Chapter One

The first thing Seraphina Vale noticed about the room was the silence.

Not the comfortable kind—the kind that pressed against her skin, heavy and deliberate, as though the walls themselves were listening. The Blackwood Holdings executive floor sat fifty-seven stories above Manhattan, wrapped in glass and power. Every surface gleamed. Every object looked expensive enough to be untouchable.

Including the man standing by the window.

Lucien Blackwood did not turn when she entered. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing out at the city as if he owned it—which, she suspected, he nearly did. The skyline reflected against the dark glass, turning him into a shadow carved from steel.

“You’re late,” he said calmly.

Seraphina stiffened. “Your assistant rescheduled the meeting twice.”

He turned then.

The movement was unhurried, controlled. His eyes—cool, assessing, dangerously unreadable—settled on her with a weight that made her spine straighten instinctively. He wore a charcoal suit that probably cost more than her mother’s hospital bills. No tie. No softness.

“Sit,” Lucien said.

It wasn’t a request.

She lowered herself into the leather chair opposite his desk, careful not to let her hands tremble. She’d spent the last forty-eight hours rehearsing what she would say. Practicing dignity. Preparing refusal.

Now, faced with him, the words felt small.

Lucien returned to his seat, sliding a thin black folder across the polished surface between them. His fingers were long, precise—hands accustomed to signing deals that changed lives.

“This,” he said, “is the solution to your problem.”

Seraphina didn’t touch the folder. “I didn’t come here for charity.”

A flicker—amusement?—crossed his face, gone as quickly as it appeared.

“Good,” he replied. “Because I don’t offer it.”

He leaned back, studying her openly now. She felt stripped beneath his gaze—not undressed, but evaluated. Like a risk. Or an asset.

“You’re drowning,” Lucien continued evenly. “Your mother’s medical expenses. Your father’s debts. The bank foreclosure scheduled in three weeks.” His voice didn’t soften. “You have no collateral. No powerful friends. No time.”

Her breath caught.

She had been careful. Private. How did he—

“You ran a background check on me,” she said quietly.

“I run background checks on everyone,” he corrected. “You were not difficult.”

Heat crawled up her neck, equal parts anger and humiliation. “Then you already know why I won’t accept whatever is in that folder.”

Lucien’s gaze sharpened. “Do I?”

She finally placed her hand on the contract, feeling its weight without opening it. “Because whatever this is, it comes with a price I can’t afford.”

“Everyone can afford a price,” he said. “They simply decide what matters more.”

Silence stretched between them again. Outside, the city pulsed—alive, indifferent.

“What do you want from me?” Seraphina asked.

Lucien didn’t answer immediately. He reached for a glass of water, took a measured sip, then placed it down as if preparing for a negotiation rather than a confession.

“I need a wife.”

Her heart stuttered.

She laughed—once, sharply. “You’re joking.”

“I don’t joke,” he replied.

Seraphina pushed the folder away. “You should call a casting agency. Or pick one of the socialites throwing themselves at your name.”

“I need someone unconnected,” Lucien said. “Untainted by my world. Someone intelligent enough to learn quickly. Someone desperate enough to agree.”

The word stung.

She stood. “This meeting is over.”

Lucien didn’t rise. “Sit.”

Her hands clenched. “You don’t get to—”

“You walked into my office,” he interrupted coolly. “Hear the terms.”

Against her better judgment, she sat.

Lucien opened the folder himself, turning it so she could see the first page.

CONFIDENTIAL AGREEMENT

“Public marriage,” he said. “Private arrangement. Duration: eighteen months.”

Seraphina’s chest tightened. “And after?”

“A clean exit. Financial compensation. Your family protected.”

Her voice dropped. “Protected from what?”

His eyes darkened. “From the consequences you cannot fight alone.”

She swallowed.

“You will live with me,” Lucien continued. “Attend events. Wear the ring. Smile for cameras. You will not speak to the press without approval.”

“And intimacy?” she asked, hating that her voice shook.

A pause.

“That,” he said carefully, “will be… negotiated.”

Her pulse thundered. “So I’m not your wife. I’m your—”

“Careful,” Lucien warned. “You choose the word. The contract does not.”

She looked down at the pages, words blurring. Clauses. Conditions. Control.

Her dignity screamed at her to leave.

Her mother’s face flashed through her mind—pale, exhausted, trying to smile through pain.

“How much?” Seraphina whispered.

Lucien named the figure.

The room tilted.

“That’s impossible,” she breathed.

“Not for me,” he said.

Tears burned behind her eyes, but she forced them back. “Why me?”

For the first time, Lucien hesitated.

“Because,” he said slowly, “you won’t fall in love with me.”

The words landed like a challenge.

She let out a hollow laugh. “You’re arrogant.”

“I’m honest.”

Seraphina stared at the contract, at the line waiting for her signature. Ink. Paper. A decision that would redraw her entire life.

“What happens if I break it?” she asked.

Lucien leaned forward, close enough now that she could smell his cologne—dark, restrained, dangerous.

“Then,” he said softly, “you lose everything I give you.”

“And if you break it?”

His lips curved faintly. “I don’t.”

Silence.

Her pen hovered over the page.

This wasn’t love.

It wasn’t desire.

It was survival.

She signed.

The sound of ink against paper echoed louder than it should have.

Lucien closed the folder.

“Welcome,” he said, standing, “Mrs. Blackwood.”

Her stomach twisted.

As she rose, their eyes met—and for a brief, unguarded second, something flickered there. Not triumph.

Hunger.

Seraphina realized then, far too late—

She hadn’t signed to be his wife.

She had signed to be his sin.