The blindingly white glare of LED headlights cut through the pouring rain, pinning me right where I stood on the curb.
The freezing storm soaked through my silk gown, plastering my hair to my neck. My cheek was still burning from where Julian’s hand had struck me, but before I could even make sense of the idling vehicle, my phone vibrated frantically in my clutch.
I pulled it out and pressed answer, holding it slightly away from my ear.
“Evelyn! You better get your pathetic ass back inside that ballroom right now!” My mother’s shriek blasted through the speaker, cutting through the thunder and the roaring downfall like a jagged blade. “Julian's father just froze our credit lines! If you don't go back in there and beg Julian, don't bother ever coming back home!”
I stared into the dark, blinding rain, a bitter chill washing over me. Not a single word asking if I was hurt, or even a mention of the slap. They didn't care that I had just been publicly humiliated—they only cared that their golden goose had walked away.
“I'm never coming back,” I said softly.
Before she could scream again, I ended the call and switched the phone off.
My knees began to tremble violently. The icy wind slashed through my soaked dress, and the physical exhaustion of three years of emotional abuse finally caught up to me.
Through the heavy downpour, the door of the sleek vehicle swung open. A towering, powerful figure stepped out into the storm.
“He always was a complete idiot.”
A deep, velvet baritone voice broke through the noise of the rain. Steady, calm, and effortlessly commanding.
I lifted my dripping lashes. “Dominic…” My teeth chattered so hard I could barely form his name. “What... what are you doing out here?”
“Watching my foolish brother throw away a diamond for a piece of glass,” Dominic said softly.
Without hesitation, he unbuttoned his dark suit jacket and draped it over my trembling shoulders. The heavy wool instantly shielded me from the wind, carrying his rich scent of cedarwood and dark musk.
He raised his bare hand, his fingers hovering barely an inch from my bruised cheek. “He put his hands on you,” Dominic murmured, his jaw tight enough to snap glass.
"It doesn't matter anymore," I choked out, wrapping his jacket tightly around my chest. “It's over…”
My vision suddenly blurred, dark spots dancing at the edges. My legs completely gave out beneath me, and I collapsed forward into the freezing dark.
Strong, warm arms caught me before I hit the wet pavement.
“I've got you,” Dominic’s deep voice rumbled above the storm. He scooped me up against his chest, and the last thing I remembered before losing consciousness was the warmth of his body against mine.
—
Morning light was streaming through massive floor-to-ceiling glass windows when my eyes finally fluttered open.
I gasped softly, sitting up quickly as my mind scrambled to make sense of my surroundings. I wasn't on the wet street, nor was I in my old, suffocating bedroom.
I was lying in the center of an enormous king-sized bed wrapped in hyper-soft white sheets. A soft fireplace crackled quietly in the corner of the room, throwing off a gentle, comforting heat.
Panicking, I pulled back the duvet to look down at myself.
My soaked evening dress was gone. In its place, I was wearing a crisp, oversized white button-down shirt that draped loosely over my shoulders, the curved hem falling halfway down my thighs. The top buttons were left open, and the sleeves were neatly rolled up past my wrists.
Where am I? Who changed me?
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stepped out into a vast, breathtaking penthouse. Following the rich aroma of fresh coffee, I padded silently down a long hallway toward a floating black staircase.
I took three quiet steps down the stairs—and froze.
Standing at the marble kitchen island below was Dominic Blackwood.
He wore a dark silk bathrobe tied loosely at his waist, leaving his broad, muscular chest and sharp abs completely exposed. His damp hair was pushed back from his angular face as he held a steaming coffee mug in one hand and his phone in the other.
Without raising his head, Dominic spoke into the quiet room. “Are you going to stand there all morning, Evelyn, or come down and have some coffee?”
Flustered, I hurried down the remaining steps, pulling the hem of the oversized shirt down as far as it would stretch.
“I... I didn't know where I was,” I murmured, taking a seat on the high leather stool across from him. “Who changed my clothes?”
“My female housekeeper, Mrs. Gable," Dominic answered smoothly, sliding a second steaming mug across the black marble toward me. “I might be a ruthless man, Evelyn, but I am not a dishonorable one.”
I wrapped my hands around the warm mug, letting the heat sink into my skin. “Thank you.”
“Don't thank me yet,” Dominic said.
He reached to the side of the counter, picked up a sleek black leather folder, and slid it across the marble surface directly in front of me. Alongside it rested a heavy steel pen.
I leaned forward, my eyes locking onto the bold black header printed across the top of the page:
LEGAL BINDING AGREEMENT: MARRIAGE CONTRACT
My breath trapped itself in my throat. “What is this?”
“An alliance,” Dominic said, leaning his forearms against the counter, bringing his intense grey eyes level with mine. “My name, my empire, and my absolute protection. Sign this, and your family's debts become my personal property—which means they will never lay a finger on you again. You will sit above Julian and his father in every single room you enter.”
I stared at him, my heart hammering against my ribs. “You're asking me to marry you? I just broke off my engagement with your brother!"
“Julian is an arrogant fool who humiliated you because he thought you had nowhere else to run,” Dominic murmured, his voice dropping into a low, lethal whisper. “He thought your parents’ debts kept you chained to his feet. Marry me, Evelyn. Take my name, and together, we give my family the war they've been begging for.”
