Chapter 1 Spilled Coffee，Stolen Hearts

"Sorry" I stared at my hands gripping the café table, coffee splashed across his custom suit. So much for my professional first impression. "I swear I don't usually assault potential employers."

Bernard Jones - Silicon Valley's most ruthless CEO and the man who'd built Phoenix Capital into a twenty-billion-dollar empire before he was forty. Everyone knew his reputation for destroying competitors and turning ambitious young talent into perfectly controlled weapons. I just didn't know I was about to become his favorite project.

"Next-gen tech breakthroughs?" Bernard Jones picked up my scattered research notes, his eyebrow raising at the diagrams. "Ambitious project for someone so young."

Three weeks I'd been trying to get his attention, and here I was, making an idiot of myself. Though something about his smile made me wonder if this "accident" was really as random as it seemed.

"Most people would have called security by now." I reached for my papers, letting my fingers brush his. Testing. His eyes darkened slightly - exactly the reaction I'd hoped for.

"Most people wouldn't see the market potential here." He tapped one of my projections. "Though I admit, I'm more intrigued by the researcher than the research."

"Smooth line." I traced the rim of my cup, watching him watch me. "Practice that one often?"

"Only with brilliant Stanford graduates who assault me with coffee." His smile held something dangerous that made my pulse quicken. "Tell me more about your breakthrough."

"Your market analysis misses something crucial." Bernard leaned forward, close enough that his cologne made my head spin. His voice had dropped lower, intimate. "Look here." His finger traced the graph, deliberately brushing mine. "What do you see?"

I met his eyes instead of looking at the paper. "I see you trying to distract me from my point."

"Am I?" The corner of his mouth curved up. "Is it working?"

"You tell me." I held his gaze, letting the tension build. This wasn't about business anymore - hadn't been for the last hour. Every gesture, every word was seduce me.

"Interesting perspective." His voice carried that quiet power that made my hands shake. "Most people would have backed down by now."

I met his gaze, ignoring how my pulse jumped when his eyes darkened. "I'm not most people."

"No, You're definitely not."

"Lead my innovation team." It wasn't a request. "Take charge of our most advanced projects."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." His eyes held mine. "Unless you're afraid of what else might develop between us."

I should have said no. Should have seen how perfectly orchestrated it all was - him appearing exactly when I needed direction, somehow knowing exactly what I wanted to hear. Instead, I leaned forward.

"And if I say yes?"

"Then you'll find out exactly how well we work together."

Three months later, I had everything I'd dreamed of - groundbreaking research, boardroom respect, and Bernard. He was brilliant, powerful, and completely focused on me. Or at least, that's what I thought.

"You're distracted." His fingers in my hair, his breath warm against my neck as we lay in his penthouse bed. "Share."

"Tomorrow's presentation." I pressed closer, breathing in his familiar scent. "The board's expectations-"

"Are nothing compared to mine." His kiss silenced my worries. "You'll exceed them all. You always do."

I believed him. Believed in us. Right up until the night I found the recordings.

"What the fuck?" My hands shook as I stared at the files. Hundreds of them, meticulously cataloging everything. Every reaction documented, every response analyzed. Clinical notes about how I'd reacted to each carefully orchestrated scenario.

The coffee shop collision. The job offer. Every moment I'd thought was spontaneous - all perfectly planned experiments in control.

"Find something interesting?" His voice from the doorway made me jump.

"How long?" My voice cracked. "How long have you been studying me like a lab rat?"

"Diana." He moved closer, that same calculated grace I used to find so attractive. "You're not thinking clearly."

"Really?" I pulled up another file - surveillance photos from before we'd met. Me at Stanford, at coffee shops, at the gym. "Because I'm thinking pretty fucking clearly about what kind of person keeps files like this."

"The kind who sees your potential." He reached for me. I stepped back. "Everything I've done has been to help you grow."

"Into what? Your perfect experiment?" The betrayal burned like acid. "Was any of it real? Or was I just another corporate acquisition to analyze?"

"You know what we are." His voice held that commanding tone that used to make me weak. "Don't throw it away over an overreaction."

"Overreaction?" I laughed, sadness and broken. "You've been documenting me like a science project. Recording every private moment like I'm some kind of-"

His kiss cut me off - hard and possessive, the kind that usually made me melt. This time, it just made me angry.

"Get out." I shoved him back. "Get the fuck out of my office."

"Diana-"

"I quit." The words felt like freedom. "Find someone else to be your lab rat."

I grabbed my laptop and phone, running for the emergency stairs. No elevator - he controlled everything electronic in this building.

"Diana!" His voice boomed above me. "Stop being dramatic and listen-"

I burst through the lobby doors at full speed, nearly knocking over the security guard. Behind me, Bernard's voice: "Don't let her-"

Too late. My car engine roared to life. In the rearview mirror, I caught his reflection - standing there in his perfect suit, looking more dangerous than I'd ever seen him.

That night, I emptied my accounts and booked a flight across the country. Called Ashley from a burner phone, my voice shaking: "I need your help. It's about Bernard."

"Jesus, Diana. What happened?"

"He's been... recording everything. Studying me like some twisted experiment. I can't- I have to get out."

She didn't hesitate. "My brother's beach house in Miami. It's empty until summer. I'll book you a ticket under my name."

The gate agent called final boarding. My phone buzzed - another blocked call. Bernard. Delete.

"Here's your seat, Ms. Michel." The flight attendant frowned at my face. "Are you-"

"I'm fine." I yanked out my laptop the moment we took off. My fingers hovered over the keys, then started typing:

COMPANY NAME IDEAS

Something strong

Nothing with my name

Make him notice, make him worry

"Helios." Perfect for watching Bernard's empire burn.

"You look like you're plotting revenge," the businessman next to me commented.

I met his curious gaze. "No. Justice."

Six cups of coffee later, I had a list of everyone Bernard had crushed, every deal he'd stolen, every partner he'd betrayed. My hand barely shook as I circled names, mapping out alliances and weaknesses.

My phone lit up - Bernard's private number. Block. Delete. Move on.

By touchdown, I had three investment proposals drafted and a board member list - all people Bernard had screwed over. Each name another crack in his empire, another ally in my war.

The memory faded as I raised my glass five years later, watching sunset paint my office gold. Those hasty plane notes had become Helios - my ten-billion-dollar middle finger to Bernard's world.

"To freedom," Ashley clinked her glass against mine, her smile bright with pride.

"To making history," Mike added, grinning. "Ten billion valuation. Not bad for a startup born on a redeye flight."

I should have known better than to celebrate. Success always came with a price in Bernard's world. And despite five years of independence, his world had a way of pulling you back in.

The brown envelope arrived an hour after they left.

"Dr. Miller?" My assistant's voice felt distant. "Should I send him in?"

"Yes." Time to face the devil I'd spent five years running from. "Send Bernard in."