Chapter:00002

Skye’s POV

I ended up in a club.

I didn't even know how.

People said drowning yourself in alcohol made the pain hurt less.

So why did it still ache, even after three bottles?

"One more," I muttered, sliding my almost empty glass toward the bartender.

He paused mid-wipe and glanced at me, his eyes sweeping over my clothes, my posture, the way I leaned against the counter. The look he gave me wasn't concern. It was judgment.

Like I was some broke joke who couldn't afford another drink.

Even the bartender was looking down on me.

I swallowed hard. Why is my life so miserable?

From losing my parents at the age of nine…To being taken in by uncle Loid Vaughn, the man who saved me from the accident and gave me a roof over my head.

A roof that never felt like home.

His wife hated my presence. His daughter despised my existence.

And life with them was hell, especially whenever he traveled for business.

I clenched my jaw.

If my parents hadn't died.... would my life be different? Would I still be treated like something unwanted?

I downed the last of the alcohol in my glass and stood abruptly.

The room tilted. My stomach gave a warning growl.

I glanced back at the bartender. "Where's the restroom?"

He didn't even look at me. Just kept wiping the same glass like I hadn't spoken at all.

Seriously?

I gripped my phone tightly and turned away. Fine. I'll find it myself.

I pushed through the crowd, sweaty bodies, pounding music until I finally spotted the restroom sign.

After I was done, I didn’t return to the bar. I stepped outside

The cool night air hit my face as I walked into the wide, dimly lit parking lot.

I was halfway across the lot when I heard it.

A sob.

I stopped walking.

The sound was raw, the kind of sobbing that comes from the gut. I followed it toward the back of the lot, where the streetlights didn’t reach.

I hid behind a black SUV and peeked out.

A woman was kneeling on the ground, her hands clasped as she begged.

I squinted, trying to make sense of the scene. Even in the dark, the way she moved was graceful. Then the light from a passing car caught her face.

My breath hitched.

Celeste.

The face plastered across billboards from here to the coast. The highest-paid model in the country was kneeling in the dirt like a servant.

Standing over her was a man in a tailored suit. Tall, broad-shouldered and undeniably masculine. I couldn't see his face clearly.

"You’ve had enough chances," the man said coldly. "You wasted every one of them."

Celeste grabbed his leg desperately. "I was wrong. I shouldn't have confessed my feelings for you. I know I broke the contract rule—please, l'm begging you."

Contract?

My stomach tightened.

The man crouched slowly and gripped her chin, forcing her face up.

“I gave you everything," he said quietly. "Fame. Wealth. A name people actually recognize. But you broke the one rule that mattered. The moment you fell in love with me, Celeste, you became a liability”

He stood abruptly, shaking her hand off his leg as if she were a piece of trash.

My hand flew to my mouth. This can't be what I think it is…right?

Two men appeared out of nowhere. They grabbed Celeste and dragged her away as she screamed and pleaded.

She didn't look like the confident woman I saw on social media. But rather pitiful.

The man didn't watch her go. He simply pulled a cigarette from a silver case and lit it. The flame revealed a face that was devastatingly handsome and somehow familiar.

Where have I seen him before?

I fumbled for my phone, instinctively wanting to search his face, even though I didn't know his name.

"Come out, woman."

The sound of his voice froze me in place.

My hand trembled.

I looked up.

He wasn't staring at me, his gaze was fixed on the ground as he took another drag from his cigarette.

Did he see me?

"For the last time” he said, finally lifting his head. "Come here."

This time, his eyes locked onto mine.

There was no mistaking it. I had been caught.

I lowered my head and stepped out from behind the car but I didn't move any further.

"Closer" he ordered.

I swallowed hard and obeyed.

When I stopped, I was barely two inches away from him. The air between us felt suffocating.

Suddenly, he snatched my phone from my hand.

"Hey.." I reached for it instinctively.

One glare from him was enough to shut me up.

He scrolled through my phone slowly. I watched his face instead—his raised brow, the slight curve of his lips as a smirk appeared.

Did he think I'd been recording them?

"I didn't do anything wrong," I said quickly. " just..”

I stopped when he looked at me and handed the phone back.

"You heard it all,” he said. And it wasn’t a question. He took a long drag of his cigarette.

I nodded.

He leaned back against the car, studying me with the detached curiosity one might show a strange insect.

"So," he said nonchalantly, "what are you planning to do with what you know?"

I bit my lip so hard it stung. "Nothing," I whispered. Then, against every instinct screaming at me to stay quiet, I added shakily, "I'm interested."

His brow lifted. "Elaborate, woman."

My heart thundered as I stared at the ground. "I mean... you could invest in me. And I promise I won't fall in love with you."

The silence that followed felt suffocating.

Then he laughed. Not softly, not kindly either. Like I'd just told him the most ridiculous joke he'd ever heard.

He stepped closer and lifted my chin roughly, forcing me to look at him.

"Do you have any idea what you're saying?" he asked.

Of course I didn't. The words had spilled out before fear could stop them.

"And do you know what you'd have to do," he continued mockingly, "to make me invest in you?"

I said nothing.

He shoved my chin aside and blew smoke straight into my eyes.

"You're not qualified, woman," he said flatly.

Then he turned away. "Get lost. And don't ever appear in front of me again."

I nodded frantically, and ran.

What was I even thinking?

I climbed onto my scooter with shaking hands and sped into the night. My thoughts spiraling unaware that I had just crossed paths with the one man who would change everything.