LOGAN'S POV
I hate these parties.
Everyone here is fake—fake smiles, fake laughs, fake interest in whatever garbage they're selling. But Marcus insisted I come to this one. "Networking," he said. "The Chen family will be here. You need to see them before we finalize the acquisition."
So here I am, nursing a whiskey and counting the minutes until I can leave.
That's when I see her fall.
A young woman in a black dress stumbles near the bar. People laugh and step back like she's contagious. My chest tightens with an old, familiar anger.
I've seen this before.
Three years ago, my college friend Sophie went to a party like this. Someone drugged her drink. No one helped. They just watched and laughed while she collapsed. By the time someone called for help, it was too late.
I swore I'd never let that happen again. Not if I could stop it.
I push through the crowd as the woman falls forward. I catch her before she hits the marble floor. She's light in my arms, her skin burning hot. Drugged. Definitely drugged.
"Hey, are you okay?" I ask, already knowing the answer.
Her eyes try to focus on my face but can't. They're blue—ice blue—and filled with terror. "Help me," she whispers. "Please. Something's wrong."
"I've got you," I tell her, lifting her into my arms properly. "Let's get you somewhere safe."
As I carry her toward the elevators, I scan the crowd for whoever she came with. Someone should be looking for her. Worried about her.
Instead, I see a woman in red watching us from across the room. She's beautiful in a calculated way, and when our eyes meet, she smiles. Not a worried smile. A satisfied one.
Then she turns and walks away.
My blood runs cold. Whoever that woman is, she's connected to this. No one smiles like that unless they planned something.
"Your sister," the girl in my arms mumbles. "Need to find Maya..."
Maya. I file the name away. The woman in red must be Maya.
"Your sister did this to you," I tell her, because she needs to know. "I saw her watching when you collapsed. She smiled, then walked away."
The girl makes a small, broken sound. It's the sound of someone's heart breaking in real time.
I carry her into the elevator and hit the button for my floor. My penthouse suite is the safest place I can think of. Private. Secure. Away from whoever drugged her.
"Who are you?" she asks weakly.
Good question. Do I tell her I'm Logan Pierce, CEO of the company that's about to buy her family's business? That feels like too much information for someone who can barely stay conscious.
"Someone who's seen this happen before," I say instead. It's the truth. "I lost a friend to a drugged drink at a party like this. She didn't have anyone to help her."
Sophie's face flashes in my mind. Too late. I was always too late for Sophie.
"You're not going to be another statistic," I tell the girl firmly.
She relaxes slightly in my arms, trusting me. Something about that trust makes my chest ache. When's the last time someone trusted me? Really trusted me?
In my suite, I lay her on the bed carefully. She looks young—early twenties, maybe. Vulnerable. Nothing like the corporate sharks downstairs.
"Can you tell me your name?" I ask.
"Aria," she whispers. "Aria Chen."
Chen. My hand freezes on the blanket I'm pulling over her.
Chen as in Chen Enterprises. The company I'm buying. This is the daughter of the man I'm negotiating with.
"Chen? As in Chen Enterprises?" I have to make sure.
Shame floods her face even through the drug haze. "Yes. The useless Chen daughter. That's me."
Useless? Who told her that?
"I didn't say that," I reply.
"You didn't have to." Her voice is so defeated it makes me angry on her behalf. "Everyone thinks it. My own family thinks it. Maybe Maya drugged me because I'm not worth keeping around."
No. Absolutely not.
"That's not true," I say firmly. "What your sister did is evil. It has nothing to do with your worth."
She looks at me like no one's ever said anything kind to her before. What kind of family does that to someone?
As she drifts off to sleep, I sit in the chair across from the bed and pull out my phone. I need answers.
"Marcus," I say when he picks up. "I need you to look into someone. Maya Chen. Yes, the daughter of Chen Enterprises."
"Why? What happened?"
"Because she just drugged her own sister at a business party, and I want to know why."
Marcus is quiet for a moment. "You're sure?"
"I saw her smile when the girl collapsed. Then she walked away." My grip tightens on the phone. "I want everything on Maya Chen by morning. Her business dealings, her personal life, everything."
"On it. Is the sister okay?"
I look at Aria sleeping on my bed. Her face is peaceful now, but I can still see tear tracks on her cheeks.
"She will be," I say. "I'll make sure of it."
