Chapter 1
Esmeralda — POV
I still remember the first moment I saw him.
He stood alone at a table, a glass resting loosely in his hand, as though he’d forgotten why he picked it up in the first place. Around him, the room pulsed with influence—laughter too loud, smiles too polished—but he didn’t belong to any of it.
He looked… misplaced.
Just like me.
Our eyes met from across the room. For a moment, everything else blurred—the conversations, the music, the clinking glasses. It was just him and me, suspended in a silent exchange neither of us seemed willing to break.
Until I did.
I looked away, my pulse quickening, already wondering how I could possibly walk up to a stranger and start something—anything—without sounding foolish.
“Hi, I’m Ethan, a filmmaker. What’s your name and what do you do?”
The voice snapped me out of it.
I turned and saw my boss already standing at his table, his stunning wife beside him. Somehow, without noticing, I’d followed them across the room. My steps slowed just as I caught his reply—
“Hi, I’m Greg, a visual artist. Nice to meet you.”
Greg.
The name settled somewhere deep inside me, heavier than it should have. My heart stumbled—just for a second—as his eyes lifted and landed on me again.
“Greg…” I murmured inwardly, tasting the name like it meant something.
“Esmeralda.”
Ethan’s voice cut through my thoughts. He was introducing me.
I hadn’t even realized I’d gone still.
“Hello…” I managed, my voice softer than I intended.
“Hello,” he replied, his smile polite—but his eyes… his eyes lingered.
Greg — POV
I noticed her long before she ever looked my way.
She moved with a couple—people who clearly belonged—but she didn’t. Not really. There was a hesitation in her steps, a quiet distance in her expression, like she was drifting through a world that hadn’t made space for her yet.
Like me.
Dark blouse. Navy skirt. Simple. Elegant.
Dangerous.
She looked like something fragile… something that didn’t know it was being watched.
“Damn…” I muttered under my breath. “Where the hell did you come from?”
I didn’t realize how obvious I’d been staring until the couple she was with started walking toward me.
Perfect.
“Hi, I’m Ethan, a filmmaker. What’s your name and what do you do?”
I shifted my attention to him, offering a practiced smile. “Greg. Visual artist. Nice to meet you.”
But my eyes betrayed me—they flickered past him, drawn back to her as she stepped closer.
He noticed.
Of course he did.
“This is Esmeralda, my project manager.”
Esmeralda.
The name hit harder than expected. It rolled too easily in my mind, like it had been there long before tonight.
“Hello,” she said, barely above a whisper.
And just like that, something locked into place.
That voice.
Soft. Careful. Unaware of what it did.
I exhaled slowly, forcing composure. “Hello…”
But the truth settled in fast, cold, and certain—
I was already in trouble.
---
Esmeralda — POV
Three hours passed inside the theater.
Three long, restless hours.
The screen flickered, voices echoed, scenes unfolded—but none of it held my attention. My eyes wandered again and again, searching the dim room for a face I couldn’t seem to find.
Greg was gone.
Or maybe he’d never come in at all.
Beside me, Ethan’s wife shifted impatiently. “I’m starving,” she muttered, her tone edged with annoyance. “Can we leave already?”
I didn’t argue.
I couldn’t.
So I followed them out, leaving behind the noise, the lights… and whatever that moment had been.
---
The next morning, everything changed.
“I won’t be attending the rest of the events,” Ethan said, adjusting his cufflinks. “Business trip. Urgent.”
A pause.
Then, instinct—or something far less logical—took over.
“I can go,” I said quickly. “For the remaining two days. I’ll represent us… make connections.”
His eyes narrowed slightly, weighing the idea.
“You?”
“Yes.”
Silence stretched between us.
He didn’t like it.
I could tell.
But eventually, he nodded. “Fine. Don’t mess this up.”
I won’t, I thought.
Because this wasn’t just about work anymore.
Not anymore.
As I stepped into the venue later that morning, the same crowd, the same noise, the same suffocating elegance wrapped around me—
But this time…
I wasn’t here by accident.
My eyes scanned the room, sharper now, deliberate.
Searching.
Waiting.
And then—
I saw him.
