The roar of the Porsche 911 Carrera S engine sliced through the cold air of Sterling Heights. The sound of that luxury machine felt like a personal assault, deafening Leo Alexander who stood transfixed on the curb. Beneath the soaring, wrought-iron gates—three times his height—Leo felt like dust, easily swept away by the night wind.
This was not his road, nor his world, which was filled only with the dust of lecture halls and mountains of overdue bills. The crumpled white shirt, stained with the ghost of instant noodles for the last week, felt cold and clammy against his skin. But his gaze, fixed intensely on the gate, was the only part of him that wasn't ragged. It was a searing fire, fueled by old vengeance and the desperate need for survival—a fire ready to burn every last one of his principles.
"You want in, don't you?" The woman's voice slid out, crisp and cold, from the window of the Porsche that had just stopped beside him. Victoria "Vica" Sterling. Her name was already a myth, an echo of power resonating through every corporate corridor in the city. She was nearing forty, yet the silhouette caught behind the wheel was as sharp as a scalpel. Her cold green eyes scanned Leo, from his worn sneakers to the unsettling ambition in his gaze. Vica offered no mercy; she offered only a brutal, unavoidable calculation.
Leo said nothing. He simply held Vica's gaze, allowing the charged silence to stretch, tautening the wire of tension between them. That silence was their first negotiation. His shirt might be dirty, but his jaw was set hard. He wouldn't beg. He stared back, demanding the recognition that he was a threat, not just a lost beggar.
Vica offered a thin smile, the smile of a predator who had found intriguing prey beyond all reason. The Porsche window moved up slightly, as if Vica was already tired of the outside air. "Tell me, Alexander, what is it you're looking for here?" she asked, her voice silky like expensive fabric but with a dominating undertone.
"I'm looking for an opportunity, Vica," Leo replied, his voice hoarse but firm, refusing to be intimidated. "And I'm looking for the people who dismissed me. They're all in here, or they work for you. I want to be among them, not to serve them, but to take their place."
Vica's eyes didn't budge. She gave a small laugh, a sound that more closely resembled the chime of expensive crystal. "Such honest ambition. I like that. Naked ambition, devoid of ethics. But you know what this is? This is the Glass Palace. Every crack, every stain, will be visible under the light. All your shortcomings. And you... you are a large stain on a perfect background."
Leo did not break eye contact. He accepted the words as fact. She's right. I am a stain. Beneath the anger at that reality, a cold justification was born. But a stain can spread. A stain can ruin perfection. If she sees me as a tool, that's fine. Tools have a purpose, and I will use that purpose to take everything I need.
Vica turned off the Porsche engine, letting the silence of the night deepen further. Then, she moved.
The car door opened with a slow, mechanical hiss. Victoria Sterling emerged with a perfectly calibrated motion. She didn't step out; she glided onto the marble curb. Her silhouette towered, framed by the pillar lights and the fading twilight. Her black sheath dress hugged her lean, taut body, emphasizing every curve with lethal precision. She wore impossibly thin stilettos, adding to her height, making her the Queen of that pavement. Leo realized that not a single detail about her was accidental—from her dark red lipstick to her rigid posture, everything was a manifestation of absolute domination.
The scent of her expensive perfume—a mix of sandalwood, leather, and vetiver—hit Leo, suffocating him. Vica was the embodiment of power, elegant yet fatal.
"Your uncle told me about you," Vica said, walking closer. The distance between them narrowed until the silence felt physically threatening. "A smart, ambitious young man, but… severely lacking direction. That's dangerous. And I don't hire danger. I master danger."
"I'm not asking to be hired. I'm asking to be taught how to master it myself," Leo countered, refusing the inferior position. "I need more than direction. I need a chance to change everything. I know you see potential for control, Vica. And I'm ready to be controlled, as long as I get what I promised myself: power."
Vica stopped directly in front of him. Her shadow engulfed Leo. Her slender hand, with dark red nails and a sparkling diamond ring on her finger, lifted. Leo felt heat spread across his back. His heart pounded. The hand hovered near his face, weighing the mass of his head.
"Opportunity comes with an unwritten price, Alexander," Vica whispered, her eyes stripping Leo bare, searching for every hidden weakness. "A price that demands total ownership over what is most precious to you. Not money. But your loyalty. Your flesh."
Leo knew. He was mentally prepared. Ownership? She'll get it. And I'll take everything I need from her when her guard is down.
"Then tell me the exact price," Leo said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Vica smiled again. This time wider, colder, more lethal. She lowered her hand, but now touched Leo's cheek. Her thumb caressed his sharp cheekbone. The touch was not intimacy. It was the touch of a sovereign claiming what was hers.
"The price is… absolute obedience," Vica whispered, leaning closer to Leo's ear. Her perfume grew stronger, penetrating his lungs, dominating his senses. "Every part of you, Alexander. Every thought, every desire, every inch of your flesh. I will mold you, carve you, and possess you. Until you become my most perfect weapon. Are you ready to belong to me, completely?"
Leo's breath hitched. The words, the touch, were a promise and a threat combined. It was a fatal beginning. He weighed his lost self-respect against the power he could seize.
"I agree," Leo said, barely audible. He looked past Vica to the towering gate. I agree to belong to her, until the moment I can belong to myself, and she becomes my asset.
Vica withdrew her thumb. The warmth of her touch vanished instantly. "Good," she said, her voice flattening, like closing a business folder. "You can call me Vica." She turned towards the gate. It opened automatically, welcoming them into the bright white light. "Enter, Alexander. Welcome to your damnation."
Leo followed her. Every step was a conscious choice moving him further from his financial ruin and deeper into his moral damnation. He entered the Glass Palace courtyard. The house was an architectural marvel: glass walls soared high, reflecting the fiery twilight sky, creating the illusion they were walking on clouds.
Vica didn't wait for him in the vast, magnificent foyer. She kept walking, shedding her black blazer in the center of the room, which fell to the marble floor with a soft, barely audible thud. The movement was sensual and intentional. Leo held his breath.
"Your room is upstairs," Vica said, without turning around. "Your luggage has already been brought in. Rest. Tonight, you will begin your first training session. This is not a request; this is a contract, and this contract must be fulfilled."
Leo watched Vica walk towards the double teak doors at the far end of the foyer. She wants to carve me? I will be her sharpest blade.
"What time, Vica?" Leo asked.
Vica stopped at the double doors. She turned back, her eyes flashing, radiating absolute dominance. "I will be waiting for you in the private spa suite at exactly ten o'clock, Alexander. Don't be late. And be prepared for a deep dive into obedience that you will never forget."
Vica opened the double doors, stepped inside, and closed them behind her, as if Leo's entire presence was no longer relevant to her—a final act of manipulation.
Leo stood frozen, staring at the door. He had sold himself. He was Vica's property, with no way back. He glanced at the marble floor where Vica's expensive blazer had fallen, now swiftly picked up by a silent servant.
His heart throbbed, beating with the same rhythm of despair and ambition. He headed upstairs. The clock already read 9:05 PM. He had only 55 minutes left.