CHAPTER TWO

Sophia's POV

The rain wasn't stopping. If anything, it got louder, mocking me with every heavy drop that hit the plastic roof of the bus stop.

I stared at my phone's screen blankly. As though staring at it continuously was going to make a single dollar pop up.

How was I supposed to even get a bus? I couldn't even buy a pack of gum, let alone a ticket out of this nightmare.

My teeth were chattering so hard it actually started to hurt my jaw. I tried to pull my soaked sweater tighter around my chest, but it was useless.

I was officially a statistic. A headline in the making. Discarded Vale Wife Found Frozen at Bus Stop.

I couldn't even die with dignity.

Suddenly, the wall of rain was pierced by two blinding white lights. A bus was approaching…..me?

Maybe they'd be able to give a free ride if I begged? I just needed to wait for it to get close enough for me to yell.

I squinted, holding my hand up to block the glare. Oh. It wasn't a bus. It was a sleek, black sedan that looked like it cost more than the house I grew up in.

It pulled to a stop right in front of the bench. The engine purred before going off.

"Great," I muttered raspily. "Just what I need. A serial killer to finish the job."

The back window rolled down with a smooth hiss.

I froze. I knew that face. Everyone in the city knew that face.

Dominic Black.

The oldest of the five Black brothers. The man who spent fifty percent of his time making billions and the other fifty percent trying to wipe the Vale family off the corporate map.

He was Marcus’s absolute worst nightmare. And right now, he was looking at me like I was a very interesting specimen under a microscope.

"You look pathetic, Sophia," Dominic said. His voice was smooth, cold, and way too calm for a man staring at a drowned rat.

"Thanks, Dominic. I really needed the ego boost," I snapped. My pride was the only thing I had left, and I was clinging to it tight.

He leaned back into the leather upholstery, his dark eyes tracking the way I was shaking.

"I heard the news," he said. "The security at the Vale estate isn't as tight as they think. Word travels fast when a wife gets tossed out into a storm like you were.”

Hahahaha. It had been, what, thirty minutes?

And the scandal was already out there. Marcus and Victoria hadn't just ruined me; they’d turned me into a public joke before I even hit the bloody pavement.

"If you're here to laugh, get it over with," I said, looking away from him. "I don't have time for this. I have a bus to catch."

"With what money?" Dominic asked. "I know Marcus. I’m guessing your accounts are as empty as your stomach right now."

I bit my lip, refusing to look at him. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

"Get in the car," he commanded.

"Hell nah. I’m not getting in a car with you. You hate my husband."

"Ex-husband," Dominic corrected sharply. "And you’re right. I despise the man. Which is exactly why you’re going to get in this car."

I finally turned to look at him. "Why?"

Dominic leaned forward. "Think about it, Sophia. What would hurt Marcus more than anything? What would humiliate that arrogant prick in front of the entire board?"

I stared at him, my brain trying to keep up through the fog of exhaustion.

"You want to use me," I whispered.

"I want to adopt you," he said, a slow, predatory smirk spreading across his lips. "Publicly. The Blacks taking in the discarded Vale wife. Treating her like an honorary sister. Giving her the life the Vales were too cheap to provide."

He paused, letting the weight of that sink in.

"Imagine the headlines. Imagine Marcus’s face when he sees you at the next gala, dripping in Black diamonds, standing next to me. It wouldn't just be a scandal. It would be a declaration of war."

My heart was racing. This was insane. This was a nightmare wrapped in a fever dream.

"You're crazy," I said.

"I'm a strategist," Dominic countered. "And you're out of options. You stay here, and you’re a victim. You come with me, and you’re a weapon. Which one sounds better?"

I looked at the empty, dark road. I looked at my ruined shoes.

I had nothing. No one.

If I got in that car, I was stepping into another cage. A more expensive one, sure, but a cage nonetheless.

The Blacks weren't saints. They were more like sharks.

But at least they weren't Vales.

"Why me?" I asked. "You could find a hundred ways to mess with him."

"Because you know where the bodies are buried," Dominic said, his voice dropping an octave. "And because I like the look in your eyes right now. You want to burn his world down. I’m just offering you the matches."

He was right. I wanted Marcus to suffer. I wanted Victoria to choke on her family heirlooms.

I reached down, grabbed the handle of my pathetic suitcase, and stood up. My legs felt like jelly, but I forced myself to walk toward the car.

The driver hopped out and took the suitcase from me before I could protest. He looked at the crack in the side with a faint grimace before tossing it into the trunk.

I slid into the backseat, the warmth of the car hitting me like a physical wave. The leather was soft, smelling of expensive cologne and whatever air freshener product they use.

"Smart choice," he said.

"Don't get it twisted, Dominic," I said, my voice steadier now that I wasn't shivering. "I’m not your sister. And I’m not your pet."

"Of course not," he said, handing me a plush, dry towel. "You're a Black project now. And we never fail our projects."

As the car pulled away from the curb, I looked out the window at the bus stop.

Ten minutes ago, I was a broken girl waiting for her end. Now, I was sitting next to the most dangerous man in the city, heading toward a lion's den that made the Vale mansion look like a playpen.

Dominic went back to his phone, his face unreadable, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

What had I just done?

I’d traded one master for another. I’d sold my soul to another egoistic bastard. And what's worse? They're aren't just one in this case. Five. Five egoistic bastards all for a singular me to deal with.

Dear God, please tell me I didn't just make the biggest mistake of my life.

But then I thought about Marcus’s face. I thought about the way he’d looked at his phone instead of me.

If being Dominic Black’s weapon was the only way to make Marcus pay, then so be it.

I leaned my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes.

Sure, I was wet, I was tired, and I was stepping into a war zone.

But for the first time in three years, I wasn't a Vale.

And the new Sophia? She was going to be a problem.

A big, expensive, Black-sized problem.

Fuck, I couldn't wait to see the look on Marcus's face when he realized it.