The silence that followed Alex's whisper was louder than the music of the gala. Elena felt as though the cherry-red silk of her dress had turned into lead, pinning her to the spot. For a heartbeat, the elegant courtyard vanished; she found herself at the kitchen baking cupcake with her sister sia. Her face was covered with flour and laughter.
Elena was getting a roller coaster of all the precious moments of her life , she found herself back to the reality after seeing how that boy shot her sister.
"You're playing a dangerous game, Alex," Elena said, her voice regaining its steel, though her pulse thrummed visibly in her throat. "Using a dead girl's name to rattle me? That's low, even for a Valois."
Alex tilted his head, his dark eyes tracking the slight tremor in her hands. "Is she dead, Elena? Or did she just bury herself so deep that she forgot how to breathe? The nun thought she was alive. She died protecting that belief."
Elena's eyes widened. "The nun... what did you do?"
" I didn't do anything but I think someone is there who doesn't want me to hear the main culprits name. " Alex said, his voice dropping to a gravelly low. "I heard Enough part of the story but the villians name is still hidden . But I am wondering what connection it had with you " He said as he he circled around her with his predatory gaze." Isn't there a specific reason , you look at the world like you want to burn it down."
Elena's eyes turned into flint, the temperature between them dropping ten degrees. "Keep your nose out of my business, Valois. Don't bother your filthy ass to look after someone else's matter." Before Alex could respond, Lorenzo approached, his presence heavy and protective. He sensed the shift in the air immediately. "Is there a problem here, Mr. Valois? My niece looks like she's seen a specter."
"Just discussing something very important, Mr. Moretti," Alex replied smoothly, offering a polite, empty smile. "It seems your niece has a very high valuation on hers. She isn't scared of anyone"
" I know, the person from our bloodline chooses to haunt rather than being hunt" he said with a sharp voice " Now, if you'll excuse us, there are guests to attend to." He said as he pulled elena along with him .
As Lorenzo led her away, Elena felt Alex's gaze burning into her back. She didn't head toward the guests. She broke away, walking rapidly toward the shadowed edge of the courtyard where the wisteria hung thick like a curtain.
He knows. He knows everything. How the fuck it could be possible. She murmured to herself.
The wisteria vines hung like heavy purple bruises against the moonlight, shielding Elena from the glittering farce of the gala. She leaned her back against the stone wall, her breath hitching in her throat. The cold air of the Italian night usually calmed her, but tonight, it felt like Alex Valois had sucked all the oxygen out of the courtyard.
I know what you are thinking, Ms. Vane...
The message on her screen felt like a physical weight. Elena stared at the glowing pixels until they blurred.
How could he know about Sia? How could he know about the convent and the nun?
For years, she had meticulously scrubbed her past, burying the Freya under layers of Elena vane.
She was still deep in her thoughts as she received a message from Alex .
Alex : I know what you are thinking ms. Vane and certainly I am the only person that can help you isn't it. So let's make a fair deal ,you help me and I will help you.
" I knew it he will never help me for nothing . He must have a plan " she thought as she replied to him
What's your intention huh ?? What do you need from me. Why do you keep bothering me ??
She asked as he replied
Alex : First come back to New York. We will discuss the matter there .
Elena: Not happening. I won't fall in your trap , go find another bird.
She replied as she closed her phone and lean her head back as another message popped up
Alex: okay don't. I will make you then .
What the fuck he thinks of himself. She thought.
Her thumb hovered over the power button. She wanted to scream, to throw the phone into the dark fountain, but her hands were trembling—not from fear, but from the terrifying realization that Alex Valois wasn't just a rival. He was a key.
~ After party ~
Back in her room, the atmosphere was thick with the scent of expensive leather and the metallic tang of Elena's unresolved rage.
Elena was currently talking on phone "did he spill anything? " she asked as the other person refuses. " Then beat him more until he loses strength and surrender " she ordered as she cuts the phone.
