Poisoned by His Obsession

Alex's POV

Rain poured heavily over the city, turning the crowded streets into a blur of gray clouds and flashing headlights. Inside the back of a sleek, bulletproof black Maybach, the atmosphere was cold and suffocatingly quiet.

I sat back against the leather seat, my sharp eyes fixed on the tablet in my hands. At twenty-nine, I ruled an empire built on fear, power, and ruthless control. People called me a cold, selfish Russian trillionaire, and they were right. I didn't believe in love. To me, love was nothing more than a pathetic weakness—and I despised weakness above all else.

In the passenger seat ahead of me sat Marco, my loyal right-hand man.

As the car rolled to a stop at a red traffic light, the rhythmic sound of the windshield wipers filled the silence. Marco glanced out the rain-streaked window toward the sidewalk and froze. A small, amused smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he watched a girl walking toward the university gates.

She didn't have an umbrella. While everyone else on the street rushed around trying to shield themselves from the storm, she looked completely carefree.

"Boss," Marco said, gesturing slightly toward the window. "Look at this girl."

I didn't look up from my screen, my jaw tightening with annoyance. "I don't care about random people on the street, Marco. Focus."

"Seriously, Boss. Just look."

Letting out an irritated breath, I finally raised my gaze and looked out the tinted window—and the air seemed to vanish from my lungs.

On the sidewalk stood a twenty-year-old girl with a heavy backpack slung over one shoulder, completely soaked from head to toe. Instead of hiding from the downpour, she tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and spun around with her arms stretched wide, dancing joyfully in the middle of the rain.

Her long, wet brownish hair clung to her cheeks and neck, and a bright, pure smile lit up her entire face. She looked so innocent, so effortlessly happy, as if the cruel world around her didn't even exist.

For the first time in my life, my cold heart skipped a beat—and then began to hammer violently against my ribs.

I couldn't look away. For a man who felt nothing for anyone, I sat completely paralyzed, mesmerized by her wet hair, her carefree laugh, and the warmth radiating from her smile. I blinked once, trying to shake off the strange feeling tightening in my chest, and looked back to study her face again—

Honk.

The traffic light turned green. The driver pressed the gas, and the black Maybach surged forward into traffic. I turned my head slightly, watching through the rear window as the girl stopped spinning, giggled to herself, and ran toward the gates of her university until she disappeared from sight.

I slowly leaned back in my seat, staring blankly ahead as my heart still raced in my chest. For a man who hated weakness, I had a dangerous feeling I had just seen my biggest one.

Emily's POV

I hurried through the massive gates of the university, shaking the rain off my jacket while trying to catch my breath. Even soaked from the storm, I didn't care—nothing could ruin my good mood after dancing in the rain.

I didn't wear heavy makeup or fancy outfits like most of the girls on campus. I was a natural beauty, with long, silky brownish hair that cascaded down my back, warm brown eyes, soft lips, and smooth, glowing skin. Right now, though, my hair was dripping wet and clinging to my shoulders.

As I walked down the busy hallway toward my lecture hall, I spotted two familiar faces standing near the lockers.

It was Liam, my childhood best friend, standing right beside our friend Sophia. Liam had been by my side since we were kids, always protective and patient with my childish antics—even if I was completely oblivious to the way he looked at me.

A huge grin broke across my face. I raised my hand and waved enthusiastically at them.

"Emily! There you are," Liam said, his face lighting up the second he saw me. As I walked closer, the tips of his ears turned bright red with a faint blush, and a soft, fond smile spread across his lips. "You're completely soaked."

Sophia crossed her arms and rolled her eyes playfully, though she couldn't hide her smile. "She's always late, isn't she?"

I flipped my damp brownish hair over my shoulder, struck a dramatic pose, and grinned proudly. "Well, my entry is always dramatic, isn't it?"

Liam let out a quiet laugh, shaking his head at my childishness as he pulled a dry tissue packet from his bag and handed it to me. "Come on, you backbencher. If we don't get inside now, Professor Miller is going to lock the door—and you already failed last week's quiz."

"Hey! We don't talk about last week's quiz," I pouted, snatching the tissues and following them into the classroom, completely unaware that my carefree dance in the rain had just caught the attention of the most dangerous man in the city.

Alex's POV

Hours later, I stood behind the floor-to-ceiling glass window of my penthouse office on the eightieth floor of Volkov Tower, staring out over the rain-soaked city below.

A glass of expensive whiskey rested in my hand, untouched. Spread across my massive obsidian desk were billion-dollar merger contracts, shipping manifests, and security reports—yet for the first time in my life, I couldn't focus on a single word.

My mind kept replaying the same image over and over again.

