Novels by uwakmfonakpan53

Chapter 7Vivienne's Pov "Take your clothes off."The command hit me like a bucket of ice water, completely shattering the dark, feverish haze of the elevator. I froze, my spine snapping straight. My hands instinctively tightened around the edges of his heavy cashmere coat, pulling it tight against my chest to cover the ruined silk gown.Julian let out a harsh, exhausted breath. He stepped out of the elevator and onto the black marble of the penthouse, running a blood-stained hand through his dark hair. He didn't even look back at me."The dress, Vivienne," he said, his voice stripped of the hungry, feral edge from a moment ago, replaced by a chilling, transactional deadness. "It has Costa's blood on the hem. Take it off, throw it in the incinerator chute in your bathroom, and scrub the mess off your face. And lock your door."He walked away, disappearing into the shadows of the west wing. The heavy oak doors clicked shut, plunging my side of the penthouse into a deafening silence.I

Chapter 6The ride back to the penthouse was a suffocating blur of flashing city lights and deafening silence. I sat pressed against the farthest door of the Maybach, my knees pulled tightly together, shivering despite the heavy cashmere coat Julian had thrown over my shoulders.Beneath the expensive wool, my emerald silk gown felt like a burial shroud.I couldn't stop staring at his hands.He had wiped the blood off with a linen handkerchief before we left the Plaza, but in the dim, shifting shadows of the car, my mind kept painting the rust-colored stains back into the creases of his knuckles. Those hands had just taken a life. Easily. Effortlessly. Without a single fraction of a second's hesitation.He was sitting on the opposite side of the leather bench, entirely still, his posture relaxed. He was staring out the window at the passing city, looking every inch the untouched, bored billionaire heading home from a dull charity event. It was sickening. The duality of the man sitting

Chapter 5Vivienne's Pov The ballroom had become a suffocating trap the moment Julian walked away.He had left me standing there like a prized mare tied to a post, issuing a command so cold it had frozen the champagne in my glass. Do not move from this exact spot.It lasted exactly three minutes.The glittering stares of New York’s elite were peeling my skin back layer by layer. The whispered gossip brushed against the back of my neck like a physical weight. Victor Sterling’s disgraced daughter. Julian Vance’s new charity case. I couldn't breathe. The corset of the emerald silk gown felt like it was crushing my ribs into powder. I just needed air. I needed silence.I slipped out of the ballroom, letting the heavy, gilded doors swing shut behind me, cutting off the swelling string quartet. The corridor leading to the VIP wing was empty, dimly lit by antique sconces that cast long, creeping shadows against the silk-lined walls. The thick Persian carpet swallowed the sharp clicks of my

Chapter 4Julian's pov Control is a religion, and for fifteen years, I had been its most devoted priest. I built a multi-billion-dollar empire and an international syndicate on the foundation of absolute, unbreakable discipline. Every variable in my life was calculated. Every weakness eradicated.Until yesterday. Until her.Sitting across from me in the shadowed, silent cabin of the Maybach, Vivienne was a masterclass in defiance. She was staring out the tinted window at the flashing lights of the city, utterly ignoring my existence. My stylists had draped her in a liquid emerald silk gown that clung to every curve, leaving her shoulders bare and vulnerable. Diamonds, cold and heavy, rested against her collarbones—the chains I bought to tie her to me.She was breathtaking. It infuriated me.She was the daughter of Victor Sterling. She carried the blood of the man who had slaughtered my family, the man I had sworn my life to destroying. She was nothing but a pawn. Bait. A means to an

Chapter 3Vivienne's Pov The private elevator doors slid open with a breathless, expensive hiss, depositing me directly into the penthouse.I stepped off the plush carpet of the elevator and onto freezing black marble, my heels clicking sharply into the cavernous silence. The space was staggering. It spanned the entire top floor of the high-rise, encased in floor-to-ceiling glass that offered a dizzying, panoramic view of the Manhattan skyline. But despite the breathtaking luxury, the penthouse felt entirely devoid of life. It was monochromatic, sharp, and sterile. A meticulously curated museum.A high-altitude tomb.Julian was already there. He stood behind a massive, raw-edge marble kitchen island, his suit jacket discarded over the back of a stool, leaving him in a tailored slate waistcoat and a crisp white shirt. He was staring down at a glowing tablet, a glass of amber liquid resting near his knuckles.He didn't look up when I entered. He didn't so much as blink.Matteo stepped

Chapter 2Vivienne's Pov The elevator ride to the sixty-fifth floor of Vance Enterprises had felt like a slow ascent to the guillotine. Now, sitting in the dead center of the cavernous, glass-walled boardroom, I felt the cold steel of the blade hovering right against my neck.Julian sat opposite me at the head of the massive obsidian table, just watching me. In front of me lay forty pages of thick, cream-colored paper. The marriage contract. I turned another page, the sharp, dry rustle of paper the only sound in the dead-silent room. The air conditioning was turned down to a freezing temperature, but my blood was rushing too hot and too fast for me to shiver. I read the lines of text, my stomach twisting into tighter, more violent knots with every word.These weren't marriage vows. These were terms of surrender.Section 4: The Signatory shall relocate to the primary residence of Julian Vance. She will not maintain a separate domicile or private lodging.Section 9: All public appearan