Glimmers Of Desperation

ated by its grandeur. The building was sleek and modern, with large

up to the entrance, and Sean stepped out firs

jazz music and soft lighting that cr

d for members only, and soon they were ascending

lent display of wealth and exclusivity. The doorman greeted them with a deferen

pe with the hotel's emblem embossed in gold. "Eve

ng the crisp paper between her fing

," Sean said, a title that

ng into the marbled lobby, her heels cl

y into the lock and entered a world of luxury that should have eased her w

e area with plush leather couches and armch

a soft click, sealing her within

tic as the New York skyline at midnight. What would

hardness settling in her chest. She was safe, for now, a phoenix pois

---

et chaise, the plush luxury of the VVIP room

iers casting prismatic light across the walls, abstract

uffocating, a gilded cage that

attern on the armrest. Her voice was a mere exhale, lost amidst the quiet grandeur.

orizon beyond the glass. She was high above the city, yet it felt as if she we

ra. It was the price tag Sean Tennessee had placed on their contract marriage, the

the cool pane, the city lights blurring as her eyes teemed with unshed t

t man?" The words felt foreign on her to

e sharp cut of his jaw. A man who spoke in co

oice echoed in her mind, a ghostly remnant of a h

with Ivana's laughter, leaving Harley to navigate a worl

shaking her head as if to dislodge the romantic notio

tion a pale specter against the night. She took a deep bre

, and Sean Tennessee's proposal was a lifeline mad

f doubt. "For Ivana, for... for me. "The VVIP room, with its silence and splendor, of

st glance at the city below, a world she was about to re-enter under

d Harley's breath hitched in her chest. Sean Tennessee strode into the

ion, and his green eyes scanned the space, ali

e that reverberated against the walls. "Mr. Tennesse

front of her, fingers b

een them with measured steps,

lent judgments. Harley's heartbeat pounded a staccato rhythm,

aced with implications. Harley nodded, but her mind screamed, Consid

sessing its prey. The weight of his scrutiny

iercely. "Harley," he said, drawing out the

d transaction. You need t

h word clipped, her spine erec

er to feel the warmth radiating from his body. "Let's hear it then." Her voice was

e," she echoed, her tongue dry. She felt cornered, trapped by necess

ips, the arrogance in it sparking a flicker of rebell

ouldn't help but wonder if any bargain with

warning in the silence of the VVIP room. Harley stood sti

igure hanging between them like a gilded no

curled into her palm, nails digging crescents of reality into he

and any other engagements requiring m

utting the terms from the very fabric of their agreement. "Emotions are not part of

murmured, the semblance of control fraying at the edges. H

ssured herself. A ye

ng, "it will be for appearances only. Nothing more." "Understood,

ngement stays strictly between us." Sean's

th invisible ink. "Any breach of contract results in immediate t

and absolute. "Terminate" Harley's breath hitched, a sil

xing on some distant poin

ead pulling her back to the stark reality before her. "Acceptable," she mana

d the storm of doubt. "Then we have an understanding." Sean's tone brokered no argument,

th. She swallowed hard, the act a silent capitulation to the t

wrapping around Harley, a cocoon woven from t

mind a battlefield where hope clashed with trepidation. The in

playing," Sean said, his words slici

waiting an echo that never comes. Her fingers brushed against the crisp p

of their arrangement unfurling in her min

and calculating, held her own, promises of freedom or the foretelling of

ammed for survival. The clack of her heels against the floo

air, a challenge wrapped in casual inquiry. "Would it matter i

, arms crossed, a fortress of indifference. Harley steadied hersel

d taken her place. "Then no," she declared, the lie tasting like ash. "No second

ction caught in the mirror, blonde hair f

grant it freedom. "Miss Williams," Sean called out just as she reached for

to your n