His Billion-Dollar Mistake

CHAPTER 2 I should’ve been excited. New job. New chance. New… billionaire boss who looked like he stepped out of a luxury advert. But honestly? I was terrified. “You start tomorrow. Eight sharp,” Mr Reign had said before dismissing me like I was at a meeting he didn’t schedule. So here I was the next morning. Standing in the lobby again. Wearing my only decent outfit–black pants that fit weird around the hips and a blouse that kept slipping off one shoulder like it had its own drama. People stared. Not in a mean way. It's more like I was a misplaced cat wandering into a wolf pack. Great. Exactly the confidence boost I needed. The receptionist from yesterday blinked when she saw me. “You’re… back?” “Yeah.” I lifted my ID badge. “Mr Reign hired me.” Her mouth fell open a little. “Hired?” “Temporary,” I added fast. “Very temporary.” Something like respect flashed in her eyes. Or suspicion. It's hard to tell. “Top floor,” she said, softer this time. The elevator ride f

CHAPTER 4 I expected the day after Ivy’s visit to be… weird. It was worse. Tension sat in the air like the building had swallowed a storm and didn’t know how to let it out. Mr. Reign wasn’t speaking much. Not to me. Not to anyone. He moved around his office with sharp, controlled steps, as if one wrong breath would crack something inside him. And me? I kept dropping things. First, the tablet. Then my pen. Then my dignity when I tripped over absolutely nothing. “Are you alright?” he asked at one point. “I’m fine,” I said as I tried to hide the fact that I’d spilt water on my own shoe. He watched me. Not judging. Just… watching. “Take a moment,” he said. “I’m good. Totally stable,” I lied, almost slipping again. His lips twitched like he wanted to smile but refused to. The silence stretched. Finally, he cleared his throat. “I apologize for yesterday.” I blinked. “For what part? Ivy insulting me or me insulting her back?” “You didn’t insult her.” “I kind of did.”

CHAPTER 6The office felt colder than usual that morning.Not physically. The air conditioner was set to normal.No, it was Reign.He moved around like he was a storm trapped in a suit. Sharp angles. Controlled steps. Every motion precise, but the energy around him… heavy.I kept my distance. Tried not to spill anything this time. Tried to act invisible.It didn’t work.He noticed anyway.“You’re early,” he said, voice flat.“I wanted to make sure everything was ready for the morning briefing,” I replied, clutching the files a little too tight.He didn’t answer. Just stared at me.The silence was thick.I chewed on my lip. “Do you want coffee?”He shook his head. “No. Sit.”I sat. Carefully. Like the chair might judge me.“You handled yesterday well,” he said suddenly.I blinked. “Yesterday? With Ivy?”“Yes.”“I wasn’t sure if I… did the right thing.”He studied me, eyes sharp. “You did.”I felt my cheeks heat. Praise from him wasn’t common. Not casual. Not like this.“Thanks,” I murm

CHAPTER 8I didn’t sleep much that night.The office felt like a different world after Ivy’s visit. Her presence lingered, sharp and cold, like a shadow I couldn’t shake. My mind kept replaying her words: loyalty is everything.I arrived early, hoping the quiet morning would calm me. It didn’t. The elevator ride up felt slower than usual. My fingers tapped nervously against the handrail. Every little noise—the hum of the AC, the faint click of shoes in the hall—made my heart jump.At my desk, I stared at the Henderson merger files. Numbers blurred. Charts overlapped in my mind. I realised I’d been holding my breath for the past ten minutes.A soft knock broke the silence.“Maya,” Reign’s voice said from the doorway. His expression was calm, but I could see it: the tension in his shoulders, the tight line of his jaw. “Are you ready for the day?”I blinked. “I… I think so.”He stepped inside, eyes scanning the office like a predator assessing his territory. Then he focused on me. Just me.

CHAPTER 10The morning hit me like a freight train.Not literally, of course. But it might as well have. Emails stacked in my inbox like little piles of doom. Phones buzzing. Slack messages pinging. The Henderson project? Already on fire before the day even started.I stared at my screen. Blinked. Blinked again. The numbers blurred. My chest tightened.“Deep breath,” I muttered to myself. “You’ve got this. You can fix it.”And I hoped.Reign appeared behind me. Leaned over, silent, studying my screen. I felt that familiar flutter in my stomach—part nervous, part… something else. Protective? Encouraging? Dangerous.“You’ll manage,” he said quietly. “I’ll be in the conference room if you need me.”I nodded. My hands shook slightly. I wanted to believe him. Really. But the fear of failing, of making another mistake in front of Ivy—or worse, the board—made my fingers tremble.The first email was a disaster. Henderson’s finance team had sent corrections. Major corrections. The kind that ma