Chapter 1 The Silent Slave
# Chapter 1: The Silent Slave
Ten years. A decade of shadows and whispers. That's how long I've been Corwin Blake's secret—his hidden lover, his midnight confidante, his silent problem-solver.
Tonight, like many nights before, I stand in his penthouse overlooking the city lights of Manhattan, waiting. The clock on the wall ticks past midnight. He's late again. My reflection in the floor-to-ceiling windows shows a woman I sometimes barely recognize—Marcelline Foster, thirty-two, poised and elegant in a black cocktail dress that cost more than my first month's rent in New York. My dark hair falls in soft waves around my shoulders, and my green eyes hold secrets that would shock the business world.
The sound of the elevator announces his arrival before he steps into view. Corwin Blake—CEO of Blake Industries, Wall Street darling, and the man who has held my heart hostage for a decade. He loosens his tie as he walks in, his broad shoulders slightly hunched from a day of board meetings.
"Marcelline." My name on his lips still sends an unwanted shiver down my spine. "Thank you for coming."
As if I had a choice. As if the intricate web he's woven around my life leaves room for refusal.
"The Morrison deal is falling apart," he says without preamble, pouring himself two fingers of whiskey. "I need you to make some calls."
Not "How are you?" Not "I've missed you." Just business, as always.
"The Morrison deal is falling apart because their legal team found the irregularities in the offshore accounts," I reply, my voice steady despite the anger simmering beneath my skin. "The accounts you insisted on maintaining despite my warnings."
He takes a long sip before responding. "That's why I need you. Nobody cleans up messes like you do, Marcelline."
I've spent a decade erasing his mistakes. Creating alibis. Redirecting investigations. Building a fortress around his empire with my bare hands while remaining invisible to the world.
"What exactly do you need me to do this time?" I ask, though I already know. I always know.
"Call Simon at the regulatory commission. He owes you after what you did for his daughter. And perhaps reach out to Helen Morrison directly—woman to woman." He gives me that smile, the one that used to make my heart race but now only serves to remind me of my chains. "She always liked you."
Of course she did. Everyone likes the charming, efficient Marcelline—the woman who appears at charity galas on Corwin's arm when his schedule requires a companion, only to disappear when the cameras turn away.
"And what do I get in return?" The question slips out before I can stop it.
His eyes narrow slightly, surprise flashing across his features before he composes himself. "We've discussed this, Marcelline. Our arrangement—"
"Our arrangement," I echo, the words bitter on my tongue. "Ten years of our arrangement, Corwin. Ten years of being introduced as your 'associate' in public while warming your bed in private."
He sets down his glass and approaches me, his cologne—sandalwood and bergamot—enveloping me as he places his hands on my shoulders. "You know my position is complicated. The board, the shareholders—they have expectations. My family name carries certain obligations."
The same excuses, repackaged and presented as if they're fresh revelations.
"Just give me more time," he says softly, his thumb tracing my collarbone in that way that used to dissolve my resolve. "Things are delicate right now. After this merger goes through..."
More time. Always more time. The years stretch behind us like a graveyard of broken promises.
"I love you," he whispers, kissing me with practiced precision. "You know that, don't you?"
I close my eyes, allowing myself one moment of weakness before stepping away. "I'll make the calls."
His relief is palpable. "This is why we work so well together. You understand what's at stake."
What's at stake for him, perhaps. But what about me? What about the woman who has put her life on hold, who has compromised her own ethics to protect his? The woman who still foolishly hopes that someday he'll see her as more than a convenient solution to his problems?
After he leaves for his bedroom, expecting me to follow once I've finished his bidding, I sit alone in the dark, my phone heavy in my hand. I make the calls, speak the right words, call in favors that have been carefully cultivated over years. By morning, the Morrison deal will be back on track.
But something has shifted inside me tonight. Perhaps it's been shifting for months, like tectonic plates moving imperceptibly until suddenly, the earthquake arrives.
My phone buzzes with a text message—not from Corwin, but from Alaric Donovan, his chief rival in the financial sector. A man I've been secretly feeding information to for the past six months, building my escape route brick by careful brick.
"Is everything in place?" his message reads.
I glance toward the bedroom where Corwin sleeps, oblivious to the storm gathering on his horizon.
Before I can reply, another message arrives—this one from Rebecca, Corwin's executive assistant who has become my unwitting spy within his company.
"Thought you should know. He's announcing his engagement to Elysia Montgomery at the charity gala next week. The ring was delivered to the office today. I'm sorry."
The phone nearly slips from my suddenly numb fingers. Elysia Montgomery. Daughter of Senator Montgomery, with connections that could propel Corwin's political ambitions. The perfect society bride for a man with his eyes on greater power.
A harsh laugh escapes my lips, breaking the silence of the penthouse. After all these years, after everything I've done for him, I'm still just a shadow to be discarded when inconvenient.
I type my response to Alaric: "Yes. Everything is in place. Begin Phase One."
In the darkness of Corwin's living room, with the city lights creating a halo around my silhouette, I allow myself a cold smile. "It's time for you to know the cost, Corwin," I whisper to the emptiness. "The cost of making me love you. The cost of making me hate myself. The price of ten years in the shadows."
The silent slave is about to break her chains.
