Cross the Line: Bitten by the Bad Boy

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I straddled Axel's lap, my knuckles turning white as I gripped the heavy fabric of his hoodie collar.

I didn't give him a single second to process before I smashed my mouth against his, pressing down with a bruising force that allowed zero room for resistance.

Killian, his untouchable billionaire of an uncle, was a fortress I couldn't crack. I had to pivot, and fast. This young nephew of his looked like much easier prey.

"Get engaged to me," I tested the waters, my breath still mingling with his.

"Not a chance." His jaw clenched so hard a muscle ticked beneath his skin. His large hands clamped around my wrists like iron cuffs, shoving me back just enough to sever the connection.

His chest heaved violently. "One second youre plotting to climb into my uncle's bed, and the next you're throwing yourself at me. What do you take me for? Some cheap substitute?"

I swallowed back a heavy sigh. Younger guys were such a nightmare to break in. No holding, no touching, no kissing. Just putting up steel walls and leaving me high and dry.

Chapter 1

At the gala, I sat in a dimly lit corner, staring at the most powerful man in the city for a solid half-hour. I watched the constant swarm around himWall Street-type executives clutching champagne flutes, and socialites in plunging haute couture gowns throwing themselves at him.

Impossible.

I slammed my empty wine glass onto the table, a sharp wave of irritation spiking through my chest. The plan was a total bust. I couldn't even get close enough to speak to him. My family actually expected me to hook this guy and use Killian's empire as our lifeline?

Dream on.

The second the glass hit the table, I felt a heavy gaze drilling into the side of my head. I snapped my head up.

A guy was sitting right next to me. A black hoodie swallowed the lower half of his face, and his messy hair fell forward, almost entirely shielding his eyes. In the shadows of the corner, those clear eyes stared at me like a stray cat in the dead of night.

"What are you looking at, kid?" I shot him a venomous glare.

He didn't say a word. Those pitch-black eyes swept over my face before he let out the faintest scoff. He looked back down, his thumb swiping across his phone screen, treating me like I was invisible.

"Didn't anyone teach you manners? I'm talking to you." I unloaded all my pent-up frustration from the night onto this random kid.

He finally dragged his eyes away from the screen, meeting my glare with absolute calm. "I'm not a kid." He paused, letting out a barely audible breath. "And you're drinking my wine."

What? I dropped my gaze to the table. Right next to me sat a full glass of red wine. Which meant the empty one I just slammed down was his?

"Sorry," the word slipped out automatically as the realization hit. But my pride refused to let some teenager make a joke out of me, so I immediately went on the offensive. "Did you drink from it? Why didn't you say something?"

He froze for a second, clearly stunned by my sheer audacity. He let out another silent sigh and stood up, ready to walk away.

"Relax. I don't have anything contagious." He bypassed my question and shot down my real paranoia.

That careless toss-off made my throat tighten. I awkwardly grabbed the full glass of wine, using it as a shield to cover my slip-up.

"Who are you? What's your name?" I called out, trying to stop him.

He didn't even break his stride. He just brushed past me and dropped a single name.

"Axel."

Later, I accidentally stumbled onto the truth. This Axel actually belonged to Killian's family. He was the nephew of the exact man my entire bloodline was begging me to marry.

When did they suddenly get a new eligible bachelor? I thought Killian was the only unmarried guy left in that whole dynasty. Who the hell was this kid?

[Word on the street is he's the illegitimate son they just dragged back into the fold,]

Piper explained over text.

[How old?]

I typed back.

[Just turned 18, I heard. Freshman in college.]

[Oh.]

I chewed on the inside of my cheek for a second before my fingers flew across the screen.

[Ask your brother what kids his age are into these days. Like, what kind of girls.]

[What are you trying to do?]

Piper replied, followed by a terrified emoji.

[Change 'what' to 'who',]

I hit send with a smirking devil emoji.

[No way. Are you being serious?]

"Illegitimate sons still get trust funds and inheritance rights. Besides, Killian is an absolute control freakan old fox I can't even sink my teeth into. Why shouldn't I pivot to an easier target?" I muttered, taking a sip of my wine. Facing that kind of ruthless, man-eating capitalist, I had to cut my losses.

Rather than chasing a guy who wouldn't even give me the time of day, I'd be much better off hunting a clueless young punk. These days, younger guys were so incredibly easy to manipulate.

That was exactly what I thought at the time.

Who knew that delusion would blow up in my face less than twenty-four hours later.

Chapter 2

When I tried adding Axel's socials and he left my requests pending dozens of times, I finally realized just how absurdly arrogant kids were these days. I tried a few more times the next day, firing off over a dozen verification messages. Still ignored.

By the third day, running on pure spite and half-asleep, I typed out one last request:

[If I try adding you again, I'll legally change my last name.]

Just to make my anger crystal clear.

The punchline? That night, he actually accepted it.

I was out grabbing drinks with Piper when the notification popped up. I smirked, tapped on his profile that had just landed in my friends list, and immediately hit 'Delete'.

"Why would you delete him?" Piper stared at me like I'd just lost my mind.

I took a massive gulp of my cocktail. "I don't eat expired food."

"You're a psycho," Piper muttered.

"Whatever. Word is Killian's staying in the city for a month. My mom gave me an ultimatumI have exactly four weeks to lock him down." The alcohol was starting to hit my bloodstream. As we made our way to the restroom, I let my head loll against Piper's shoulder, my voice dropping to a mumble.

"Your mom's ruthless."

"What else can I do? Our family's company is hanging by a thread, waiting for Killian's empire to inject some capital. If we drag this out any longer, we're officially filing for bankruptcy."

"You just need to leverage your looks. Bagging Killian should be a walk in the park. But no, you had to play hard to get and waste time on his nephew." Piper finished up in the stall and stood in front of the vanity mirror, touching up her lipstick.

I stepped out right after her, and we kept talking as we headed for the exit.

"Ugh you don't get it. His nephew just looked like such an easy mark, who knew"

The words died in my throat. I spotted someone leaning against the wall of the narrow hallway and instinctively turned sideways to avoid bumping into them.

