Billionaire's Power

ey Franklin, I l

hey don't look at women like that

de the air feel thinner, like breathing required permission. When his eyes flicke

pos

ave walked

any right to be. Floor-to-ceiling windows stretched behind him, the city spread out like it belonged to him

said, finally lo

didn't shake, even though my chest felt tight. "

nowledgment that I existed beyond inconven

o win arguments. I was here because my world had narrowed down

e suit. Perfect posture. A man who had never known what it fel

understood parts of it. Enough t

desk. "Understanding and accepti

s, words designed to protect him and corner me. My name look

w my life was

spital rooms, the hushed conversations, the bills that arrived faster than hope. Des

, as if reading my thoughts. "Y

usly,"

His gaze sharpened. "A

t he wa

meframes. Expectations. Silence clauses. A carefully cont

i

efuse?" I a

s the most terrifying part. "Then you wa

The phone calls I'd stopped answering because I couldn't handle the sympathy anymor

ed up

with desire. Not with interest.

omething inside me shifted. Not bro

out ceremony, as if this were a transaction no more sig

said, "to your

king it. His grip was

ked different. Louder. Sharper. Like it kne

has a way of silen

s name was on ever