Flashback

One Day Earlier…

"That bastard!" Raellyn’s scream tore through the rooftop air like a wounded animal's cry raw, broken, seething. Her voice rose into the bruised sky, swallowed by the wind, but not before it echoed with all the agony she had tried to bury. “How dare he throw me away like that? After everything he said, after everything we were supposed to be. I did nothing wrong! And now… he’s laughing on camera, holding another woman like none of it ever mattered!”

She stood on the ledge of a building far too high for someone with a heart that fragile. Her breath came in ragged bursts. Her eyes once soft with dreams now blazed with betrayal. Her fists clenched, nails digging into her palms until it hurt. The world around her felt like it was shrinking. Crushing her in the cage of her own humiliation. It hadn’t even been a week since Arsene, the man who had stolen her heart with a single look, had asked for her hand in marriage. Seven days since he knelt and told her she was his future. And now? he smiled for the cameras, draped over some sparkling new actress like Raellyn had never even existed. Everything had crumbled to ash. The love she nurtured, the future she envisioned… all swept away by a scandal plastered across entertainment news headlines.

Rage throbbed beneath her skin like blood boiling through poisoned veins. Her heart, a wound yet to scab over, led her to the one place she swore never to set foot in the talent agency where Arsene worked. She needed answers. Closure. Something more than the deafening silence he left her with. But fate greeted her with another slap in the face: he was gone. Vanished, they said. Out of town for three days. Typical. Unoriginal. Infuriating.

She hadn’t come here to cry. She had come for truth. Justice. She had barged into his agency like a storm, demanding answers, but instead she was met with indifference and guards who ushered her out like she was nothing. No explanations. No justice. Just a push back to the sidewalk, as if she were nothing.

But Raellyn wasn’t the kind of woman to be discarded. Now her name was dirt. A ghost in a tabloid scandal. A woman scorned by a rising star.

With a forged name tag clipped to her chest, she slipped past the security like a phantom. Invisible, yet burning with rage. If she couldn’t get to Arsene, she’d find the next best thing, his older brother. The Director. The man behind the curtain of this rotten, glittering world.

But again, disappointment met her like an old friend.

“He’s gone.”

“Come back in three days.”

“No, you’re not on the list.”

Ya, the office was empty. No trace of him. Not even a shadow. Defeated, she climbed to the rooftop. The only place in this godforsaken building where the sky didn’t feel like a ceiling.

The cold wind kissed her cheeks. Her hair, tousled by fury and fatigue, danced like broken threads in a storm. The city below glimmered as if mocking her pain.

She screamed. At the skyline. At the heavens. At the absurdity of it all. At love, so cruelly weaponized against her.

But then she smelled it.

A scent, faint but sharp. Bitter. Smoky. Tobacco. Filtered nicotine. Expensive.

She wasn’t alone.  She turned sharply.

There, half-shrouded behind a dying rooftop light and a potted ficus, stood a man. His silhouette was striking tall, poised. Imposing. Dressed in black like the night itself. He wasn’t watching her. Not yet. But something about his stillness set every nerve in her body on edge. His presence demanded the marble floors of a private penthouse, not concrete and rusted rails.

Raellyn hesitated, then said coolly, “Excuse me. Do you mind if I have a cigarette?”

She didn’t know why she asked. Maybe because it was absurd. Or desperation. But the pain needed somewhere to go. Even into smoke. Her father would’ve slapped her for even saying the word smoke. But he wasn’t here anymore. No one was.

The man didn’t respond. Not a word. Not even a glance.

She stepped closer, chin lifted. ““I’m not asking for charity. I’ll pay.” she added, louder this time. “Just one.”

Still, silence.

Then, finally he moved.

With a slow, almost theatrical grace, he tossed the cigarette to the ground, turned his back to her, and began to walk away. Dismissive. Like she was dust on his sleeve.

Raellyn’s pride flared. She stared at the glowing ember near her feet. Was her pride worth less than a puff of stolen smoke?

Maybe it was.

She bent down, picked it up with a smirk, and slid it between her fingers.

“Hey,” she called after him. “Wait a sec.”

The man stopped. Turned.

Raellyn lit the cigarette, reached into the pocket of her worn jeans, and then threw a coin that landed with a sharp clink at his feet. It spun before landing right between his polished leather shoes.

“Keep the change,” she said with a sneer.

The silence between them thickened, stretched by something unspoken. His eyes, when they met hers, were pitch black and unreadable.

“You’ve severely underestimated the price,” he said at last, voice deep and smooth, like a cello playing in a graveyard.

She furrowed her brow. “Excuse me?”

“That cigarette?” He stepped closer, his eyes glinting like obsidian. “It costs two hundred million.”

