How it all started.

Olivia's POV

The car came to a slow, smooth stop in front of the Blackthorn Enterprise, but I couldn’t move. The window framed the looming mansion like a picture out of a cursed fairytale. Gated, gray, and hauntingly silent. Even the ivy crawling across the stone seemed afraid to reach too far. There were no birds, no breeze, just the overwhelming stillness that came with power built on ruined lives the family had stepped on.

I used to dream about walking through those iron gates, being welcomed in like I belonged, back when I was a naive little girl still believing in happily ever after and still believing that Dominic Blackthorne was some kind of misunderstood hero.

That was back when I didn’t know the truth… And now? Now I was here for one reason only to sign my life away.

“Miss Hale?” The driver glanced at me through the rearview mirror. “We’ve arrived.” So I heard my doom.

I stepped out of the car, my heels sinking slightly into the gravel as the cool wind greeted me like an old enemy. I adjusted the collar of my coat, clutching my purse a little tighter, and followed the long stone path to the front entrance.

The last time I came here, I was sixteen, I was curious, hopeful, wearing my best dress to impress my father’s business partners. I remember staring at Dominic then, seated across the dining room table, distant and cold with a sharp jaw and a sharper tongue. Swears he barely glanced at me but I unfortunately remembered everything about him.

He was older, untouchable, and there was a strange elegance to the way he existed…calculated, and restrained from everything. People said he was gay, not that it mattered, but I believed it. It made my admiration feel safe. Like he could be my idol and nothing more.

And then my father died and everything collapsed.

The maid opened the door the moment I reached the top step. “Miss Hale,” she said, bowing her head slightly. “Mr. Blackthorne is expecting you. Please, this way.”

I followed her down the familiar hallway’s polished floors, I remembered the rich mahogany walls, the cold chandelier, and wondered how many people had walked through here to seal their own fates. I was just the latest name on the ledger.

We stopped in front of a heavy door.

“He’s inside,” the maid said bowing again.

I didn’t thank her. I was too busy preparing for battle.

The study smelled like expensive cologne, and leather, and probably something else, like ambition sealed in oak. Dominic stood by the fireplace, his back turned, one hand in his pocket, the other swirling a glass of something golden.

He turned when I stepped in and just like I remembered he was calm, composed, and cuel in his perfection.

“Olivia,” he said like he was greeting an old friend, not the daughter of the man his family helped destroy.

“Dominic,” I replied flatly.

I didn’t offer a smile and neither did he.

“Sit.” I barely muttered.

“I’d rather stand.”

He nodded unbothered. “As you wish.”

His blue eyes were unreadable. Eyes that had seen boardrooms collapse and empires rise. Eyes that once watched my father walk into a trap he never walked out of.

I scanned the room briefly. His desk was clean except for a single black folder and a silver pen.

“What’s this urgent matter you called me about?” I asked, my arms folded. “Because if it’s about gloating, save your breath.”

“No,” he said smoothly. “It’s about business. An opportunity... For both of us.”

He walked over to the desk and pushed the folder toward me. “I’m offering you a contract.”

I didn’t move.

“What kind of contract?”

“Marriage.” He said.

I blinked. “Excuse me?”

“One year, legal, public, marriage. You become my wife on paper. In return, I’ll give you back your inheritance, clear your father’s name, and restore your family's shares in Hale Industries.”

I laughed.

Actually I laughed.

It was sharp and bitter and echoed too loudly in the cold room. “Is this some kind of twisted joke?”

“No.” He blankly said.

“You want me to marry you?” I said with a chuckle.

“Yes.” Without blinking an eye she said.

“Why? So you can own every last piece of what’s left of my family?”

He didn’t flinch. “Because it’s mutually beneficial. The board wants me married for stability. Your name still carries weight. You need power. I need… a presentation.”

“So I’m your PR stunt.”

“You’re leverage. And legacy.”

I stared at him shaking my head. “You’re insane.”

He stepped closer and with a voice low he said, “you know I’m not.”

I hated how calm he was. How he measured everything. Like this was just another negotiation. Like we weren’t talking about shackling ourselves together in some fake marriage born from mutual hate.

“I used to look up to you,” I said, the words slipping out before I could stop them. “When I was a teenager, I thought you were this… mysterious, noble man with a dark heart waiting to be understood. I thought maybe the world just didn’t get you.” I said and funny enough his expression didn’t change.

“Then I found out your family had my father investigated. You leaked reports. You watched him go bankrupt. You didn’t just stand by, you helped bury him.”

“He was a threat,” Dominic said evenly.

“No,” I snapped. “He was better than your father ever was. That’s why you all took him down.”

Silence stretched between us like a live wire as I said.

“You think I haven’t paid for that?” he asked finally. “You think I sleep easy at night knowing what happened?”

“You still sleep in silk sheets and drink thousand-dollar whiskey. Forgive me if I’m not moved.”

He exhaled through his nose, stepping back. “Sign the contract. You’ll get everything back. Including your mother’s estate.”

My breath caught.

“My mother’s… how do you even know?”

“I know everything Olivia.”

I looked at the folder and then back at him.

“And you expect me to live with you? Pretend? Smile for the cameras while I play the grieving daughter and grateful bride.”

“No one’s asking you to smile.” He rubbed his forehead with his pinky finger.

I laughed again. “And the sleeping arrangements?”

He smirked faintly. “Separate rooms. I don’t touch what doesn’t want to be touched.”

“You think I want you?”

“No, I don't know.” he said simply. “I think you want revenge. And this gives you power.”

Damn him.

Damn him for being right.

My fingers trembled as I reached for the folder, flipping through page after page of cold legal terms. Each clause felt like a chain tightening around my throat.

“Why me?” I asked quietly.

His gaze softened by a fraction. “Because you’re the only woman in this city who hates me enough to be honest.”

I stared at him for a long time. Then I closed the folder, sealing my fate.

“I’ll do it.”

He nodded once. “Good.”

“But don’t mistake this for forgiveness,” I warned stepping toward him. “I’ll wear your ring. I’ll smile for your shareholders. But every day I spend in this house, I’ll be remembering what your family did to mine.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

We stood there like two ghosts in human skin, watching each other like neither trusted the other not to draw blood.

I held out my hand and he handed some more documents to me.

“You know what? Let me think about it.” I dropped the file and forced a smile, but as I turned to leave, I looked over my shoulder.

“One more thing,” I said.

He raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“I don’t care what your reasons are. I don’t care if your board eats you alive. If you so much as lie to me again I’ll burn this house to the ground.”

His lips curved up slightly. “There’s the Olivia Hale I remember.”

I walked out before I said something I couldn’t take back, and with my heart pounding in my chest the door clicked shut behind me like a coffin lid.

Was this the right thing to do? I didn't know but all I knew was that I was surely going to have my revenge.