Then I looked up.

My blood turned to ice.

Axel?!

He was wearing a black baseball cap pulled low over his eyes, a cigarette pinched between his fingers as he kept his head down, smoking. A group of guys around his age were clustered near him, dragging on their own cigarettes and laughing over something.

There was no way he heard what I just said. Right?

The second our eyes locked, the alcohol evaporated from my system. His gaze was crystal clear, yet dark enough to swallow a person whole. The only reason I recognized him in this chaotic, dimly lit club was because of those eyes.

"Why are we walking so fast?" Piper looked confused as I practically dragged her toward the exit.

"Don't speak." I squeezed her hand hard enough to make her wince.

We didn't stop until we hit the pavement outside the club. Only then did I finally let out the breath I'd been holding.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Did you see a ghost?" Piper asked.

"Axel" I hissed under my breath. "The guy smoking by the restroom. That was him."

It clicked for Piper instantly. "Wait, so when you just said he was an easy mark he heard that?"

"Exactly why I dragged you out of there." I rubbed my temples. How the hell did we run into him here?

"What are you going to do now?"

"Nothing. I'm going after his uncle. This route is officially a dead end." My chest felt tight, but the path forward had never been clearer.

It was time to drop the side quests. As a bankrupt heiress, I needed to embrace my reality and focus every ounce of my energy on clinging to the biggest lifeline.

"Axel, those two girls from earlier were hot," one of the guys muttered, leaning against the wall.

"Yeah, especially the one in the black slip dress. Spicy."

I didn't say a word. I kept the cigarette pinched between my fingers, taking a deep drag before exhaling a thick plume of smoke. Recalling the conversation I had just overheard in the hallway, I ground my back teeth together.

"Holy shit, isn't this that same girl?" One of the guys bent down and picked up a dropped keychain. Inside the clear plastic casing was a stylized photo of herlong flowing hair, looking impossibly innocent yet entirely too tempting.

Chapter 3

"Damn, she looks so innocent!"

The guys swarmed around him, fighting to get a look at the keychain.

Axel didn't care. He just threw a careless glance in their direction.

"Should we return it? The photo on the back looks like it might be her mom."

The keychain was double-sided.

Axel, who hadn't said a word the entire time, finally crushed his cigarette out. "Give it here," he said, his voice flat. "I'll give it back to her."

"You know her?"

"Axel, you sly dog"

The group instantly latched onto the gossip.

"Yeah. I have her contact info." He snatched the keychain from the guy's hand, pulled out his phone, pulled up her profile, and fired off a message.

[You dropped your keychain.]

The guys crowded around, watching him send it. The very next second, they all stared, dumbfounded.

A system prompt popped up:

[You are not her friend. Please send a friend request first!]

"Bro, you just got deleted!"

The hallway erupted in roaring laughter.

Axel froze for a fraction of a second. He wasn't embarrassed; he just recalled her wordshe looked like such an easy markand let out a silent, humorless laugh.

Adding him, then immediately deleting him. She sure had a lot of tricks up her sleeve.

He shoved the keychain into his pocket, ignoring the guys' relentless teasing.

I officially stopped wasting brain cells on the little nephew. He only crossed my mind as a passing thought when I was actively plotting my next move on Killian.

I'd remember those eyes hiding under that messy hair. A pair of eyes that were arrogant, yet suffocatingly lonely.

Was he even that young? Age-wise, sure but he definitely had the height.

"Sloane, did you hear a word I just said?" My mom's sharp voice dragged me back to reality.

I snapped to attention.

"I got it. Ask him out and get him a hotel room." She had repeated this a hundred times already.

"Don't make it sound so vulgar."

"Fine. Express my admiration politely and smoothly guide him to a hotel suite for a 'deep conversation'. Is that better?" My patience was wearing dangerously thin.

It wasn't that I hadn't braced myself for this. The Chu dynasty was a massive empire that dominated the entire region. Why would a man like that take one look at a bankrupt heiress like me and fall in love?

Love at first sight? What a joke.

I had always known my face was my best asset, and right now, leveraging my looks was the only way I was going to secure this connection.

If we were talking about genuine feelings, an elite bachelor like him weighed every single decision based on ROI. Romance wasn't exempt from the balance sheet.

Why else would he still be single at thirty-four? Simply put, he hadn't found a woman whose net worth justified marrying her. Businessmen were ruthless.

"Drop the attitude. Love is for children; marriage is about survival. As long as you have money in the bank, who cares what he does outside the house?"

"You weren't raised in some middle-class suburb. Going from luxury to poverty will break you. If you marry into their empire, you're upgrading from financial freedom to absolute life freedom."

My mom spoke with the weary gravity of someone who had seen it all. Honestly, she didn't need to preach. I had internalized that lesson years ago.

In our circle, marriages were mergers, alliances forged in boardrooms to consolidate corporate power. I had accepted my fate a long time ago.

"Mom, if you keep nagging me, he's going to finish eating before I even get there. Do you want me to play this part or not?" Annoyed, I picked up a compact mirror and quickly smoothed my hair.

"Alright, your uncle is waiting by the elevators. Go meet him; he actually has some business to discuss with Mr. Chu anyway." She practically shoved me out the door.

The desperation was real. I let out a heavy sigh, plastered on a flawless smile, and walked out.

It was a hyper-exclusive, traditional restaurant. The more elite the VIP room, the deeper it was hidden in the maze of corridors. I was practically dizzy by the time we reached the right door.

My uncle pushed it open and immediately unleashed a torrent of enthusiastic greetings to the men inside.

Chapter 4

The heavy doors sealed off the restaurant's noise perfectly, so I hadn't expected the dead-silent VIP room to be packed. Still, I didn't miss a beat. Pinning a flawless smile to my face, I followed my uncle inside.

My uncle instantly zeroed in on Killian, launching into a sycophantic string of greetings before finally dragging me into the spotlight.

