Chapter 1 – The First Glance

The gala was the kind of event Elena Carter usually avoided. Too many expensive dresses, too many fake smiles, too many people pretending to care about charity while they whispered about one another’s scandals. But Daniel had asked her to come—his company had sponsored one of the tables—and she didn’t have the heart to say no.

She smoothed her green satin dress for what felt like the hundredth time and tried to relax. The music was soft, the lighting golden, and servers floated around with trays of champagne. Daniel was busy networking, shaking hands with older men in tailored suits, so Elena wandered toward the balcony doors to escape the crowd for a moment.

From above, in the shadowed balcony overlooking the ballroom, Adrian Moretti watched her.

He wasn’t supposed to be paying attention to anything but the conversation at his table—one of his men was quietly updating him on a dispute with a rival family—but his focus had shifted the moment he’d seen her. She didn’t shine like the others in the room, but that was exactly why she stood out. She didn’t belong here. Her smile was real, uncalculated. She didn’t carry herself like a woman who wanted something from this crowd. And in his world, that kind of purity was rare.

He studied her quietly. The delicate line of her neck. The way her hair caught the light when she moved. He watched her sip her champagne, her eyes wandering, a small crease forming between her brows as if she were thinking about how to slip away without offending anyone.

By the time the first hour passed, Adrian already knew her name. Elena Carter. Twenty-four. Freelance graphic designer. Lives in a modest apartment in the city’s west side. The moment he heard about Daniel Hayes, the boyfriend, his jaw tightened. He hated that word.

Boyfriend meant she was already someone else’s. But to Adrian, possession wasn’t defined by titles. It was decided the moment he wanted something. And he wanted her.

When Elena stepped outside to the terrace for fresh air, the night air cool against her skin, Adrian followed at a distance. Not close enough to alarm her—he wasn’t reckless—but close enough to see the way she tilted her head back slightly, closing her eyes as if letting the night take away the weight of the crowded room.

Her phone buzzed in her hand. She smiled softly at the screen, thumbs moving as she typed a reply. Adrian didn’t need to guess who it was. Daniel.

That smile was something he wanted for himself.

He could be patient. He’d built empires waiting for the right moment to strike. But patience didn’t mean mercy, and it didn’t mean letting go.

When she went back inside, brushing a loose strand of hair from her face, she didn’t notice the way his gaze followed her. She didn’t feel the shift in her own life—the way a silent thread had been tied to her, pulling her toward a man she didn’t even know existed.

Adrian watched until the crowd swallowed her. And in that moment, one thought settled in his mind like a vow:

She would be his.

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