Terms Of Exposure
The ballroom was a theatre of polished perfection - laughter that didn't reach the eyes,handshakes laced with silent competition,and camera flashes that left no secrets in the shadows.
Elara stood tall in her navy silk gown,her features smooth,untouchable. To the world,she was a woman at the top of her game. But beneath the satin and poise was a week's worth of sleepless nights,whispered speculation,and the sick feeling that something was about to tip.
Across the hall,Killian looked like nothing could touch him. He wore confidence like armor,trading conversation with industry leaders as if the night wasn't a loaded gun waiting to fire.
Elara's phone buzzed quietly in her clutch. A message from her assistant.
"Something's trending. You need to see it. Now."
Before she could unlock the screen,a hush fell.
At first,just one screen flickered in the corner. Someone had cast their phone into the projector. Perhaps by accident. Perhaps not.
The footage played with no sound,but none was needed.
A hotel suite. Shadows. Clothes rumpled.
A woman - unmistakably her - stepping back in disheveled elegance. A man, half-dressed. Lips meeting hers in a moment that could have been passion or goodbye.
The angle was distant, grainy... but deliberate.
Then came the gasps. And the clicks. People whispered her name like it was now synonymous with scandal.
She didn't breathe.
Her pulse hammered in her ears as she turned her head slightly,meeting Killian's gaze across the crowd.
He wasn't surprised.
He moved toward her with a calm so sharp it was almost cruel.
"Come with me," he said simply,already steering her out of the ballroom.
She let herself be led through corridors until the music and murmurs were muted. Only when the door to the lounge shut behind them did she turn on him.
"You knew."
"I had a reason to believe," he admitted,his voice carefully measured. " It's been circulating. Someone was threatening to leak it,I had no proof . Just leads."
"And you didn't think to warn me?" Her voice broke on the last word. "To give me a chance to protect myself?"
"I was trying to protect us both."
"You let me walk into that room blind."
"I wanted to present a solution. Not panic."
He stepped forward and slid a thick folder across the table between them.
Elegant. Minimal. Her name embossed beside his.
She didn't touch it. "What is this?"
" A contract. We marry. Publicly. As a couple who fell in love,had a moment,are simply committing to each other. One year. Then a quiet divorce. You keep your name,your position,and you leave with a very generous settlement."
"And a child," she whispered,her eyes scanning the page. Her finger froze under Clause 9.
She read it again. And again. Just to be sure she hadn't misread.
A child must be conceived and carried to term. Custody belongs to the father.
Her eyes lifted." You added a womb clause?"
His voice remained even. "It adds sincerity. Families are harder to smear. It creates stability. It-"
" It gives you an heir." Her lip trembled with restrained rage." And takes everything from me."
"Not everything," he said. "I'm offering more than anyone has."
"And asking more than anyone ever dared." Her voice dropped,but it shook.
"You want my silence,my body,and my future. In return, you give me...freedom after I've paid the price?"
He didn't respond.
She threw the folder down and stepped back,air heavy between.
"I will not be traded for your image, Killian."
Killian sat down calmly on a chair. "It's up to you to choose survival or death."
The silence that followed wasn't empty. It was full of everything that had been broken,leaked,calculated.
She turned to leave - head held high,heart in shreds - just as her phone buzzed again.
"They're saying you slept your way through to be in that position."
The damage was done.
But the decision was hers.