Chapter Two.

"Why are you looking for him?"

Elara stepped in front of her father. She was a bit of the size of the men, but her desperation made her tall.

"We have a warrant for his arrest." the lead officer stated, "He's being charged with grand larceny and systemic fraud. The IRS has also flagged several offshore accounts linked to his company's recent activity."

The words hit Elara... Fraud? Larceny? Offshore accounts.?

"What?" she breathed, "No, no no... No! that's impossible! It's not true. My father would never-"

"Elara..." her father's voice was a broken whisper behind her.

She turned, tears already blurring her vision. She shook her head fiercely, refusing to hear the defeat in his tone.

He was the only person she had left in this world. To see him branded a criminal in front of the very people who used to beg for his invitation was more than she could bear.

Who is doing this to us?! she internally yelled

As the men stepped forward to bridge the gap, Elara didn't budge. She gripped her father's arm. Around them, the elite of the city, some watched in horror and some in a twisted fascination,  as they recorded the downfall of the Pierces.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Elara, move! Let these men do their job!" Mrs. Sterling snapped.

"No! No one is taking him!" Elara yelled, her voice cracking..

Desperate, she turned to the man standing beside her. The man who was supposed to be her fiancé. The man who had promised to protect their name.

"Roman..." she gasped, her eyes pleading. "Please. Help him."

"Roman, please! Do something... please."

The officers physically pried her away from her father. She stumbled back, her eyes fixed on Roman.

"You promised to help us! You said you'd fix this!"

Roman watched her, his gaze tracing the path of the tears that spilled from her baby blue eyes and tracked through her perfect makeup.

"Please! Help him! He didn't do any of those things!" she begged.

"Elara... it's alright. It's going to be alright.." her father called out.

He forced a smile as they led him toward the door..

The silence that followed was broken by whispers that swept through the hall.

"So it's true then? The Pierces were really just common fraudsters?"

"I always knew that wealth felt a bit too convenient..."

"Won't this bad luck rub off on the Sterlings?" a woman hissed.

Mrs. Sterling's head snapped toward the comment, and glared, it silenced the speaker instantly. The scandal was already stained on their reputation, and Elara could feel the air in the room turning toxic.

Her body felt numb, her limbs heavy..

She turned back to Roman one last time, her hands trembling as she reached for him.

"Please, I beg you. Please..."

"I'm sorry, Elara." he flatly said.. "I can't help you."

Her world shattered.

"W-why? You said-"

"Enough.." he snapped. He didn't let her finish and gripped her wrist, hauling her away from the judging eyes of the crowd.

He dragged her toward the elevators, the gold doors sliding open and he shoved her inside, punched the button for the 45th floor and watched as the doors hissed shut.

"You were supposed to help us, Roman! You promised to take care of-"

Her words was cut of as he slammed her back against the mirrored wall of the elevator. The impact rattled her teeth, and the cold glass bit into her bare shoulders.

He leaned in, his face inches from hers, his breath hot and laced with anger.

"I know what I said!" he hissed, his eyes tracking the tears still wet on her cheeks. "But for fuck's sake, Elara, I signed up for a debt, not a federal investigation! The IRS and the fraud squad? I'm not tainting the Sterling name for a sinking ship. Besides, the ring isn't even on your finger yet. Technically, I don't owe you a damn thing."

He was her last hope-and he was discarding her so quick.

But as the numbers on the digital display flickered higher and higher, 30... 31... 32...

"Where are we going?" Elara asked, "If you aren't going to help me, then let me out. I need to find a way to help my father."

Roman chuckled darkly...that didn't reach his eyes.

"I was going to bring you here anyway after the party." he murmured, his gaze roaming over her in a way that made her feel naked. "Just the two of us. Alone."

"What? To a hotel room?"

She looked at the closed doors, then back at him.

"Well.." she said, "Now that you don't want the engagement, there's no reason for me to be here. I'm leaving!"

She shoved him back, he stumbled back.

Stepping away from the wall, she finally drew a full, shaking breath, her eyes darting to the control panel.

"I've always known you were feisty, Elara. And you know how much I love a challenge." he smirked..

And to think..she realized with a sickening jolt, I was going to sign my life away to this man?

"Go to hell, Roman.."

She turned toward the control panel, as she reached for the hall button.

Roman lunged, his hand wrapped around her waist as he yanked her back. Elara didn't hesitate-she shoved him again, with every ounce of strength she had.

That made her stumbled back too and her elbow touched the control panel and she mistakenly hit a button that has no number..

Roman hit the mirrored wall and groaned. When he looked back up, the smirk was gone. He looked angry now.

"You bitch!" he hissed. "You should be grateful I'm even willing to touch you after the scandal your father just dropped on me!"

Elara's glare hardened.

"I'd rather be touched by a corpse.."

"Always acting like the perfect little saint, aren't you? For three fucking years, Elara!" He stepped close and she retreated back until the wall trapped her.

"Three years I've spent wanting you. I've come to you countless times, offered you everything, and you looked at me like I was dirt under your heels." He slammed his hands against the wall on either side of her head, pinning her.

Elara raiser her knee up in a desperate strike for his groin, but Roman blocked her leg, his smirk returning.

He reached up, his fingers digging into her jaw with a bruising grip, forcing her to look into the heat of his anger.

"How about a new deal?" Roman whispered, his breath hot and foul against her mouth. "You become my plaything, my personal sex slave, and I'll help your father. He's in a hole so deep only a Sterling can pull him out. It'll take everything I have to fix this mess, so I want everything you have. What do you say?"

He leaned in, his eyes fixed on her plump, trembling lips. Elara's gaze darted to the display above his head.

The elevator didn't stop at 45 floor. It hit a restricted Exclusive Suite.

"Get off me!" Elara screamed.

She didn't use her hands this time. She arched her head back and lunged forward with everything she had, her forehead slamming into the bridge of Roman's nose.

Followed by a sickening crack and he let out a cry of agony, clutching his nose as blood began to bloom between his fingers.

Elara didn't wait. She scrambled past him and bolted out of the elevator.

Roman, in rage, lunged after her.

"You bitch! I'll-"

His threat died in his throat. Actually, both of them froze, staring at the darkened suite.

The room was a masterpiece, lit only by the cold, unforgiving glow of the moonlight and the dim light in the room.

In the room, seated in a lone armchair, was a man.

He sat with his legs crossed, a crystal glass of scotch in one hand.

The man simply lifted his head, his grey eyes fell on them.

Elara's breath hitched, her heart dropped to her stomach.

"Killian... Vane.." Roman trembled with widened eyes.