Chapter 2

Once I'd filled out the hiring paperwork at Danford Corp and signed an IOU, my account was unfrozen.

The $36,000 was still there.

I sent Alvin $30,000 and kept $6,000 for Mom's funeral.

The next day, I started work.

Alvin had handpicked my job. Cleaning.

My supervisor, Winnie Finch, handed me a mop and bucket, her face blank.

"Every restroom, floors one through thirteen. Clean each stall at least three times a day.

"Eight hours a day, one day off a week. Twenty-four hundred a month after taxes."

I kept quiet and did the math.

The cheapest room in a rough neighborhood was $800 a month.

Even on a bare-bones budget, food, utilities, transportation, and other basics would eat up another $1,200.

That left $400 a month.

I still owed Alvin $16,000. Three years and four months, minimum.

My chest tightened.

Too long.

I couldn't stay tied to him that long.

On my lunch break, I washed my hands and took the elevator to the top floor.

I'd ask Alvin for a different job.

Sales. Customer service.

Hauling boxes or running paperwork. Anything that paid more so I could pay him off faster.

The elevator doors opened, but Callie blocked me before I could step out.

She stood there in fuzzy slippers and lounge clothes, coffee in hand, like this was her living room.

She wrinkled her nose. "Who let you up here?"

I froze.

Like Alvin, she wasn't someone I could afford to piss off.

I kept my voice low. "No one sent me. I need to talk to Mr. Danford."

Callie covered her mouth, laughing so hard her shoulders shook. "You want to see Alvin?"

She eyed my uniform like it was filthy. "You scrub toilets. Why would he see you?

"Get your ass downstairs before you track dirt everywhere."

My face went pale.

But at this pay, I had three more years of this ahead of me. I stood my ground.

"I need to talk to him. Then I'll leave."

Her smile faded. She turned to the guards. "What do I pay you for? Get her out!"

Two guards grabbed my arms.

Someone shoved me, and I hit the floor.

My palms scraped the marble. My hair came loose, tangling around my face.

The shouting got louder until the office door finally opened.

"What's all this noise?"

I looked up. Alvin was walking toward us.

It was our first time face-to-face since that day.

Same face I'd loved for five years.

Now he wore a tailored designer suit, his watch catching the light. He looked rich, cold, untouchable.

Nothing like the broke guy who'd split a can of soup with me in our tiny rental.

It finally hit me. He wasn't the broke, unlucky Alvin I'd known.

He was the Danford heir.

And I owed him money.

Callie rushed to his side, her eyes filling with tears. "Alvin, I don't know how she got up here.

"She tried to barge into your office. Said she was your girlfriend, and if she couldn't marry you, you should at least make her your executive assistant."

I stared at her.

She'd made up every word without even blinking.

And Alvin bought it.

He looked down at me and smirked. "My executive assistant? Lena Hart, what makes you think you qualify?"

He stepped closer, looming over me. "You'd do anything for cash. You're lucky I even let you scrub toilets here.

"Quit dreaming. It's never happening."

Every word hurt.

I lowered my head. Not long ago, I'd cried in our rental after another job rejection.

Alvin had felt so bad for me, he'd splurged on The Cheesecake Factory, a rare treat for us.

"Those bosses wouldn't know talent if it hit them. Their loss.

"Don't worry. If I ever own a company, I'll make you a manager. Hundreds of people answering to you!"

I'd teased him for dreaming big, but he'd made me laugh.

Turns out, he did own a company.

And he'd put me in charge of dozens of toilets.