Stir Up a Storm

Selena froze in the doorway when she saw him.

The man—Alex, she now remembered—was lounging casually on one of the sofas, his posture so relaxed it was almost insolent. He looked completely out of place amidst the fine furnishings and delicate décor, but he didn't seem to care.

He glanced up as she entered, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"You're up early," he remarked.

Selena blinked, momentarily thrown off by his casual tone. She wasn't used to people speaking to her like that—most were either grovelling or glaring.

"I…" she began, struggling to find her words. "About last night—"

He cut her off, raising an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're planning to back out now."

Selena stared at him, her mind racing. She honestly wasn't sure what she had proposed last night. The details were still fuzzy, and she didn't want to say anything that might give away her confusion.

"I wasn't," she said cautiously.

Alex studied her for a moment, then sighed, shaking his head as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.

"When I came here, I expected to be thrown out immediately," he said. "I thought you'd deny everything or have your servants deal with me. But you seem… surprisingly unguarded."

Selena felt her cheeks heat. Was she really that obvious?

"You told me you wanted to hire me as your 'boyfriend,'" Alex continued, leaning back against the sofa. "I don't know exactly what that means, but you were very insistent. And, well…" He gestured vaguely at his surroundings. "I could use the money."

Selena blinked, the memory of her drunken proposal slowly coming into focus. Had she really said that?

She remembered sitting across from him in the tavern, her vision slightly blurry from the alcohol. She had grabbed his hand—so bold for someone usually so reserved—and leaned in closer than was proper.

"I need someone," she had said, her voice slurred but determined. "Someone who can stand by my side and humiliate him."

Alex had raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. "Him?"

"My… Fiancé," Selena had spat the word like it was poison. "Or ex-fiancé, soon enough. I'm going to break it off, but not before I make him regret every second of his arrogance."

"And you think I can help with that?" Alex had asked, his tone sceptical but intrigued.

"Yes," Selena had said firmly. "You're… Perfect. You're very hot."

She remembered his expression, the way his green eyes had flickered with something unreadable. "And what's in it for me?"

"Money. A lot of it. Enough to make it worth your while."

Selena snapped out of her flashback, her gaze locking onto Alex's. He was still watching her, his expression unreadable.

"So?" he prompted. "Do we have a deal, or was that just the alcohol talking?"

Selena hesitated, her mind whirling. On one hand, she wanted to crawl into a hole and pretend last night had never happened. On the other hand, she needed someone like him to pull off her plan.

"Yes," she said finally, her voice steady. "We have a deal."

Alex smirked, clearly pleased with her answer.

"Good," he said, standing. "Then let's get started."

Selena swallowed hard, suddenly wondering if she was in over her head. But it was too late to back out now.

The news of Selena Whitlock's audacious remarks spread like wildfire through the noble circles. The scandal was the talk of every tea party, every ballroom gathering, and every hushed corner of the palace.

Opinions varied as they always did in the fickle world of the aristocracy. Some nobles expressed outrage, calling Selena reckless and rude—a sentiment they'd harboured for years but now had fresh justification for voicing.

Yet others whispered with thinly veiled amusement that, while her methods were brash, the villainess wasn't entirely wrong. The Northern Duke's behaviour wasn't exactly that of an honourable gentleman.

For years, he had paraded his "pure love" for Clara, barely hiding his disdain for his fiancée. Was it so shocking that Selena had finally snapped?

These conversations inevitably reached the ears of Crown Prince Adrien, Selena's cousin.

Sitting in his private study, Adrien drummed his fingers against the polished surface of his desk. Reports and letters lay before him, most detailing the brewing tensions in court following Selena's very public denouncement of the Northern Duke and his mistress.

Damian frowned as he read the accounts. This was… Strange.

He wasn't particularly close to Selena. They were cousins... Their mothers were sisters, but their interactions had always been polite and distant. At least on his end, it was. Selena treated him casually, she thought of him as someone she could trust.

He never loved her nor hated her, but there was kinship.

Selena had always been cunning, wielding her status and sharp tongue like weapons. She wasn't exactly wise about her plans. She offended everyone around her. She had a lot of enemies. 

The only words that came out of her were insults, and nothing clever.

And then there was the matter of Clara.

Damian wouldn't deny that Clara intrigued him. She was beautiful, kind, and graceful—everything Selena wasn't. Yet, while he admired her from afar, he wasn't blinded by her charms. Clara was no saint, and he suspected she knew exactly what she was doing.

Still, he couldn't help but feel intrigued by her. The only difference between her and Selena was probably tact.

So she dared to call her a mistress in front of everyone, and instead of attacking just Clara, she decided to attack the Duke too. This was something that Selena would never dare to do, so what changed?

Adrien had half-expected Selena to come to him, seeking his support or at least trying to manipulate him into taking her side. But the days passed, and she did no such thing.

This, more than anything, unsettled him.

Selena's silence was out of character. She was like a storm—always swirling, always moving, always leaving something in her wake. For her to disappear from his sight entirely was… unusual.

He set the letter down and leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. He didn't like being left out of the loop, especially when it concerned someone as unpredictable as Selena.

He decided he would visit her himself.