The Wicked Matriarch and the Power Deal

I woke up with the sun staring right into my face.

For a single second, I thought I was back in my military barracks on Earth. I reached out, expecting to feel the rough frame of my army bed, but my fingers hit a soft mattress instead. 

The events of last night rushed into my head. The hotel room, the strange heat, the terrifying kiss from Ares Sterling, and the mind-snapping news about a baby.

I sat up, my stomach immediately turning. I threw my legs over the edge of the bed and rested my head in my hands. It wasn't a dream. 

I wanted to cry out of frustration, staring down at my pale, thin fingers. How the hell was I supposed to get out of this place? I was stuck in a world that made no sense, trapped in a body that wasn't mine.

Then, a sudden thought struck me. Back on Earth, if you get captured by the enemy, you don't just sit there and whine. You study the world, you find their weak points, and you play the part until you can break out. 

If this strange world had rules, I needed to learn them. If Julian Vane had wealth and power, then that power was my only weapon to find a way back home.

"If I have to play the role, I will play it perfectly," I muttered to myself, clenching my fists.

I looked at the small glass table beside the bed. My phone was lying right there. I let out a breath, surprised that a brutal guy like Ares actually had enough decency to leave my personal items behind. 

I picked it up and tapped the screen. Dozens of missed calls and unread messages from a name saved as Harrison Cole popped up.

“Sir, where are you?” The first text read.

Your mother just called an emergency meeting. She is trying to bypass your authority.

You need to come to the headquarters right now. They are voting in an hour.

I stared at the messages, Julian’s memories quickly identifying Harrison as my personal secretary. My mother, Marianne Vane, was trying to take my company away because of this Omega stuff.

"More obstacles to clear out," I growled.

I dragged myself to the bathroom. The reflection in the mirror still shocked me, but I didn't have time to stare. 

I washed my face, ignored the dull ache in my lower stomach, and found a black suit in the closet. It took every bit of my strength to button the shirt and slide into the jacket without collapsing. I looked neat, professional, and dangerous.

Getting out of the house was surprisingly easy. The guards at the front gates looked at me with confusion, probably wondering how a weak Omega was walking with such a stiff, commanding posture, but they didn't dare stop the CEO of the Vane Group and luckily for me Ares does not seem to be around. 

I caught a cab outside the estate and gave the driver the address.

When I arrived at the massive glass skyscraper of the Vane Headquarters, my stomach twisted again. Morning sickness hit me right in the lobby.

 I swallowed it down, forcing my face to remain completely expressionless as I took the elevator straight to the top floor. I pushed the glass doors of the boardroom open without knocking.

The entire room went silent. A dozen older men in expensive suits turned to look at me. At the head of the long table sat an elegant, cold-faced woman with her graying hair pulled back into a tight bun. Marianne Vane, Julian bitch of a mother.

"Julian," Marianne said, her voice dripping with fake pity. "You shouldn't be out of bed. We all heard about your medical condition. A second differentiation is very difficult for the body."

"I am the CEO of this company," I said, my voice echoing off the walls. I walked over and took my seat at the opposite end of the table, leaning forward. "What is the meaning of this unannounced meeting?"

One of the older board members cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. "Mr. Vane, the bylaws state that the leader of the Vane Group must be an Alpha who can project strength to our investors. An Omega running a multi-billion dollar empire will cause our stock price to drop by tomorrow morning."

"Are you questioning my mind because of my biology?" I snapped, slamming my palm on the table. The sudden movement made my head spin, and a cold sweat broke out on the back of my neck. I gripped the edge of the table tightly so they wouldn't see my hands shaking.

Marianne smiled, a cruel, satisfied look in her eyes. "It is not a question, Julian. It is a fact. We are holding a vote to strip you of your title and appoint your cousin as the new chairperson. It is for your own good. You need to focus on your... upcoming domestic duties."

They knew about the pregnancy, but how? They were using it to crush me. I glared around the room, trying to use my old captain's aura to terrify them, but these men only cared about money and genders. I was losing ground, and I could feel my weak body failing me just when I needed to stand firm.

Suddenly, the boardroom doors were shoved open with force.