"This is my niece, Sloane. She just got back from the States with a business degree. We'd love it if you could take her under your wing, Killian." He pushed me right to the front.

The man sitting at the head of the table wore an impeccably tailored custom suit, radiating a dangerous, suffocating aura of power that was impossible to ignore. He lazily lifted his eyelids, his sharp gaze dragging over me. He cocked an eyebrow, instantly seeing right through this pathetic little sales pitch.

His expression remained terrifyingly blank. "Sure," he tossed out carelessly.

"Then I thank you in advance," my uncle rushed to suck up, nudging me hard in the ribs with his elbow.

"Thank you. I look forward to learning from you," I said, keeping my smile glued in place as I held out my hand.

He didn't take it. He just let his gaze drop to my outstretched hand for a fraction of a second before looking away.

The silence in the room suddenly felt like a physical weight pressing down on my chest.

Absolute dead end.

"Mr. Lin, your niece is stunning. I bet she has a long line of guys chasing after her." The men at the table were all seasoned corporate sharks; diffusing this kind of tension was second nature to them. I seized the out, letting my hand fall smoothly back to my side.

"Not at all. She just got back and doesn't have a boyfriend yet. If you know any good matches, Mr. Wang, be sure to introduce them," my uncle laughed, though his eyes kept darting toward Killian.

But at the head of the table, the man didn't even blink.

The real kicker came a second later. The heavy door swung open again, and another middle-aged executive walked in, trailing a girl with an Instagram-model face right behind him. The horror of it was that it was the exact same playbook. The greasy greetings, followed by pushing the girl forward.

A high-end dinner had officially devolved into a meat market. Killian maintained his indifference, but his long fingers started to lazily spin the teacup in front of him. He gave noncommittal, one-word replies, and the air in the room grew thicker and more oppressive by the second.

I stood there like a clearance item on a discount shelf, waiting for a buyer. Worsean item that had just been picked up and immediately tossed back. My nails dug sharply into my palms as the heat of pure degradation crawled up the back of my neck.

Right then, a voice cut through the tension from the far corner of the room.

"Uncle Killian, didn't you say the salmon here was the best? Why isn't it out yet? I'm starving."

The entire room whipped their heads toward the sound. The young guy was slouched carelessly in his chair, wearing a white hoodie, his hair still rocking that messy, chaotic look. He tipped his head back and offered a small, harmless smile. It looked so innocent that even I almost bought the act that he was just hungry.

What the hell was he doing here?

Only then did it hit me. The second I walked into this room, my eyes had been locked onto Killian. I hadn't even noticed Axel sitting in the shadows.

Just as the thought crossed my mind, Axel shifted his dark gaze right to me. Our eyes locked for three agonizing seconds before I forcefully broke the connection, staring hard at the tablecloth. Getting caught red-handed by this kid throwing myself at his uncleright after I had been relentlessly trying to hit on himmade my stomach physically twist.

"Oh, my apologies, we're interrupting your meal! Please, enjoy. I'll come pay my respects another time." The executive with the Instagram clone took the hint immediately, bowing out and dragging her with him.

My uncle and I lost our only excuse to stand there. We backed out of the room right behind them.

Hitting another solid brick wall left a bitter, ashy taste in my mouth. I couldn't even tell if my jaw was clenched because my master plan had crashed and burned again, or because I had just given that kid front-row seats to my pathetic little show.

Walking back to our own table, I lost my appetite. I forced down a few bites just to keep up appearances and then went straight home.

The second I collapsed onto my couch, those pitch-black eyes staring at me from the corner of that room flashed through my head. I shot up off the cushions, my teeth grinding together.

Chapter 5

That was definitely a mockery! My blood boiled. I snatched up my phone, my thumbs flying across the screen as I sent Axel another friend request. There was no way I was letting some brat humiliate me. Naturally, it sat on pending.

I didn't wake up until 4:00 PM. A new notification glared at me from the lock screenhe had actually accepted it.

[?]

I immediately fired off a single question mark.

It took him over fifteen agonizing minutes to reply. I could almost picture him staring at his screen, thinking I was bipolar for adding him, deleting him, and adding him again. Whatever.

[You dropped your keychain. I have it.]

I shot off the couch the second the message came through. I dug frantically through my purse. It was actually gone. When did that even happen? The keychain itself was worthless, but my mom had practically forced me to carry it around.

[Why didn't you tell me earlier? Where are you? I'll come get it.]

I typed back, my fingers hitting the screen a little too hard. The memory of him laughing at me made my tone come out sharper than intended.

Another long pause. He was probably on the other end rolling his eyes, disgusted by how arrogant and gold-digging I was acting. He clearly had zero interest in getting tangled up with a walking red flag like me. He just wanted to get rid of the thing and cut ties.

[I'm at the AK Golf Club. I can't leave, but you can come pick it up. I'll leave it at the front desk.]

I scoffed at the screen. He definitely locked his phone right after hitting send, ghosting me. Younger guys were seriously that full of themselves?

Normally, I wouldn't have bothered running an errand for something so trivial. But then a thought hit me like a physical joltKillian might be there too. I shoved myself off the couch and sprinted to my closet. This was a golden opportunity I couldn't afford to waste.

By the time I pulled up to the club, the sun was already starting to set. I shot Axel another text. Left on read.

I marched right up to the front desk. And just like he promised, the receptionist handed over my keychain. But there was absolutely no sign of Axel. Or Killian.

My chest tightened. I had chased a ghost and come up empty-handed. All the adrenaline drained out of my system. I dragged my feet over to the elevator banks, zoned out.

The doors slid open, and I just kept my head down, stepping straight inside.

Until I slammed into a wall of solid tension. I snapped my head up. The elevator was packed with men.

"Ms. Lin. What a coincidence." A middle-aged man's voice echoed in the confined space.

My gaze darted up, and my breath physically caught in my throat. Killian.

Of course, the greeting hadn't come from him. It was the same executive who had brought the Instagram model to the VIP room at lunch. This sudden, suffocating ambush wiped my brain clean.

