Chapter 2

For a few seconds after Sebastian Blackwood spoke, the entire ballroom was silent.

Not the polite silence from earlier.

This was the kind of silence that felt heavy… like the air itself had frozen.

I stared at him, convinced I had heard wrong.

“Excuse me?” I finally said.

Sebastian Blackwood stood a few feet away, tall and composed, as if proposing marriage to a complete stranger in front of hundreds of people was the most normal thing in the world.

His dark eyes never left mine.

“I asked,” he repeated calmly, “if you would like to marry me instead.”

The crowd erupted again.

“What?!”

“This must be a joke!”

“Sebastian Blackwood is proposing to her?”

I could barely hear them.

My mind was still trying to process what was happening.

Victor was the first one to recover.

He stepped forward angrily. “Mr. Blackwood, I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”

Sebastian turned his head slowly toward him.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop instantly.

“Is that so?” Sebastian asked.

Victor straightened his suit nervously.

“Yes. Aurora was my fiancée. Our personal matter shouldn’t concern—”

“Your fiancée?” Sebastian interrupted.

His tone was calm.

Too calm.

Victor hesitated.

“Well… formerly.”

Sebastian glanced briefly at Lily.

“So you replaced her,” he said flatly.

Victor forced a smile. “You could say that.”

Sebastian’s eyes returned to me.

“You see?” he said quietly. “Your fiancé doesn't seem to mind.”

Heat rushed to my face.

The humiliation from earlier still burned in my chest.

Everyone in this room had watched my life fall apart.

And now the most powerful man in the city was offering me a way to stand back up.

But something about this situation felt… strange.

“Mr. Blackwood,” I said carefully, “you don’t even know me.”

His lips curved slightly.

“I know enough.”

“What does that mean?”

Before he could answer, Lily suddenly stepped forward.

Her voice was sweet but tense.

“Mr. Blackwood, I’m sure Aurora appreciates your kindness, but she’s probably very emotional right now.”

She smiled at me in that fake, innocent way she always used.

“Aurora, why don’t you go home and rest? Today has been difficult for everyone.”

For everyone.

The audacity almost made me laugh.

Sebastian ignored her completely.

Instead, he asked me a simple question.

“Do you want revenge?”

My breath caught.

Victor scoffed loudly. “Revenge? Aurora isn’t that kind of woman.”

He turned to me with a mocking smile.

“You're not going to do something childish just because you got dumped, right?”

Dumped.

The word echoed in my head.

Three years together.

And that was what it meant to him.

Something inside me hardened.

Sebastian was still watching me carefully.

Waiting.

I lowered my voice.

“Why are you doing this?”

“For mutual benefit,” he replied.

“What benefit?”

“A marriage contract.”

The words made several guests gasp.

Sebastian continued calmly.

“You marry me. I help you regain your dignity.”

Victor laughed.

“You think anyone here will take that seriously? Aurora doesn’t even come from money.”

Several people in the room nodded quietly.

They all believed the same thing.

That I was the poor Whitmore cousin.

The one who didn’t matter.

Sebastian looked at Victor like he was mildly bored.

“I’m not asking for their approval.”

Then he looked back at me.

“I’m asking for yours.”

My heart beat faster.

This situation was insane.

Marrying a billionaire I had never met?

But the humiliation I had just experienced replayed in my mind.

Victor’s cold voice.

Lily’s fake smile.

The way everyone watched me like I was entertainment.

Sebastian spoke again.

“You have two options tonight.”

His tone was calm but firm.

“You can walk out of this room as the woman who was abandoned…”

He paused.

“Or you can walk out as Mrs. Blackwood.”

The crowd gasped again.

Even Victor looked stunned.

My mind spun.

This was ridiculous.

And yet…

For the first time tonight, the attention in the room had shifted.

People were no longer looking at me with pity.

They were staring with shock.

Curiosity.

Envy.

Victor suddenly grabbed my wrist.

“Aurora,” he said through clenched teeth, “don’t be stupid.”

I looked at him.

He leaned closer.

“This man is clearly making a joke out of you. Don’t embarrass yourself further.”

Lily nodded quickly.

“Yes, Aurora. A marriage isn’t something you do out of spite.”

Out of spite.

Maybe they were right.

Maybe this was crazy.

But I suddenly realized something.

Victor had already humiliated me.

He had already destroyed everything we built together.

Why should I protect his pride?

I slowly pulled my hand away from him.

Then I turned back to Sebastian.

“What are the conditions?” I asked.

The room exploded with whispers.

Victor looked furious.

Sebastian, however, looked almost… pleased.

“A one-year contract marriage,” he said.

“A year?” I repeated.

“Yes.”

“And after that?”

“We divorce.”

It was straightforward.

Cold.

Logical.

Just like a business deal.

“Why me?” I asked again.

His eyes held mine.

“You were convenient.”

The blunt honesty surprised me.

But somehow, it was still better than Victor’s lies.

Sebastian continued.

“You needed a solution tonight. I needed a wife.”

“A wife?”

“For certain business reasons.”

The explanation was vague, but at least he didn’t pretend this was about romance.

I crossed my arms.

“And what exactly do I gain from this arrangement?”

Sebastian answered immediately.

“Power.”

The word sent a ripple through the crowd.

“Anyone who humiliates Mrs. Blackwood,” he continued calmly, “humiliates me.”

My heart skipped.

Victor scoffed again. “You think Aurora could handle that kind of life?”

Sebastian’s gaze turned cold.

“Better than you handled loyalty.”

Victor’s face turned red.

The tension in the room became suffocating.

I looked at Sebastian carefully.

His expression was unreadable.

But there was one thing I could see clearly.

He wasn’t joking.

He was completely serious.

This man was offering me a way to flip the entire situation.

To turn humiliation into power.

Slowly, I stepped closer to him.

Victor looked panicked.

“Aurora, stop.”

Lily grabbed his arm.

“She wouldn’t dare.”

I stopped directly in front of Sebastian.

He was even taller up close.

Intimidating.

Dangerous.

But strangely calm.

I met his gaze.

“If I agree,” I said quietly, “you don’t control my life.”

His lips curved slightly.

“Of course not.”

“And if I want to walk away before the year ends?”

“You can.”

The answer came too easily.

It almost sounded rehearsed.

But I ignored the feeling.

There was only one question left.

“Are you absolutely sure about this?”

Sebastian’s eyes darkened slightly.

“Yes.”

My heart pounded.

I turned slowly toward Victor and Lily.

They were watching me with disbelief.

For the first time tonight…

I felt calm.

Then I looked back at Sebastian Blackwood.

And said the words no one in the room expected.

“Alright.”

The ballroom went completely silent again.

“I’ll marry you.”

Victor shouted immediately.

“You’ve lost your mind!”

Lily looked pale.

“You can’t be serious!”

Sebastian, however, simply nodded.

“Good.”

He reached into his jacket and pulled out his phone.

Then he said something that made the entire room gasp again.

“My lawyer is already here.”

The massive doors at the back of the ballroom opened.

A man in a grey suit walked in carrying a leather briefcase.

Sebastian glanced at me.

“Shall we sign?”

My heart skipped.

“You brought the contract already?”

Sebastian’s eyes held a mysterious glint.

“Yes.”

Something about that answer sent a strange chill down my spine.

Almost like…

This entire moment had been planned.

And as the lawyer placed the contract in front of me, Sebastian leaned closer and whispered quietly enough that only I could hear.

“Welcome to the Blackwood family, Mrs. Blackwood.”

Then he added one more sentence.

A sentence that made my heart suddenly beat much faster.

“Your new life starts now.”