She let out a dry, bitter laugh. “That’s ridiculous.” After that her jaw tensed. “What, was it rolled in diamonds?”

“Prices are set by the one who owns the goods,” he murmured, his gaze unwavering. “You asked for it. Now pay up.”

“What do you think I am?”

“The kind who thinks sorrow makes her interesting,” he said, unfazed. “Like the others. Women who believe sadness is currency. You think the world owes you something.”

Her lips parted, fury trembling in her jaw. “You don’t know a damn thing about me.”

“Don’t I?” His voice dipped into something darker, more amused. “You're not from here, are you?”

“No.”

“Just wandering?”

He took a step toward her, then another. Raellyn instinctively backed away until her spine pressed against the rooftop rail. Her breath caught in her throat.

“You're quite the intriguing woman,” he drawled, voice thick with mockery. “I think I’ll give you a discount for that cigarette.”

“Don’t try to make me laugh, Sir,” Raellyn snapped, folding her arms. “Why do you keep bringing it up?”

“Oh?” His smile twisted into something far less innocent. “How disappointing. If you're trying to seduce me, you'll have to put in more effort. I’d suggest using that body of yours. Perhaps then, I’d consider letting you feel my bed tonight.”

Raellyn scoffed, her patience shredded. With a sharp motion, she flung the cigarette from her lips. The one she hadn’t even enjoyed for more than a moment. It landed on the concrete with a dull flicker. She had dealt with enough for one day humiliation, rejection, and now, this stranger’s vulgar provocations.

No. She would not let this pass.

With a haughty smirk, she spat on the discarded cigarette and crushed it under her heel.

“There,” she said coldly. “Take your damn cigarette. Go to hell with it.”

He laughed. A deep, beautiful, terrifying sound. “Then come with me.”

And then, he stepped forward again, his voice lowering into a whisper laced with threat and promise.

“When we meet again… and we will… I’ll return your payment.”

Raellyn’s fists clenched at her sides. She didn’t tremble, not even slightly, though the man’s presence was like winter itself. His eyes, glacial blue, held the same bite as a wind howling through a broken window just before dawn.

But she wasn’t afraid. Not if she hadn’t done anything wrong.

She ground her teeth, praying he couldn’t hear the frantic pace of her heartbeat or sense the wave of revulsion surging through her chest.

To her dismay, the man only stepped closer, invading her space with a languid menace. There was no room left to retreat.

His long fingers reached up not roughly, but deliberately and brushed the name tag hanging from her neck. The touch was slow, unnervingly sensual.

“I’ve come to the conclusion,” he murmured, “that this little accessory you used to deceive everyone in this building is just as fake as every word you’ve spoken to me. Am I wrong?”

Raellyn’s cheeks flamed with heat. There was something about the gravel in his voice that stirred an involuntary reaction inside her unwanted, confusing. She hated how her body reacted before her mind could protest.

But no. She wouldn’t let herself be swayed by temptation. Not again.

Her eyes narrowed. Fury ignited in her veins like wildfire. She wouldn’t let herself be lulled into submission by a charming face. Not now. Not ever again. Even though, admittedly, this man didn’t have the sweetness of Arsene. He was something else entirely rough, masculine, unpredictable. A magnetic danger.

He was handsome in a way that made every instinct scream stay away. The longer she looked at him, the more he resembled everything a woman should fear: darkness, seduction, and a hint of madness.

Raellyn’s body trembled slightly when his fingers grazed her skin, but she recovered quickly. She caught the smug grin forming on his lips, and it only fueled her disgust.

“My name is very much real, Sir,” she said through gritted teeth, slapping his hand away and yanking the name tag from his grasp. She took a step back, straightened her spine. “I’m Raellyn. I came here for a very personal reason. I’m looking for someone but he’s not here. I have no business with freaks like you.”

He cocked his head, amused. “And who, may I ask, are you looking for?”

“The Director,” she said without hesitation.

His smirk deepened. “Hm… interesting.”

Without warning, he closed the distance again. This time, his hand found the curve of her neck, fingers curling around her throat not enough to hurt, but enough to trap. His other hand pressed against her lips, silencing her.

“What are—”

She jerked her face to the side, instinctively trying to escape, but he was faster. His fingers found her lips again, this time squeezing them with an unsettling mix of affection and aggression. His smile never faded, but to Raellyn, it was venomous.

He wasn’t trying to charm her. He was toying with her.

Her glare cut through him like a blade.

“I truly love that look in your eyes,” he whispered darkly. “Miss Raellyn… I have no doubt we’ll meet again. Very soon. And when we do, I’m certain the Director will be very pleased to see you.”