Chapter 3 against all odds

Eliara's POV

I hadn't cried, not when I left Alexander's apartment.

Not even when I saw the lipstick-stained wine glasses, or when he told me "It was a mistake."

But now, seated on Naomi's couch, barefoot and hollow, I felt the sob building in my chest like a storm cloud refusing to burst, I hated that I still loved him, hated that some traitorous part of me still clung to the fantasy we had built. But the truth was clear. Alexander had shattered me. And Serena? She had lit the match and watched me burn.

Naomi slid a cup of tea into my hand, I barely noticed it, she crouched beside me, her eyes kind but burning with fury.

"We need to do something," she said. "This can't end with you crawling away while they play pretend"

Silence.....

She leaned closer. "They humiliated you, El. They stole everything, you should make them bleed."

I looked at her slowly. "With what? My tears?"

"No," she said with a smirk. "With your silence, your power, your absence."

I blinked. "What?"

Naomi grinned, wicked and brilliant. "They expect you to scream, beg, create a scene. Don't give them that satisfaction, pull back, be still. Let them stew in the quiet. Let them wonder what you are planning. That will drive them insane."

I stared at her. "You've thought about this."

"Girl, I've fantasized about it."

We both laughed, and the sound broke something in me, like a hairline fracture finally splitting apart. For the first time in days, I felt.....free.

A week passed, I ghosted him, ghosted them all.

Alexander's texts turned from cool to frantic.

*Eliara, we need to talk.*

*Please, don't shut me out.*

*I made a mistake.*

*Don't make me regret telling you the truth.*

The nerve.

Serena tried, too, one messages after another.

*I didn't mean for this to happen.*

*You don't understand the full story.*

*We both love him. Maybe you never really did.*

She had the audacity to play the victim, like she hadn't stolen the man I loved out from under me. The audacity would've been laughable if it hadn't been so.....disturbing.

And then I met jasail Lancaster

It was at a gala hosted by the Delacroix Foundation, a high society affair full of overpriced gowns, clinking champagne flutes, and strategically sharpened smiles. Naomi practically dragged me there, forcing me into a midnight-blue satin dress and sky high heels.

"You look like vengeance," she said. "Hot, lethal vengeance."

I didn't want to admit how good it felt to be seen again. To have heads turn when I entered. To see Alexander across the room freeze mid-sentence, his glass pausing halfway to his lips.

And right beside him, Serena, clinging to his arm like a koala.

I held my chin high and turned away from them, that's when I saw him.

jasail Lancaster, Alexander's older brother.

The one no one talked about not since he walked away from the family business and vanished into his own empire of secrets.

He stood alone near the bar, dressed in sharp charcoal suit ,his presence magnetic and intimidating in a way Alexander never was. There was something dangerous in the way he watched the room, controlled, calculating, like a predator studying a prey.

And for a brief moment, he watched me,

I looked away when our eyes met, heart thudding in my chest.

Moments later, I felt his presence at my side.

"Quite an entrance, huh" he murmured.

I turned to him. "Excuse me?"

"You shut down an entire ballroom with one look." His eyes didn't wander, they held mine, like he was reading something beneath the surface. "Alexander looks like he's about to choke on his drink."

I smirked. "Good."

"I'm jasail " he said, extending his hand.

"I know who you are."

His smile was brief, amused. "And you are the one he let slip away."

I laughed under my breath. "More like the one he threw away."

jasail leaned in slightly, lowering his voice. "That was his second mistake."

I arched a brow. "What was the first?"

He took a sip of his drink. "Thinking you could be replaced."

The tension crackled like live wire between us.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

His smile darkened, just a shade. "Let's just say I don't believe in letting snakes win. And from what I've seen, you're too sharp to let them bite twice."

Before I could respond, Serena appeared.

She froze when she saw me talking to jasail. Her expression faltered.

"Eliara," she said sweetly. "What a surprise."

jasail's eyes sharpened. "Serena."

"jasail Lancaster"she purred. "I didn't realize you were back in town."

He gave her a smile colder than winter. "Noticed you were stirring up trouble and thought I'd come see the chaos for myself, wouldn't miss it for the world now."

Serena flushed clearly embarrassed, i bit back a grin.

"Excuse me," I said to them both, brushing past her shoulder just enough to let her know I wasn't broken anymore.

Later that night, as I stepped outside for air, the city lights stretching endlessly beyond the balcony, I felt someone beside me.

It was jasail again.

"You handled that well," he said.

"She has always underestimated me."

He looked at me then, like really hooked.

"You're not what I expected," he said softly.

"And what did you expect?" I asked.

He studied me. "Someone weaker. Someone who'd break. But you're still standing."

"I'm not just standing," I said. "I'm rebuilding."

He nodded slowly. "Good. Because I have a proposal."

I frowned. "What kind of proposal?"

jasail Lancaster leaned in, voice low and deliberate. "Marry me."

The air between us stilled.

I stared at him, my heart pounding. "Is this a joke?"

"No," he said. "I want to marry you. Publicly.

Strategically.

And yes, partially to destroy them, but also because I think we could give each other something they can't. Power, control, redemption."

"This is insane," I whispered.

"It's calculated," he said. "You want revenge. I want balance restored, and they both deserve to see us thrive in spite of them."

"jasail Lancaster...." I shook my head. "We barely know each other."

His gaze didn't waver. "We will, trust me, Eliara. You'll never have to beg to be seen again."

He stepped back then, placing a card in my palm.

"When you're ready," he said. "Call me."

I need your response.

And just like that, he vanished into the night, leaving me breathless, furious, and most of all intrigued.

For the first time in weeks, I felt the pieces shifting, the gameboard tilting, my cards all aces.

And this time....I had the power.