"Perla," Lorenzo's voice was uncharacteristically soft as he watched her throw her belongings into a suitcase with violent efficiency." Is what I am hearing true?? Are you leaving now?" he asked elena as she hummed " yeah the higher officials are pressuring me to come back " she said while packing her bag " but why so suddenly ?? It has only been a week " Lorenzo asked her sadly.
" I know why it is happening"she said as she continued packing. " Is it Alex " Lorenzo ask as she agreed " but why is he doing this?? " He asked suspiciously " even I don't know but i probably know that there is a reason that he only needs me for . " Elena said as she moved outside with her luggage.
~ At New York City. ~
Elena entered her office , the warmth of Italy was replaced by the cold, grey steel of the company's building —a perfect reflection of Elena's own hardening heart." She found Chloe sitting there looking worried. " Elena " she called her name. " Mr. Alex wants to have a meeting with you at 9 : 00 pm sharp."
She said as Elena hummed in response " I know . " She said . " You know ?? Alex Valois is a black hole, Elena," Chloe warned, stepping into the light. "He consumes everything he touches. His family... they are obsessed with 'order.' They want him married, settled, and neutralized so he can take the Chairmanship. He is desperate to escape their cage. A desperate man is a dangerous one." Chloe told .
" I know that . But i may listen to him . " She said calmly " What tehe heck you are saying Elena?? Are you all of your mind . You know you are the biggest rival and the only person who stand against Alex . What if it is all his plan to remove you from his way. ?? " Chloe said being worried.
Elena paused, the file she was holding clutched in her hands. "He thinks I'm the bird he can trap to satisfy his board of directors. He wants a 'responsible' image? I'll give him an image he'll never forget. You don't have to worry Chloe I am not dumb who will fall in his plan so easily. I am sharp enough to back fire and burn down his whole empire. You know when you enemy is more powerful than you then you have to stay in his house and look at there every step and for me it is a nicer opportunity . I can kill two birds with one arrow. " Elena said as she smirked.
~At the Valois empire ~
The Valois skyline was a jagged crown of glass and steel, and at its center sat the Valois Core building.
Two hours later, Elena stood in the lobby, her modest but razor-sharp suit a contrast to the flamboyant socialites she usually moved among. She didn't announce herself. She didn't need to. The security team parted like the Red Sea the moment she stepped toward the elevators. Alex had clearly paved the way.
When the doors opened to the penthouse office, she found him sitting on the leather chair with his back facing her, a glass of amber liquid was in his hand. He wasn't wearing a jacket; his white sleeves were rolled up, revealing the cold, professional predator beneath the gala's charm.
"You're late," Alex said without turning around.
"I took the scenic route," Elena replied, her heels clicking rhythmically against the marble. "It gave me time to wonder why a man who owns half of Wall Street is so obsessed with a 'dead girl's' ghost."
Alex turned then. The moonlight hit his face, making his dark eyes look almost golden—and entirely hollow. "I'm not obsessed with ghosts, Elena. I'm obsessed with leverage. And right now, you are the only person in this city who hates to surrender as much as I do."
He walked toward her, his presence closing the distance until she could smell the cedarwood and sandalwood of his cologne. It was the same "predatory gaze" from the gala, but here, in his domain, it felt suffocating.
"My grandmother and the Board have a rule," Alex said, his voice dropping to that gravelly low that made Elena's pulse thrum. "To hold the title of Global President, one must be 'stable.' In their eyes, stability means a ring on my finger. They've been sending me a parade of mindless heiresses who only want to spend my money and talk about charity balls."
Elena let out a sharp, cold laugh. "And you think I'm the solution? I'd sooner burn your company down than play the 'doting wife'."
"Exactly," Alex smirked, a flash of genuine, dark interest crossing his features. "That's why it has to be you. You don't want my money. You want blood. Specifically, the blood of the man who took your sister. And certainly you would need me for that. So the choice is yours"
Elena froze. The mention of Sia in this sterile, high-tech office felt like a sacrilege. "Don't speak her name."
