Chapter 1 The interview
Chapter 1 – The Interview
Rain hammered against the streets of Manhattan as Alis Carter stepped out of the taxi, tightening her grip around the folder in her hands.
In front of her stood the towering glass building of LW IT Firm.
Cold.
Massive.
Intimidating.
Exactly like the rumors surrounding its CEO.
Alis pushed a strand of her long dark hair behind her ear and forced herself to breathe. She needed this job more than she needed her pride.
Her father’s debt was getting worse every month. Bills piled up faster than she could pay them, and the tiny apartment she rented suddenly felt like a ticking bomb ready to collapse around her.
This interview had to work.
The lobby was silent except for the clicking of her heels across the marble floor. Employees rushed around in expensive suits, speaking in hushed voices like they were terrified of being too loud.
“Name?” the receptionist asked politely.
“Alis Carter.”
The woman’s expression shifted slightly.
Almost nervous.
“Mr. Walter is expecting you. Top floor.”
Walter.
Her stomach tightened.
No.
It couldn’t be.
Not him.
Anyone but him.
The elevator ride felt endless. Her pulse pounded harder with every passing floor until finally—
Ding.
The doors slid open.
And there he was.
Luke Walter.
For a second, the entire world stopped moving.
He was taller than she remembered. Broader. Sharper. His black dress shirt stretched tightly over muscular arms, tattoos disappearing beneath rolled sleeves. His jaw was rough with stubble now, his gray eyes colder than they had been ten years ago.
But still devastatingly handsome.
Still dangerous.
Still the man who ruined her.
Luke slowly stood from behind his desk, his gaze dragging over her like he couldn’t believe she was real.
“Alis Carter,” he said quietly.
Her throat went dry.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
A slow smirk appeared on his lips.
“Funny,” he murmured. “I was about to say the same thing.”
The memories hit her instantly.
High school football games.
Late-night phone calls.
Sneaking kisses behind the gym.
And then—
Lola.
Her best friend.
The betrayal that shattered everything.
Alis forced herself to stand straight.
“I didn’t know this was your company.”
Luke stepped closer.
Every movement he made felt controlled. Predatory.
“You wouldn’t have applied if you knew?”
“No.”
The answer came too fast.
His eyes darkened with amusement.
“Still honest. I like that.”
“I don’t care what you like.”
God, she hated how calm he looked.
Like he wasn’t the reason she spent years rebuilding herself after he destroyed her heart.
Luke stopped directly in front of her now, close enough for her to smell his expensive cologne.
“You look different,” he said softly.
“You don’t.”
That made him smirk again.
“And yet you’re staring.”
Heat rushed into her cheeks immediately.
Damn him.
“I’m leaving.”
She turned toward the elevator, but his voice stopped her instantly.
“Your father still owes the bank money, right?”
Alis froze.
Slowly, she looked back at him.
Luke’s expression had turned unreadable.
“How do you know that?”
“I know everything about the people who enter my company.”
Her chest tightened.
This wasn’t the sweet boy she used to love.
This was a powerful man used to control.
“You need this job,” he continued calmly. “And I need an assistant.”
“I’d rather starve.”
His eyes locked onto hers.
“No,” Luke said quietly. “You’d rather survive.”
Silence filled the office.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
Alis hated that part of him still affected her. Hated the way her heartbeat sped up when he looked at her like that.
Like she already belonged to him.
Luke picked up the contract from his desk and held it toward her.
“Take the job, Alis.”
She stared at the papers.
Then at him.
Every instinct screamed at her to run.
But another part of her—the reckless, broken part she thought died years ago—wanted to stay.
And that terrified her most of all.
