grandfather has some business dealings with the Montgomery Trade Guild. I can't promise you a meeting with Gideon himself, but I can get a message, a message that will definitely get his attention, to his assistant."
"That's enough," I said, a flicker of hope igniting in the darkness.
I hung up and started drafting the document that would decide my fate. I titled it: A Marriage Proposal for Strategic Partnership and Risk Aversion.
I would no longer be a pawn in their game.
From this moment on, I would be the one moving the pieces.
My fingers flew across the keyboard. The sunlight streaming through the window felt, for the first time, a little less harsh.
I had no idea that my desperate bid for survival was leading me straight into a meticulously woven net, a net called 'destiny'.
