The Prince's Poison Vow
I was on the phone with my lawyer, finalizing the dissolution of our engagement, when a voice whispered in my head. It was the Narrator, the syrupy, all-knowing voice that had taken up residence in my mind for the past few weeks, spinning our lives into a cheap romance novel.
【What has our poor hero done wrong?】 it crooned. 【He’s just trying to get your attention.】
【Don’t call it off, sweet girl! Just shed a single tear and he’ll lay the world at your feet.】
I glanced out the window of the quiet SoHo café. Across the street, the canary, Lexi, was dripping in Cartier, her laughter echoing as she clung to Liam Blackwood’s arm. He looked down at her, his expression a lazy, practiced mask of indulgence. The kind of look that was meant to be seen.
I smiled, a tight, bloodless thing, and typed my reply to the lawyer: 【Proceed with the draft.】
1
The moment the thought solidified, the Narrator in my head had a full-blown meltdown.
【How can she be so cruel? Now the poor, heartbroken heir will have to drink himself into a stupor at some velvet-roped club…】
【Sigh. He’s just proud and bad with words. And for that, he loses the love of his life.】
【It’s fine. He’ll just run her family’s company into the ground. Then she’ll have no choice but to come crawling back to him.】
【Imagine it! Her, forced to fight with his other women for a scrap of his attention! He’ll be in heaven!】
I stared at the dregs of my espresso, my jaw tight. A fresh wave of disgust washed over me. When I looked up again, my eyes met Liam’s from across the street.
He raised a single, perfect eyebrow. No guilt. No shame at being caught. He let Lexi hang off him, a living accessory. As he registered the cold fury on my face, the corner of his mouth ticked up into a smirk.
Liam’s canary was some mid-tier influencer, and together they were a publicist’s dream. The brooding heir and the bubbly blonde. A crowd of phone-wielding onlookers had already formed, snapping pictures. The café had floor-to-ceiling windows; I prayed I was just an anonymous blur in the background.
I muttered a curse under my breath, grabbed my Saint Laurent bag, and called my driver. I needed to wait for him somewhere else.
But as I pushed through the door, I nearly collided with Liam. He was standing right there.
"Weren't you just walking the other way?" I asked, my voice flat.
"You're keeping that close an eye on me?" He smirked, his eyes lazy and hooded.
The girl beside him, Lexi, shot me a venomous look, a territorial glare from a woman who knew her position was precarious. The Narrator’s words echoed in my head, fueling a dull, throbbing headache.
I tried to step around them, but his hand shot out, his fingers closing around my wrist.
I turned back. "You’re not happy," he stated, his voice a low murmur. It wasn't a question.
My gaze drifted from his face to the girl clinging to his arm, then back again. "I'm not anything," I said. "I hope you two are very happy together."
He didn’t let go.
Lexi finally found her voice, a high, nasal whine. "Who even are you? Can't you see you're interrupting our shopping trip?" She shook her wrist, flashing a ridiculously expensive bracelet. She looked at Liam with a pout. "Is she just jealous that no one buys her pretty things?"
I kept my voice even, my eyes on Liam. "Do you know he has a fiancée?"
She faltered for a second, then scoffed. "A family arrangement. There are no feelings involved. If Liam actually liked her, would he be with me?"
Liam let out a short, humorless laugh. He just stood there, his dark eyes fixed on me, waiting.
I gave a small, sharp nod, my expression unreadable. I glanced down at the hand still wrapped around my wrist, his long fingers cool against my skin. "Let go."
He didn't move. Instead, he said, "The gala is the day after tomorrow. Find another date."
Lexi’s eyes widened, first in shock, then in dawning, smug triumph. She sized me up, and a slow, malicious grin spread across her face. "Oh. You're the fiancée. Well, so what? Liam is taking me to the gala."
I did a quick calculation. The dissolution agreement should arrive at the Blackwood estate by tomorrow.
"Fine," I said. "Now can you let me go?"
His grip tightened. His jaw clenched. "Who are you taking?"
My mind cycled through a list of eligible men from families I actually respected—good-looking, well-educated, not emotionally stunted sociopaths. "I haven't decided yet," I said honestly. "But I'm sure I can find someone suitable once I get home."
The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the distant sounds of Manhattan traffic. I could feel the stares of passersby.
The Narrator was back, practically hyperventilating.