"Yeah. What a coincidence." I forced the words out past the sandpaper in my throat. The silence stretched, turning unbearable. "I just had some business to take care of here."

The second the lie left my mouth, it sounded like a desperate, glaring confession. A hot, humiliating flush rapidly crawled up my neck. My fingers strangled the leather strap of my purse.

"Truly a coincidence. Are you here alone, Ms. Lin?" the executive pushed, flashing a smile that reeked of unwanted interest.

His probing only cranked up the suffocating pressure in the air. Especially since Killian hadn't uttered a single syllable. He just stood there, exuding that terrifying, untouchable alpha aura.

"Yes. Just picking something up. I'm leaving now." I kept my eyes pinned to the metallic doors. It was technically the truth, but we all knew why I was really at an elite golf club on a Tuesday evening. I had come to hunt Killian, but getting cornered in an elevator was not the power play I had in mind.

The conversation flatlined. The heavy silence in the elevator box swallowed us whole, thick with unspoken judgment. Thank God, the metallic ping shattered the tension a few seconds later. The doors slid open, and the men filed out.

I practically glued myself to the back wall, letting them exit first. I deliberately dragged my pace to a crawl so I wouldn't have to walk out with them.

I barely turned the corner into the lobby when the executive's voice drifted back to me, sharp and crystal clear.

"Looks like the Lin family heiress really has her sights set on you, Killian. Chased you all the way here."

Chapter 6

Killian didn't say a single word. The faintest smirk touched his lips before he turned. The group of men walked off, their laughter echoing down the hall. I stood frozen in the lobby, staring at their retreating backs.

God, he was impossible to trap.

"Did you get your things?" A low, chilling voice suddenly cut through the air right behind me.

I whipped my head around. Axel's sharp jawline came into view. He stood there slouching, his posture radiating absolute indifference.

This kid? Why the hell was he literally everywhere? And always perfectly timed to catch me at my lowest. My teeth ground together.

"I got it," I snapped, turning on my heel. But after two strides, I abruptly spun back around and fell into step right beside him. "Did you hear what they just said about me?"

His dark eyes flickered, clearly caught off guard that I was actually confronting him. He let out a single, flat syllable. "Yeah."

That blunt answer felt like a slap. Ever heard of a white lie? He really had zero filter. Since when did Gen Z brats get to act this cocky?

"You think the same thing, don't you?" I pushed, fully aware I was being unreasonable right now.

He fell silent. His throat bobbed as if he had swallowed a heavy breath. A muscle ticked in his jaw. For a split second, he looked like he was actually hesitating, bracing himself for me to snap.

"Killian probably has a decent impression of you," he finally muttered, forcefully swerving the conversation into a totally different lane.

What? The sharp tension in my shoulders instantly dropped. I tilted my head up, narrowing my eyes at him, waiting for the punchline.

He dropped his gaze. Those pitch-black eyes dragged across my face for a heartbeat before snapping away just as fast. "After all, guys prefer the all-natural look," he mumbled.

All-natural? Was that actually a compliment? Not going to lie, it worked. For a split second, it completely scrubbed away the humiliating sting of getting shot down all damn day.

"What about you?" I took a deliberate step closer. The sudden urge to mess with him, to just win something back, flared up. "Do you like the all-natural look too?"

I let my gaze drag up and down his frame with zero shame. He was talleasily six-foot-two. Standing this close at my five-foot-five, craning my neck up was actually starting to ache, so I let my eyes settle right on his mouth.

His lips were thin, but carried a sharp, natural flush. Maybe it was just his pale skin making the contrast that stark. He always buried himself in these heavy hoodies, hiding as much of his face as humanly possible. His hair fell longer than most guys his age.

It was messy, chaotic even, but honestly? It just added to this raw, untouchable vibe he had going on. He literally radiated the energy of a feral, stray catarrogant and totally unapproachable.

Axel stopped dead in his tracks. He didn't even flinch, meeting my stare head-on. A flicker of dark confusion swept through his eyes.

"No," he deadpanned. His voice was freezing cold.

Ouch. That blunt rejection actually stung a little. But there was no way in hell I was letting him see that.

I suddenly flashed him a highly provocative smirk. I closed the distance, stepping right into his danger zone.

Rising on my tiptoes, I ruthlessly shoved my fingers right into his messy dark hair, messing it up even more. "That's fine. I'm actually pretty interested in that pretty face of yours anyway."

I laid the condescension on thick, treating him like a helpless toy. Right after I spoke, my fingers slid down to pinch his cheek hard. I watched his entire expression instantly turn to stone.

"Let me give you a little free advice," I whispered. "All this hair is hiding your gorgeous face. You should go get a buzz cut. A buzz cut would look so good on you."

Watching his eyes darken with absolute murderous irritation, a massive rush of twisted satisfaction shot straight through my veins.

Chapter 7

I didn't push my luck any further. I spun around and walked away, casually waving my phone over my shoulder to signal that he should text me. I left Axel frozen in his tracks.

Glancing back just before I rounded the corner, I caught him slowly raising a hand to touch the exact spot on his cheek I had just pinched. He leaned his shoulder against the wall, pulling out a cigarette with a harsh scowl. He took a few heavy drags, looking thoroughly irritated by the entire situation, before crushing the cigarette out and tossing it into a nearby trash can.

For a long time after that, Axel vanished from my radar.

Killian, on the other hand, I saw almost every single dayall thanks to my relentless, highly calculated "accidental" run-ins. I went from being a total nobody to a permanent fixture in his orbit. Soon enough, everyone in Killian's circle knew exactly who Sloane was. I had officially clawed my way onto the shortlist of women actively hunting him down.

But Killian was a master manipulator. He never let a single emotion slip past his pristine armor, so absolutely no one knew where I stood with him. Whenever I forced my way into his car or crashed his dinners, he never flat-out rejected meas long as he wasn't busy.

Yet, his absolute refusal to give me a straight answer was rapidly draining the life out of me. Kissing up to a brick wall for an entire month was a brutal, soul-crushing grind. If my mom hadn't threatened to cut off my credit cards, I would have flipped a table and walked away weeks ago.

