She Used Me for a Dare… Now I Own Her Mother

Chapter 3: Mission Victoria

The Blackwood Mansion

Alex’s breath formed small clouds in the bitter winter air as he approached the Blackwood estate. The mansion stretched before him like a fortress forged from influence and legacy - three stories of Gothic architecture that had been featured in Architectural Digest twice.

’This is insane.’

But his feet kept moving toward the wrought-iron gates.

The security cameras tracked his movement, crimson lights blinking like predatory eyes. Alex remembered from his visits with Sophia that the Blackwoods preferred the illusion of accessibility - no razor wire, no guard towers, just enough surveillance to remind visitors they were being observed.

Imported Italian marble walkways led to the main entrance, flanked by gardens that probably cost more to maintain than most families’ annual income. Every detail screamed prosperity so established and refined it had become tasteful.

’She used to greet me at this door,’ Alex thought, remembering Victoria’s warm smiles when he’d arrive for dinner. Unlike her daughter, Victoria had always seemed authentically interested in his stories about foster care, his dreams of starting a business, his struggles with belonging in a world of inherited privilege.

The memory made his chest tighten. Not from the broken ribs - those were healed with unnatural speed - but from something else. Guilt, perhaps.

’She was kind to me. She doesn’t deserve this.’

”Everyone deserves what’s coming to them,” Lilith’s voice whispered in his mind. ”Victoria raised a daughter who destroyed you for sport. She married a man who ignores her. She built an empire but lost her humanity. You’re going to give her something she’s never had - authentic appreciation.”

Alex studied the mansion’s windows. Most were dark, but light glowed from a third-floor corner room - Victoria’s home office. Sophia had complained countless times about her mother working until all hours, choosing business over family time.

’She’s isolated up there. Just like I was isolated in that hospital bed.’

The parallel wasn’t lost on him. Both of them separated by the people who were supposed to care about them.

The difference was that Victoria had chosen her seclusion through work and ambition. Alex’s had been forced on him through cruelty and betrayal.

His phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number: ”James campaigning in Nevada until Friday. Sophia at Marcus’s penthouse. Window of opportunity: Optimal. - L”

Alex straightened his borrowed jacket and walked toward the massive oak door. Each step felt like crossing a threshold he could never uncross.

Ring the doorbell, and there’s no going back.

He pressed the button anyway.

The melodic chimes echoed through the mansion, a sound Alex remembered from happier times. Back when he’d thought Sophia loved him, when family dinners felt like glimpses of the life he’d never had growing up in foster care.

’What am I doing?’ The question hammered in his skull as footsteps approached from inside. ’Victoria was always good to me. She doesn’t deserve to be used as a weapon against her daughter.’

But then Marcus Steele’s voice echoed in his memory: ”Know your place, charity case.” The taste of blood filled his mouth again, phantom pain from ribs that had been cracked for someone else’s entertainment.

’They used my compassion against me. Now I’ll use theirs against them.’

The system’s interface flickered in his peripheral vision:

```

TARGET APPROACHING

EMOTIONAL STATE: Curious, pleased

DEFENSES: Minimal (trusts you)

STRATEGY: Maintain innocence, build connection

```

”Second thoughts are natural,” Lilith purred in his mind. ”But remember - you’re not destroying Victoria. You’re saving her from a loveless marriage and an ungrateful daughter. You’re going to show her what it feels like to be truly appreciated.”

Alex heard the deadbolt turning. His reflection in the door’s brass nameplate showed a young man with fading bruises, nervous but determined. Still recognizable as the scholarship student who’d been humiliated three days ago, but with something new burning behind his eyes.

’I’m not the same person who got beaten on that ballroom floor.’

The door opened, and Alex’s breath caught. Victoria Blackwood stood in the doorway, and she was stunning in a way that had nothing to do with money or status.

She was radiant because she looked genuinely happy to see him.

”Alex!” Victoria’s face lit up with surprised delight. ”What a wonderful surprise. I wasn’t expecting anyone this late.”