"I have the powers, Elena," Alex whispered, leaning in. "The nun didn't just die. She left a confession. A person ,A name that is protected by three different international governments. You can spend the next ten years trying to break those doors down, or you can walk through them next to me."
He walked back to his desk and tossed a heavy, cream-colored folder onto the wood.
"One year," Alex stated. "A contractual marriage. You provide the 'stability' I need to seize total control of the Valois empire. In exchange, I give you the resources, the diplomatic immunity, and the person who pulled the trigger that day that pierced through your innocence."
Elena felt like she was standing on the edge of a skyscraper. Below her was the vengeance she had craved for years; behind her was her freedom.
She thought of the promise she had given to sia. She thought of the sound of the gunshot that had shattered her world. To reach a monster, she realized, she might have to marry one.
She reached for the fountain pen on the desk. Her hand was steady now—cold as ice.
" I am ready to marry you but whenever I need you whenever I call you you will come to me and will help me to take my revenge. " She said " definitely that's the point of the deal " he said sliding her the file. " This marriage will just be for show inside ,the house we will be strangers , no intimacy, no feeling. " She said .
"Deal," Alex said, his eyes tracking her every move with a hunger that wasn't about love, but about possession. He looked like the devil finally securing the soul he had hunted for centuries.
Elena pulled the contract toward her. She flipped to the final page, the ink shimmering.
"You think you're making a deal with a bird, Alex," she murmured, looking him dead in the eye as she pressed the pen to the paper. "But you're letting a ghost into your home. Don't be surprised if it haunts you."
She began to sign her name, the nib of the pen scratching against the expensive paper.
Author's POV:-
As the heavy oak doors of the Valois penthouse clicked shut, the silence between Elena and Alex wasn't just quiet—it was heavy with the weight of a million unspoken consequences.
To the world, they had just signed a merger. To the Board of Directors, Alex had found his "stability." To Elena's enemies, she had found a shield. But as the author of this tangled web, I can see what they cannot: The moment they signed that paper to use each other, they actually lost the power to leave each other.
The Illusion of Control
Alex stands by the window, adjusting his cufflinks, thinking he has successfully "purchased" the perfect partner. He believes he can keep his heart behind a glass wall, watching Elena like a rare, dangerous bird in a cage he built. He thinks this is a game of chess where he is the King.
Elena, meanwhile, is already calculating her exit. She tells herself that Alex is just a ladder—a cold, metallic tool she'll discard the moment she reaches the "main culprit." She thinks she can live in his house, share his name, and look into those dark eyes every morning without ever letting her guard down.
They are both so, so wrong.
What starts now is a war of attrition. It's the way Alex will find himself staying up until 3:00 AM, not for a board meeting, but because Elena hasn't come home yet and the silence of the penthouse feels like a threat.
It's the way Elena will find herself "accidentally" fixing his tie, her fingers lingering a second too long, her pulse betraying the "steel" in her voice.
They think they hate the situation. They think they hate the necessity of each other. But soon, the "hate" will turn into a terrifying, addictive "need."
The most beautiful irony of their story is this: The contract was designed to give them an end date, but their hearts are already rewriting the fine print. They will reach the 365th day—the day they are supposed to walk away and never look back. Alex will have his Chairmanship. Elena will have her revenge. The "business" will be concluded.
But as the sun sets on that final day, they will both realize they've walked into a prison of their own making. Neither will want to be the first to admit that the "fake" marriage has become the only "real" thing in their lives. They'll look at the "Termination of Contract" papers and realize that tearing them up is the only way they can keep breathing.
Author's Note: They think they are the hunters, but they are both about to become the prey. The "Devil" Alex Valois and the "Ghost" Elena Vane are about to find out that in the game of hearts, there is no such thing as a fair deal. There is only surrender.
So,Get ready, readers. The "Business Deal" is over. The Situationship—the messy, agonizing, heart-pounding reality of two people who hate how much they belong together—has officially begun.
Who will break first? The man who thought he could buy everything, or the woman who thought she had nothing left to lose?