All Chapters of One Night with a Billionaire: Chapter 1 - Chapter 6

Celeste's POVIt was supposed to be over.A mistake, a one-night lapse in judgment I could shove into the back of my mind and pretend never happened. I didn’t talk about it. I didn’t think about it, at least, not out loud. I buried it under deadlines and shifts, under tuition fees and grocery lists.And for a while, I convinced myself it worked.Killian Vale was a ghost. An echo of a night I couldn’t afford to remember. He lived in high-rises and flew first class to boardrooms in Europe. I lived in a shoebox apartment and counted every dollar before buying rice. He belonged to boardroom wars and billion dollar mergers. I belonged to late-night bus rides and bulk instant noodles.He was the sky.I was dirt.I had no place in his world, and he sure as hell didn’t belong in mine.That night didn’t mean anything. It couldn’t. He didn’t even remember me. He probably didn’t even notice I was gone the next morning.And I had done the smart thing.I ran.But now, as I gripped the edges of a c

Celeste's POVFour dollars and twenty-six cents.That was all I had left.I stared at the worn bills and coins in my wallet like they’d suddenly multiply if I looked sad enough. But the numbers didn’t change, and the ache in my stomach wasn’t going to wait politely until payday.I dropped onto the bench outside a tiny plaza building, my resume folder sliding off my lap and onto the seat beside me. My shoes were worn, my legs ached, and I was too exhausted to cry. I’d spent the entire day walking around downtown, knocking on every business door I could find, practically begging someone to take a chance on me.But I wasn’t qualified enough. Or experienced enough. Or available full-time enough. Or God forbid, 'professional-looking' enough with the tired circles under my eyes and anxiety bleeding into every word I said.I pressed my palm to my face and let out a long breath. My stomach growled again.No food. No coffee. Just disappointment and a pounding headache.“Hey,” a voice said, war

Celeste’s POV“You’re saying you need money beforehand?”Killian's voice sliced through the silence like a scalpel—precise, indifferent. His chair creaked as he leaned back, forearms resting on the arms like a judge presiding over a case that didn’t quite interest him.“You haven’t done any work yet.”I stood across from him, every muscle in my body stiff from lack of sleep and tension I couldn’t shake. The air in his office was too still, too clean, and I felt like a smear on polished glass. My coat was wrinkled. My blouse stuck to the sweat along my spine. My hair was barely tied into a bun, strands already falling loose and brushing against my hollow cheeks.I probably looked like a disaster.But I wasn’t here to impress him.I was here because I didn’t have a choice.“I know how it sounds,” I said, forcing my voice to hold steady even though everything inside me was crumbling. “And I know I haven’t earned anything from you. But I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t urgent.”Killian didn’t b