She was wearing silk pajamas and a matching robe - luxurious but intimate, the kind of clothes meant for comfort rather than display. Her dark hair fell loose around her shoulders instead of the severe business style she wore in magazines.

At 42, she carried herself with the confidence of someone who commanded billion-dollar boardrooms, but there was something softer in her expression as she looked at him.

”Mrs. Blackwood, I hope I’m not disturbing you,” Alex said, suddenly aware of how his borrowed clothes and fading bruises must look.

”Disturbing me? Alex, you’re rescuing me from another night of quarterly reports and shareholder analyses.” She stepped aside, gesturing him in. ”Please, come in out of the cold. I was just making some tea.”

The foyer was precisely as Alex remembered - marble floors, crystal chandelier, oil paintings worth more than small countries. But Victoria’s presence made it feel warmer, more human.

”I assume you’re here for Sophia?” Victoria led him toward the living room. ”I’m afraid she’s staying at a friend’s place tonight. But honestly, I’m delighted to see you. We haven’t had a proper conversation in ages.”

Alex’s stomach clenched. She had no idea. No idea about the bet, the breakup, the beating that had left him hospitalized just days ago. To Victoria, he was still the sweet scholarship student dating her daughter.

”Actually, Mrs. Blackwood, I was hoping to speak with you.” The lie came easier than expected. ”You’ve always given me such insightful advice about business and life.”

Victoria’s smile grew warmer. ”That’s very flattering, Alex. You know, most young people your age seem to think anyone over thirty is completely out of touch with the modern world.” She gestured to an elegant seating area. ”Please, sit. I’ll get that tea.”

Alex settled into a leather chair that probably cost more than his tuition, watching Victoria move through the adjacent kitchen with practiced grace. She looked weary - darker circles under her eyes than he remembered, slight tension in her shoulders that spoke of too many long nights and not enough rest.

’She’s isolated,’ he realized. The mansion was enormous, but Victoria was rattling around in it by herself, working until midnight while her husband campaigned and her daughter partied with trust fund kids.

”I hope you don’t mind the informal setting,” Victoria said, returning with an antique silver tea service. ”Most days I’m so busy with board meetings and corporate strategy that I forget the simple pleasure of sharing tea with someone whose company I actually enjoy.”

She poured Earl Grey into delicate china cups, and Alex caught the subtle scent of her perfume mixed with something else - the stress-scent of someone carrying too much weight alone.

”Mrs. Blackwood,” Alex said carefully, ”I’ve always appreciated how you treat me like my thoughts actually matter.”

Victoria paused, teacup halfway to her lips, and something shifted in her expression.

”You know, Alex,” Victoria said, settling back into her chair, ”that’s precisely what I needed to hear tonight.” She cradled her teacup like it was a source of warmth. ”In my world, every conversation has an agenda. Board members want budget approvals, politicians want campaign contributions, even family dinners become negotiations about public appearances.”

Alex leaned forward slightly, sensing an opening. ”That must be draining. Always being ’on,’ always performing for people who want something from you.”

”Draining is the ideal word.” Victoria’s laugh held no humor. ”Sometimes I feel like I’m playing roles all day - the decisive CEO, the supportive political wife, the providing mother. But I can’t remember the last time someone asked what I think, what I dream about, what makes me laugh.”

’Ideal,’ Lilith whispered in Alex’s mind. ’She’s opening up. Focus on her isolation.’

”What do you dream about?” Alex asked softly.

Victoria blinked, clearly not expecting the question. ”I... that’s not something people usually ask.” She was quiet for a moment, twisting her wedding ring unconsciously. ”This might sound silly coming from someone who runs a multi-billion dollar company, but sometimes I dream about traveling without bodyguards or board meetings. Just... disappearing for a while. Seeing the world as Victoria the person, not Victoria the brand.”

”That doesn’t sound silly at all,” Alex said. ”It sounds human.”

Something in Victoria’s expression cracked open - just a hairline fracture, but Alex caught it. ”James thinks my ’wanderlust phases’ are unprofessional. He says CEOs can’t afford to be sentimental about work-life balance.” She took a sip of tea, and when she looked up, her eyes were brighter. ”But you understand, don’t you? You’ve talked about wanting to see the world, start fresh somewhere new.”