【Oh my god, he’s going to lose it.】
【Liam: Can’t you just look at me with tears in your eyes and tell me you need me? Why must you provoke me?】
【Just flirt with him! Cry a little! Don’t let that beautiful face and his all-consuming love for you go to waste!】
【Seriously, Sloane, just give in. You have no idea what he’s capable of when he snaps… He’ll bankrupt your family and lock you in a tower just to have you.】
"Sloane Sinclair. You've got a lot of nerve," Liam ground out, his voice dropping to a dangerously low temperature.
He released my wrist.
I started to walk away, then stopped. My eyes landed on the necklace around Lexi’s neck. I looked directly at Liam. "You once told me you were saving that necklace for me."
Then I turned and left.
He was beside me in an instant, his tone unreadable. "You remember that?"
"Yes," I said, not breaking my stride. "And I don't want it anymore."
"She knows how to charm me," he said, his voice a low growl. "She's always around... She calls me 'baby'."
So that's why he gave her the necklace he'd promised me? A wave of nausea rolled through my stomach.
The Narrator swooned.
【He's telling you what he wants!】
【He’s finally breaking! Just call him ‘baby’ once, Sloane, and he would die for you.】
【He dreams of you calling him that. He wakes up in the middle of the night from it…】
I stopped walking and turned to face him, meeting his intense gaze. I spoke each word with deliberate, ice-cold clarity.
"You're right. From now on, I'll charm another man. I'll call another man 'baby'. And I'm sure he'll give me anything I want, too."
"Say that again," Liam hissed, a chilling fury in his voice I had never heard before. His hands clamped down on my shoulders, his grip so tight I felt like my bones might splinter.
Just then, Lexi scurried over, her voice a timid whimper. "Liam? What's wrong?"
He didn't spare her a glance, his eyes still locked on me, burning with a dark fire.
She pursed her lips and glared at me. "Did you make him mad? Liam is never unhappy when he's with me."
The nausea intensified, acidic and bitter. I turned my head away, refusing to say another word.
After a long, tense moment, Liam’s hands dropped. He closed his eyes, a muscle feathering in his jaw. A grim shadow fell over him.
"She knows better than to make me angry, Sloane," he said, his voice flat and cold. He turned on his heel and walked away.
Lexi immediately rushed after him, her voice a sweet, cooing poison, trying to soothe the beast. Their retreating figures looked like a perfectly matched set.
The Narrator sighed dramatically.
【She just refuses to bend. Pushing away the one man who truly loves her.】
【All she had to do was say a few nice words. Instead, she let that little snake win.】
【Oh, for fuck's sake, check Twitter! Someone already posted the photos and video.】
2
The moment I sank into the leather seats of the Escalade, I pulled out my phone. My screen was already lit up with notifications.
【Oh my God, Sloane, why are you trending? Do you know that girl with your fiancé is an influencer?】
【Are you okay?? My cousin just sent me the pics. Why is Liam parading his mistress in front of you? That absolute bastard!】
【That influencer with him, she’s always on her livestreams talking about some rich guy who is obsessed with her and buys her everything… I guess we know who that is now.】
【I can’t believe this. Liam Blackwood used to be a complete monk. We all thought he was so disciplined. What happened? Why is he suddenly sponsoring an influencer?】
I carefully composed my replies, one by one, before navigating to Twitter.
The photos and videos were crystal clear, capturing every second of the tense confrontation. And the comments, almost unanimously, were defending Lexi.
【Can this woman just leave them alone? It’s obvious she’s just jealous of our Lexi.】
【Did you see the way Lexi’s boyfriend looked at her? He was so pissed. Compare that to how he looks at Lexi, he’s always so sweet to her.】
【This chick just lingered around them. Even after they walked away she just kept staring. So pathetic, pretending to be heartbroken.】
【Ugh, get lost, gold digger. Stop trying to steal someone else's man.】
So. My fiancé was now officially someone else's boyfriend.
I leaned back, closing my eyes and letting my mind go blank. For this to be trending so hard, for it to not have been taken down, Liam had to be behind it.
Did he really love me, as that insane Narrator in my head claimed? Was this his idea of love? Allowing the entire internet to get the story backward and hurl insults at me?
A knot of pain tightened in my chest. I took a deep breath, and after a long moment, I dialed a number. "Get that trending topic taken down," I said, my voice hoarse. "Now."
The Narrator piped up, its voice now tinged with a manufactured sympathy.
