"What's going on here?" Felix asked.
His voice was low. Dangerous velvet.
The receptionist, emboldened by what she assumed was corporate loyalty, curled her lip at Annabella.
"Sir, this intern is insisting on using your private elevator. I was simply explaining the hierarchy."
Felix tilted his head, a single dark eyebrow arching in a slow, mocking climb.
"And…?" he asked.
The receptionist blinked.
"And? Sir, I've told her it's for VIPs only. She refused to comply." Her confidence wavered.
The woman who had been riding a high of bureaucratic authority suddenly looked like she'd swallowed a lemon.
Annabella shifted her weight and slid her gaze toward Felix.
She hadn't expected him to be so economical with his words.
Or so devastatingly handsome in person.
High definition truly did not do those cheekbones justice.
"The last time I checked," Felix said, his voice dropping an octave, "I didn't hire you to serve as my elevator's bodyguard."
He stepped closer to Annabella, entering her personal space with a calm, deliberate gravity that made the oxygen feel thinner.
"And for your kind information…"
His eyes locked onto hers.
"Does she look like someone you can afford to offend?"
"Sir?" The receptionist's lashes fluttered in disbelief.
Everyone in the office knew the unspoken rule: Felix Morales guarded his privacy like a dragon guards gold. Touching his personal property was usually a career-ending move.
Yet here he was.
Standing close enough to Annabella that their breaths nearly overlapped.
Annabella tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, lips curving into a soft, devastating smile.
*This is actually getting interesting.* She thought.
"I'm sorry, Sir," the receptionist blurted.
"No." Felix slid his hands into his pockets.
"I'm not the one you offended. So I'm not interested in your apology." He smirked inwardly, watching Annabella.
*Show me how you handle people who underestimate you, little princess.*
He wanted to see it — wanted to see the Rodriguez fire he'd heard so much about.
The receptionist swallowed hard.
"I… I'm sorry, Ma'am."
"Oh?" Annabella let out a soft, melodic gasp.
She stepped closer, her heels clicking against the marble like a countdown.
"Is that what a genuine apology looks like these days?" she asked lightly.
She tilted her head, eyes mocking.
"With your height still equal to mine?"
Her hand gestured slightly downward.
A silent instruction.
The receptionist looked desperately at Felix.
He didn't interfere.
With trembling fingers clutching her skirt, the receptionist slowly lowered herself. Her knees hit the marble with a dull thud.
"Please forgive my ignorance, Ma'am Annabella," she whispered.
Annabella didn't respond immediately.
She let the silence stretch.
Let it sting.
Then she looked away, as if something on the ceiling had suddenly become far more fascinating.
To Annabella, the girl on the floor had already ceased to exist.
"Not like I have time for this," she murmured.
She slid her dark shades back into place, sealing her expression behind black glass.
Then she stepped into the elevator.
She paused.
Looked back at Felix, who was still watching her with open amusement.
"Shall we?" she asked, her voice a silken challenge.
Felix's smile finally surfaced — sharp, appreciative, entirely too charming.
"Of course."
He turned toward the guards, his tone shifting back to ice.
"She uses my elevator. She goes to my office. And if anyone touches her again, they're fired. Clear?"
The guards nodded immediately, their heads held low.
Felix stepped inside.
The doors slid shut, cutting off the view of the receptionist still kneeling — head bowed.
Behind them, the lobby erupted into hushed whispers.
"She deserves it, honestly."
"Who told her she could mess with a Rodriguez?"
"Maybe now she'll learn how to respect status."
The receptionist wiped a single, hot tear of humiliation from her cheek. She waited until the elevator's floor indicator hit double digits before she forced herself to stand.
Keeping her head low, she retreated to her desk, her mind already spinning a dark web of curses for the woman who had just stepped on her.
…
Inside the elevator, silence fell again.
Annabella watched his reflection in the mirrored wall.
He wasn't looking at the floor numbers.
He was looking at her, his gaze heavy and unblinking, tracking the rise and fall of her chest.
"You have a very particular way of making an entrance," Felix said, his voice vibrating subtly in the enclosed space.
"And a very cruel way of making an exit."
Annabella adjusted her bag.
Her shoulder brushed his arms lightly.
"I don't believe in half-measures, Mr. Morales," she replied smoothly.
"People should either love me or fear me. Indifference is for the boring."
Felix's gaze sharpened.
"And which one am I supposed to feel?"
She turned her head slightly, meeting his eyes.