A girl dancing on the sidewalk. Wet, silky brownish hair clinging to her skin. Warm brown eyes shining with pure joy. A smile so bright it made the storm disappear.

My jaw tightened until a muscle feathered in my cheek. Every time I pictured her face, that infuriating, unfamiliar sensation returned—my heartbeat speeding up, hammering against my ribs like a trapped animal.

"Ridiculous," I muttered coldly into the empty room, setting the whiskey glass down with a sharp clink.

I was Alex Volkov. Men trembled at the sound of my name. I didn't get distracted by random strangers on the street, and I certainly didn't let a pretty face affect my pulse. Whatever had happened in that car earlier was nothing more than a momentary lapse in judgment—a pointless waste of time.

Love is a weakness, I reminded myself, my expression hardening back into stone. And I do not allow weakness in my life.

Pushing the girl entirely out of my mind, I walked back to my desk, sat down in my leather chair, and forced my attention back onto the contracts in front of me.

Just then, a sharp knock echoed at the heavy double doors.

"Enter," I said, my voice dropping back to its usual ice-cold authority.

Marco stepped inside, holding a sleek black tablet, his expression unusually serious. "Boss, we have a situation with the university expansion project—the land deal on the east side."

I didn't look up from my papers. "Handle it. Buy out whoever is blocking the signature."

"That's the problem, Boss," Marco said, stepping closer to the desk and placing a file right in front of me. "The remaining property belongs to a small family business that refuses to sell. And the daughter of the owner is refusing to let our lawyers near her father."

Letting out a low, irritated sigh, I finally leaned back and opened the file.

My fingers froze on the paper.

Staring up at me from the attached photograph were the exact same warm brown eyes, soft lips, and long brownish hair from the sidewalk this morning.

My heart didn't just skip a beat this time—it slammed against my chest.

"Marco," I said, my voice dangerously quiet as a slow, dark smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth. "Cancel my afternoon meetings. I'm going to pay this girl a visit myself."

Emily's POV

By the time my last afternoon lecture ended, the rain had finally stopped, leaving the campus sidewalks glistening under the pale afternoon sun.

My brain felt completely fried. Sitting in the back row for three hours trying to understand economics was harder than surviving a hurricane. As soon as the professor dismissed us, I shoved my notebooks into my backpack and bolted out the door before Liam or Sophia could remind me about studying.

"Freedom!" I cheered quietly to myself, skipping down the stone steps of the university building.

I pulled a strawberry lollipop from my pocket, unwrapped it, and popped it into my mouth as I headed toward my dad's small bookstore right across the street from the university. Dad had been stressed all week because some big, greedy corporate sharks kept sending scary lawyers in expensive suits to buy his shop—and I had promised to help him guard the front counter after class.

I was halfway down the block, humming a random song and kicking a tiny pebble along the pavement, when the loud, deep roar of an engine echoed behind me.

Before I could even turn around, a sleek, pitch-black Maybach pulled up smoothly right beside the curb, blocking my path toward the crosswalk.

I stopped dead in my tracks, blinking in confusion. Did someone lose their way to a billionaire convention?

The back passenger door swung open, and out stepped a man who looked like he had walked straight out of a dark, dangerous movie.

He was tall—towering over me—with broad shoulders wrapped in a sharp, tailored black suit that looked like it cost more than my entire college tuition. His dark hair was styled effortlessly, framing sharp, breathtakingly handsome features, and his cold, piercing eyes locked directly onto mine with an intensity that made the air around us feel heavy.

Standing two steps behind him was another man in a suit, looking around the street with sharp, alert eyes.

I froze, the strawberry lollipop still sticking out of my mouth. For a second, my heart did a weird little flip. Okay, rude. Nobody should be allowed to look that handsome while looking like they want to murder someone.

The tall stranger stepped closer, invading my personal space until I had to tilt my head all the way back just to look at his face. He smelled like expensive cologne, winter rain, and pure danger.

His gaze dropped briefly to the lollipop in my mouth, then flicked back up to my brown eyes. A slow, dark smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

"So," the man said, his voice a deep, velvet rumble that sent a sudden shiver straight down my spine. "You're the little trouble-maker blocking my deal."

I blinked once. Twice. Then I slowly pulled the lollipop out of my mouth and pointed it directly at his chest.

"Excuse me, Mr. Giant Suit," I said, narrowing my eyes at him. "First of all, you're blocking the sidewalk. Second of all, I don't know who you are, and third of all—if you're one of those annoying lawyers trying to steal my dad's bookstore, you can turn your fancy car right around!"

The tall stranger didn't laugh. His dark eyes narrowed, his jaw tightening as he stared down at me like nobody had ever dared to speak to him like that in his entire life. Yet, instead of walking away, he took one more step closer, leaning down slightly until his face was inches from mine.

