BETRAYED BY HER SISTER, CLAIMED BY THE BILLIONAIRE

CHAPTER 2: Find Her MIKE POV: My shirt was ruined the second the wine hit me. I stood there for a full minute before moving. I couldn’t believe what the hell had just happened. “Sir.” My PA Priya appeared beside me with a folded jacket. She always seemed to have a spare of something ready. She didn’t ask about the wine. “The car is outside,” she said. I didn’t take the jacket. I was still watching the door the woman had walked through. “Find out who she is,” I said. “The woman who…” Priya stopped herself. “The artist?” “You knew about it?” “Everyone in the room knew, sir. It’s her exhibition. Her name has been on the wall all night.” I hadn’t looked at the wall. I had looked at the price tag at the deal I needed to close and never once looked up at the name printed beneath it. That wasn’t like me. I read everything. Contracts twice, people faster than that. Somehow, I had missed the one fact that would have changed the entire conversation. “What's her name,” I said again.

ELENA POV Grayson found his voice before Mike did, which told me exactly how rattled that room really was. “That’s a fair point. Worth reviewing,” he said, in the tone of a man who wanted the meeting over more than he wanted to be right. “We’ll have to take another look at it legally.” “Yes. I think you should, before you send it to anyone else.” I said. Mike still hadn’t said a word since he muttered that no one had caught the problem. He was watching me like a door he had just found unlocked. It should have felt like a win. Mostly it felt like being studied by someone who was deciding what to do about me. The meeting broke up a few minutes later with handshakes and promises to follow up. I grabbed my portfolio and left before anyone could ask me something I didn’t have patience for. I made it as far as the elevators before I heard slow footsteps behind me. The kind of walk that assumed I would wait. I didn’t turn around. I hit the button again, harder than necessary. “That cla

ELENA POV He didn’t move for a second, and something shifted behind his eyes, something unintentional, gone as fast as it came, and for one silly heartbeat I thought he might lean in, right there in a room full of donors and string quartets and Adrian probably still lurking with that grin. Then the microphone on stage caught feedback. Some host started announcing the next round of bidding. Whatever was building between us snapped like a rubber band. “I need to leave,” I said, stepping back before either of us did something about what had almost happened. “Elena…” “Consulting materials. I’ll be there on Tuesday.” I didn’t wait for a response. I let the crowd swallow me, my pulse beating so hard I didn’t fully understand. Tuesday came faster than I wanted. Laurent International took up a glass tower downtown, the kind of building built to make you feel like an ant the second you walked through the revolving doors. I had spent the whole morning telling myself this was purely profess

POV: ElenaI walked into Laurent International the next morning with one clear goal. That I was going to treat him like any other client. The elevator ride up to the 42th floor felt longer than it should have. Every time the numbers climbed, I forced myself to remember the version of him from the day before. Flat voice, professional distance, acting like nothing had happened in that stuck elevator. That was the version I needed today. Not the one who had said my name like it meant something to him. Not the one whose fingers had been warm against my jaw. Priya met me in the lobby and handed me a visitor badge without small talk.“He’s already in the conference room, materials are ready” she said. I thanked her and walked down the hallway alone. My heels sounded too sharp against the floor. I straightened my shoulders before pushing the door open. Mike stood at the head of the long table, sleeves rolled up, scanning a stack of documents. He looked up when I entered. His face stayed c

POV: Elena“Elena?”Mike’s voice came from just behind me. I turned toward him. He stood a few steps away, eyes moving from my face to the list, then back again. He looked puzzled, not suspicious.“You okay?” he asked.“I'm fine.” The word came out tighter than I wanted. “Just saw a name I didn’t expect on the guest list.”He glanced at the guest list but didn’t focus on any particular line. “Someone you know?”“It’s nothing.” I forced my shoulders down. “We should go in.”He watched me for another second longer than necessary, then nodded and gestured toward the main room. I could feel his attention still on me as we walked. The dining room was warm and expensive with soft lighting, a long table, city lights spilling through tall windows. Conversations dipped when we entered, then picked up again. I kept my expression neutral, but my mind kept circling back to Sophia’s name on that list.bAn older woman in a deep blue dress approached first. She had Mike’s eyes and the calm confidenc