The silence between them was a living thing. It wrapped itself around Aria, heavy, suffocating, demanding an answer she wasn’t ready to give.
“You’re insane,” she said finally, trying to force strength into her voice.
“Possibly.” Ethan’s lips curved, just barely. “But insanity has built empires, Miss Lane. Do you want to spend your life coloring inside the lines, or do you want to see what happens when you step outside them?”
Her pulse hammered in her throat. “And if I sign this… what do I become to you?”
Ethan tilted his head, his gaze never wavering. “You become mine. And in return, I give you the one thing you’ve been searching for your entire life.”
She laughed, though it sounded broken. “And what’s that?”
“Freedom,” he said softly. “The freedom to stop pretending you’re in control.”
The words hit too close. Her childhood, her years of scraping by, her endless need to prove herself—they all crashed into her at once. He couldn’t know. He shouldn’t know. And yet, his eyes told her he did.
Her fingers brushed the pen beside the folder. It felt heavier than it should, as though it carried the weight of an entire future.
“If I sign this,” she whispered, “what happens first?”
Ethan leaned back, studying her like a chess piece he was about to move. “Then you’ll begin to learn the difference between power… and strength.”
The pen hovered in her hand. She looked up, and their eyes locked.
For the first time, she wasn’t sure if she was stepping into a prison—or walking into the only place she’d ever truly belong.
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