Chapter 1: Rock Bottom

The email came at 9:47 AM.

*Subject: Termination of Employment - Effective Immediately*

Leighton Hayes stared at her phone screen, reading the words three times before they actually sank in. Fired. They were letting her go. Budget cuts, the email said. Last hired, first fired. She'd only been at the startup for eight months.

Her hands shook as she shoved her few personal items into her bag. A coffee mug Chloe had given her. The succulent plant was already half dead. Her backup phone charger. The other designers wouldn't even look at her as security walked her out.

Twenty-three years old and unemployed. Great.

She sat in her car in the parking lot for ten minutes, just breathing. Trying not to cry. Failing.

Her phone buzzed. A text from her landlord.

*The rent is 5 days late. Please make the payment by 5 PM today, or I will have to start the eviction process.*

Leighton let out a laugh that sounded more like a sob. Of course. Of course, this was happening on the same day.

She checked her bank account. $847.32. Rent was $1,200. Even if she paid everything she had, she'd still be short. And she'd just lost her income.

Her finger hovered over Chloe's contact for a full minute before she finally pressed call.

"Leigh! I was just thinking about you. Want to grab lunch?"

The sound of her best friend's cheerful voice made something crack open in Leighton's chest.

"I got fired," she said, and then the tears came for real.

"What? Those assholes! Leigh, oh my god. Where are you?"

"In the parking lot. And my landlord just texted. I'm being evicted."

"Today? Everything's happening today?"

"Apparently the universe thinks I can handle it." Leighton wiped her face with the back of her hand. Her mascara was definitely everywhere. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called and dumped this on you."

"Don't be stupid. I'm coming to get you. Where are you?"

"Chloe, you're at work."

"And? This is an emergency. Send me your location."

Forty minutes later, Leighton was sitting in Chloe's car, clutching a coffee she couldn't afford but Chloe had insisted on buying anyway.

"You're moving in with me," Chloe announced.

"I can't ask you to do that."

"You're not asking. I'm telling you." Chloe turned to face her, dark eyes serious. "You're my best friend. You've been my best friend since we were eight years old. You really think I'm going to let you be homeless?"

"I'll figure something out. I just need a few days to..."

"To what? Sleep in your car? Leigh, be real." Chloe grabbed her hand. "You're coming home with me. End of discussion."

"But your place is tiny. Where would I even sleep?"

Chloe bit her lip, a tell-tale sign she was about to say something Leighton wouldn't like.

"Okay, so technically, I don't live in my apartment anymore."

"What?"

"I moved in with Noah two months ago."

Leighton's stomach dropped. "Noah. Your brother Noah."

"Do I have another brother I don't know about?"

Noah Knight. Even thinking his name made her feel like she was sixteen again, watching him from across the room at Chloe's birthday party, too nervous to say more than two words to him.

She'd had a crush on him since she was eight years old. The first time Chloe brought her home for a playdate, eleven-year-old Noah had helped her reach a glass from the top shelf. He'd smiled at her, and she'd been done for.

Fifteen years later, and she still got butterflies thinking about him. Which was pathetic. He probably didn't even remember her.

"I can't live with your brother."

"Why not? The place is huge. Like, stupid huge. He won't even notice you're there." Chloe started the car. "He's barely home anyway. Always working or traveling or whatever billionaires do."

"Chloe..."

"Two weeks. Just give me two weeks to help you find a job and get back on your feet. Please?"

Leighton closed her eyes. She had $847 to her name. No job. No apartment. Pride was a luxury she couldn't afford right now.

"Two weeks," she agreed quietly.

"Yes! Okay, we need to get your stuff from your apartment before your psycho landlord throws it all out."

It took less than an hour to pack up Leighton's entire life. One suitcase of clothes. A box of art supplies. Her laptop. That was it. Everything she owned fit in Chloe's trunk with room to spare.

"Travel light, live free," Chloe said cheerfully, but Leighton could see the pity in her eyes.

The drive to Noah's house took thirty minutes, moving from the city into an area where the houses got bigger and farther apart. When Chloe finally turned through an iron gate, Leighton's mouth fell open.

"This isn't a house. This is a compound."