Alex nodded, remembering conversations from months ago when he’d still believed Sophia cared about his dreams. ”I used to think I wanted to travel to prove something - show everyone from foster care that I could make it. But lately, I think I just want to find somewhere I belong.”

”Belonging,” Victoria repeated, like she was testing the word. ”Yes, that’s precisely it. I have everything I thought I wanted - power, wealth, influence. But I don’t feel like I belong anywhere. Not in my marriage, not in my family, sometimes not even in my own company.”

The grandfather clock chimed eleven, but neither of them moved to acknowledge the late hour.

”You know what’s strange?” Victoria continued. ”Talking with you right now feels more natural than conversations I’ve had with James in months. He’s always calculating how my words will play in focus groups. Even our private conversations feel like campaign strategy sessions.”

Alex felt the system’s subtle chime in his mind - progress being made, defenses lowering. But beneath the strategic awareness, he found himself authentically moved by Victoria’s loneliness. She was nothing like the cold corporate shark he’d expected.

”Maybe that’s because I’m not here for your money or your connections,” Alex said. ”I’m here because I’ve always enjoyed talking with you. You see possibilities where other people see problems.”

Victoria set down her teacup and really looked at him - not the polite attention of a hostess, but the focused interest of someone who’d found something unexpected.

”Alex, you have no idea how long it’s been since someone said something like that to me.”

____

The grandfather clock chimed midnight, its deep tones echoing through the mansion. Victoria glanced up in surprise, then laughed - a sound more authentic than any Alex had heard from her before.

”Goodness, it’s already midnight. I haven’t stayed up talking like this since college.” But she made no move to end their conversation. If anything, she seemed to settle deeper into her chair. ”James is always asleep by ten-thirty to maintain his campaign schedule, and Sophia considers any conversation longer than five minutes to be a complete waste of her social time.”

’She doesn’t want me to leave,’ Alex realized. The solitary billionaire CEO was clinging to sincere human connection like a lifeline.

”I should probably go,” Alex said, though his tone suggested the opposite. ”I know you have work tomorrow.”

”Actually,” Victoria said, and Alex caught the slight flush coloring her cheeks, ”would you mind staying a little longer? I know it’s selfish, but I’m dreading going back to my office to finish those quarterly reports. Adult conversation is such a rare luxury in my life.”

’Hook, line, and sinker,’ Lilith purred in his mind. But Alex found himself reluctant to manipulate the vulnerability Victoria was showing him.

”I’d love to stay,” he said, and meant it.

Victoria’s smile transformed her entire face. ”Wonderful. Let’s move to my study - it’s more comfortable, and I have some excellent scotch if you’re interested. Consider it payment for saving me from another solitary night with spreadsheets and profit margins.”

As they walked through the mansion’s corridors toward Victoria’s private study, Alex caught their reflection in a hallway mirror. Victoria looked more relaxed than he’d ever seen her, and Alex looked like someone she trusted completely.

’This is working too well,’ he thought. ’I’m starting to forget this is supposed to be revenge.’

But as they entered Victoria’s private study - her most intimate space, filled with personal books and family photos - she said something that made his pulse quicken.

”Alex, I hope this doesn’t sound inappropriate, but talking with you tonight has made me remember what it feels like to be intellectually and emotionally engaged. I’d forgotten that feeling was even possible.”

___

Author Note :

So... did you all fall for her too?

Victoria Blackwood isn’t just powerful ... she’s solitary, elegant, and unexpectedly human. Alex came here to manipulate her, to use her. But the lines are already starting to blur.

What did you feel during their conversation?

Do you think Alex can keep control ... or is he the one getting pulled in deeper?

Drop your thoughts in the comments, I’m dying to know what moment hit you hardest. Was it the tea? The midnight admission? The mirror scene?

Every Chapter reveals more than just plot... it reveals them.

See you in Chapter 4 .... where comfort becomes temptation.