CHAPTER 2:THE DEAL WITH THE DEVIL

Heart pounding, Selene gripped the counter, staring at the man before her.

He wasn’t just back. He was standing there like a king reclaiming his throne.

He wasn’t the same after all those years. Now? He looked sharper. Tougher. The warmth she once knew in his eyes? Gone. Replaced by something cold. Lethal.

“Damien...” Her voice barely made it out.

His gaze dug into hers as he stepped forward, slow and deliberate.

“Selene. You vanished. Like smoke,” he said, glancing around the small, run-down diner. “Was this it? Is this why you left me?”

Amusement shimmered in his eyes. “Nah. You ran because guilt weighed heavy, huh?”

Hands in his pockets, his stance relaxed—but defiant. “Looks like karma did its thing. Tell me, Selene—how’s it feel losing everything?”

He didn’t know the full story. He didn’t care. He believed what he wanted to.

“So, Damien... what do you want?” she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

His smirk widened—empty of humor. “Came to offer a deal.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Deal, as in what?”

“Something that could help us both,” he said smoothly.

Every fiber in her screamed: Run. He didn’t make deals. He set traps.

“Not really,” she muttered, wiping the counter. A poor attempt at pretending she didn’t care.

Damien chuckled low. “Didn’t even hear the terms yet.”

Yeah, she knew him. He wouldn't be here unless he knew she had no other choice.

Her fingers tightened around the cloth. Damien leaned in, voice quiet but commanding.

“What did you want, Selene?”

She caught her breath.

“You heard me,” he said, tone calm. Too calm. Like a man who owned the room.

Selene blinked, her heart stuttering. “You... you want me to marry you?”

The laugh that escaped her lips wasn’t even real. “Did something snap in your head?”

Damien reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a folded document. He placed it on the counter and slid it toward her.

She hesitated, then unfolded it.

Her blood ran cold.

Legal paperwork. A marriage contract. His name already printed.

“Marriage contract,” he said casually. “Everything I expect from you as my wife.”

He tilted his head. “You think I’m kidding?”

Another document came out of his coat. He slid that toward her too.

Selene’s world tilted.

A bill—no, a full financial breakdown of everything wrong in her life. Overdue loans. Lawsuits. Hospital bills. Eviction notices.

Her hands shook as she flipped through it.

“Money talks,” Damien said with a venom-laced smirk. “Finding out you were drowning in debt? Wasn’t hard.”

She stared, breathing uneven.

“One call from me,” he added coolly, “and you’ll have loan sharks banging your door before sunrise.”

She gripped the paper tighter. He was backing her into a corner—and he knew it.

Her life dangled by a thread. He held the scissors.

She ought to say no. Ought to tell him to go to hell.

But she couldn’t.

Damien leaned closer, voice a notch softer. Still daring.

“So, what’ll it be?”

She met his gaze. Cold. Calculated. A challenge.

“Why?” she whispered.

His smirk didn’t budge. “Because I can.”

That answer twisted something in her. She wanted another reason. Any reason.

But silence hung heavy. His eyes gleamed with dark satisfaction.

“You hate me that much?” she whispered again, barely audible.

Damien let out a dry laugh. “Hate barely scratches the surface, sweetheart.”

A lump rose in her throat. Every instinct screamed to fight back, resist—but what choice did she really have?

If she said yes, she was selling her soul.

If she said no, he’d destroy her.

He saw her hesitation and leaned in further, voice low and mocking.

“Come on, Selene. It’s not like you’ve never bent the truth before. You were real good at that part, weren’t you?”

Maybe she should tell him the truth.

Tell him everything from that night—the night that changed everything.

But would he even listen?

She breathed in, slow and shaky.

Damien’s smirk deepened.

“A year,” he said. “One year married to me. Then you walk away with enough money to erase all your problems.”

Tempting.

Dangerous.

Selene felt the trap closing.

“I... I can’t,” she whispered, shaking her head.

Damien sighed and reached for his phone.

“Guess I should make that call—”

“Wait!” she burst out, chest tightening.

Damien arched an eyebrow, pausing.

Her voice softened. “Just... ease up a bit.”

Later that night, Selene sat in her tiny apartment, hands clenched around the edges of the marriage contract Damien had left behind.

Marry Damien Lancaster?

Not even in her worst nightmare.

Natasha, her best friend, stood frozen by the door, visibly shaken.

Selene forced a smile.

Natasha’s eyes narrowed as she stormed forward, snatching the contract from her hands. She scanned the document—expression shifting from confusion to horror.

“What in the actual hell is this?” Natasha shouted.

Selene swallowed hard.

Natasha slammed the papers down. “Your ex—the guy who hates you—wants to marry you?”

Selene couldn’t explain everything. Not yet.

“He’s got something on me,” she muttered. “If I don’t do this... I lose everything.”

“We’ll find another way,” Natasha insisted.

“There is no other way,” Selene whispered.

Frustration filled Natasha’s eyes. Her jaw clenched. “Then I’m coming too.”

Selene blinked. “What?”

“You think I’d let you go alone?” Natasha snapped. “That man? God knows what he’s planning.”

Selene wanted to argue, but the words never came. Underneath the fear... a strange sense of relief.

Deep down, she knew Natasha was right.

So, when the time came to step into New York’s dark streets... she wasn’t surprised Natasha was right there beside her.