CHAPTER 4 : THE WOMAN HE CHOSE

 

Elena had barely reached her apartment when her phone rang.

She glanced at the screen.

Adrian Blackwood.

She considered letting it ring. She had spent three years answering his calls at unreasonable hours, and she was no longer obligated to drop everything whenever he wanted something.

But they were negotiating a marriage now, apparently, so ignoring him might create a problem she didn't need.

She answered.

"Yes, Mr. Blackwood?"

"The revised agreement will be ready tomorrow morning. Martin will send a copy to your lawyer."

"Good evening to you too."

There was a brief silence.

"Good evening, Elena."

She smiled despite herself.

"See? That wasn't difficult."

"Are you always this determined to irritate me?"

"Only when the opportunity presents itself."

"I'll have the documents sent by ten."

"I'll review them when my lawyer is available."

"Fine."

"Fine."

Neither hung up.

Elena frowned at her phone.

"Was there something else?"

"No."

"Then good night."

She ended the call before he could change his mind about being reasonable.

For a few seconds, she stood in the middle of her apartment, staring at the screen.

This was becoming strange.

Three days ago, Adrian Blackwood had been the man she wanted to escape. Now she was discussing marriage arrangements with him over the phone.

Not a date. Not a relationship.

Marriage.

She dropped onto the sofa and covered her face with both hands.

"What am I doing?"

Her phone vibrated again.

This time, it was Maya.

Elena sat up immediately.

"Hey. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to check on you."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, Elena. I'm allowed to call my sister without being in trouble."

Elena laughed softly.

"Sorry. I'm just tired."

"Did you speak to your boss about the raise?"

The question caught her off guard.

She had told Maya that she was having another discussion with Adrian, but she hadn't mentioned the resignation.

"Actually, I resigned."

Silence.

"You did what?"

"I resigned."

"Elena!"

"I know."

"You can't just resign without another job lined up!"

"I know that too."

"Then why would you—"

"Because I was tired, Maya!" Elena interrupted, her voice sharper than she intended. She closed her eyes and lowered it. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't keep doing it. I was working myself to exhaustion, and he still acted like I was asking for something unreasonable."

Maya was quiet for a moment.

"Are you going to be okay?"

Elena looked toward the folder lying on the dining table.

"I think so."

It wasn't exactly a lie.

She hoped it would become true.

"Please don't worry about me," she added. "I'll figure something out."

"You always do."

This time, the words didn't feel like a compliment.

After they ended the call, Elena walked to the table and picked up Adrian's proposal.

She had negotiated better terms. She had spoken to a lawyer. She had given herself the chance to say no.

Whatever happened next, she would not walk into this arrangement without understanding what she was agreeing to.

She opened the folder and began reading again.

---

At Blackwood International, Adrian was having a different kind of evening.

"You're marrying your assistant?"

Martin Cole stood across from his desk with the expression of a man who had just discovered that his client intended to set fire to his own office.

"My former assistant," Adrian corrected.

"That distinction does not make this any less alarming."

Adrian continued reading an email.

"Are you finished?"

"Not remotely. You have spent the last six months rejecting every woman your family has suggested. You refused to consider Vivian Sterling, despite the fact that her family has substantial influence with the trustees. And now you're proposing marriage to the woman who resigned from your office this morning."

"Elena is intelligent, discreet and familiar with the company."

"Those are qualifications for an executive assistant, Adrian. Not a wife."

"She also knows when I'm being unreasonable."

Martin stared at him.

"That is precisely what worries me."

Adrian put down his tablet.

"What would you suggest? Marry someone who sees me as a financial opportunity and hopes to use the marriage to gain influence over the company?"

"I would suggest that you think very carefully before involving another person's life in a corporate dispute."

"I have."

"Have you? Because, from where I'm standing, you seem to have found a way to turn a succession problem into a personal experiment."

Adrian's expression hardened.

"Elena is free to refuse."

"And will she be free to leave once your family starts interfering? Once the press begins asking questions? Once your uncle decides to make her a target?"

That question lingered.

Adrian had considered the practical risks. He had not ignored them.