"Why are you still in bed? Aren't you going to see Killian today?" My mom's voice pierced through my bedroom door like a power drill.

"Mom, even an Amazon driver gets a day off," I groaned, staring blankly at the ceiling. "Thirty days. Zero breaks. Twenty-four seven, throwing myself at a guy giving me nothing. Can I please get a single day of PTO?"

"Killian is definitely warming up to you. If you don't push your advantage right now, some other girl is going to steal your spot."

Treating this romance like an active war zoneconstantly attacking, constantly defending my territorywas exhausting. I was burnt out.

"I'm not going. You could hold a gun to my head and I wouldn't move. I'm on my period and I'm playing dead today."

Seeing me deflated and sinking into my mattress, my mom finally backed off and left me alone.

I ended up sleeping straight through to the evening. When I finally dragged myself up and checked my phone, I had dozens of unread texts from Piper.

The most glaring one was a screenshot of another heiress's Instagram story. It was a selfie of this girl pressed up intimately against Killian, tagged with a sickeningly sweet caption:

[Killian is so amazing at cutting my steak for me.]

The reality of the situation hit me like a bucket of ice water.

When exactly did he hook up with her? If he was already sleeping with someone else, why didn't he just cut me loose? He actually sat back and watched me play the desperate clown for a month just for his own twisted entertainment.

I sat dead still on my mattress for a full thirty minutes. The humiliation burned through my veins, hardening into pure, razor-sharp spite. My fingers clamped around my phone.

[What are you doing?]

I hit send. The target: Axel.

Naturally, he ghosted me. Whether he didn't see it or was just deliberately ignoring me, the screen stayed dead.

[Where are you? I need to see you.]

I fired off another text.

Still nothing. The anger simmering in my chest spiked dangerously high. I was entirely out of patience. I hit the call button.

This time, the response was lightning fast. Less than ten seconds in, the call was instantly declined.

Arrogant little punk.

I wasn't backing down. I hit redial. Again. And again. On the fifth try, the line finally clicked open.

"Why the hell are you declining my calls, kid?" I snapped.

Dead silence on the other end. Then, a hesitant voice spoke up.

"Are are you looking for Axel? He ran out to buy me some medicine. He left his phone here."

It was a woman's voice. An older, middle-aged woman.

Chapter 8

I froze, thrown off guard. Realizing how rude I must have sounded, I quickly smoothed out my tone and switched to a polite, formal register. "Hello. I just needed to discuss something with him. I can try calling back later."

"Is it an emergency? He might not be back for a while. He had to run all the way to the county hospital, and there aren't any buses running back this late. He probably won't return until tomorrow morning."

Is it an emergency? Running on pure adrenaline and spite, it certainly felt like one.

I had absolutely no idea what kind of situation he was in, but without even thinking, the question tumbled out of my mouth. "Which county?"

"Shelby County." The woman on the other end was incredibly forthcoming. In a matter of seconds, she eagerly rattled off the exact hospital he went to and the most likely motel he would crash at. She probably assumed I was some incredibly caring friend.

I ended the call, staring blankly at the screen for a few seconds. The silence in my room was suffocating. Then, my jaw tightened. I marched to my closet, changed into something decent, snatched up my car keys, and slammed the door shut behind me.

Two hours into the four-hour drive, the adrenaline finally crashed. My rational brain kicked in, screaming that I had officially lost my mind. It was the middle of the damn night, and here I was, having a total meltdown, driving to some remote ghost town just to hunt down a teenage boy.

But I was already halfway there. Turning back now meant driving another two hours in the pitch black. I smacked my forehead hard against the steering wheel, swallowed my pride, and kept my foot on the gas.

It was 1:00 AM by the time I pulled into the deserted town. Finding the single run-down motel the woman mentioned took zero effort.

The front desk clerk was shockingly helpful, leading me straight down the dim hallway to his room.

When the door swung open, Axel looked disoriented. He was wearing an oversized t-shirt, rubbing his eyes, his dark hair a chaotic, tangled mess.

"What are you" The sleep vanished from his eyes, replaced by pure shock.

"Can I come in first?" I forced a stiff smile.

He stared at me like I was a hallucination. His throat bobbed, and after a tense second, he stepped aside, letting me in before hesitantly clicking the lock shut.

The room was suffocatingly dark, illuminated only by the sickly yellow glow of a single bedside lamp.

I tossed my car keys onto the battered wooden desk, kicked off my stilettos, and walked straight over to the edge of the narrow bed. I dropped down heavily onto the mattress, tilting my head back to stare directly at his thin sleepwear.

"I tried calling your phone. A woman answered and told me you were here."

"I just drove four hours straight in the dead of night, and I am running on fumes."

"I actually came out here to talk to you about something important, but I don't have the energy to form sentences right now. I am physically shutting down. Do you mind if I save the explanation for tomorrow? I need to sleep right now."

Axel planted his hands on his hips, his knuckles digging into his sides as he rubbed his temples in sheer disbelief. Finally, he let out a harsh breath and threw a hand out toward the bed in a silent be my guest gesture.

The second I got the green light, I shed my blazer, crawled right under the cheap synthetic comforter, and closed my eyes. My body was dead, and I blacked out.

Axel stood still in the center of the cramped room, his gaze burning holes into my back. A long, heavy sigh finally tore from his throat. He walked over, picked up my discarded stilettos, and lined them up neatly by the door. He placed a pair of cheap paper slippers near the edge of the bed, grabbed my blazer off the chair, and hung it carefully on the rack. He even filled a plastic cup with water and set it on the nightstand.

Once the adrenaline finally left his own system, exhaustion hit. He grabbed a spare blanket and curled his tall frame onto the ridiculously small, lumpy armchair in the corner.

When the morning light finally hit my eyelids, my brain rebooted. I stared at the peeling wallpaper, the sheer impulsivity of last night's stunt crashing down on me.

