Chapter 1

The smell of cinnamon and freshly baked bread clung to the air like hope that refused to die. Aria Hudson set down a tray of steaming muffins on the counter of her tiny bakery, Sweet Haven, her palms still warm from the oven’s heat. She’d decorated the display with the precision of someone who knew aesthetics mattered almost as much as flavor. Each pastry was placed at a perfect angle, every cup of coffee poured with care.

It should have been a comforting sight. But this morning, like so many others, the sight felt more like lost hope.

The place was nearly empty safe for the two regulars tucked in the corner with laptops, sipping at their drinks like they had all the time in the world. The clink of spoons and faint hum of indie jazz filled the silence that gnawed at her nerves. She hated slow mornings. Slow meant fewer sales. Fewer sales meant she was one step closer to losing this shop, the last thing connecting her to the mother she’d buried ten years ago.

Aria forced a smile as she adjusted the chalkboard menu, though her heart wasn’t in it. A bakery was supposed to be cheerful, a pocket of joy for anyone who stepped in. But lately she’d been running on fumes, scraping together change for flour orders, bargaining with suppliers who had long stopped caring about her talk on “supporting local business.”

The door chimed.

She looked up automatically, rehearsed smile in place, but the words died on her tongue.

He wasn’t a regular. Not even close.

A man in a tailored charcoal suit stepped inside, tall enough that the doorway seemed to shrink around him. His black hair was perfectly styled, sharp jaw dusted with stubble that screamed expensive cologne and sleepless nights. He had the kind of face that made people turn in their seats a face too polished for her world of coffee stains and broken flour dusted aprons.

And he was carrying a slim folder in his hand.

Her chest sank.

“Good morning,” she said, trying to keep her voice even. “What can I get you?”

His gaze swept the shop in one disinterested glance, like he already knew everything about it and had dismissed it all the same. Then his eyes locked on hers, piercing gray, direct, a contrast her worried brown orbs..

“Aria Hudson?” His voice was smooth, clipped, meaning business.

She hesitated. “Yes?”

He opened the folder and slid out a stack of papers. “Damian Cole. I’m here on behalf of the property management firm. You’ve been served.”

The words slammed into her like a punch. For a moment, the hum of jazz faded. Even the smell of cinnamon felt sour.

Her hand trembled as she took the papers, scanning the first line. Notice of Eviction. Her throat tightened. She’d known this was coming. She was three months behind on rent, but knowing didn’t make the blow any softer.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” She looked up, fury sparking where fear had been seconds ago. “You’re serving me an eviction notice? Here? In my shop?”

“Protocol,” he said simply, sliding the folder closed. “You have thirty days to vacate the premises unless payment is made in full.”

Her laugh was sharp, bitter. “Payment in full? Do I look like I’ve got thousands of dollars just sitting in my register?” She said, her voice raising slightly. This earned her looks from one her regulars as he held his coffee midway and stared at them. She offered him a nervous smile then turned to hear Damian say; “That’s not my concern.” His expression didn’t flicker. “My concern is that you understand the notice.”

“Oh, I understand just fine,” she shot back. “You’re the kind of man who thinks wearing a three-piece suit makes him important, strolling into small businesses and crushing them without blinking. Congratulations, Mr. Cole. You’ve just ruined someone’s life before even having your morning coffee.”

Something sparked in his gaze just then. 'Was that amusement?" She thought.

“Ruined your life? I’m just doing my job. You were already behind. You knew this was inevitable.”

The nerve.

Heat flooded her cheeks, half from anger, half from the shame of truth in his words. But she refused to let him see her fold.

“You know what’s funny?” she said, voice sharp as glass. “People like you think we’re all just numbers on a paper. Debtors. Liabilities. You don’t see the work that goes in here. The late nights. The dreams. You just see profit margins and ink on contracts.”

His mouth curved...just slightly. “And yet, you’re still three months behind.”

The retort cut deeper than she wanted to admit. She turned away before her eyes betrayed her, busying herself behind the counter though her hands shook. She slammed a mug onto the counter harder than necessary.

“You want coffee?” she muttered, bitter. “Since you’re already here ruining my day, might as well.”

For a second, silence. Then unexpectedly, he chuckled. It was low, husky, a sound that curled under her skin.

“You’re....interesting,” he said. “Most people don’t talk back when I serve them.”

“Well, I’m not most people,” she snapped.

"That's certainly true'", he said not backing down.

Their eyes clashed, charged in a way that made her pulse quicken despite herself. She hated that his gaze unsettled her, hated that she noticed how unfairly good-looking he was even as he threatened to take away the last piece of her world. She should be thinking of him in that light. She shouldn't be thinking of him at all.

Damiantilted his head, studying her like she was a puzzle. “Alright then. No coffee for me.” He tapped the counter once, decisive, and turned toward the door.

Aria gripped the eviction notice in her hand, fingers curling so tightly the paper crumpled. She wanted to scream after him, but her throat was tight, her chest aching.

When the door chimed shut behind him, the café suddenly felt emptier than it had before.

She sank onto a stool, staring at the notice, the black ink swimming in her vision. She should call her landlord. Beg for more time. Find some miracle loan. Something. Anything.

But all she could think about was the way DamianBlackwood’s gray eyes had lingered on her, unreadable, as though he’d seen more than she wanted anyone to.

And for some unexplainable reason she felt as though this wasn’t the last time she’d see him.