Chapter 1 001: It's my Engagement day.

~~~Rhea~~~

"IT'S YOUR ENGAGEMENT DAY, BESTIEEE!" Adeline screamed at the top of her lungs, bursting into my room like a tornado, jumping around.

I spun around from the mirror, a huge grin splitting my face. "Yes! Oh my God, yes!" I squealed back, practically jumping on my toes. My heart was doing stupid flips in my chest. "I'm finally getting engaged today. Like, actually engaged. To Sebastian."

Addie let out another high-pitched squeal and tackled me into a hug, squeezing so tight I laughed into her shoulder. Her excitement was contagious, my heart was doing happy little flips.

After five years of dating, I never thought this day would come so soon. Sebastian had pursued me so hard back then in college- flowers, late-night texts, showing up at my favorite bookstore just to see me. He was steady and kind. The kind of guy who made you believe in forever. I fell for him hard. And now we were getting engaged. Soon we'd get married, buy a cute house, and have three kids running around. Just thinking about it made my chest flutter with warmth. I couldn't wait to finally have the life I dreamed about.

I pulled back, biting my lip as I stared at myself in the mirror. My cheeks were flushed pink, eyes bright. I looked happy. Really happy. This was it. After all the debt stress, the family pressure, the late nights wondering if I was making the right choice - today was the day everything would finally fall into place.

The debt...

The sudden recall of my parent's debt made all the warmth in my chest fade. A bitter frown took over my face.

My parents owed 50 million Euros to the Dynamic Company.

It had been over a year and a half since they took the loan to save my dad's failing business. At first, they thought they could pay it back quickly. They were wrong. Now the debt had ballooned with interest, and every single month it crushed us more. It was slowly killing my family - the constant calls from collectors, the fear in my mom's eyes, the way my dad barely slept anymore.

It crushed me the most. Every time I looked at them, guilt sat heavy in my chest.

Addie noticed my frown immediately. "Okay, what's that face? Spill."

I sighed, tucking my hair behind my ear. "I just feel guilty. My parents are drowning in a fifty million debt and they're still blowing money on this big engagement party like everything's fine. It doesn't feel right. They're doing this just to make me happy, and fulfill my dreams."

Her expression softened. She grabbed my hands and gave them a squeeze. "Babe, stop. You deserve this. They want to celebrate you. Let them. Everything's gonna work out, okay?"

The door suddenly flew open.

"Girls! What are you still doing?!" Mom's voice cut through the room. She stood there in a stylish cream blouse, one hand on her hip, looking half-amused, half-stressed. "It's almost time and neither of you is ready yet? Rhea, baby, you're the bride-to-be! Move it!"

Addie immediately bounced over to her, wrapping her arms around Mom's neck from the side in a dramatic hug. "Aunt Sarah... relaxxxx. We're almost done, I promise. Don't stress, you look too pretty to be frowning."

Mom tried to look strict but ended up laughing, patting Addie's arm. "You're lucky you're cute, Addie. Alright, alright - both of you get ready quickly. I don't want us walking in late. Yunno, Seb's Godfather is a very powerful and ruthless man. We don't wanna keep him waiting girls."

Sebastian's God-father. Logan Draegor. The devil himself..... Gosh.

The most powerful man in Rotterdam - hell, probably in the entire Netherlands. His family didn't just control the city, they owned it. The Draegors ruled Netherlands. Shipping ports, real estate, underground deals that no one dared speak about out loud. People whispered his name like a curse. Grown men who ran empires trembled when Logan entered a room. Air gets sucked out of anywhere he steps into. He was ruthless, merciless, the kind of monster who crushed anyone who stood in his way without a second thought. No mercy. No weakness. No forgiveness.

He rarely showed his face in public, I've never even met him in person before, but today... today he was coming to our engagement party.

A cold chill ran down my spine. I looked fine on the outside, but my heart was pounding with unease. I know nervousness must also be twisting in mom's chest. My whole family is terrified of him. Even his Godson, Sebastian, is terrified of him.

I swallowed hard, trying to shake off the nerves. Everything would be fine Rhea.

"Yes, mom." Addie and I responded in unison.

She turned to me, her expression softening into that warm, youthful smile I loved. "Come on, baby. Give me a kiss."

I walked over and planted a quick kiss on her cheek. She cupped my face gently, brushing her thumb across my cheekbone. "Look pretty for me tonight, okay? My beautiful girl is getting engaged. Let the world see it."

"Okay, mom..." with that, she walked out of the room.

Exactly one hour later, I was standing in front of the full-length mirror, completely transformed.

Addie had worked her magic. She zipped me into my favorite apple-green dress - a soft, elegant piece that hugged my waist and flowed gracefully down to the floor. The color made my silvery-grey eyes pop even more. She stepped back, hands on her hips, and let out a dramatic gasp.

"Oh. My. God. Rhea. You look unreal," she squealed, clapping her hands. "I'm such a genius. This makeup is perfection. You're soo pretty. No man is going to be able to take his eyes off you tonight. Sebastian is going to drop dead when he sees you."

I laughed, twirling once in front of the mirror. The dress swished beautifully around my legs. "You're exaggerating, Addie."

"I'm not!" she insisted, fixing one last strand of my wavy chestnut hair. "You look like a goddess. Soft but expensive. Elegant but sexy. Trust me, bestie. You're about to break necks tonight."

Her words made me blush hard. For a moment, all the stress about the debt disappeared. I felt pretty. Really pretty. And excited.

Just then, the door burst open.

"Rhea! Addie!" My brother Splash yelled, breathing hard like he'd run up the stairs. "Sebastian and his godfather just arrived. The engagement is about to start. You guys need to rush downstairs right now!"

My heart jumped into my throat.

He's here. Logan is here. I just hope nothing goes wrong with this engagement given the type of person Logan Draegor was. I hope we've pleased him enough.

Let this engagement go smoothly please.