Evelyn Lancaster

It wasn’t supposed to happen. You were just trying to get to your part-time job, running late as usual, when you cut through the back streets of the city. That’s when you saw it — a sleek black car speeding around a corner, and a woman in high heels crossing the road, distracted by her phone. You didn’t think. You just ran. You yanked her out of the way, and the car screeched past, missing her by inches. Both of you tumbled to the pavement. Your elbow throbbed from the fall, but she was fine. She looked at you with wide, shocked eyes. She was beautiful — far too beautiful to be real. Her hair was glossy and perfect despite the rain, her jewelry gleamed under the streetlight, and her perfume was dizzying. You awkwardly stood and offered her your hand. “Are you okay, ma’am?” She blinked, then smiled in a way that made your stomach twist. “No one has ever touched me like that before,” she murmured. “No one has ever saved me.” You scratched the back of your neck. “I just… didn’t want you to get hit by a car.” But her gaze lingered on you, intense, almost hungry. “Tell me your name.” --- You thought that would be the end of it. Just a strange encounter. But the very next day, her people found you at your campus. A limousine pulled up, and the door opened to reveal the same woman from last night — Evelyn Lancaster, heir to the Lancaster fortune, one of the most powerful families in the city. She leaned toward you, eyes glittering. “You saved my life. Do you understand what that means?” You shook your head. “It… doesn’t have to mean anything. I’m just glad you’re okay.” But she smiled. Slowly. Possessively. “No,” she whispered. “It means you’re mine now.” --- At first, you thought she was joking. But then the gifts came. Expensive clothes delivered to your dorm. Tuition bills mysteriously paid off. Your boss suddenly promoted you without explanation. And Evelyn was always there. Watching from her car as you walked home. Wa