The elevator doors slid shut behind me, but it didn't feel like an escape.
It felt like a pause.
A fragile, temporary reprieve that was already slipping through my fingers.
My hands wouldn't stop shaking. I clutched my phone like it was some kind of lifeline, my thumb moving almost on instinct. By the time I pressed it to my ear, I didn't even realize I'd already called him.
"Raine?" My father's voice came through, tired but laced with relief. "Did you... did you meet him?"
I swallowed hard. "Yes. And, Dad-he's insane. He wants me to marry him. There's a contract-"
A loud crash cut me off.
Metal against metal, followed by shouting in the background.
I straightened, my pulse spiking. "Dad? What was that?"
More noise. A door slamming. Voices-angry, male-barking orders I couldn't make out.
Then my father's voice again, sharper now. "They're... they're taking everything, Raine. The trucks, the equipment-our whole fleet. It's-oh God, it's Adrian Vale's men. He's-"
The line went dead.
I froze in the middle of the lobby, my breath catching in my chest. The hum of the building suddenly felt deafening. People brushed past me, laughing, talking, scrolling on their phones-while my life was collapsing in real time.
I didn't even register the elevator doors opening again until I felt it-
That shift in the air.
That cold, heavy presence sliding over me like a shadow.
"Fast workers, aren't they?"
I turned, and there he was. Adrian Vale. Close enough for his voice to curl around me, calm and cutting all at once.
My stomach knotted. "You-"
"Your father had thirty delivery trucks," he said, stepping closer with the unhurried ease of a man in complete control. "And now he has none. In about two hours, he'll lose his warehouse too. By tomorrow morning, his company will be nothing but a memory."
My breath hitched, a lump forming in my throat. "Why are you doing this?"
His jaw flexed, but his tone stayed maddeningly smooth. "Because you walked out of my office without signing."
"You're destroying us," I whispered, my voice barely audible.
"No, Raine..." He leaned in, close enough for his scent-sharp, clean, laced with something darker-to invade my senses. His words were meant for me alone. "I'm giving you a choice. Sign... and I'll make it stop. Fight me... and I'll take everything."
I didn't answer. I just left.
The drive home was a blur. By the time I reached the gates, the sight hit me like a blow-our driveway stripped bare, delivery trucks gone. Two black SUVs sat like sentinels at the curb, men in dark clothing loading crates into them with mechanical efficiency.
Inside, the air was thick with tension. My mother's voice carried from the living room, strained and sharp, speaking to a man holding a stack of legal documents.
She just recovered from a surgery and here she is, acting so strong as she is strong. With sadness in my eyes, I moved my gaze to control the tears in them.
In the corner, my brother Ethan stood rigid, his hands curled into fists, his face set in a look I hadn't seen since our father's first collapse years ago.
When his eyes met mine, the relief was brief, overshadowed by something harder. "Where were you?"
"I was with him," I said quietly.
"Vale?" His expression darkened, a muscle ticking in his jaw. "Tell me you didn't-"
A crash from the office cut him off. I briefly stared at the worried look on my mom's face.
"I'll go check on him" I said, as though giving her a reassurance that everything was going to be fine.
I glanced at my brother and nodded. Then i moved.
Dad was pacing, a phone clutched in one hand, his shoulders hunched like the weight of the world was pressing down on him. His desk was chaos-contracts, invoices, empty coffee cups, an untouched sandwich still in its wrapper.
"Dad..." I stepped inside, the sight of him hollowing something deep inside me. "Why didn't you tell me about this-about him?"
His hand fell from his hair, his face etched with lines that seemed sharper than they had this morning. "Because I didn't want you dragged into something you could never walk away from."
My throat ached. "It's too late for that. He's given me twenty-four hours to decide."
For the briefest second, I saw it-the flicker of pure fear in his eyes.
"Dad... I-I think I have to marry him," I whispered, the words foreign on my tongue. Was I really about to bind myself to the merciless Adrian Vale? But my family's life hung in the balance. I couldn't let them suffer because of me.
Fear gripped my father's face, like his nightmares had finally come alive.
"N-no, Raine. You will not do this. I'll find a way out." He spun toward his desk, rummaging frantically for something I couldn't see.
"He won't stop!" My voice cracked. "Everything is gone. No one will help us. Our accounts are frozen, the house, the cars-all confiscated. I can't stand by and watch you all crumble while I have a way to end it." A tear slid down my cheek, hot and heavy.
Dad froze, his hand tightening around his phone. When he turned back to me, his eyes were burning with pain.
"I will not watch my princess sacrifice her freedom for my failures. Stay away from him, Raine. At all cost-y-you-" His words broke, the phone slipping from his grip as he staggered, clutching his chest.
"Dad?" My voice splintered.
His breaths grew shallow, his body trembling. He collapsed before I could reach him, and I dropped to the floor, catching him in my arms.
"Ethan!" I screamed, and my brother's footsteps pounded down the hall.
"I'm sorry..." Dad's voice was faint, trembling like a fading flame.
"Don't you dare." My tears blurred his face as I pressed the phone with trembling fingers. "You're going to be fine. Just hold on."
Ethan knelt beside us, fury shaking his voice. "This is Vale's doing."
Mom's cry ripped through the room as she rushed in, falling to her knees beside us, her sobs echoing as she clutched Dad's arm.
The sirens were still far when the truth struck me-Adrian Vale hadn't just taken my father's company. He was dismantling us piece by piece, until the only thing left to give... was me.
And my twenty-four hours were already running out.