Ava entered the house feeling a new being within her. She meets Damian just as she stepped into the living room.
"How did it go"
"You would've given me a hint of what the meeting is all about and I didn't know I would've met him, Atleast I should have gotten myself ready for that".
"But I heard you did great and stood on the ground".
"Not like I have any other choice".
"We have a party to attend tonight and the designer is already in your room waiting for you".
The city lights blurred past the tinted windows as the car pulled up outside the grand hotel ballroom. The party was everything Ava expected from Damian — opulent, exclusive, and crawling with people who lived in a different universe from her. Glittering chandeliers hung like frozen waterfalls, reflecting light off the hundreds of diamonds and sequins that adorned the guests.
"Stay close," Damian murmured, offering his hand as she stepped out. Cameras flashed the moment he appeared, reporters shouting questions Ava could barely hear over the thundering pulse in her ears.
Inside, the room swelled with expensive perfume and low murmurs. It didn't take long before people gravitated toward Damian. Power did that — it pulled people in like gravity. Ava shrank behind him, unfamiliar with this world but unwilling to leave his side.
Then, as if by some cruel stroke of fate, she saw him.
Mario.
He wasn't alone. Mia clung to his arm, face pale but lips pressed into a defiant smile. She must have come after all, despite Mario's threats. Their mother had likely intervened, persuading her to seize the opportunity while they covered for her absence. But Mia's bravado faltered when her eyes met Ava's.
Mario's gaze followed Mia's and darkened the instant he saw Ava beside Damian. His jaw clenched so tightly the muscle in his cheek ticked. Damian noticed it too.
He leaned down, voice like silk laced with steel. "You're going to dance with me tonight, Ava."
She stiffened. "Damian… I can't—"
"You can. And you will." His hand slid to the small of her back. "Unless you'd rather return to the man who traded you for his own ego."
The challenge in his voice ignited something dangerous inside her. Before she could second-guess herself, Damian had led her onto the dance floor. The music slowed, and all eyes fell on them.
Gasps rose around the room as the most powerful man in the city took an unknown woman into his arms.
The moment his hand settled on her waist, Ava forgot how to breathe. Damian's touch wasn't rough or possessive — it was possessively gentle. He moved with lethal grace, every step calculated, every turn drawing her closer.
Reporters flanked the dance floor's edge, cameras raised. One dared to call out, "Mr. Lancaster, care to introduce your companion?"
Damian didn't even spare them a glance. "No comment."
That single, dismissive remark sent a ripple through the crowd. Whispers sparked like fire in dry grass. Ava felt the heat of a hundred stares but could only focus on the man leading her through the dance like a predator circling his chosen prey.
"I hope you're ready for what comes next," Damian murmured against her ear.
Ava's stomach tightened. "What are you doing, Damian?"
"Giving the world something to talk about," he said, his eyes flicking toward Mario, who was glaring daggers from across the room.
The song ended, applause rising as Damian led her off the floor. He didn't stop until they reached the balcony, away from prying eyes. The night air was sharp, the city a glittering sea of lights below.
Ava leaned on the railing, heart hammering against her ribs. "Mario will be furious."
"Let him be," Damian said darkly. "I've tolerated that bastard long enough."
Ava turned to him, searching his face. There was a storm there — cold, controlled, but unmistakably brewing.
"Why are you doing this, Damian? What do you really want from me?"
He stepped closer, his presence suffocatingly intense. "You."
The word hung between them, heavier than the humid night air.
Ava's lips parted, but before she could respond, movement near the entrance to the balcony caught her attention.
A shadow.
Then another.
She straightened, unease prickling down her spine. "Damian… someone's—"
He grabbed her arm, pulling her behind him as two men appeared in the doorway. Ava recognized them instantly — Mario's men. The same ones who used to tail her under Mario's orders.
"Mr. Lancaster," one of them started, his voice a poor mask for the fear in his eyes. "We… uh… we're just—"
"You're trespassing." Damian's tone was lethal.
The men froze.
Inside, beyond the glass doors, Mario paced furiously, shoving his phone into his pocket when Mai reached for his arm. The air inside the ballroom seemed to shift — shadows bleeding along the walls.
"Tell Mario," Damian said, his voice low and cutting, "that if he wants to see his wife, he can come through me."
Ava's breath hitched. Her heart lurched painfully in her chest.
The two men bolted without another word.
Damian turned to her, one brow raised. "Ready to clear more space in your life?"
Ava swallowed hard. For the first time in years, she didn't feel like a prisoner in her own skin.
Outside, Bryan's SUV idled by the curb. Inside the vehicle, a figure loomed in the shadows, unseen by the ballroom's glittering lights. Movement flickered in the rearview mirror — another shadow beside him.
A storm was coming.
And Ava was at its center.