I splashed some cold water on my face in the rusted sink and walked out to find him still asleep on the armchair. His long legs dangled awkwardly off the edge. His brows were pulled into a tight scowl as he shifted uncomfortably, trying to find a position that didn't cramp his spine.

The harsh morning sunlight cut through the dusty blinds, washing directly over his face, instantly softening the razor-sharp angles of his jawline. I walked closer, totally captivated by how defenseless he looked.

I had to admit, seeing him like thisstripped of that untouchable, feral armorwas doing serious damage to my defenses.

A sudden, reckless urge to kiss him spiked in my chest. And before my brain could stop me, I leaned down.

Axel shifted, instantly sensing something pressing against his mouth. His dark eyes snapped open just as I abruptly pulled back.

My face was inches from his. Getting caught practically suffocating him in his sleep was the definition of mortifying.

Chapter 9

I swiped my tongue over my lower lip, my brain scrambling for a way to defuse the suffocating awkwardness. But looking at his facestill heavy with sleep, unguarded and unfairly gorgeousa reckless impulse hijacked my system. I leaned in and smashed my lips against his again.

This time, he jerked his head to the side. My lips brushed against his burning jawline, leaving a damp trace on his skin. I didn't back off. I leaned in closer, letting my hot breath ghost directly over his ear as my fingers smoothly slid into the messy dark strands of his hair.

"Get engaged to me," I murmured, the words dropping like a bomb into the heavy silence. "That's why I drove out here in the middle of the night."

He whipped his head back to look at me. His dark eyes widened, staring at me like I had just lost my mind. The muscles in his jaw locked tight.

"Not a chance," he shot back, his voice rough and brutally flat.

"You don't like me?" I let out a low laugh, completely brushing off his iron-clad rejection.

"I don't" Before the rest of the sentence could leave his mouth, I sealed my lips over his, shutting him up. This time, I didn't leave him a single inch to escape. I pressed in, locking him down with absolute intent.

I felt the immediate shock ripple through his tall frame. His muscles locked up rigid as stone, but his hands stayed pinned to his sides. He didn't shove me away. Second by second, the fight started to drain out of his tense posture, letting me take absolute control.

I pulled back just a fraction to drag in a ragged breath. A smirk played on my lips. "Your heart is beating out of your chest. And you still want to say you don't like me?"

I could literally feel the heavy, erratic thud of his heartbeat hammering against my own chest. His dark eyes were blown wide, hazy and unfocused. "What exactly is your game here?" he rasped, his voice thick and hoarse.

"You don't like me?" I curled my lips into a smirk. My hands slid around to his long neck, the pads of my fingers gently stroking the sensitive skin right at his nape. "Then starting right now, get used to my taste." I leaned in, crushing my mouth against his with deliberate, intoxicating force.

I didn't pull back until his breathing turned ragged and heavy. The rigid tension in his shoulders collapsed, surrendering to the pull. I finally withdrew just a few inches. In the dim light of the motel room, our eyes locked, deeply tangled together. Axel was panting hard, his chest heaving, and a dark, feverish flush crept up his pale neck, painting his ears a burning, blood-red hue.

"Is there anywhere good to eat around here? I'm starving," I asked, deliberately shattering the heavy, charged silence.

Axel didn't say a word. His dark, dangerous gaze stayed glued to my face.

"Aren't you hungry?" I reached up, carelessly running my fingers through his dark hair that I had already messed up beyond repair.

Before I could even finish the motion, a large, calloused hand clamped around my wrist like a vice.

"I don't have what you're looking for," he stated flatly, his voice dropping an octave. His eyes were cold, stripping away all the heat from seconds ago. I knew exactly what he was implying. He thought I was just using him as a backdoor to hack my way into the Chu dynastyjust like the rest of the gold diggers swarming his uncle for power and status.

He forcefully shoved himself upright, putting a wall of freezing distance between us. A cynical, self-deprecating smirk twisted the corner of his mouth. "You've definitely run a background check on me. I have nothing to do with that family empire. I'm just the bastard son the old man dragged in off the street. My own biological father won't even acknowledge my existence, let alone the rest of those vultures."

He stood up, shaking off my grip. With that signature, careless slouch of his, he grabbed a change of clothes and headed straight for the cramped bathroom.

I flipped my hair over my shoulder and let out an easy, careless laugh. I followed him, casually leaning my shoulder against the chipped doorframe of the bathroom.

"So superficial. Can't I just want you for your body instead of your bank account?" I teased, letting the words roll off my tongue smoothly.

Honestly, I hadn't felt any deep emotional spark for him before, but his face was an absolute ten out of ten. Plus, kissing him just now? The physical chemistry was explosive. It had been a long time since I felt a rush like that. So what if my motives weren't totally pure? If I had to chain myself to someone from the Chu dynasty to save my family, why not pick the one who actually made my blood run hot? Why the hell should I keep throwing myself at Killian's freezing brick wall? My patience for that old fox had totally flatlined.

"Besides," I added, keeping my tone brutally pragmatic. "It doesn't matter if the rest of them accept you or not. You carry their blood. Legally, you are part of the dynasty. The old man brought you into the fold. Do you really think you're walking away without a massive slice of the pie?"

Chapter 10

I didn't know why, but I was absolutely certain he felt something for me. If he didn't, he would have shoved me off the second my lips touched his. The sheer difference in physical strength between us was massive; he could have easily overpowered me.

"You don't get it." He didn't even bother explaining, just letting out a dark, self-deprecating laugh. "If I'm really as great as you claim, why the hell would I settle for you? I'm not into older women, especially not players. Besides, five seconds ago you were throwing yourself at my uncle. If we're going by the family tree, I should be calling you Auntie."

His razor-sharp tongue completely caught me off guard. I actually thought he was this innocent, obedient kidan easy mark. That brutal comeback hit me right in the jaw.

"You didn't push me away just now. Are you going to deny that?" I challenged with a smirk, even though a sudden spike of anxiety was clawing at my throat.

He snapped his head up, his dark eyes locking onto mine. "I'll admit, it felt decent. But if a woman literally throws herself at me and I freeze up, that just makes me a buzzkill, doesn't it?"

