Chapter 4: A Deal with the Devil

The next morning, I walked into Lucas Black's office building feeling different from the way I had yesterday, like something inside me had changed overnight.

When I reached Lucas’s floor, his secretary glanced up at me with curious eyes, as if wondering why her boss treated me differently.

"He's waiting for you," she said, pointing toward his office door with a knowing smile that made me wonder what exactly she thought was happening.

I knocked once and walked in without waiting for permission, because I was done asking for things I could just take myself.

Lucas was standing by the window with his back to me, talking quietly on his phone, his voice too low for me to hear what he was saying.

When he hung up and turned around, his expression was different from yesterday – more focused, like he had been thinking about something important all night.

"Eva," he said, walking over to his desk and sitting down, his eyes never leaving my face for even a second.

“Good morning, Mr. Black,” I said as I sat down in the chair across from him without being asked. I refused to stand there like some nervous employee.

“How did you sleep?” he asked and I gasped softly.

It was such an odd question, especially coming from someone who usually wore a cold, unreadable expression. I couldn’t hide my surprise.

Lucas Black, asking about my sleep? That alone was suspicious. I’d only started working with him yesterday, yet he was already treating me differently.

The rumors painted him as a devil, ruthless and merciless. But I refused to believe he was being nice for nothing. No... Lucas was up to something, and I couldn’t wait to find out what.

“Fine,” I replied, pretending I wasn’t suspicious of him. But I had actually spent most of the night thinking about what Julian might try next and how I could use it against him.

"Good," he said, leaning back in his chair and studying me with those dark eyes that seemed to see everything I was trying to hide.

"I've been thinking about our conversation last night," he continued, his voice casual but his expression anything but relaxed or friendly.

"Which part?" I asked, even though I had a feeling I knew exactly where this conversation was going to lead us both.

"The part where you said you wanted power and revenge," he said simply.

“I meant what I said,” I told him, crossing my legs, confidence written all over my face.

"I know you did," he replied, opening a folder on his desk and pulling out several documents that looked official and probably very expensive.

"That's why I'm going to make you an offer," he said, sliding the papers across the desk toward me with careful, deliberate movements.

I picked up the documents and started reading, but the legal language was complicated and I couldn't understand half of what it was trying to say.

"What exactly are you offering me?" I asked, setting the papers down and looking directly at him instead of pretending I understood everything.

"A partnership," he said, his lips curving into something that wasn't quite a smile but wasn't entirely serious either.

"What kind of partnership?" I asked, because I had learned from my past life that details mattered more than anything else in business.

"The kind where you help me destroy a company that's been causing problems for my business interests," he said, his tone straightforward it was almost scary.

"And in return?" I asked, my heart starting to beat faster because I could sense this was the moment that would change everything.

"In return, I give you the resources you need to get your revenge on Julian and anyone else who's hurt you," he said quietly.

I stared at him for a long moment, trying to process what he was really offering me... and whether it would ruin the way I’d planned my revenge. I couldn’t afford distractions, not when every move had to count.

But with Lucas, it felt like everything was a game of give and take. He wasn’t being nice for nothing. If he gave me something, he would expect something back.

And suddenly, it all made sense, why he was being nice to me.

"Which company are you talking about?" I asked, because I needed to know exactly what I would be getting myself into before I agreed to anything.

"Lancaster Industries," he said, and my blood went cold because that was my father's company, the family business that was supposed to be my inheritance.

"My father's company?" I asked, my voice coming out smaller than I wanted it to, because this was bigger than I had expected.

"Yes," he said simply, like he was asking me to help him pick out lunch instead of messing up my own family’s income.

"Why do you want to destroy my father's company?" I asked, because there had to be more to this story than he was telling me.

"Because your father cost me a very important deal last year," he said, his expression getting darker as he spoke about whatever had happened.

"He used information that belonged to me to steal a contract worth fifty million dollars," he continued, his voice getting colder with each word.

“And now I want that money back, with interest, and he’ll pay extra for daring to cross me,” he finished, his voice low and dangerous.

I sat there quietly for a moment, thinking about what it would mean for my stepmother and Clara if my father’s company collapsed completely. The thought actually made me happy.

“If you destroy his company, my family will lose everything,” I said, testing how far he was willing to go with this plan.

“Good,” he replied without hesitation. That single word told me exactly how serious he was about taking his revenge on my father.

“But I’m part of that family,” I pointed out. Of course, I knew I wasn’t really considered one of them... Still, it was interesting to see how the devil himself would respond.

"Not anymore," he said, leaning forward and looking directly into my eyes with an intensity that made me shiver slightly.

"The moment you walked into my office yesterday, you stopped being a Lancaster and started being something else entirely," he continued.

"What am I now, then?" I asked, curious about how he saw me in this new deal we were discussing.

"You're mine," he said simply, and something about the way he said it made my stomach flip in a way I didn't entirely understand.