But he had underestimated how quickly the situation could become complicated.

"That's why we're having the agreement reviewed," he said. "She'll have independent legal advice and her own financial security."

Martin nodded slowly.

"Good. Make sure those protections are real, not merely promises you expect her to trust."

Adrian looked toward the window.

"I don't make promises I can't keep."

"No," Martin replied. "You simply expect everyone else to live with the consequences of the ones you do make."

Adrian shot him a warning look.

Martin gathered his papers.

"I'll send the revised agreement tomorrow."

As he reached the door, Adrian spoke again.

"Martin."

He turned.

"Keep this confidential until the marriage is finalized."

"I'll do my best. But if the trustees hear about it, they'll want answers."

"They'll get them when I'm ready."

Martin left.

Adrian remained at his desk, looking at the city beyond the glass.

He had negotiated acquisitions worth billions without losing sleep. Yet he found himself thinking about a woman who had challenged him repeatedly and walked out of his office without asking for permission.

Elena Hayes was going to be a problem.

He had a feeling she would be worth every minute of it.

---

The next morning, Elena arrived at her lawyer's office shortly before ten.

The revised agreement had been sent the previous evening, giving her time to read it before the meeting.

She had spent most of the night doing exactly that.

Her lawyer, a composed woman named Rebecca Lawson, sat across from her with the documents arranged neatly on the desk.

"I've reviewed the changes," Rebecca said. "The payment terms are clearer now, and the agreement protects your separate finances. Your personal property remains yours, and your right to pursue your own business interests is expressly stated."

Elena nodded.

"And the divorce?"

"The agreement cannot override the law, but it does set out the parties' intentions and the proposed financial arrangements. We'll need to ensure the final documents are consistent with the applicable legal requirements."

"Anything else I should be worried about?"

"Every marriage involves uncertainty, Elena. This one has additional risks because the parties are entering it for different reasons."

"That's one way of putting it."

Rebecca gave her a small smile.

"My advice is simple. Don't sign because you feel you have no other option. Sign only if you understand the terms and believe the benefits justify the risks."

Elena looked down at the documents.

She thought about Maya's hospital expenses. She thought about the business she wanted to build and the years she had spent postponing her own plans.

Then she thought about Adrian.

His cold expression. His sharp replies. The way he had looked at her when she asked why he wanted to marry her.

Because you aren't interested in my money.

She still wasn't sure whether that had been a compliment.

"Can we make one final change?" she asked.

"Which one?"

"I want it stated that neither of us can use the marriage to interfere with the other's professional independence. I won't be required to work for Blackwood International, and he won't have any authority over my business."

Rebecca made a note.

"That can be included."

"And I want the payment schedule confirmed before the wedding, not left open to his discretion."

"Agreed."

Elena released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

"Then I think we're ready."

"Are you certain?"

"No," Elena admitted. "But I'm informed, and I'm making the decision myself. That's the best I can do."

Rebecca nodded.

"Then let's finalize the terms."

---

Adrian was waiting when Elena returned to Blackwood International that afternoon.

He stood behind his desk, reading a report, when she entered with the final documents.

"You're early," he said.

"I had the agreement reviewed."

"And?"

"My lawyer approved the terms, subject to the final amendments."

He held out his hand for the papers.

She gave them to him.

Adrian read through the changes, stopping briefly at the clause protecting Elena's professional independence.

"You intend to start your own business?"

"Eventually."

"What kind?"

"Event planning."

He looked up.

"Event planning?"

"Yes. Weddings, corporate functions, private events. Things people actually enjoy attending."

"You're aware that this can be a demanding industry?"

"Thank you for the career advice. I'll be sure to remember it."

"I wasn't questioning your ability."

"Then you should work on your delivery."

He looked at her for a moment before returning to the documents.

When he finished, he placed the papers on the desk.

"Everything appears to be in order."

"Good."

"You understand what this means?"

Elena folded her arms.

"It means that if we sign, we'll be legally married once the necessary formalities are completed."

"It also means that the public will expect us to behave like a couple."

"I understand that."

"My family will ask questions."