He flashed a cynical smirk and started brushing his teeth, deliberately scrubbing for an obnoxious amount of time. A blatant, physical display of trying to wash my taste out of his mouth.

Since when was this kid so damn vicious?

My nails dug viciously into my palms. I forced down the heavy, rapid heaving of my chest, fighting like hell to maintain that careless, easy smirk on my lips.

"Don't be so quick to shoot down my offer. Get engaged to me. An alliance with the Lin family guarantees you a solid seat at the Chu dynasty's table. I know the rulesyou only get your hands on the shares once you're married. Putting a ring on my finger gets you paid."

"You're eighteen. We get engaged, you secure the equity, and in four years when you hit the legal marrying age, we part ways. Clean break. Zero strings attached. See? You lock down your empire without even walking down the aisle. It's a win-win."

"Think it over and give me an answer. By the way, I drove here. I can give you a ride back. That woman on the phone mentioned getting a car out here is a nightmare." I didn't back down, laying out the raw logic step by step. Watching his jaw tighten into stone gave me a rush of satisfaction. I had finally clawed back the upper hand.

"No need," he ground out through clenched teeth.

"Suit yourself." I wasn't about to stick around and give him another chance to shred my ego. Before he could fire back, I grabbed my blazer off the chair. "I'm heading out. Text me."

I spun on my heel and walked straight out the door.

Axel's POV

"Axel, a woman called for you last night. Did she find you?" My mom rushed over the second I stepped through the front door.

I froze for a split second before her words fully registered. "Yeah. She found me." I dropped the plastic pharmacy bag on her nightstand, grabbed a mug, and poured her some hot water before handing it over.

"Your girlfriend?" she asked, her voice laced with tentative hope.

My head snapped up. A sharp spike of guilt hit my chest, but I quickly forced a casual laugh to cover it up. "What girlfriend? She's just an older friend."

"Not a girlfriend? She sounded so panicked on the phone. Did something happen?"

Did something happen? The instant memory of her lips forcefully crashing against mine this morning flashed through my brain, making my blood run hot with heavy, suffocating irritation.

"Nothing happened," I muttered, my voice completely distracted as I violently shut down the topic.

My mom took the pills from my hand, her tired eyes thoroughly searching my face. "Axel, you're eighteen now. I used to tell you no girls because I didn't want you distracted from your studies. But now if there's a girl you actually like, you should go after her. With this sickness, I don't know how many days I have left. If I have to go, knowing you have someone by your side would let me rest in peace."

"Mom don't don't talk like that," I choked out, my hand reaching out to gently cover her mouth. The back of my throat burned like battery acid, and my vision blurred as my eyes flushed red.

Chapter 11

I grew up with just my mom. I never knew who my father was. It wasn't easy for a single woman to raise a kid alone, and without a father figure, my rebellious phase was brutal. I constantly fought with her, purely out of spite because she always reminded me I didn't have a dad. I was young, stupid, and broke her heart more times than I could count. By the time I finally graduated high school and got into college, my brain had matured just enough to understand her strugglesright when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

She had been the sole provider for our family, and we were already struggling. Now, the medical bills were an impossible mountain. My grandmother couldn't bear watching us drown anymore, so she finally told me the truth.

For the first time in my eighteen years of life, I made a decision entirely on my own. I walked straight into the Chu dynasty's empire and revealed my identity. The Chu family practically owned the city. The scandal of the billionaire's illegitimate son blew up overnight, plastering my face across every media outlet and earning me endless, freezing glares from the elites.

But none of that mattered. The internet trolls were absolutely rightI was only there for the money. My mom's treatments required cash, and I would bleed myself dry to get it. The idea that I could actually hold any real power or status within that dynasty? What an absolute joke.

Thinking about that older girl who was actually trying to use me as a stepping stone to climb the social ladder, a cynical, humorless laugh escaped my throat.

Sloane's POV

Driving back into the city, the neon lights bleeding through the windshield made everything feel like a lifetime ago. After spending a solid month ruthlessly hunting Killian down, dropping it and pivoting to a new target actually felt like a massive weight lifting off my chest.

I was never the type to desperately cling to someone anyway. Chasing a one-sided connection like that even if it somehow ended in a diamond ring, the sheer suffocation of it made my stomach twist. That Instagram model could have that golden prize all to herself. I pulled out my phone, found Killian's profile, and hit delete.

But that peaceful silence didn't even last a full week. Killian's sudden, unannounced arrival sent the dead Lin Corporation into an absolute frenzy.

When he walked in, I was hiding out in the Sales Manager's office, binge-watching a soap opera. I had my legs crossed and propped up on the desk, carelessly chewing a piece of gum and sipping an iced latte, completely lacking any professional posture. It wasn't my fault. After the financial crisis hit, our company was nothing more than a hollowed-out shell. We hadn't landed a single contract, making my title as Sales Manager a total joke. Honestly, the entire staff was just sitting around waiting for the executioner. The company was bleeding out, but there was still administrative red tape to clear, so we all had to show up. Or maybe, just like my mom, some people were still desperately praying the Chu dynasty would suddenly inject a massive dose of capital into our dying veins.

The second the heavy door swung open, I was carelessly chewing my gum, letting my gaze sweep over lazily. But the instant my eyes registered the man standing in the doorway, the blood in my veins practically froze solid, and my spine locked up.

I watched him step into the room and immediately halt right at the threshold.

What the hell was happening? I shot a frantic, questioning look at the receptionist standing right behind him. She just gave me this terrified, helpless expression that explained nothing.

Keep it together, I ordered myself.

First, I carefully lowered my legs from the desk, moving as smoothly as humanly possible to salvage some shred of dignity. Then, I swept my trash straight into the bin. Finally, I grabbed a tissue, dabbed at the corner of my mouth, and plastered on a flawless, hyper-professional smile.

