1_ Beginning of Obsession
Lilac Carter had spent months trying to save
It had started with A disagreement here. A refusal there. A decision she wouldn't change simply because the people standing on the other side of it carried bigger names, deeper pockets, or more influence.
Lilac had never been good at pretending not to see something wrong.
If she believed a decision was wrong, she said so.
If something put her patients at risk, she refused it.
And when people who were accustomed to being obeyed realized that a young doctor wasn't willing to bend simply because they were powerful, they didn't take it lightly
At first, she thought it would pass.
It didn't.
The pressure grew slowly, almost invisibly. Shipments connected to her work began getting blocked. Complaints appeared against her name. Approvals that had once taken days suddenly took weeks. Doors that had always been open began closing without explanation.
Then her medical license was questioned.
That was when Lilac understood.
They weren't trying to prove her wrong.
They were trying to break her.
So she fought.
For months, she went through every legitimate channel she could find. Lawyers. Professional contacts. Appeals. Documents. Meetings. Calls. She followed every lead and tried every solution that didn't require her to place her future in someone else's hands.
Nothing worked.
Every time she managed to push one problem aside, another appeared.
And slowly, the life she had worked so hard to build began slipping through her fingers.
Lilac sat alone one evening, surrounded by files she had already read so many times that the words had begun to blur together.
Her eyes moved over the documents without really seeing them.
She was tired.
Not of fighting.
Of fighting people who had already decided they wanted her to lose.
For the first time, she allowed herself to consider the name she had deliberately refused to think about.
Theodore Volkov.
She knew the name.
Everyone did.
A man whispered about but rarely spoken of directly.
A shadow in both business and the underworld.
People didn't compete with him.
They disappeared before they could.
Theodore Volkov was not someone Lilac wanted anywhere near her life.
She had spent days trying to find another way after his name first crossed her mind.
Another lawyer.
Another connection.
Another solution.
She tried them all.
Nothing changed.
Eventually, she had to face what she had been avoiding.
There was no other way left.
Not if she wanted to keep everything she had spent years building.
Lilac reached for her phone.
She already had his office number.
Her thumb hovered over the screen for several seconds.
Then she called.
"This is Dr. Lilac Carter. I'd like to request a meeting with Mr. Volkov."
There was a brief pause on the other end.
"I'll have to check his schedule. We'll take your number and get back to you."
"Of course."
Lilac gave her number and ended the call.
She put her phone down and went back to the paperwork on her desk.
She wasn't expecting an answer immediately.
In fact, she wasn't sure she would get one at all.
Theodore Volkov was not known for making himself available.
But
The answer came after couple of hours
A date. A time.
Lilac stared at her phone after the call ended.
That was strange.
She knew Theodore Volkov's schedule wasn't something people simply stepped into. Getting a meeting with him wasn't supposed to be easy.
Yet somehow, hers had been.
She didn't know why.
She only knew that she had spent too long searching for a way out to question the first door that finally opened.
A few days later, Lilac arrived at the Volkov building.
Everything about the place felt controlled.
The silence.
The security.
The people moving through the halls with quiet efficiency.
Nothing was out of place.
She gave her name at the reception desk.
"Dr. Carter?"
"Yes."
"Mr. Volkov is expecting you."
Lilac nodded.
The appointment had been surprisingly easy to get. Almost too easy, considering who she was here to meet.
But she had stopped questioning it.
She followed the assistant through the building until they reached a large black door.
The assistant opened it.
"Mr. Volkov is inside."
Lilac stepped into the office.
The first thing she noticed was how quiet it was.
Not peaceful.
Controlled.
The kind of silence that made you instinctively lower your voice.
Theodore Volkov sat behind his desk.
Black suit. White shirt. No unnecessary details.
He didn't stand.
He didn't smile.
He didn't offer her a greeting.
His eyes lifted to her for a brief moment before settling back on the file in front of him.
"Sit."
One word.
Lilac walked toward the chair across from his desk and sat down.
Theodore closed the file.
Only then did he look at her properly.
His expression remained unreadable.
"Why did you ask to see me?"
Lilac had expected many things from this meeting.
That wasn't one of them.
She took a slow breath.
"I need protection."
Nothing changed in his face.
"From?"
"People who have enough influence to make my work impossible."
He said nothing.
So she continued.
"They've blocked shipments connected to my work. They've questioned my license. They've filed complaints against me. Every time I resolve one problem, another one appears. For months i had been trying to stop them .."
"And you tried to handle it yourself."
It wasn't a question.
"Yes."
"What did you get?"
"Nothing."
Theodore leaned back slightly in his chair.
Just listening.
"Why now?"
Lilac hesitated.
"Because I've run out of options."
His gaze stayed on her.
