CHAPTER 4: THE TWIST

AMBER HART POV

Fiancée?

Nobody mentioned anything about a fiancée. Martha definitely left that part out of the orientation.

I stood frozen in the kitchen doorway, holding a dish towel, as the woman stormed deeper into the foyer. She looked like she skipped straight off a fashion runway—perfectly styled blonde hair, diamond earrings that probably cost more than my entire life savings, and a scowl that rivaled Kalix's.

"Where is everyone?" she shouted, snapping her fingers at the security guard. "Bring my bags up to the master suite. Now."

"Uh, Ms. Vance," the guard stammered, sweating through his uniform. "Mr. Smith didn't inform us you were returning from Paris tonight. He's currently in his study working on a major merger—"

"I don't care if he's conquering Mars," she interrupted, rolling her eyes. "He's my fiancé. He can take a break."

Her sharp eyes suddenly darted over to the kitchen entrance, locking directly onto me. She looked at my grey uniform, her expression instantly turning to disgust.

"You," she barked, pointing a manicured nail at me. "What are you standing there for? Get my bags and bring a bottle of sparkling water to Kalix's room. Move it."

"I don't think that's a good idea, ma'am," I said, keeping my voice calm and professional. I didn't want to get caught in the middle of whatever rich-people drama was about to unfold, but Kalix explicitly told me he needed absolute silence tonight to finish that contract. "Mr. Smith gave strict orders not to be disturbed until midnight."

The woman gasped, stepping closer to me. The heavy scent of her expensive perfume hit me like a wall. "Did you just talk back to me? Do you know who I am? I am Victoria Vance. My father owns Vance Global. I practically own this house, and I can have you fired before you can even blink."

"I'm just following Mr. Smith's instructions, Ms. Vance," I said, holding my ground. After dealing with angry customers at the diner for years, a spoiled socialite wasn't going to make me back down. Especially when my ten-thousand-dollar paycheck was on the line.

"We'll see about that," Victoria hissed.

She turned around, her high heels clicking aggressively against the marble floor as she stormed toward the grand staircase.

I dropped the dish towel onto the counter and quickly followed her. If she ruined the contract Kalix was working so hard to fix, he'd probably fire everyone in the building out of sheer rage. I had to stop her, or at least warn him.

Victoria practically flew up the stairs, ignoring me as I trailed a few steps behind. She reached the third floor and didn't even bother knocking. She threw the heavy double doors of the master suite open with a loud bang.

"Kalix, darling!" she cried out, her voice shifting from angry to fake-sweet in a split second.

Inside the study, Kalix slammed his laptop shut. He stood up from his chair, his face dark with absolute fury. The calm, almost-human version of him I saw just twenty minutes ago was completely gone.

"Victoria," Kalix said, his voice a low, dangerous growl. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What do you mean?" Victoria said, walking over to him and trying to wrap her arms around his neck. Kalix sidestepped her smoothly, causing her to stumble slightly. She pouted, crossing her arms. "I came back early to surprise you! And your little maid downstairs tried to block me at the door. You need to fire her immediately."

Kalix's sharp eyes darted past Victoria, locking onto me as I stood awkwardly at the entrance of the study. "Amber, what happened?"

"I told Ms. Vance you were busy with the compliance clauses, sir," I explained simply, keeping my hands clasped in front of my uniform. "I advised her to wait."

"She was just doing her job, Victoria," Kalix said, turning his cold gaze back to his so-called fiancée. "Unlike you, who just disrupted a multi-million dollar negotiation. I told you last month that our arrangement was on hold."

Arrangement? I raised an eyebrow slightly. He didn't say 'relationship.' He said 'arrangement.'

"Our parents already announced the engagement, Kalix!" Victoria snapped, dropping the sweet act entirely. "You can't just put it on hold because you're stressed about work. My father expects us to sign the prenuptial agreement before the end of the month. He's funding half of your European expansion, remember?"

Kalix clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white. "Your father is using that expansion to leverage control over my board of directors. I never agreed to the timeline."

"Well, you don't have a choice," Victoria said with a smug smile. She sat down on the edge of his mahogany desk, completely invading his space. "Unless you find another partner to clear your expansion debt in the next forty-eight hours, you're marrying me. And the first thing I'm doing is replacing all this trashy staff." She glanced back at me, giving me a nasty look.

I stood there, feeling the sudden urge to wipe that smirk off her face. But I kept my mouth shut. This was way above my pay grade.

Kalix stood completely still for a moment. He looked at Victoria, then his eyes drifted over to me. A strange, calculating expression crossed his face. The cold, rigid scowl slowly melted into something sharp and brilliant. It was the look he got right before he closed a hostile business takeover.

He walked over to his desk, picked up his phone, and dialed a number. "Marcus. Call a full press conference at the Smith Industries headquarters tomorrow morning at nine AM. Yes, the main auditorium. I have an important personal announcement."

Victoria beamed, clapping her hands together. "Oh, Kalix! You're finally announcing the wedding date? I knew you'd see sense."

Kalix hung up the phone and set it back on the desk. He didn't look at Victoria. He walked straight toward me, stopping just a few inches away. He was so close I could see the dark gold flecks in his eyes.

"No, Victoria," Kalix said, his voice echoing clearly in the quiet room. "I'm announcing that the engagement with Vance Global is officially off."

Victoria's jaw dropped. "What? You can't do that! Who else would marry you? Who else fits the image the board demands?"

Kalix reached out, his hand sliding smoothly around my waist. His touch was warm, sending a sudden, unexpected jolt straight up my spine. I stiffened, my breath catching in my throat. What was he doing?

"I've already found someone else," Kalix said, pulling me gently but firmly against his side. He looked down at me, his eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made my knees weak. "Meet my real fiancée. Amber Hart."

My brain completely short-circuited.

Victoria stared at us, her eyes wide with shock before turning bright red with rage. "Her? You're passing up my family's fortune for a penniless nobody who cleans your toilet?"

"She's resourceful, she's efficient, and she doesn't give me a headache," Kalix replied smoothly, his grip tightening on my waist to keep me from bolting. "Now, get out of my house before I have security throw your bags into the street."

Victoria screamed in frustration, stomping her foot like a child. She snatched her designer purse from the desk and marched out of the room, slamming the heavy doors behind her so hard the glass panes rattled.

The moment the doors clicked shut, I twisted out of Kalix's grip, stepping back a few feet. My heart was hammering violently against my ribs.

"What the hell was that, Mr. Smith?" I demanded, forgetting the professional tone entirely.

Kalix didn't look flustered at all. He calmly walked back to his desk, picked up a pen, and pulled a clean sheet of paper toward him.

"That was a business solution, Amber," he said, writing down a few numbers. He turned the paper around so I could see it.

At the bottom of the page, there was a figure written in bold ink.

One million dollars.

"Six months," Kalix said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "Play the part of my fiancée for six months until the European expansion is finalized. You'll move out of the staff quarters and into the guest suite. No cleaning, no running errands. Just appearances at public events."

I stared at the number on the paper, my mind racing. One million dollars. That wasn't just debt-free money; that was life-changing wealth. I could buy a house for my parents. I could start my own business. I'd never have to worry about rent ever again.

"And if I say no?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Then tomorrow morning, you go back to dusting the shelves," Kalix said, his expression completely unreadable. "But I think we both know you're not the type to walk away from an opportunity."

He slid the pen across the desk, waiting for my answer.

I walked forward, picked up the pen, and signed my name at the bottom of the page.