The collision
Henry Thompson hated mornings, but he hated crisis mornings even more.
The elevator doors slid open, revealing the top floor of Thompson Corp. The air buzzed with tension—employees whispering, screens flashing red alerts, security guards pacing like the world was about to end.
Henry walked straight ahead, jaw tight, long silver hair brushing over one shoulder. Behind him followed Raymond Pierce, the company’s CFO, calm as a statue.
— “The hacker hit our internal servers again,” Raymond said quietly.
— “I know.” Henry didn’t slow down. “Any trace?”
— “None. Whoever is behind this knows our system better than our own IT team.”
Henry’s jaw flexed.
Perfect. Just perfect.
They stepped out through the rotating doors of the building—Henry heading toward his car for the emergency meeting downtown.
And that’s when it happened.
Someone crashed right into him.
A small girl with two messy buns, glasses, and a tote bag overflowing with notebooks stumbled backward and nearly fell. Henry grabbed her arm instinctively.
She blinked at him.
He blinked back.
Then she frowned.
— “Are you blind?” she snapped.
— Henry raised an eyebrow. “Are you?”
— “You walked straight into me!”
— “That’s funny,” he said, brushing invisible dust off his jacket, “because it felt like dust walked into me.”
Her mouth dropped open.
Even Raymond looked up for a brief second.
— “Did you just call me dust?” Cassie said, staring at him like she wanted to throw her notebook at his head.
— Henry leaned closer, amused. “If the shoe fits.”
She stepped back, irritated, hugging her tote bag like a shield.
He was already bored of the interaction—until she muttered under her breath:
— “Typical rich boy. Thinks he owns the whole street.”
Henry stopped walking.
She didn’t know who he was.
At all.
Raymond leaned in slightly.
— “Sir, we’re late.”
Henry tore his gaze away from her and walked off without another word.
Cassie watched him leave, confused and annoyed.
She didn’t know that the man she’d just insulted was the same CEO planning to tear down her five-generation family home.
And Henry didn’t know that the girl he bumped into…
was about to become the biggest complication of his life.
As they entered the car, Raymond checked his tablet.
— “Sir, the hacker left a new trace. A small one.”
— Henry looked over. “Where?”
Raymond hesitated.
— “…A neighborhood on the west side. Old houses. Mostly families.”
— Henry narrowed his eyes. “Give me the exact address.”
Raymond read it aloud.
Henry froze.
It was her address.
The annoying girl with the messy buns.
Cassie Harper.
His day had just gone from bad…
to catastrophic.
