All Chapters of BLOOD CONTRACT : WINTER'S VOW: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

ISABELLAThe Caldwell family fortune died on a Tuesday.I was standing in my studio, barefoot on the paint-splattered floorboards, when I heard my father's howl from two floors below. Not a shout or a yell,a howl. The kind of sound that cracks foundations and shatters family legacies.My paintbrush clattered to the floor, splattering crimson across the hem of my white linen dress. Fitting. Everything about this day would soon be stained with red.I didn't run downstairs. Not immediately. Instead, I stood frozen, watching the dark red paint creep through the fabric fibers of my dress, blooming like blood. The canvas before me,nearly finished after weeks of work,suddenly looked childish and trivial. A commission for a local gallery that had once seemed so important.The grandfather clock at the end of the hallway chimed three times, snapping me back to reality. Whatever had made my father sound like that couldn't be good. I tossed my palette onto the side table and hurried toward the st

ISABELLA"I killed his parents."My father's words hung in the air between us, awful and impossible."What are you talking about?" I whispered, my legs trembling as I sank back into the chair opposite his desk. The velvet ring box still sat where Blackwood had placed it, a silent harbinger of my future. "Tell me you're not serious."He wouldn't meet my eyes. "It's complicated, Izzy.""Then un-complicate it!" My voice rose sharply. The shock was wearing off, giving way to a fury I'd never felt before. "How exactly does one accidentally kill someone's parents?""I never said it was an accident." He drained his glass and set it down with a heavy thud. "But I never meant for it to happen.""That makes absolutely no sense." I ran shaking fingers through my hair, loosening strands from my messy bun. "Start from the beginning. Please."My father looked older than I'd ever seen him, the weight of secrets visibly crushing him. He stared at the empty glass for a long moment before speaking."Ja

ISABELLAI made it exactly three blocks from Blackwood Tower before my composure shattered.My knees buckled beneath me, and I barely managed to steady myself against the cool stone of a building facade. Pedestrians streamed past, a few casting curious glances at the woman in the black dress who suddenly couldn't remember how to breathe.The weight of what I'd just done pressed against my chest like a concrete slab. I'd said yes. I'd agreed to marry Alexander Blackwood,a man who had meticulously orchestrated my family's downfall, who had watched me for years with cold calculation, who had openly admitted that I was nothing more than an instrument of revenge.And I was to be his wife in four days.I stared down at the black pearl ring glinting on my finger, its darkness both beautiful and ominous. Rare. Formed under pressure. Beautiful, but not in the conventional way.His words echoed in my mind, the unexpected moment of something almost like sincerity in an otherwise transactional en

ALEXANDERThe conference room fell silent as I entered, fourteen executives straightening in their chairs like schoolchildren caught passing notes. The quarterly financial review was scheduled to last three hours,an inconvenience when my thoughts kept drifting to more personal matters."Gentlemen. Ladies." I nodded curtly, taking my place at the head of the table. "I believe we were discussing the expansion into Southeast Asian markets."My CFO cleared his throat. "Yes, Mr. Blackwood. I was just about to walk the team through the projections for the first quarter following acquisition."I gestured for him to continue, forcing myself to focus on the slides flashing across the screen. Numbers. Data. Predictions. The clean, controllable elements that had built my empire. Yet today, they failed to command my full attention.It had been twenty-four hours since Isabella Caldwell had walked into my office and agreed to become my wife. Twenty-four hours during which I'd found myself unexpecte

ISABELLAI watched the sun rise on my wedding day with dry eyes and a hollow feeling in my chest.Sleep had been impossible, so I'd spent the night in my studio, finishing the commission that had seemed so important just days ago. Now the completed canvas leaned against the wall, a stranger's work created by a woman who no longer existed. By noon, Isabella Caldwell would disappear, replaced by Isabella Blackwood,wife of a man who had orchestrated her family's destruction.The irony wasn't lost on me.I turned away from the window, my gaze falling on the garment bag hanging from my closet door. Inside was the dress Maya and I had found at Bergdorf's,not white, not even ivory, but a deep midnight blue that looked almost black until the light caught it just right. Sleek, elegant, with a high neck and an open back that Maya had declared "just the right amount of defiant sensuality."Blackwood's stylist had arrived yesterday with five traditional wedding gowns in tow,all ivory silk and del