Elara's hand hovered above the folder, the pen trembling between her fingers. The ink tip hovered just above the dotted line, but she couldn't bring herself to move.
Her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths. Once I sign this, my life is no longer mine.
Adrian sat across from her, watching in silence. His patience was unnerving. He wasn't urging her, wasn't rushing her—he was simply waiting, like a predator sure of his prey.
Finally, she set the pen down, her palms slick with sweat. "I… I can't."
A flicker of something passed across Adrian's face. Annoyance, maybe disappointment. He leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled together. "Then it seems we've wasted each other's time."
The finality in his tone made her stomach twist.
Suddenly, her phone buzzed. The sound shattered the tension like glass breaking. Elara fumbled to answer, her voice barely steady.
"Hello?"
It was the hospital. The nurse's words came fast, frantic. Her mother's condition had worsened. The medicine wasn't working anymore. She needed immediate intervention—something costly and urgent.
Elara's blood ran cold. Tears filled her eyes as the nurse's voice blurred into static. She dropped the phone onto the desk, her hands shaking.
Adrian's gaze sharpened, though he said nothing. He didn't need to. He had already won.
Elara's lips trembled. "She doesn't have time…"
For the first time, Adrian leaned forward, his gray eyes locking onto hers with an intensity that stole her breath. "Sign it," he said softly, almost like a command whispered in her ear. "Save her. Or walk out that door and live with the weight of what you chose not to do."
His voice was silk over steel, deadly in its persuasion.
Elara's heart screamed against the walls of her chest. Every instinct begged her to run, but the thought of her mother lying helpless, waiting for a miracle that only this man could provide… it shattered her hesitation.
With trembling fingers, she grabbed the pen again. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she scrawled her name across the dotted line.
The ink bled into the paper, permanent and merciless.
When it was done, she pushed the folder toward Adrian, her hand still shaking. "There. It's done."
Adrian picked up the contract, his eyes scanning the signature. His expression didn't change, but something in his gaze deepened. Almost satisfaction. Almost victory.
He closed the folder with a deliberate snap. "Good."
Then, leaning forward, he whispered with dangerous calm:
"Welcome to your new life, Mrs. Cole."
The words felt like shackles locking into place.
Elara's world had just changed forever.