"You're asking me to interfere with people you couldn't stop yourself."
"Yes."
"And you understand what that means?"
"I know who you are, Mr. Volkov."
"Do you?"
His voice remained calm.
There was no threat in it.
He didn't need one.
Lilac held his gaze.
"I know enough."
A pause.
Then Theodore said quietly,
"Protection has a price."
"I expected that."
"You don't know the price yet."
"Then tell me."
For the first time, something almost imperceptible shifted in his expression.
Not warmth.
Not amusement.
Just recognition of her answer.
"You're not afraid."
"I am."
"Then why are you still sitting there?"
Lilac swallowed.
"Because being afraid hasn't fixed anything."
Silence filled the room again.
Theodore watched her for another moment before finally speaking.
"Good."
He reached for the pen on his desk.
"You'll have your protection."
Lilac stared at him.
"That easy?"
"No."
He signed something on the paper in front of him.
"You just haven't heard the conditions yet."
His eyes lifted to hers.
They sat in silence for a moment then ..
"So, little doctor..."
His voice was quiet.
Controlled.
Almost dangerously calm.
"What are you willing to give me in return?"
Lilac stared at him.
The question hit harder than any threat.
Her mind raced.
Money?
Power?
Connections?
Useless.
Because she had nothing he didn't already own in ten different ways.
"What do you want?"
Lilac forced herself to meet his eyes, even though everything inside her was telling her to look away.
Theodore didn't answer immediately.
He simply watched her.
"You."
Her brows drew together.
"I don't understand."
"I want you to be my wife."
For the first time since she entered the room, Lilac had no immediate answer.
"You barely know me."
"I know enough."
"That doesn't make sense."
"It doesn't have to."
She stared at him, trying to understand the man sitting across from her.
"Do you expect me to marry you because I need protection?"
"No."
"Then what do you expect?"
"I expect you to decide."
"And if I say no?"
"You walk away."
Lilac blinked.
"And you'll still help me?"
"Yes."
That answer caught her off guard.
"Why?"
"You asked for protection. I'll give it to you."
"Even if I refuse your offer?"
"Yes."
" Why.."
But Theodore Volkov wasn't a man who explained every thought that crossed his mind.
Instead, he simply said,
"You came to me because you need something I can give you."
His voice was low.
"I'm offering you more."
Lilac swallowed.
She looked down at her hands.
"I've never been with anyone."
As if she is talking to herself..
Theodore's expression remained unchanged.
"Good."
Her eyes lifted.
"I'll be your first..."
He paused.
"...and your last."
Lilac's heart beat harder.
She should have been afraid. And she was.
But she was also tired.
Tired of fighting. Tired of trying
She only knew that she had come here prepared to negotiate protection.
Instead, she was sitting across from a man who had just asked her to become his wife.
She thought about the months behind her.
The endless calls.
The closed doors.
The work she had fought so hard to build.
She thought about losing it all simply because she had refused to bow to people who believed their names made them untouchable.
And then she looked at Theodore Volkov.
The man everyone else seemed to fear.
The man who had just told her he could end everything with the same ease another person might offer to solve a minor inconvenience.
Lilac took a slow breath.
"...Okay."
Theodore leaned back.
His eyes remained on hers.
For the first time, something faint moved behind them.
Not surprise.
Satisfaction.
Lilac remained silent, still trying to take in the decision she had just made.
"Then we begin now."
"Now?"
Lilac looked at him surprised
Theodore glanced at the clock.
"Dinner. Eight. My place."
She looked at him.
"For the terms?"
"For the terms."
That answer made sense.
Lilac picked up her bag and stood.
"Mr. Volkov..."
His eyes lifted to hers.
"Theodore."
She hesitated.
"Theodore."
He gave a small nod.
The correction was quiet.
Lilac rose from her chair.
She gave him one last uncertain look before turning toward the door.
The door closed quietly behind her.
Theodore remained seated for a few moments.
Then he stood and walked toward the window.
The city stretched beneath him.
He looked at his reflection in the glass.
Months ago, he had seen Dr. Carter at a private business event.
She had been standing across the room, refusing to bend to someone who had expected her to.
He had noticed her then.
He had remembered her name.
And when her name appeared on his schedule, he had known exactly who she was.
That was why her appointment had been approved so quickly.
But he hadn't expected to see those eyes again.
That rare shade somewhere between blue and violet.
He hadn't expected to remember her face.
Her composure.
The way she had looked at him without knowing whether she should be afraid.
He had agreed to the meeting because he remembered her.
He hadn't expected what would happen when she walked through his door.
Now he did.
Theodore's gaze remained on the city.
"The fragile little doctor..."
His voice was barely above a murmur.
"...is now mine."
For the first time in a long time, Theodore felt something dangerously close to anticipation.
