chapter 6

Stacy POV

“I don't know you,” I said, my voice cutting through the suffocating tension hanging between us like a sharp blade. I forced my spine to stay rigid, masking the fierce tremble in my hands by clenching them into tight fists at my sides. “And frankly, I don't care to know you.”

The man stared down at me for a long, agonizing second. His gaze was heavy, calculating, dragging across my tear-stained face with a lethal sort of curiosity. Then, a quiet, wicked laugh rumbled deep in his chest. It was a dark, dangerous sound—devoid of any true humor—that sent a violent shudder straight down my spine.

“You really don’t know who I am?” He took a deliberate step closer, his towering frame casting a massive, intimidating shadow that completely swallowed me whole. “You don't recognize Damian Blackwood?”

My breath hitched in my throat, freezing the air in my lungs as the name settled into the quiet highway space.

*Damian Blackwood.*

The name alone carried enough weight to shift the temperature around us into pure ice. He wasn't just a powerful executive; he was the brooding, ruthless titan whose terrifying legacy was built on cold precision, backroom dominance, and sheer, unyielding power. He was the kind of man whose name was whispered in boardroom corners like a ghost story—a dark figure surrounded by vast wealth, lethal connections, and the kind of dangerous aura that made billionaires stand aside and keep their mouths shut. He lived in a world of high-stakes ruthlessness where ordinary people were merely collateral damage.

“So you’re Damian Blackwood,” I whispered. My heart was hammering wildly against my ribs, threatening to burst right through my chest, but I forced myself to raise my chin and hold his piercing blue gaze. “The arrogant bastard everyone warns people about. The gloomy predator who thinks the entire world bends to his feet.”

I glanced back toward my SUV, my chest aching with a raw, fierce protectiveness. My daughter was in that car, locked inside, watching through the glass with wide, terrified eyes. I had just rescued her from my lying husband and my snake of a sister. I had just survived the most soul-crushing betrayal of my life, and I was not about to let some shadowy billionaire play mind games with me on an isolated road.

I opened my mouth to demand he move his black sedan, to scream at him to get out of my way so I could take my daughter somewhere safe, but he raised a gloved hand, cutting me off before I could utter a single word.

“Shut up,” he said smoothly. His voice dropped into a dangerously low register, dripping with an absolute, terrifying authority that expected instant obedience.

I choked on my breath, stunned by the sheer audacity of his tone.

“Let me make something very clear to you, Stacy,” he continued, taking another slow, predatory step that forced me to tilt my head back just to keep eyes on him. “I live a bad life. A cruel, unapologetic one. I don't follow rules, I don't ask for permission, and I buy whatever catches my eye. If I felt like it, I could buy the title to your home by nightfall. I could buy the very car you’re driving right out from under you. And as for your precious corporate empire? I could tear it apart, bankrupt your board by morning, and purchase the floating scraps before the week is even over.”

His words hit me like a physical blow, intended to shrink me, to make me feel small and defenseless. But after everything I had endured today—after facing Ethan's hollow lies and Tania's poison—Damian Blackwood's arrogant display didn't shatter me. It ignited something wild and ferocious inside my chest.

My blood boiled, the sheer disrespect sparking a blinding, fiery rage. I took a hard, defiant step right into his personal space, closing the gap between us, refusing to let him see the faint tremor creeping up my neck.

“I don't care about your money, and I don't give a damn about your power!” I spat, my voice shaking with raw, unadulterated passion. Tears of pure frustration threatened to spill over my lashes, but I burned them away with the intensity of my glare. “Do you think you scare me? Do you think your grand threats mean anything to me right now? I have survived enough monsters today to last a lifetime! I have looked the people who claimed to love me in the eye and watched them tear my family apart. So listen to me very carefully, Mr. Blackwood—the next time you see me, stay clear of my path!”

Damian tilted his head slightly, his sharp jawline tightening as his gaze slowly tracked the fire burning in my eyes. For a fraction of a second, something flared deep within those icy blue depths—a flicker of genuine intrigue, a dark appreciation for a woman who refused to kneel. A slow, dangerously sharp smirk carved across his face.

“Stay clear?”

He leaned down, bringing his face inches from mine until I could feel the cold brush of his breath against my burning skin, until his terrifying, magnetic presence filled every inch of my senses.

“Or what, Stacy?” he murmured, his dark voice wrapping around my senses like velvet steel. “Maybe I’ll just marry you instead.”