"Whatever keeps you interested," she whispered just as the ding of the fifty-ninth floor echoed.
☆
☆
☆
[Rodriguez Diamond Enterprise]
•
The black SUV hissed to a halt, a sleek predator beneath the morning sun.
Javier scrambled out to open the door, and Maxwell stepped out, the light catching the sharp lines of his jaw and the expensive sheen of his shoes.
He didn't just walk; he commanded the ground beneath him.
The employees bowed slightly and greeted him good morning as he passed. But Maxwell replied to none. His attention was fixed straight ahead.
"Schedule," Maxwell snapped.
Javier fumbled with the folder, struggling to match Maxwell's brisk, military pace.
"Brief meeting with interns at 11:00, Japanese tycoon at 11:30, Factory inspection at 1:00, and Board meeting at 3:00."
"That's all?" Maxwell asked, pressing the elevator button.
"Mr. Moretti's birthday party at 9:00 PM. No response yet."
Maxwell's eyes narrowed. He needed a distraction. "I'll attend."
They reached the conference hall at 10:59.
Maxwell paused, hands tucked into his pockets, waiting for the exact second.
Precision was his only sanctuary.
When the clock struck 11:00, he pushed the doors open.
Maxwell walked into the conference hall majestically.
All the interns stood in respect and waited until he sat before taking their seats.
Javier sat beside him.
The room fell into complete silence.
Evelyn, tucked among the rows of interns, felt the air leave her lungs.
*Holy shit,* she thought.
His voice… calm, controlled, authoritative — as he welcomed them sent a shiver down her spine that felt almost indecent.
It wasn't just his face. It was the power. The restraint. The quiet dominance in every syllable.
Her gaze dropped to his lips as he spoke, and her mind betrayed her—spinning dark, breathless fantasies she had no business imagining.
But the most annoying part?
She wasn't the only one.
Almost every girl in the hall was staring. Watching. Wanting.
"I wish he would fuck me. He is damn hot," one of the girls whispered into her friend's ear.
Evelyn heard that and frowned.
Let them keep dreaming.
Because Maxwell Martinez… was hers.
And she would do anything to make that possible.
"All of you will be placed in the managing department for now. Your duties will be divided later," Maxwell continued, ignoring the shameless gazes fixed on him.
"Also, my secretary just resigned. I need a new one, and I will be choosing from one of you."
"Woah!" one girl exclaimed out loud, already imagining things.
"So work your best while you're in the managing department. Only the best gets to work by my side," he added.
There was something deliberate in the way he said *my side*.
"So… any questions?" he asked, scanning the interns.
No reply.
"Welcome to R.D.E once again."
He stood and walked out without another glance.
"I'm definitely going to be Mr. Maxwell's secretary. I know he'll choose me," a young, beautiful blonde-haired lady said confidently.
"Mr. Maxwell isn't impressed by beauty. He prefers brains," another girl mocked, clearly challenging her.
"You…!" the blonde pointed at her angrily.
"What? Want to fight?" the other girl shot back.
"Arrgh!" The blonde stomped her foot and stormed out of the hall. The rest followed.
Now Evelyn was left alone.
She smiled.
A wicked smile.
She walked to the seat Maxwell had occupied and sat down slowly. She crossed her legs, rested her knuckles on the table, and pressed her chin against them.
The leather was still warm.
Let them fight like fools… that's exactly why they would lose to her.
She didn't care about their petty competition.
She already had a plan in mind.
And it would definitely work.
☆
☆
☆
[International College, Alcobendas – Spain]
•
The hallway echoed with the cruel, melodic laughter of the "Queen Bees."
Pixie, flanked by her shadows — Paula and Ceci, paused at the classroom door.
"The witch is already here," Paula sneered, nodding toward Ava, who sat alone at the front.
"Trying to surpass me by being early," Pixie said, folding her arms. "In her dreams."
"You're the Queen of this college, Pixie. No matter how hard others try, they can never reach your level." Paula smirked, looking at Ava with open disdain.
Pixie smiled and walked ahead to her seat, the crew trailing behind her like obedient satellites.
Ava heard every word.
The insults slid off her like rain against glass. She adjusted her spectacles and turned a page calmly.
She didn't have time for the petty politics of a girl who defined herself by a crown made of glass.
Behind them, Ethan and Carlos approached. Ethan's pace slowed the moment his eyes landed on Ava.
"Are we sitting together, or are you taking the seat next to her?" Carlos teased in a whisper.
"Who?" Ethan asked, though his face betrayed him, warming instantly.
