Chapter 2 Emily

Emily couldn't sleep that night. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Alexander Moretti's face. Calm. Cold. Dangerous.

The same man whose smile had once been plastered across a billboard for a children's hospital. The same man who had been named New York's Most Eligible Bachelor three years in a row. Now, she had seen him standing beside a black SUV in the middle of the night with men carrying what looked like a body bag.

She tossed in bed, the sheets twisted around her. Maybe she had imagined it. Maybe it wasn't him. Maybe she didn't really see a body.

But deep down, she knew. It was him. And it was real.

The next morning, she got dressed and went to class like nothing had happened. But everything had changed. Her eyes darted to every stranger, every car that passed her. Her heart pounded at the sound of heavy footsteps behind her.

At school, while waiting for her economics class to start, she pulled out her phone and searched his name.

Alexander Moretti. Age 29. CEO of Moretti International.

Born into money, took over his father's company at twenty-three. His face was in every magazine, but nobody really knew much about him. No wife. No kids. He donated millions to charities and hospitals, but no one ever interviewed him. He didn't speak at public events. He was like a ghost behind a perfect smile.

Her hands trembled as she scrolled through pictures of him. The man she saw last night wasn't wearing that warm smile. He wasn't shaking hands with mayors or hugging sick children. The man she saw gave orders. Dangerous ones.

And then, right as her professor walked in, something made her freeze.

A black car was parked across the street. A man in a suit stood beside it. He wasn't doing anything, just standing there, staring.

Emily's throat tightened.

He's watching me.

She looked away quickly. Don't panic. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Maybe he wasn't looking at her at all.

But when class ended and she stepped outside, the car was gone.

Later, during her shift at the coffee shop, she thought she saw the same man again-this time walking past the shop, his eyes flicking toward the window as if checking if she was inside.

Emily's hands shook as she poured a latte. She dropped a cup and it shattered on the floor. Her boss snapped at her, but she barely heard him.

She was being watched.

She wanted to go to the police, but what would she even say?

"Hi, I saw a billionaire next to a suspicious bag in an alley, and now I think he's spying on me?"

They'd laugh. Or worse-they'd report it. And what if someone in the system worked for him?

She was alone in this.

That night, she locked all her doors and windows. She kept her phone close and the lights on.

Still, she couldn't shake the feeling.

Alexander Moretti knew she had seen him.

And he wasn't going to forget.