【Poor Sloane, she can’t take it. If she’d just soften up a little, none of this would be happening…】
【These idiots online just follow the mob. Lexi is the other woman! This makes me so mad.】
【Liam definitely went too far, but Sloane is just too independent. He wants to see her rely on him, to see her fall apart without him.】
【This won't be easy to kill. People are already trying to dox her. Once the board at Sinclair Corp sees this, it's going to hit the stock.】
My eyes locked on that last comment.
Sure enough, my phone rang a few minutes later. "We're trying," the voice on the other end said, "but someone is actively buying engagement to keep it trending. We take down one post, ten more pop up. It's like trying to put out a forest fire with a water pistol."
I said nothing.
He sighed. "Did you piss someone off? This is a major, coordinated effort. A lot of money is being thrown at this. Isn't your fiancé doing anything? Is he just going to sit back and watch?"
Because the person buying the engagement is my fiancé, I thought.
Well… not for much longer.
My father's call came next. His voice was a roar of pure fury. "Sloane! What the hell is going on? If people hadn't been calling me, I'd still be in the dark!"
I waited a beat. "Liam is cheating on me. Is that my fault, too?"
"Plenty of men cheat! But how could you let this become a public spectacle? How could you let that woman stand in front of you and get away with it?!" his voice boomed, cracking with rage.
"Liam bought the trending topic, and he's the one with the mistress," I explained patiently. "This has nothing to do with me. I'm already having my team work on taking it down."
My father scoffed. "If you can't keep your man's attention, it's your own damn fault."
He hung up.
The car glided to a stop. "We've arrived, Ms. Sinclair," the driver said, his eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror.
I moved like a zombie, pushing the door open and stepping out into the evening air. The family townhouse stood before me, dark and imposing.
If you can't keep your man's attention, it's your own damn fault.
How incredibly noble of him. Those were almost the exact words he used when he cheated on my mother, blaming her for getting older, for losing her charm. He’d conveniently forgotten that it was her dowry that funded his first venture, her tireless work behind the scenes that built his empire.
3
That night, I called Liam. He picked up on the first ring.
"What?" His tone was lazy, bored.
"Stop buying the engagement," I said softly.
There was a pause on his end, then his voice lifted. "You sound exhausted. Are you upset?"
"What is it that you want, Liam?" I couldn't control it anymore; my voice cracked, a raw edge of despair creeping in.
He didn't answer.
"Are you happy now?" I whispered, my voice trembling. "Watching them tear me apart online, revealing my identity, calling me a homewrecker, seeing the Sinclair stock dip? Are you satisfied?"
I was shaking, a tremor starting deep in my bones. How could anyone be so senselessly cruel?
After a long silence, he finally spoke, his voice smooth as velvet. "Don't cry, baby. Do you want to see me? I can be there in twenty minutes."
I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.
I was standing on the balcony, and the cool night air felt like ice against my tear-streaked cheeks. I was a joke. An absolute joke.
Finally, I managed to choke out two words. "Don't come."
He repeated the words slowly, his tone unreadable. "Don't come?" Then his voice hardened. "What does that mean, Sloane?"
"I don't want to see you," I said, using the last of my strength to end the call.
I stumbled back to bed, my body numb, but sleep wouldn't come. The topic was still trending, a wildfire raging on my phone.
The family group chat was lighting up. Relatives were tagging me, their messages dripping with passive-aggressive blame. Then my younger cousin chimed in.
【Honestly, Sloane, if you can’t keep Liam-ge happy, you should just step aside. Do you have any idea how much damage this is doing?】
That opened the floodgates. The other cousins, my peers, jumped in.
【This is so embarrassing. Letting some cheap influencer walk all over you. If I were you, I wouldn't be able to show my face in public.】 another posted with a laughing emoji.
【Liam-ge is spending all his money on that influencer. Has he ever bought you anything, Sloane?】
【Maybe they should just give the engagement to someone else. It's not like Liam likes Sloane anyway.】
The chat fell silent after that last message.
A bitter smile touched my lips. I wished they could just give it to someone else. But my father was still in charge of Sinclair Corp, and I was his only daughter. He would never let go of this connection to the Blackwood dynasty.
I muted the group chat and numbly scrolled through my Instagram feed.
The first post was a group photo from some trust-fund kid. And right in the center… were Liam and Lexi.
