Chapter 2: “Game Over”

The command landed like a lead weight on my chest. My hands remained raised as the sharp edge of the flash drive pressed deeper into my skin with every shallow breath.

“I won’t repeat myself, Vivian. You have sixty seconds to take it out yourself. If I have to bring my security team in here, they’ll do it for you.”

“And trust me, they won’t be gentle.”

A cold knot twisted in my chest. “Sir, please,” I whispered, my voice weaker than I intended. “You’re making a mistake. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

He glanced at his watch, then locked his eyes back onto me.

“Forty-five seconds.”

Markus shifted near the door, looking as though he wanted to intervene.

“Mr. Cross, sir—”

“Another word from you, and I’ll throw you out the window myself.”

Markus went dead silent. The storm continued to hammer against the glass windows as the office went quiet around us.

“You have Thirty seconds left Vivian.”

Julian stepped closer. The intoxicating scent of agarwood and amber wrapped around me, filling my senses until it was all I could breathe.

“You have twenty seconds.”

Panic clawed its way up my throat.

“I am telling the truth,” I blurted out. “This is all a misunderstanding. Sir, please.”

If he heard the desperation in my voice, he gave no sign of it.

“You have ten seconds, Vivian.” His gaze never left mine as he lifted a hand toward the top button of my dress. Panic seized my throat.

“Time’s up.”

Julian’s fingers closed around the neckline of my dress.

Then Markus moved.

In a heartbeat, he lunged across the desk, grabbed a heavy bronze statue, and hurled it at the balcony doors. The crash split the air like a gunshot.

Glass exploded inward. Freezing rain and howling wind tore through the office, scattering papers and knocking frames from the walls. Alarms screamed overhead as the storm poured into the room. For one stunned heartbeat, nobody moved.

Then all hell broke loose.

“Run, Vivian! Go!” Markus shouted.

Julian moved faster than a man his size should have been able to. He seized Markus by the throat, lifted him clean off his feet, and slammed him into the wall hard enough to rattle the heavy oak picture frame hanging there.

Markus barely had time to gasp before Julian threw him to the floor like a ragdoll.

The office doors burst open, and three armed guards rushed into the room with their weapons drawn.

I did not stay to see what happened next. The moment Julian’s grip left me, I bolted for the shattered balcony doors.

The second I stepped outside, the wind and rain hit me hard, knocking the breath right out of me.

My heels slid across the wet tiles, and panic shot through me as I stumbled forward.

My hands slammed against the cold metal railing as I desperately clung to it, fighting to keep my balance. Sixty stories of darkness stretched below me. Through the heavy rain, the city lights looked like blurry smears in the distance.

Behind me, boots crunched over broken glass. I didn’t need to turn around.

Julian stepped onto the balcony. Rain quickly soaked his white shirt, plastering it to his skin as he walked toward me. He kept coming until my back hit the railing and the cold metal pressed into my spine.

The wind whipped my wet hair across my face, and rain stung my skin. But Julian didn’t even blink. He stood perfectly still in the storm, and when he spoke, his voice cut straight through the thunder.

“I will ask you one last time,” he said, his voice carrying easily through the storm. “What are you hiding in your bra?”

Trapped with nowhere else to run, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “It’s an insulin pump. I… I’m diabetic, sir. It’s medical equipment.”

A low, mocking laugh escaped him. Rainwater streamed down his face. “Your third lie, little Sterling. You are really bad at this.”

The sound of my real name hit me like a slap.

Sterling.

I froze.

The wind howled around us and rain lashed against the building, but suddenly the only thing I could hear was the pounding of my own heartbeat.

Did he just call me Sterling?

Not Vance.

Oh my God, he knows my name. How the hell does he know my name?

Before I could even breathe out a word, he pushed me harder against the railing and slid his hand inside the neckline of my dress.

His cold knuckles brushed against the side of my breast as he yanked the flash drive free. Water dripped from the black plastic casing.

“I know exactly who you are,” Julian said, slipping the flash drive into his pocket. “You are Clara Sterling. Daughter of Arthur Sterling. The CEO of Sterling Global.”

His eyes stayed locked on mine, with a mocking smile still playing on his face.

“So this was never about your lost apartment keys.” He Said, slipping the flash drive deeper into his pocket. “You came here to steal from me.”

“Give it back!” I lunged toward him. My fingers tangled in the front of his soaked shirt. “You destroyed my father! You monster!”

Julian caught my wrists and pinned both my hands against the railing in one swift move.

“Game over, Clara sterling.”

He still had that mocking smile in his eyes. His gaze dropped briefly to my lips before returning to mine.

“The drive is mine now,” he murmured, his face inches from mine. “And so are you.”

“What?” I muttered.

He leaned closer, rainwater dripping from his jaw. “You heard me. Whatever plan you came here with just died.”

Before I could fight back, Julian hooked an arm around my waist, lifted me clean off my feet, and carried me away from the ledge.