"I told you it was big."

Big didn't cover it. The mansion was all modern lines and huge windows, surrounded by perfectly landscaped gardens. There was a fountain. An actual fountain in the driveway.

"Chloe, I can't stay here."

"Too late. We're already here." Chloe parked and popped the trunk. "Come on. I'll give you the tour."

Leighton grabbed her suitcase with shaking hands. This was a mistake. A huge mistake. But what choice did she have?

The inside was even more intimidating than the outside. Everything was white, chrome, and appeared very expensive. The kind of place where you were afraid to touch anything in case you broke it.

"Noah?" Chloe called out. "You home?"

Please say no, Leighton thought. Please don't be home.

Footsteps on the stairs. And then there he was.

Noah Knight looked exactly like she remembered, except somehow more. Taller. Broader. Those same dark eyes, sharp jawline, the kind of face that made you forget how to form sentences. He wore a black t-shirt and jeans, barefoot, his dark hair tousled as if he had been running his hands through it.

He looked at Chloe first, then his gaze moved to Leighton.

She waited for recognition. A smile. Something.

His eyes passed over her like she was part of the furniture.

"Who's this?" he asked Chloe.

Something twisted in Leighton's chest. She'd known he probably wouldn't remember her. She'd been nobody. Just his little sister's friend. But it still hurt.

"This is Leighton. My best friend? She's been over like a thousand times growing up?"

"Right." Noah's expression didn't change. Still blank. Still uninterested. "And she's here because...?"

"She's moving in for a bit. Just temporarily."

"Excuse me?" The temperature in the room dropped about twenty degrees. "You're doing what?"

"She lost her job and her apartment today. She needs a place to crash." Chloe's voice had that stubborn edge that Leighton knew well. "We have like fifteen guest rooms. She can take one."

"Did it occur to you to ask me first?"

"It's my house too."

"That you live rent-free." Noah crossed his arms. "You can't just move people in without discussing it with me."

Leighton wanted to disappear. To melt into the expensive floor and never exist again.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. Both of them looked at her like they'd forgotten she could speak. "Chloe, this was a bad idea. Can you just take me to a motel or something?"

"No," Chloe said firmly.

"Yes," Noah said at the same time.

They glared at each other. Leighton had seen them do this a hundred times growing up. Knight sibling standoffs that could last for hours.

"Two weeks," Chloe said. "That's all I'm asking. Two weeks for her to get back on her feet. Then she'll be gone."

Noah's jaw clenched. He looked at Leighton again, really looked at her this time. She probably looked like a mess. Mascara-stained face. Wrinkled clothes. Holding a suitcase like a shield.

"Two weeks," he said finally. "Maximum. And she stays out of my way."

"Thank you," Leighton said, even though everything in her screamed to run.

He didn't respond. Just turned and walked back up the stairs without another word.

"Well," Chloe said brightly. "That went better than expected."

"He hates me."

"He doesn't hate you. He's just... Noah. He'll warm up." Chloe grabbed her suitcase. "Come on. Let me show you to your room."

The guest room was bigger than Leighton's entire apartment had been. King-size bed. Private bathroom. A view of the gardens. It was beautiful. And it made her want to cry all over again.

"I'm going to fix this," Chloe promised. "Two weeks from now, you'll have a new job and a new place, and this will all just be a bad memory."

After Chloe left, Leighton sat on the edge of the bed and looked around the room. This morning she'd woken up with a job and an apartment. Now she had neither. Now she was living in Noah Knight's house. The boy she'd loved from a distance for fifteen years.

The man who didn't even remember her name.

Her phone buzzed. A notification from LinkedIn. Someone had viewed her profile.

She opened it and started updating her resume. Two weeks. She could do this. She'd stay invisible. Stay out of Noah's way. Find a new job. Get out.

She could definitely do this.

Probably.

Her stomach growled, reminding her she hadn't eaten since breakfast. She should probably find the kitchen. But that meant risking running into Noah again. Seeing that cold, blank expression when he looked at her.

Later, she decided. She'd explore later. When she was sure he wasn't around.

Leighton lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Day one in Noah Knight's house.

This was going to be the longest two weeks of her life.