Her heart beat faster with every moment. Not because of the anticipation of an important meeting, but because she knew what was coming. Her parents had long had the idea that she would meet a powerful man tonight, a man who would mark the beginning of her own ascension. Gabriel Blackwell, the heir to the industrial colossus Blackwell Enterprises. Everything was calculated: the reception, the alliances, the perfectly orchestrated conversations. Sophia was just a prop in her parents' grand game of ambition. A puppet they hoped would shine in this stifling world of pretense and well-kept secrets.
The Blackwells were no different. They were used to these parties, men and women in search of power, their eyes meeting without ever touching. And Gabriel... Gabriel Blackwell was the alpha, the one who, fresh out of the economic war, dragged behind him the weight of an empire whose roots sank deep into the most solid strata of the country. He was handsome, cold and icy, a man who seemed as inaccessible as the walls of his ancestors' castle.
Finally, the moment she had been dreading arrived. Her parents gently pushed her toward the center of the room where Gabriel was conversing with a group of investors. She felt an icy shiver run down her spine as she approached the man, his gaze determined, but his heart light, almost carefree. She didn't know why it seemed to her that this moment would have a weight that would mark her future. Perhaps this feeling that she was not ready for the life her parents had reserved for her.
Gabriel turned to her as she introduced herself. His face was impassive, as if the evening was a mere formality in a succession of events he controlled with an iron fist. He greeted her with a nod, without warmth or emotion. "Sophia Blackwell, I presume?" he said, his voice calm but devoid of genuine interest.
"No. Sophia. By Ravel." The correction was instinctive. She didn't like the fact that her name was systematically reduced to another. But he didn't mention it. He barely raised his eyebrows, as if to show his disinterest. He took a glass of champagne from one of the passing waiters and handed it to Sophia without really looking at her. She took the glass, aware that this was all just a game, a diversion for him. And for her, a carefully staged meeting, a moment when she had to live up to expectations.
Her parents smiled, watching the scene with tacit pleasure. They knew that this meeting was crucial for the future of their family. They had prepared her, had forged her for this kind of moment. But she... Sophia felt like a stranger in this world of pretense. She was not like those other women who presented themselves as objects of desire, trophies to be exhibited at parties. No, she was something else, but what? She herself had no idea.
"So, Mademoiselle de Ravel, how is your entry into the business world going?" Gabriel asked with a slight smirk. He seemed to be mocking her, as if her question was just a formality. But he probably didn't expect a real answer.
She felt the acidity of the question seep into her. "Well, let's just say I'm still learning," she replied, false confidence in her voice. "But I'm determined to learn."
He stared at her for a moment, his icy eyes searching her face. "Determination alone isn't enough, you know. You have to be willing to make sacrifices. To understand what's really at stake." He held up a hand to interrupt a question she hadn't asked yet. "Business, miss, isn't about talent or ambition. It's about survival."
She felt her heart tighten, a dull anger stirring inside her. How dare he judge her ability to understand the stakes of a world he embodied? But she didn't answer. Not yet. Not in front of him. Not in this world of high walls and fake smiles. She just smiled. A tight smile, but it had no effect on him.
Gabriel turned away from her as he went back to chatting with his business partners, ignoring her almost instantly. She stood there alone, like a shadow in the shadows, her body frozen in a stillness that felt more like humiliation than simple indifference. The glass of champagne in her hand seemed to grow heavier by the second.
Was that it? Was that the man she had been promised? The man who would change her life, the one who would make her an influential woman, an instrument in a world where she had no place?
She turned away, looking for a door, a way to escape from this room that seemed to be becoming stifling. She found a small balcony, there, apart, under a sky of icy blackness. She let herself fall into an armchair, the glass of champagne forgotten in her hand, her gaze lost in the darkness of the night.
The noise of the party seemed to fade into the distance, as if the reception belonged to another world. Sophia felt alone, more alone than ever. In this golden world, there were only moving parts, alliances formed and deformed according to interests, desires and needs. What she had just experienced with Gabriel... It was a door he had just closed, a door he had not even let her pass through.
She sighed, extinguishing the anger that still burned in her veins. She had no intention of letting a meaningless encounter dictated by power games and appearances define her future. She was barely getting up, but she already knew that, either way, she would be the one deciding her own path.