“The invitation”
1318 Words
The invitation arrived in a black envelope, heavy as guilt, sealed with a symbol she hadn’t seen in years—a silver wolf, baring its teeth.
Selena Hart stared at it, heart thudding in her chest. She sat alone in the grand, crumbling parlor of the Hart estate, the scent of dying roses and faded wealth thick in the air. The chandelier above, once brilliant with diamonds and pride, now hung dull and half-lit, a sad echo of what once was.
Everything about this place whispered of loss.
She turned the envelope over in her hands. No return address. No stamp. Just her name, written in sharp, slashing letters that seemed to know too much about her. Her gut twisted. She already knew who had sent it.
She didn’t need to open it.
And yet—her fingers betrayed her, slipping under the seal, pulling free the thick card inside.
“Tonight. Blackwood Tower. 9 PM. Come alone. —A.B.”
A.B.
Alec Blackwood.
The name alone could’ve knocked the breath from her lungs. Memories rose up unbidden: a boy with ice in his veins and fire in his eyes; a smirk that promised both salvation and destruction. Once, they had been teenagers caught on opposite sides of a war their families had started. Now, he was a billionaire king—and she was the fallen princess of a ruined empire.
Selena folded the card and placed it carefully back into the envelope, as if it were a weapon she needed to sheath. She rose from the velvet armchair, her reflection catching in the cracked mirror across the room. She barely recognized herself: a ghost draped in silk, her dark hair a loose cascade down her back, her eyes harder than they had been a year ago. Hard enough, maybe, to survive Alec Blackwood.
She had to go.
Not because she wanted to.
Because she had no choice.
Upstairs, her father coughed—a rough, broken sound that tore through the silence like a gunshot. Selena pressed her fingers to her temple, steeling herself. The Hart legacy was on life support, and if she didn’t find a way to breathe new life into it, everything her family had built would rot away into dust.
Alec was offering something.
A deal, a trap, a lifeline—she didn’t know yet.
But she would find out.
Selena pulled on a simple black dress—sleek, modest, armor disguised as elegance. She brushed a hand over the worn banister as she descended the stairs, her heels clicking sharply against the marble floor.
By 8:30, she was in a cab, watching the city rush past in smeared neon colors. The closer she drew to Blackwood Tower, the more the pit in her stomach grew, heavy and cold.
Blackwood Tower loomed against the night sky like a blade stabbing the heavens, its windows gleaming with ruthless ambition.
It was everything Alec Blackwood had become.
Unreachable. Untouchable. Merciless.
⸻
The guards at the entrance knew her name. They said nothing, only nodded her through with the kind of polished indifference that spoke of wealth and danger.
An elevator waited, its doors yawning open like a mouth ready to devour her.
Selena stepped inside.
The ride was silent. Smooth. Too fast.
When the doors slid open on the penthouse floor, she stepped out into a cavern of glass and shadows. Floor-to-ceiling windows revealed a glittering cityscape, a kingdom sprawling below, uncaring and cold.
And there he was.
Alec Blackwood stood with his back to her, staring out at the empire he ruled. His silhouette was carved from stone, tall and broad, the tailored black suit hugging him like a second skin. Even from behind, he radiated a dangerous kind of stillness—the calm before the kill.
“You came,” he said, voice low and sharp as broken glass.
Selena swallowed the surge of nerves clawing up her throat. “You summoned me. Not much of a choice.”
He turned then, and for a moment, the air left her lungs.
Time had been cruel to many men, but not Alec.
He was sharper now, more lethal. His face was all hard planes and shadows, his mouth a ruthless line. Only his eyes—those impossible, storm-grey eyes—held any trace of the boy she had once known. Or thought she had.
Alec studied her, his gaze peeling back every layer she had carefully wrapped around herself.
“You’ve fallen far, princess,” he said, a smirk tugging at his mouth.
“And you’re still a bastard,” Selena shot back, lifting her chin.
Alec’s smile widened, but there was no humor in it. Only something colder. Older.
“I didn’t call you here to reminisce,” he said, strolling toward a bar set against the far wall. He poured himself a drink with the kind of casual elegance that made Selena’s hands itch to slap the glass from his fingers.
He didn’t offer her one.
She didn’t ask.
“So why am I here?” she demanded.
He sipped his drink, savoring the moment. “Because I have something you want.”
Selena folded her arms. “Enlighten me.”
Alec placed his glass down and crossed the distance between them in three slow, deliberate steps. He stopped just close enough that she could feel the heat radiating off him, smell the dark, spicy scent of his cologne.
“My lawyers own the debt collectors currently clawing at your father’s throat,” he said quietly. “I can make them disappear. Overnight.”
Selena’s stomach twisted. She hated that he knew exactly where her weaknesses were buried.
“And the price?” she forced out.
Alec reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small black box. He opened it with a flick of his thumb.
Inside lay a ring—simple, elegant, and cruelly beautiful. A single diamond, clear and merciless.
“Marry me,” he said.
The words hung between them, obscene in their simplicity.
Selena stared at him, blood roaring in her ears. “You’re insane.”
“Maybe,” Alec allowed, tilting his head slightly, studying her like a particularly interesting puzzle. “But you’ll say yes.”
“Why?” she whispered, taking an involuntary step back.
Alec followed, closing the distance effortlessly.
“Because you’re desperate,” he said softly. “Because you’ll do anything for your family. Because deep down, part of you has always belonged to me—and we both know it.”
His words sliced deeper than she wanted to admit.
Selena’s chest rose and fell in sharp, shallow breaths. She hated him. She hated him more than she had ever hated anyone.
And yet…
Some twisted part of her wanted to understand.
To know why, after all these years, he had come for her now.
“What is this really about, Alec?” she demanded, voice trembling despite her best efforts. “Revenge?”
He smiled then—not cruelly, but sadly, almost as if he pitied her.
“Revenge,” he said. “And something worse.”
She shook her head, trying to clear the fog of anger and confusion clouding her mind.
“You don’t love me,” she said, almost to herself.
“No,” Alec agreed, his voice almost gentle. “But I will own you.”
Selena wanted to scream. To slap him. To storm out of this glittering prison and never look back.
But she couldn’t.
Because Alec was right.
Her father was dying.
Their name was rotting.
And she was the only one left to save it.
Selena closed her eyes, just for a moment, tasting the bitterness of her defeat.
When she opened them again, Alec was still there, holding out the ring.
Waiting.
Daring her.
With a hand that did not shake, Selena took the box—and sealed her fate.
- Writer