I walked toward him with calculated grace, stopping exactly three feet away. I extended my hand. "Hello, Mr. Chu. I'm Sloane, the Sales Manager. How can I"

"You have five minutes. I'll be waiting in the reception room." Killian didn't even glance at my outstretched hand, slicing right through my sentence with absolute freezing authority.

Chapter 12

He looked exactly the same as always, but he radiated an incredibly suffocating, low-pressure aura.

"Alright, Liu. Escort Mr. Chu to the reception room. I'll be right there," I instructed our assistant. I didn't let out the heavy breath I was holding until his broad back disappeared out the door.

Of course, I wasn't actually relaxed. I had absolutely no idea why he was here, and the sheer lack of preparation was making my heart race. Rule number one of going into battle: touch up your makeup.

I practically scrambled for my compact, aggressively dabbing powder over my face. God, ever since I completely dropped the master plan to seduce him, I had gotten so lazy I started showing up to the office bare-faced. With an ambush like this, there was zero time for a flawless contour. But then it hit meI wasn't even hunting him anymore. Why the hell was I panicking over makeup? I tossed the compact back onto the desk, threw my hair into a messy bun, and marched straight to the reception room.

He was actually here to negotiate an acquisition buyout!

The second the words registered, I instantly regretted ditching the makeup. The Lin Corporation had been begging for a buyout from his empire for months, but the idea was so delusional I had abandoned it. For him to suddenly drop this out of nowhere? It was the corporate equivalent of hitting the multi-million dollar lottery.

So there I was, sitting frozen in the conference room with zero makeup on. Our Head of Planning was currently pitching a wildly exaggerated vision of the company's future to Killian, blowing hot air like his life depended on it. Since Killian sat down, he and I hadn't exchanged a single syllable. This entire buyout had zero buildup, and the pitch deck our team was aggressively presenting was cobbled together from a year-old template. The sheer absurdity of it all left my head spinning.

"Are you dissatisfied?" The man who had been sitting in absolute, chilling silence suddenly spoke, his dark, penetrating gaze locking directly onto me.

The instant his voice cut through the room, the entire pitch ground to a halt. The silence was dead and suffocating.

"No." I snapped out of my daze. My brain raced, frantically trying to figure out if I had unknowingly triggered this. Why the hell did Killian suddenly show up here, slamming a buyout deal on the table?

"If you're dissatisfied, you can voice your objections." Killian didn't break eye contact. His jaw tightened slightly, a flicker of irritation crossing his face as he took in my blank expression. "We're done for today. You can discuss the details with my Head of Investment."

He was blatantly cutting the meeting short. Nobody in the room had a clue what was going on, but they were all seasoned enough to immediately exchange business cards and scramble to schedule follow-ups. The executives quickly packed up their briefcases and filed out. I closed my laptop, hesitating for a fraction of a second before walking right up to him.

"Do you have any other appointments, Mr. Chu? I can walk you out."

Killian looked up, his dark eyes studying my face for a long, heavy moment. Whatever he was calculating behind those eyes, I couldn't read it. He let out a low, rough breath. "Let's eat." He flicked his gaze to the heavy mechanical watch on his wrist.

The implication hit me instantly. He wanted me to host him for a meal. Given the circumstances, entertaining him was standard corporate protocol, but I had totally expected him to just walk out. I definitely hadn't anticipated him sticking around for lunch.

"What are you in the mood for? I'll have Liu make a reservation," I asked, pinning a polite smile to my face.

"You book it."

Those three words made his intention crystal clear. He wanted to eat with me. Just the two of us. I was thrown off balance, but I pulled out my phone and quickly secured a table at a high-end steakhouse nearby.

We stepped into the elevator together. The ride down was dead silent. Killian was already incredibly tall, but in this confined, metallic box, his overwhelming, dominant aura practically sucked all the oxygen out of the air. He stood with his hands shoved into his tailored trousers, his gaze dropping down to stare directly at me with a heavy, top-tier predatory focus. The sheer intensity of it made my skin prickle. I tilted my head up, meeting his eyes head-on.

He didn't even flinch.

Chapter 13

"Is there something on my face, Mr. Chu?" I asked, forcing a dry, tight smile as the elevator descended.

"The bare face suits you."

I couldn't tell if that was a genuine compliment or a brutal jab at my lack of effort. Knowing him, it was definitely the latter. A sharp spike of irritation flared in my chest.

"Are you seriously looking to buy out our company?" I couldn't hold the question back anymore, cutting straight to the chase to voice my absolute confusion.

"What?" He let out a low, dark chuckle. "Did a winning lottery ticket fall from the sky and knock you out? You don't want it?"

I stared at him, thrown off. This man permanently wore a lethal, untouchable scowl, treating everyone like a peasant who dared to breathe his air. And now he was actually making a joke? Did the sun just rise in the west? The sheer shock of it literally robbed me of my words. I quickly snapped my gaze away, staring hard at the metallic elevator doors.

"I just don't know if it's a winning ticket or a lethal trap" A cold sweat broke out across my shoulder blades. The more my brain spun, the more convinced I was that it was a trap. A guy who just let another woman claim territory over him on social media suddenly making aggressive, misleading moves? This was the exact definition of walking into a slaughterhouse.

"Heh." He let out another breathy laugh. "Even if it is a trap, there's a mile-long line of people begging to jump in. Are you telling me you're passing on the offer?"

I ground my back teeth together so hard my jaw ached. How the hell did this bastard dare to rip the curtain back on this ruthless, man-eating capitalist reality and shove it right in my face?!

He was absolutely right. What company in this city wouldn't kill for a scrap from the Chu dynasty? So even if this was a bottomless abyss, I had to jump, otherwise the rest of the corporate sharks would rip my family's remaining assets to shreds. The Chu empire was so massive they practically blacked out the sun. For a crumbling, bankrupt shell of a company like mine, Killian held all the cards. I had absolutely zero leverage to negotiate.

The entire lunch was a grueling, tasteless ordeal. Sitting across from him was exactly what I expectedsuffocating.

"Was eating with me really that much of an agonizing chore?" he suddenly threw the question at me as we were walking out of the restaurant