I end the call and watch Aria sleep. Something about this situation feels wrong beyond the obvious. Why would Maya Chen drug her own sister at a party where their family was supposed to be networking?
Unless... unless she needed Aria out of the way.
The Chen deal. Maya was one of the people I was supposed to meet tonight. And she couldn't have Aria there for some reason.
My jaw clenches. If Maya sabotaged her own sister for a business deal, she's more dangerous than I thought.
I spend the night in that chair, working on my laptop while keeping an eye on Aria. She tosses and turns, mumbling in her sleep. Once she cries out "please, no" and I almost go to her. But I stay in my chair. She's been through enough without waking up confused.
At dawn, I have to leave for an early meeting. I write her a note explaining what happened, leave cash for a cab, and call hotel security to check on her.
Then I call Marcus again. "Change of plans for the Chen acquisition."
"What kind of change?"
"I want a full investigation into Maya Chen's role in Chen Enterprises. And I want to know exactly what happened at that party last night. Get security footage if you have to."
"Logan, if we delay this deal—"
"I don't care." My voice is ice. "I'm not doing business with people who drug their own family members. Find out what Maya Chen is hiding."
I end the call and look back at my suite one last time. Aria is still sleeping, safe for now.
But something tells me this is just the beginning. The beginning of something that's going to change everything.
Three hours later, I'm in my office when Marcus bursts in without knocking.
"We have a problem," he says.
"What kind of problem?"
He drops a folder on my desk. "Maya Chen isn't just involved in Chen Enterprises. She's been running it behind the scenes for the past year. Her father is basically a figurehead."
I open the folder. Financial records, emails, business deals—all with Maya's signature.
"So she's competent," I say. "That's not a problem."
"That's not the problem." Marcus points to another document. "This is. Two weeks ago, Maya met with Robert Crane."
Robert Crane. My biggest competitor. The man who's been trying to destroy Pierce Industries for five years.
"Why was she meeting with Crane?"
"According to our source, she offered to sell him insider information about our acquisition. She's been playing both sides."
The folder crumples in my grip. Maya Chen drugged her sister, is sabotaging her own family's company, and is working with my enemy.
"There's more," Marcus says quietly. "The sister—Aria. She's not just some useless daughter like the family claims. She's been submitting business proposals to her father for years. Good ones. He's been deleting them without reading them."
"Why?"
"Because Maya told him to. She's been sabotaging Aria for years, making sure she looks incompetent." Marcus meets my eyes. "Logan, Aria Chen might be the only honest person in that entire family."
The girl I saved. The one who looked so broken when she said she was useless. She wasn't useless at all. She was sabotaged.
My phone rings. Unknown number.
"Logan Pierce," I answer.
"Mr. Pierce." A woman's voice, smooth and confident. Maya Chen. "I believe you had an interesting night at the party. I hope my sister didn't cause you too much trouble."
Every muscle in my body tenses. "What do you want?"
"To make sure we're on the same page. About the acquisition. About... discretion." Her voice drops. "I'd hate for any misunderstandings about last night to complicate our business relationship."
She's threatening me. Actually threatening me.
"I don't respond well to threats," I say coldly.
"It's not a threat, Mr. Pierce. It's a reminder that we're about to be partners. And partners keep each other's secrets." She pauses. "I'll see you at the contract signing next week. Oh, and Mr. Pierce? Stay away from my sister. She's not your concern."
The line goes dead.
I stare at my phone, fury building in my chest.
Maya Chen just made a very big mistake.
She threatened me. She hurt her sister. And now she thinks she can control me.
"Marcus," I say quietly. "I want you to find Aria Chen. Offer her a job."
"A job? At Pierce Industries?"
"Yes." I stand up, my decision made. "If Maya Chen wants to play games, I'll show her what happens when you make an enemy of Logan Pierce."
"What kind of job?"
I smile, and it's not a nice smile. "Whatever position puts Aria Chen in direct competition with her sister. I want to see what happens when the 'useless' daughter finally gets a chance to shine."
Marcus grins. "This is going to get messy."
"Good," I say. "I'm counting on it."
My phone buzzes with a news alert: "Pierce Industries acquisition of Chen Enterprises to finalize in three weeks."
Three weeks. In three weeks, I'll own Maya Chen's company.
And by then, I plan to know every single one of her secrets—starting with why she's so desperate to destroy her own sister.