"My name," he murmured softly, his gaze burning into mine as if he were memorizing every inch of my face, "is Alex Volkov. And I always get what I want, little bird."

For a solid three seconds, the entire sidewalk went dead silent. Even the wind seemed to stop blowing.

I stood there clutching my strawberry lollipop, refusing to back down even an inch—even though my knees were shaking slightly inside my sneakers. Slowly, I tilted my head to the side, looked him up and down from his shiny Italian shoes to his scowling, devastatingly handsome face, and shrugged casually.

"Okay," I said brightly, "but you look like a grumpy vampire more than your name. Forget it—what do you want?"

Behind him, Marco froze like a statue, all the color draining instantly from his face. His eyes went wide with pure terror as he stared at me as if I had just signed my own death warrant.

"Boss..." Marco whispered tightly, his voice trembling slightly as he stepped forward, clearly terrified because no one in the entire world had ever dared to speak to Alex Volkov like that and lived to tell the tale.

Alex raised a single, sharp hand without taking his piercing eyes off me, instantly silencing Marco with one cold gesture.

A tiny muscle feathered sharply in Alex's clenched jaw as he stared down at me, looking like he couldn't decide whether to tear the entire city apart—or, strangely enough, smile.

"A grumpy vampire," Alex repeated slowly, his deep voice dropping an octave lower, dangerously smooth and deadly quiet. He took another half-step closer, forcing me to tilt my chin all the way up just to keep glaring into his piercing eyes. "Do you have any idea how many people would beg for mercy if they ever dared to speak to me like that, little bird?"

"Well, I'm not 'people,' Mr. Dracula," I shot back, crossing my arms over my chest while trying very hard to ignore how fast my heart was suddenly beating so close to him. "And unless you're here to buy a mystery novel or a bookmark, you're wasting my time. My dad's shop is not for sale!"

Before Alex could answer, rapid footsteps echoed down the sidewalk behind me.

"Emily! Is everything okay? Who is this guy?"

It was Liam. Having spotted the black Maybach blocking my path from the campus gates, he jogged straight over, stepping right beside me and placing a protective hand gently on my shoulder as he glared suspiciously up at Alex. "Em, you shouldn't talk to strangers. Come on, let's get you to your dad's shop."

The moment Liam's hand touched my shoulder, the air around Alex instantly dropped twenty degrees.

Alex's piercing eyes snapped from my face straight down to Liam's hand resting on me—and then locked onto Liam's face with a cold, lethal intensity that made even the street feel silent.

Inside Alex's chest, a sharp, burning sensation twisted violently beneath his ribs. It wasn't anger—not the usual cold, calculated fury he felt when business rivals crossed him. It was heavier, hotter, and completely unfamiliar. Seeing another man stand so close to her, touch her shoulder so casually, and call her "Em" made Alex's jaw clench so hard a muscle ticked sharply in his cheek. He didn't know what this strange, suffocating feeling was—he had never felt anything like it in his twenty-nine years—and he hated it instantly.

"Take your hand off her," Alex said, his voice so dangerously low and lethal that Liam instinctively stiffened, though he stood his ground beside me.

"Alex—or Mr. Vampire, whatever—chill out! That's just Liam, my best friend," I huffed, rolling my eyes as I patted Liam's arm to reassure him. "Liam, I'm fine. This giant grumpy suit was just leaving."

Alex slowly tore his icy gaze away from Liam and looked back down at me, his chest still tight with that strange, unnamed ache.

For a fleeting, impossible second, the icy mask on Alex Volkov's face cracked. The corner of his lips twitched—almost like he was fighting back a real smirk—before his cold, ruthless expression snapped right back into place.

He reached slowly into his tailored suit jacket, pulled out a sleek, heavy matte-black business card with gold lettering, and slipped it effortlessly between my fingers right next to my lollipop stick, deliberately stepping close enough to force Liam back half a step.

"Keep this," Alex murmured, his dark gaze lingering on my soft lips for a fraction of a second too long before locking back onto my brown eyes. "Because before this week is over, little bird, you are going to come looking for me."

Before I could throw the card back at his chest, he shot one final, razor-sharp glare at Liam, turned sharply on his heel, signaled to Marco, and stepped smoothly back into the black Maybach. Within seconds, the engine roared to life and the car sped away down the street, leaving Liam glaring after the taillights while I stood frozen on the sidewalk with a strawberry lollipop in one hand and a Russian trillionaire's business card in the other.

I stared down at the gold letters stamped across the black card—Alex Volkov—and let out a loud, dramatic groan.

"Great," I muttered to the empty street. "Just what a backbencher needed. A terrifyingly handsome billionaire stalker."