"Come on, bro. It's visible from space. You like her, don't you?"
"Is it that visible?" Ethan exclaimed.
"So you confess! Ha! I always knew." Carlos grinned mockingly.
"Shut up!" Ethan nudged his arm and walked ahead to his seat, trying to look unaffected.
He couldn't stop smiling, though.
Soon, the teacher entered, and the class fell silent.
Except for the hateful gaze Pixie kept throwing at Ava.
Pixie was known as the Campus Queen.
Beautiful. Intelligent. Backed by wealth and status. People envied her, admired her, revolved around her.
And she enjoyed every second of it.
Until Ava joined the college.
Ava was no less beautiful than Pixie. Some even rated her beauty above Pixie's.
The only difference was that Ava kept to herself. Quiet. Distant. People labeled her an introvert.
But she was brilliant.
She had almost beaten Pixie's score in the last exam.
And that was enough.
Now Pixie felt it — that small, poisonous sting crawling under her skin.
What if one day Ava stole her spotlight completely?
She was already a threat.
And Pixie hated competition.
•••
The doors slid open to a world of glass and steel.
The executive floor was an architectural masterpiece, overlooking the city like an eagle's nest suspended above the world.
But the staff here were different.
Polished. Robotic. And quietly terrified of the man walking beside her.
He led her to his office and pushed the door open, gesturing for her to enter first.
"Sit," Felix commanded, though it sounded less like an order and more like an invitation to play.
He didn't go to his desk. Instead, he walked to a crystal decanter and poured two glasses of amber liquid.
Annabella didn't sit.
She wandered toward the window instead. The view was breathtaking — endless skyline, sharp edges of power and ambition.
"You're late for your first day," Felix noted, glancing at a watch that probably cost more than most people's yearly salary.
"And you've already managed to assault my security and traumatize my front desk. Is this how you plan to work for me?"
"I don't plan to work for you at all," Annabella turned, stepping closer until the heat from his chest became something tangible.
"I'm here to tell you to fire me. Or better yet, cancel the contract. I'm far too much trouble for a man of your… refined tastes."
Felix's eyes darkened, a flash of something naughty and dangerous dancing in the depths.
He reached out slowly, his thumb grazing the line of her jaw with deliberate restraint.
"Trouble is the only thing that keeps me awake these days, Annabella," he whispered, leaning down until his breath stirred the strands of her hair. "And I never throw away something this beautiful just because it bites."
"I'm here because my father thinks I need 'discipline,'" she said coolly.
She turned away, adjusting her shades before settling onto a comfortable sofa.
"I want you to make this internship impossible for me. Tell my father I'm incompetent. Tell him I'm a distraction."
Felix watched her.
His tie was slightly loosened now. The air between them felt thick.
He picked up the glasses he had poured and walked toward her. Circling the sofa, his body brushed deliberately against her back — slow, controlled contact that made her breath hitch despite herself.
He placed the glass in front of her, leaning close enough that his lips hovered near her ear.
"Not a good enough reason," Felix murmured, before moving to sit opposite her.
Annabella picked up her glass and took a sip to calm her nerves.
He suddenly took her glass, his fingers wrapping around it with possessive ease.
His gaze locked onto hers as he lifted it — and drank from the exact spot her lipstick stained the rim.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
"I'm not letting a beauty like you leave my side." he murmured.
"I can be dangerous, Felix. Especially when I'm bored."
"Then let's make sure you're never bored." He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, eyes unwavering.
"Assistant CEO. No real work. No boring spreadsheets. You just… accompany me. Everywhere."
Annabella's brow furrowed. "There's no such position."
"I'm creating it for you."
She studied him carefully, her gaze tracing the sharp cut of his jaw.
"Why? Is this about the slap from the other night? Are you trying to make me comfortable before you strike back?"
Felix didn't answer with words.
Instead, he grabbed her wrist — firm, controlled — and guided her hand toward his face.
He pressed her palm against his cheek and forced a sharp, stinging slap.
Annabella gasped, her eyes widening in shock.
A faint red mark bloomed against his skin.
"A slap from an angel feels like an award," Felix whispered, voice low and dangerously intimate.
He turned his head and pressed a slow kiss against the back of her palm, his gaze never leaving hers.
"How about a thousand more, if it means I get to keep you in my sights?"
His fingers tightened slightly around her hand.
"I like you, Annabella Rodriguez."
A pause.
"And I think… you're going to love making Maxwell lose his mind from right here… next to me."