Chapter 2: His Rules, Her Fire
The Morning After the Gala
Sunlight streamed through the glass walls of the penthouse, gilding everything in gold.
Liana stirred awake on the plush bed in her private room—her new reality still wrapping itself around her like cold silk. The memories of last night clung to her skin: the whispers, the fake smiles, and Damien's stoic presence by her side.
She sat up and pulled the covers away, walking barefoot toward the open balcony doors. The city buzzed below, millions of lives rushing forward while hers felt suspended in a contract of silence.
Then came a soft knock.
"Come in," she said.
It was Maria, the housekeeper. Kind-faced and quiet, she held a silver tray with breakfast.
"Mr. Blackwood left early for a board meeting. He asked me to tell you that your schedule today is free."
Liana arched a brow. "Did he also say when I'd see him again?"
Maria smiled kindly. "He's not one for details, ma'am."
Liana sighed. "Yeah. I've noticed."
💬 A Phone Call to Sanity
After breakfast, she retreated to the library—her favorite room in the apartment—and called Ethan.
His face popped up on her screen, sleepy-eyed and messy-haired.
"Liana? It's barely 9 AM. Who wakes people up at this ungodly hour?"
"You're awake now," she teased. "Come on, talk to me before I lose my mind."
He sat up in bed, rubbing his face. "Did he yell at you? Did he ban books or force you to attend another billionaire cult party?"
"No, but the silence is loud, and the rules are louder," she muttered.
"Ah," Ethan said knowingly. "You married a statue."
"An extremely attractive, emotionally unavailable statue," she added.
He grinned. "You said it, not me."
They both laughed. But when the call ended, the silence returned.
She closed the phone and hugged her knees.
Meanwhile: Damien's Office – Blackwood Corporation
Damien Blackwood stood at the head of a long conference table, commanding the room with quiet force. His team of executives waited on his approval for the Meridan project proposal.
"Too much risk," he said. "If it flops, the board will tear us apart. Next."
As they continued, he rubbed the bridge of his nose briefly—an unusual flicker of tiredness in his otherwise unreadable expression.
"Are we boring you, Mr. Blackwood?" Jared Wexler, his long-time corporate nemesis, chimed in from the far end with a smirk.
Damien shot him a look so sharp it silenced the entire table.
"No," he said. "Just thinking about smarter uses of my time."
Like trying to forget the way Liana looked last night on that garden terrace.The fire in her voice. The way she refused to be invisible.
Something about that haunted him more than it should have.
Unwritten Rules
That afternoon, Damien's assistant dropped off a folder on Liana's desk.
Inside: a detailed list of "Blackwood House Expectations."
Attend events as needed.
Dress appropriately at all times.
Speak only when necessary in media presence.
Maintain discretion.
Do not enter Damien's study or office without invitation.
No guests without clearance.
No discussing the contract under any circumstances.
Maintain the illusion. At all times.
Liana flipped through the pages, her stomach twisting.
"I'm a woman, not a mannequin," she whispered.
She grabbed a pen and wrote one of her own rules at the bottom in bold letters:
- I will not be treated like I'm invisible.
An Unexpected Invitation
That evening, Damien returned home later than usual. His coat was dusted with rain, and his face held the fatigue of battle-hardened meetings.
"You're home," Liana said from the living room, closing her book.
He paused. "You're still awake?"
"Is that surprising?" she asked lightly.
He shrugged off his coat. "I figured you'd retreat to your room like usual."
She stood. "Do you even want this to work? Or are we both pretending so hard we'll forget we exist?"
Damien's brow furrowed. "What exactly do you want, Liana?"
"I want to matter, Damien. Even if this marriage is fake, I am real."
For a moment, he said nothing. Then:
"There's an art auction this Friday. Come with me."
She blinked. "I thought we were avoiding being seen together unless required."
"This is required. And you're coming."
It wasn't a request.
She nodded slowly. "Fine. But I'm picking the dress this time."
The Cold Between Them
As he turned away to his study, Liana called out, "Damien."
He stopped at the door but didn't turn.
"Why me?" she asked. "Out of all the women you could've hired, why me?"
His hand rested on the doorframe.
"Because you said no, first," he said quietly.
Then he disappeared inside, leaving Liana frozen in place, her heart hammering.
That Night
Liana lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering why that one sentence shook her so deeply.
"Because you said no, first."
He remembered her.Before the proposal.Before the contract.Before everything.
When she had walked out of a fundraising event he sponsored—after rejecting his corporate donation—telling him his money wouldn't fix her mother's cancer.
He had looked at her then like no one ever had.
Like she was a problem he couldn't solve.
And now she was his wife.
A wife he didn't want to want.
To be Continue....!