Chapter 2

The moment Adrian’s smirk touched his lips, a chill ran down my spine. This man could destroy me with a single word. Yet there was something thrilling in the fear he exuded, the dangerous sense that I was no longer in control.

I swallowed hard. “Thank you,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.

He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. His eyes alone said enough: I own this moment.

The office was massive, sleek, and intimidating, just like him. Floor-to-ceiling windows revealed the city skyline, but the view couldn’t distract me from the weight pressing down on my chest. I’m standing in the lion’s den, and the lion is watching me.

“Sit,” he commanded, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. His voice carried a strange mix of authority and amusement, as if he were already entertained by the thought of me struggling to survive in his world.

I obeyed, though my hands shook as I placed my résumé on the polished desk.

“Why are you here, Nora?” he asked finally, leaning back in his chair, steepling his long fingers. “Why Cole Enterprises?”

I lifted my chin. “Because I have nowhere else to go. Because I need independence. Because I’m done living in shadows.”

He studied me with a predator’s patience, as if weighing every word, every heartbeat. “And yet, you’re trembling.”

My cheeks burned, but I refused to let him see my fear. “I’ve been through worse.”

“Have you?” His tone was sharp, almost mocking. “You’ve spent your life serving a man who didn’t see you, cleaning up after people who didn’t care, smiling through their indifference… and now you’re standing here thinking the world owes you something.”

I flinched, but only for a moment. “I don’t expect the world to give me anything. I’m asking for an opportunity.”

He leaned forward, elbows on the desk, and fixed me with a look that could cut glass. “Opportunities are earned, Nora. Not begged for.”

Earned. The word struck deep. I had spent fifteen years trying to earn my father’s approval and failed.

“Then tell me what I have to do to earn it,” I said, my voice firmer than I felt.

A slow, deliberate smile curved his lips. “Good. I like fire. But fire can burn, and I can promise you… I’ll test you.”

I felt a thrill in my chest, equal parts fear and adrenaline. This man wasn’t just my employer. He was a challenge, and maybe my only chance to prove that I wasn’t worthless.

Back home, the mansion felt colder than ever. Amelia and my stepmother were waiting, their faces the same masks of smug satisfaction I had grown to loathe.

“You’ll be living on the streets now?” my stepmother sneered as I gathered a few last things from my old room. “Your father did you a favor, really.”

I ignored her. Ignoring her had become my armor.

Amelia stepped closer, her voice soft but sharp. “Nora… I didn’t know… I mean, I didn’t”

“Don’t,” I interrupted, holding up my hand. “Don’t give me excuses. Fifteen years, Amelia. Fifteen years, and my father left you everything. You don’t get to apologize for that.”

She flinched. “It’s not like that. I”

“Save it.” I slammed the suitcase shut. “I’m leaving. Don’t follow me.”

The first day at Cole Enterprises was a whirlwind. Adrian assigned me tasks that tested everything I knew about patience, discretion, and endurance. Emails that had to be perfectly worded. Calls that required calm diplomacy. Meetings where I had to anticipate his needs before he even asked.

And through it all, he watched. Always watching. His presence was a constant weight, like the air itself had grown heavier.

“You missed a comma in this email,” he said one hour in, leaning over my desk to point it out. His cologne hit me like a physical force, expensive, sharp, intoxicating.

I nodded, my fingers trembling as I corrected it.

“You think you can handle pressure?” he asked.

“I can,” I said, though my stomach knotted.

“Can you?” His voice dropped, low and dangerous, close enough that I felt the heat from his body. “Because I don’t tolerate failure.”

I didn’t flinch this time. “Then I won’t fail.”

He smirked, straightening in his chair. “Good. I like someone who fights back.”

By mid-afternoon, an urgent call pulled Adrian away, leaving me alone with the office buzzing around me. That’s when the first intrusion from my old life hit a sharp, unexpected visitor.

My stepmother’s number flashed on my phone.

I hesitated, then answered. “Hello?”

“Nora,” she purred, deceptively sweet. “I hear you’ve found yourself a new playground… Mr. Cole, wasn’t it?”

I gritted my teeth. “What do you want?”

“To warn you,” she said smoothly. “Don’t think for a second that you’ve escaped me. I know what your father left you, and I know where your pride led you. Cole Enterprises is no place for a girl like you. You’ll either break… or he’ll break you.”

Her words were meant to scare me, but they had the opposite effect. I’m stronger than you think.

“I’m not afraid of him… or you,” I said, and hung up.

But deep down, I couldn’t shake the memory of Adrian’s eyes. The way he watched me. The way he tested me.

Later that evening, Adrian returned. He stepped into the office silently, leaning against the doorframe, his presence filling the room like a storm about to break.

“You’re still here?” he asked, voice low and amused.

“Yes,” I said, standing to face him. “I finished the reports.”

He walked toward me slowly, each step deliberate. “I expected you to crack after the first few hours. Most people do.”

“I’m not most people,” I said firmly, my hands clenching at my sides.

He stopped inches away, and I could feel the heat radiating from him. His gaze drilled into me, unreadable, dangerous. “Maybe you’re different,” he murmured. “Or maybe… you just haven’t realized how much you need me to survive.”

I swallowed. His words were fire against my skin, yet I refused to give him the satisfaction of showing how affected I was.

“I don’t need anyone,” I whispered.

He chuckled, a dark, slow sound. “Everyone needs something, Nora. Even you.”

The tension between us was electric, a battle neither of us wanted to surrender.

The office phone rang suddenly, breaking the charged silence. Adrian answered, listening for a moment, then his expression hardened.

“Where?” he barked. “Tonight. Don’t fail me.”

He hung up and turned to me, eyes flashing. “We have a problem. Someone is trying to sabotage a deal tonight, an important one. You’ll come with me. I don’t tolerate mistakes, and I don’t leave people behind.”

I blinked. “Me?”

“Yes. You. You’re going to see what it means to be useful. And if you survive tonight, maybe you’ll start to understand this world isn’t kind to good girls.”

My heart raced. I wanted to protest. I wanted to run. But something in his gaze, sharp, demanding, impossible to ignore, froze me in place.

This is it, I thought. No turning back now.

As we left the building, the city lights blurred in the rain. Adrian’s hand brushed mine briefly as he handed me a leather folder, a touch electric enough to leave me breathless. I pulled back immediately, but he didn’t look away.

“Don’t get comfortable,” he said, voice low and dangerous. “Tonight, you’ll learn who I am… and maybe, who you really are.”

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. My mind raced with a thousand thoughts: the betrayal of my father, my stepmother, Amelia, and the storm that Adrian himself seemed to carry wherever he went.

And yet, despite every warning, every instinct screaming at me to run… part of me wanted to follow him into the fire.

The limousine doors closed behind us, sealing us in. Rain pelted the windows. The city lights reflected off the glass like sparks of danger.

I looked at Adrian, his profile sharp in the dim interior. He glanced at me, lips curling into a smirk that made my stomach twist.

“Welcome to my world, Nora,” he said. “Hope you’re ready to survive it.”

And I realized… I wasn’t just surviving my father’s betrayal anymore. I was stepping into a war of hearts, power, and secrets and I had no idea which side I would end up on.