Semua Bab Fire and ice: Bab 1 - Bab 6

The auction hall fell silent the moment Alexander Steele placed the winning bid. No one dared challenge him. No one dared even look him in the eye. Power wrapped around him like a dark cloak, and his presence alone scattered every remaining whisper.Elara felt her heartbeat echo in her ears as the guards unchained her wrists gently for the transfer. Gently—not out of kindness, but out of fear of the man who now owned her.Alexander didn’t move at first. He simply stood watching her with those icy blue eyes that burned hotter than any flame. When she was finally brought before him, he tilted his head slightly, inspecting her as if evaluating a new, fragile acquisition.“Follow me,” he said. Not a command shouted. A low, dangerous order spoken with absolute confidence.Elara obeyed.The cold evening air brushed against her skin as she stepped outside. A sleek black car—long, tinted, expensive—waited at the entrance. The driver hurried out and opened the door without daring to meet Alex

Night in Alexander Steele’s mansion was different from night anywhere else. It wasn’t quiet. It wasn’t peaceful. It felt alive—like the walls themselves breathed heat and shadows.Elara sat on the edge of her bed, legs folded, hands clasped. She had been in this room for hours, doing nothing except listening for footsteps and memorizing every whisper of the house. She hated uncertainty, and in this mansion everything felt unpredictable.A soft knock came on her door.She froze.The knock wasn’t loud. It wasn’t angry. But it carried authority—cold, clear, familiar.“Enter,” Alexander’s deep voice commanded from outside.Her pulse jumped. She rose immediately and opened the door.Alexander stood there, wearing a dark shirt, sleeves rolled up, revealing strong forearms with faint scars that hinted at a violent past. The warm light from the hallway cast shadows across his face, making his expression unreadable.His eyes swept over her slowly, checking if she obeyed his earlier rules.“You

Elara learned something new about Alexander Steele that morning: his silence carried weight.Not anger.Not softness.Just a quiet, controlled power that filled every room before he even spoke.After breakfast, he left her in the east wing library with a simple instruction:“Learn the house rules. Someone will assess you later.”He didn’t wait for replies. He rarely did.Elara stood alone in the massive library, staring at the shelves of leather-bound books and the thick rulebook he had dropped on the table. It wasn’t a normal house manual. It listed rules like it was preparing her for war.Rule 1: Obey without hesitation.Rule 2: Never start a conversation unless addressed.Rule 3: The Fire King sees everything.Rule 4: Mistakes are corrected. Painfully.Rule 5: Never cry in front of the King.She swallowed.So this was the world she had been bought into.Yet despite the cold warning of the rules, Alexander’s actions told a confusing different story. He didn’t hit her. He didn’t thre