"I'll answer the ones I'm comfortable answering."

"Some of them won't appreciate your independence."

"Then they'll have to get used to it."

Adrian's gaze remained fixed on her.

"You don't make anything easy, do you?"

"No. But I do make things interesting."

He gave a quiet laugh.

It was so unexpected that Elena stared at him.

She had heard him laugh before, of course, but usually at a board meeting when someone made a clever remark. This was different. Brief, genuine and directed at her.

For a second, he looked younger.

Less intimidating.

Elena quickly looked away.

She had no intention of finding her future husband attractive.

Especially not this one.

"One more thing," Adrian said.

She turned back.

"Once the engagement is announced, we'll need to attend a family dinner this weekend. My grandmother will expect to meet you."

"Your grandmother?"

"Yes."

"And does she know about this arrangement?"

"Not yet."

Elena stared at him.

"You're telling me that I'm about to marry you, and your grandmother doesn't even know I exist?"

"She knows you exist. She doesn't know I'm proposing marriage."

"That is not reassuring."

"She'll ask questions. Answer honestly where you can, but we need to agree on a consistent account of how our relationship developed."

Elena shook her head.

"You're unbelievable."

"So I've been told."

"By everyone, I imagine."

"Mostly by you."

She tried not to smile.

Failed.

Then she remembered something.

"When do you intend to tell your family?"

"After the paperwork is completed. I want to avoid unnecessary speculation before we're ready."

"Fine. But I'm not going to stand there and let your family treat me like an opportunist while you remain silent."

Adrian's expression became serious.

"You won't have to."

She searched his face, trying to determine whether he meant it.

For once, he didn't look away.

"All right," she said quietly.

He placed the agreement between them and handed her a pen.

"Shall we?"

Elena looked at the documents.

Her heart was beating faster than she wanted to admit.

This was the point where she could still walk away. She could return to her apartment, search for another job and find a different way to deal with her financial problems.

It would be difficult.

But it was possible.

She looked at Adrian.

He was waiting, giving her the space to decide.

"Remember something, Mr. Blackwood," she said.

"What?"

"I may be agreeing to marry you, but I am not agreeing to become your property."

His eyes held hers.

"I wouldn't want you if you were."

The answer caught her off guard.

For a moment, neither moved.

Then Elena lowered her gaze and signed her name.

Adrian signed beneath hers.

Two signatures.

One marriage.

And an arrangement that neither of them fully understood.

He gathered the documents and placed them in the folder.

"Welcome to the Blackwood family, Elena."

She gave him a dry look.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I haven't even met your grandmother."

---

Across the city, Vivian Sterling was sitting in the private dining room of an exclusive restaurant when her phone rang.

She answered without looking at the caller's name.

"Hello?"

"Miss Sterling, I thought you should know something."

Vivian recognized the voice immediately. It belonged to someone who worked within Blackwood International, someone who occasionally passed along information in exchange for favors.

"What is it?"

"Adrian Blackwood has chosen someone."

Vivian's fingers tightened around her glass.

"Chosen someone for what?"

There was a pause.

"Marriage."

For a moment, she thought she had misheard.

Then she laughed softly.

"That's impossible. Adrian hasn't agreed to marry anyone."

"Apparently, he has now."

"Who?"

"His assistant. Elena Hayes."

Vivian's smile disappeared.

"The assistant?"

"Yes."

She set down her glass.

For months, Vivian had believed that Adrian would eventually come to his senses. Their families had the right connections, their businesses complemented each other, and she knew how to move through his world without making him uncomfortable.

She had assumed that his refusal to commit was temporary.

Now he was choosing a woman who had spent three years working behind his desk.

A woman nobody had ever heard of outside the company.

Vivian's cheeks warmed with anger.

"Find out everything you can about her."

"Of course."

"And don't let anyone know you're asking."

She ended the call and sat back in her chair.

Elena Hayes.

She repeated the name quietly, as if committing it to memory.

If Adrian thought he could humiliate her by choosing another woman, he was making a serious mistake.

Vivian had no intention of standing aside.

Not for an assistant.

Not for anyone.

End of Chapter Four.