Liam’s arm was wrapped possessively around Lexi's waist. He was smirking at the camera, a lazy, arrogant look in his eyes. His circle of friends flanked them, raising their glasses in a toast.
It looked like an official announcement.
I liked the photo. Then I turned off my phone.
The Narrator's voice flooded my mind, a tidal wave of delusion.
【Don’t be sad, sweet girl! It’s all an act! We know you’re the one he truly loves.】
【You know, after his friend posted that, he’s been checking his phone every minute to see if you liked it.】
【He really wants to see you. When you rejected him tonight, it nearly broke him.】
【Call him, Sloane! Tell him you’re jealous! He’ll drop everything and come running to you!】
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to banish the voice, to banish all of it.
I don’t know how much time passed before I sat up, my body cold and stiff. I sent a text to my lawyer.
【Send the dissolution agreement to me first. I'll find a way to get it to Liam later.】
I needed one full day to move my assets without anyone noticing. After the gala, I would be on the first flight out of the country. By the time I landed, two copies of the agreement would be delivered: one for my father, and one for Liam.
If I stayed, even if I refused to marry Liam, my life wouldn't be my own. My father would just sell me to the next highest bidder.
4
Everything went according to plan.
…
I’d even chosen a stunning mermaid-style gown for the occasion. As I stepped into the grand ballroom, a confident smile fixed on my face, my friends immediately flocked to my side.
"How are you holding up?" one of them, Maya, whispered, linking her arm through mine. "I see you came alone. Want me to lend you my little brother for the night?"
I considered it for a moment. "No, I think I'm fine. There's nothing shameful about being on my own."
"Damn right," she grinned. "Besides, a man would only get in the way of our gossip."
Suddenly, a ripple of excitement went through the crowd near the entrance. We turned to see what the commotion was.
Liam. He stood there in a custom silver-grey suit, a lazy smile playing on his lips. On his arm was Lexi, who was also smiling, her expression a mix of awe and smugness.
Ah. So when Liam said he was spending the day with Lexi, he didn't just mean a shopping trip. He meant he was bringing her here. To this.
My gaze fell to Lexi's dress.
It was the exact same mermaid gown I was wearing.
When I’d had mine fitted, I was told it was the only one in the country. He must have had hers flown in overnight from Paris or Milan.
Liam was intentionally trying to humiliate me.
Sure enough, the moment Lexi saw me, her face fell. She turned, bit her lip, and whispered something to Liam. Only then did he slowly, deliberately, turn his gaze toward me.
Lexi marched over, her heels clicking angrily on the marble floor. "Did you have someone spy on me?" she hissed, her eyes flashing. "Did you find out what dress Liam ordered for me so you could copy me on purpose?!"
The commotion was drawing a crowd. People were starting to gather, their faces alight with curiosity.
"Don't be ridiculous…" Maya started, stepping forward.
"Whatever," Lexi sneered. "It's just pathetic jealousy because Liam treats me so well! You're disgusting, and it doesn't even look as good on you."
Maya muttered under her breath, "It looks better on her."
Lexi’s face flushed with anger. She spun around and ran back to Liam, shaking his arm. "Liam, look at them!"
Liam’s dark eyes were fixed on me, an unreadable expression on his face. He watched me for a long moment, and then, the corner of his mouth curved into a slow smile.
The Narrator erupted in my head.
【Ahhhh, he's smiling! He thinks Sloane wears it better!】
【See? His eyes don't lie! Liam and Sloane forever! I'll bet a bag of popcorn on it.】
【But wait… to push her over the edge, to make her finally run to him, broken and desperate, he’s about to…】
Before I could puzzle out that last cryptic thought, the ballroom’s sound system crackled to life.
Everyone turned. A senior executive from Blackwood Enterprises was on the stage, holding a microphone and a card. "Thank you all for joining us this evening," he announced. "We have one very special announcement to make. By a resolution of Mr. Blackwood and the board of directors, two percent of the voting shares in Blackwood Enterprises will be gifted, unconditionally, to Ms. Lexi Vance."
The entire room gasped.
I looked up, my heart pounding in my chest. I couldn't believe it.
Liam held a certain number of shares himself, I wasn't sure of the exact figure. But there was another two percent, held in trust, that was designated for his future wife. Even at just two percent, in a behemoth like Blackwood Enterprises, the annual dividends were astronomical.
He gave them to Lexi.
And he had it announced here. In front of everyone.
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