Part One – Third Person POV
The day stretched on inside Liam's penthouse like a sentence without punctuation…..no beginning, no end, just a suffocating middle. The curtains were half-drawn, the skyline glowing gold from the setting sun, and still Alicia felt trapped. She should have been at the hospital with her mother. She should have been laughing with her brother, reassuring him. Instead, she was pacing in silk pajamas Liam had insisted she wear, her phone clutched in her hand as though it were both lifeline and shackle.
Her brother's voice replayed in her head. Telling her Sherrly and Selena are back to Manhattan. Her body shiver and her voice shaking, lost in her thought, until her brother's voice brought her back saying….. Your voice sound strange….Alicia. Why can't you just come? Why are you letting work cage you? He didn't understand…..how could he? He didn't know that it wasn't just "work." It was Liam Knight. The man who turned her blood molten with a single glance, the man who held her body and her choices with the same iron grip.
A notification buzzed on her screen. Hospital bills. The figure made her breath catch: $18,000 for immediate surgery and hospitalization, followed by $12,000 for recovery treatments. $30,000 in total. Her mother's condition…..an aggressive gallbladder infection that had spread…..was worsening. The doctors needed surgery done immediately. Without it, complications would eat away at her.
Alicia's fingers shook as she typed. She authorized a $10,000 partial transfer into the hospital account, draining her savings. Enough to start the treatment, not enough to silence the panic clawing inside her. She bit her lip until it bled, fighting the sting in her eyes.
She didn't notice Liam step into the room until his shadow spilled across the polished floor.
"You're restless," he observed, voice smooth as velvet but carrying that warning edge. "What are you doing with your phone again?"
Her heart leapt, but she forced calm. "Just… family updates."
Liam's eyes narrowed, dark and unreadable, before he crossed to her, plucked the phone gently from her hand, and set it on the side table as though it were contraband. His fingers lingered on her chin, tilting her face up. "You don't need to worry about anyone but me. Do you understand, Alicia?"
Her throat bobbed. "Yes" she has decided not to anger him or make him suspicious of her again.
But inside, she screamed no. Because she'd just gotten news that shattered her already fragile world….her stepmother and stepsister had returned to Manhattan. And her stepsister wasn't just any girl.
Selena.
The name alone brought bile to her mouth. Selena with her practiced smirk, her designer clothes, her talent for finding every weakness in Alicia and pressing until it hurt. The one who used to whisper venom into their father's ear until Alicia was shoved aside. Selena, who had a way of making every room orbit around her beauty and cruelty.
Now Selena was in Manhattan. And if she had already caught wind of her mother's ailment…..
Alicia's knees weakened. She whispered, almost to herself, "Not her. Not now."
Liam's brows arched, catching the crack in her mask. But he said nothing, only pressed his lips against her temple, a gesture too tender to match the chains beneath it. Then, like a predator satisfied for now, he retreated, leaving her both relieved and shaken.
(Part Two – Selena's POV)
The black car glided through Manhattan's avenues, the city neon splashing across tinted windows. Selena Hart! Yes she she'd change her name after some years they left manhattan. Apparently she wasn't Mr. Blakes biological daughter. She got to know the truth from her mother, that her father biological abandoned her when she was pregnant with her and Mr Blakes happens to fall in love with her and she want a father for her daughter, a complete family, so she got married to him and told him she is pregnant for him. So Selena adopt her mother's surname Hart. She crossed her legs, angling them so the hem of her designer skirt slid just enough to show flawless skin. She admired her reflection in the glass, every strand of hair in place, lips lacquered a sinful red, her phone lighting up with notifications from her latest influencer post.
"Back in Manhattan, darlings," she had written on Instagram an hour ago, accompanied by a sultry picture of her at the airport, champagne in hand. The post had already hit seventy-thousand likes. Comments flooded in: Queen is back. Show them how it's done. Manhattan isn't ready.
No, Manhattan wasn't ready. And neither was Alicia.
The thought curled Selena's mouth into a smile that wasn't kind. Alicia….her sweet, pathetic stepsister. Always the quiet one, the shadow, the girl too soft for this world. When they were younger, Selena had taken delight in stealing everything Alicia wanted….her friends, her clothes, even her father's attention. Why? Because it was easy. Because Alicia never fought back.
And now? Now, Selena had discovered something delicious.
A few whispers, a few well-placed calls, and the truth had surfaced: Alicia Blake was working at KnightCorp. KnightCorp. The empire of Liam Knight…..the most untouchable bachelor in Manhattan. Richer than the president, sharper than glass, desired by every woman with a pulse. Selena had followed him online for months, his appearances at galas, the shadowy articles that hinted at his ruthlessness. He was the kind of man she deserved. A man made of steel and fire, not the pitiful scraps Alicia was used to.
The idea that Alicia was in proximity to him….touching his world, serving as his secretary…..was intolerable. But also amusing. Because Selena knew her sister's weaknesses better than anyone. She knew Alicia wasn't built for men like Liam Knight. But Selena was.
Selena licked her painted lips, imagining the headlines already: Social media star Selena Hart sweeps billionaire Liam Knight off his feet.
She could picture it…..herself in his penthouse, draped across his bed, cameras flashing when they walked red carpets together. Alicia would have no choice but to watch. To know she'd lost again.
The car pulled up to a sleek high-rise. Selena slipped on her sunglasses though the night had fallen, stepping out into the Manhattan hum. Her heels clicked against marble as she strode into her new apartment….temporary, of course. This city wasn't her home yet. But soon, soon she'd be reigning queen.
As she unpacked, she drafted her next move. Tomorrow, she would walk straight into KnightCorp. Not as a fan, not as an influencer, but as a woman seeking employment. Secretary? Assistant? Whatever it took to get her foot in the door. She would charm them all, use her polished smile, her social influence, her body.
And when she stood before Liam Knight, she'd make sure he forgot every other woman…..including Alicia Blake. That's if he even thought of her.
Selena slipped into bed, pulling silk sheets over her body, her phone lighting up with another flood of likes.
"Sleep well, Alicia," she murmured, venom lacing the words. "Because your world is about to burn."