The company's Head of Security stepped inside, his face completely pale. "Ma'am, I am sorry, but we couldn't stop them. An emergency shareholder has just verified a major transaction."

Before Marianne could even shout, Ares Sterling walked into the room. Flanked by five high-powered lawyers holding thick folders, he looked like the man who owned the entire city. 

His eyes swept across the room, completely ignoring the shocked board members, before locking straight onto me.

"What is the meaning of this?" Marianne stood up, her face turning red with anger. "Ares Sterling, this is a private Vane Group meeting. Get your security to throw him out!"

"You can't throw out a majority investor, Mrs. Vane," Ares said calmly. He walked to the center of the room and gestured to his lead lawyer, who stepped forward and dropped a thick stack of documents right onto the middle of the table.

"In the last two hours," the lawyer announced, his voice clear and professional, "The Sterling Group has successfully purchased the shares of three minor board members at triple their market value. Combined with our existing market holdings, Mr. Ares Sterling now controls thirty-five percent of the Vane family empire's voting rights."

The entire room erupted into chaotic shouting. Board members scrambled to look at the papers, their faces pale with shock. Marianne sank back into her chair, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. She was completely paralyzed.

Ares turned his gaze back to the crowd, his dominant aura instantly making the room go quiet again. "I call for a ten-minute recess. Clear the room. Now."

The board members didn't even wait for Marianne's permission. They gathered their things and practically ran out the door, terrified of the billionaire Alpha. Marianne gave me one last hateful look before walking out, leaving Ares and me completely alone in the massive room.

The silence was heavy. I slumped back into my chair, the adrenaline leaving my body as dizziness hit me.

Ares walked over, pulling out the chair right next to mine. He didn't look at me with the smug satisfaction I expected. Instead, his face was completely serious as he slid a single piece of paper across the table toward me.

“You sure know how to sneak out better than I expected, your mother almost had you beat," Ares said, his voice quiet but intense. "She was going to take everything from you, Julian."

I looked down at the paper. It was a contract marriage document, legally binding our names and merging our personal corporate shares.

"I am a straight man," I rasped, glaring up at him through my blurred vision. "I told you that last night. I am not about to be with a man."

"This isn't about your pride right now," Ares said coldly, leaning closer so his face was inches from mine. "Sign this contract. It officially merges our current shares, giving you the majority over your mother. You get to keep your CEO seat, and I ensure my heir is born with the full backing of both empires. It is a business deal."

I stared at the pen in his hand. My brain was screaming against it. Everything about my past life told me to fight him, to refuse to submit to another male. But my military mind saw the truth. 

Without him, I was nothing in this world. I would be kicked to the streets, pregnant and weak, with zero power to ever find a way back to Earth. This was an alliance. A move to destroy a common enemy.

I grabbed the pen from his hand. "This is just for the company," I warned him, my voice shaking.

"Just for the company," Ares repeated, his eyes tracking my hand.

I pressed the pen to the paper and signed Julian Vane's name in, the moment the ink dried, a strange sense of relief washed over my body, though I hated myself for it.

The ten minutes were up. The doors opened again, and the board members filed back into the room, followed by my mother. Marianne looked smug, believing that even if Ares had shares, she still had enough votes to remove me.

I slid the signed document back to Ares, using the table to steady myself as I stood straight up. The morning sickness was gone, replaced by anger.

"The vote is cancelled," I announced, my voice cutting through the murmurs of the room.

Marianne laughed, a ugly sound. "You don't have the authority to cancel anything, Julian. We have the majority."

"No, you don't," Ares said, standing up right beside me. He tapped the signed marriage contract on the table. "As of three minutes ago, Julian Vane and I have entered a legal spousal alliance. Our shared corporate holdings now equal fifty-one percent of this entire empire. Any decision made by Julian requires no further board approval."

Marianne's face went completely white. She gripped the back of her chair so hard her knuckles turned purple. "Julian... you wouldn't. With a Sterling? He is our enemy!"

"You became my enemy the moment you tried to steal my life," I said, looking down at her with total coldness. "Pack your things, Mother. You are dismissed from the Vane board permanently. Security will escort you out of my building."

I looked over at Ares. He was watching me with a strange, dark intensity, and I realized that while I had just saved my power, I was now completely bound to a threat.